What We Can Learn From Bird Watchers

It’s not all just boring about watching birds

Once again I spent a weekend in nature. And once again it was an amazing time out there. It was refreshing. It was challenging. It was good for my mental and physical health. And what an inspiration! An inspiration for so many things. I got inspired to write at least four more articles. I got inspired to go hiking again. Regularly. I got inspired by the fitness level of my parents. Despite their age. And I got inspired by the beauty of nature.

Nature is amazing

I have been taking pictures the whole weekend through. With my GoPro. And with my big DSLR. I have been taking pictures of flowers, beetles, mountains, people and some ducklings.

My friend who did the hike with me and my parents said she never had so many pictures from a hike before. Yes, it is true. I do take a lot of pictures. But as I described before — looking through the lens of my camera taught me to see the beauty in the small things in life. And therefore I suddenly see lots of beauty out there. And that is why I do take a lot of pictures. Because I enjoy it. Capturing the beauty in life. And sharing those captures later. I share my photographs a lot. Via WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, my personal blog, and on Medium. Because I want to show the world the beauty of our planet.

“It’s easy to let days fly by without taking notice to the world around you. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. Soak it in, think about it and be grateful.” — Unknown

Bird watchers

And while I am having these thoughts, my mom keeps on stopping looking for a specific bird sitting on the tree. She hikes with the binocular around her neck. Just to be able to grab them in the right moment and find that bird.

We call them often “bird watchers” with despise. But actually, all of them are a step ahead of us. All of them who are fascinated by the variety of birds on our planet learned one thing already. They learned that they don’t need much in life to be happy.

My mom visited me the first time in my new flat and saw a specific bird on my neighbors' roof. That made her day. As simple as that. She’s never seen that bird before. And that is why it was so special to her. For us, it’s just another bird. Just like all the other ones. Two wings, two legs, a tail, and a beak. That’s it. That is how we would describe a bird. But not them. Not for the bird watchers. They see every detail. The long neck, the red tail, the different shaped beak, and hundreds of other features. Because they do look for the small things in life.

They smile. They become happy. Just because they saw a bird.

I think there is something we can learn from them. And I don’t mean that we should all study ornithology. But maybe just listen to the birds singing in the morning. Listen to the insects flying around us. Look at the flowers in your neighbor's garden. Feel the warm rays of sunshine on your skin. And smile.

Because life is beautiful.

The ducklings

And then we got to the lake. We came down from the peak and were a bit exhausted. I was at least. The sun was shining and the turquoise of this beautiful mountain lake was just mesmerizing.

We see the duck. And then the ducklings. They are gently swimming across the lake. Playing in the water. The mom keeps on looking around trying to count them making sure she still has all the ducklings with her. Just like a kindergarten teacher continuously counts the children when going on an excursion.

And there’s the golden eagle doing his turns high up above the lake. But so far the ducklings are safe. Too many people are next to and in the lake. They somehow go together. The hikers and the family with ducklings.

We went for a swim. Or a quick dip in the lake. The water is pretty cold up here at 1600 meters altitude. But it felt good. The cold water. Refreshing. Relaxing. It is good for the muscles too. I really enjoyed it. The swim.

And as I got out I saw the mother. Of the ducklings. Walking through the grass. Calling her children. Who were spread across the grassland. Just like all the bathers and hikers. I see one duckling up there on the hill and one is already jumping in the water. The mom is calling them. And they run from all directions back to her. Together they walk back to shore and jump in the water. Swimming away. While mom is still counting her ducklings.

The lesson I learned

This was such a beautiful scene. A beautiful scene to watch and capture. I enjoyed seeing them together. The ducklings were obviously cute to look at. But also fascinating. How they can survive up here. High up in the mountains. Among hikers and other birds who might hunt them. Swimming in the freezing cold water and running across lush green fields.

Well, I must say I did learn a lesson from this.

Birds can be fascinating too!