"…an odd subculture in our midst."
That's how Roger Moore, a film critic, describes birders in his review of "The Big Year" – a film about three intense birders.
The title derives from a pursuit practiced by hard-core birders: Setting the record for how many bird species you can find in a calendar year.
It means spending virtually every day looking for birds, no matter what the weather, but also covering every corner of the country in a search for that rare bird that might have slipped over to Alaska from Siberia or from the Lesser Antilles to Florida.
It's common for birders to keep notes on which species of birds they see during an outing, and it's considered a better day if you see more species rather than just a few. But the most intense that most birders ever get is on a Spring or Christmas Bird Count when the purpose is to tally every bird you can identify – all the crows, Canada geese and starlings, as well as the more gratifying birds like wild turkeys, Baltimore orioles and chestnut-sided warblers.
But don't confuse this with another version of birding obsession, the Big Day. It's like the Big Year, but condensed into a 24-hour period and it's usually within a single state. It means starting to count birds at 12 a.m. – gotta get those owls! – and continuing until 11:59 p.m.
In nearly 40 years of birding, I have never attempted a Big Day, certainly not a Big Year – and I don't intend to. A Big Year requires an absolute obsession with finding another and another bird species to add to the list and it stretches across all 365 days of the year. Wait, let's do it in a leap year. We might get another bird on that extra day.
Just as the film portrays, it means putting your life on hold and spending enormous amounts of time and money jetting around to wherever the birds might be showing up.
But that kind of extreme experience is not what most birders want. Instead, we are in it for the Big Moment – the kind of experience you can have on just about any outing, whether it's in the Amazon, Africa or at a local park.
To its credit, "The Big Year" depicted a moment like this. The three central characters watched a pair of bald eagles locked in a thrilling behavior, clasping talons and spiraling hundreds of feet to pull out of the dive just before reaching the ground.
Kenny (Owen Wilson) and Stu (Steve Martin) blew it off; they'd already seen bald eagles and were off to find another bird for the list. Brad (Jack Black) stood transfixed by the splendor and drama of the sight. He'd seen the species earlier, too, but the chase for the record didn't steal from him the wonder of this moment.
"The Big Year" is a fairly entertaining film. It's not for everyone, but most birders will find it enjoyable. Whether you see the movie or not, I highly recommend that you take up the practice of leisurely exploring the parks and natural places in our area with a focus on birds and their beauty and variety.
Birding is a peaceful, mentally stimulating way to spend your leisure time. I'll sign onto that subculture any day.
- Forsyth Audubon will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Visitor Center of Historic Bethabara Park. Mark Stanback, professor of biology at Davidson College, will talk about Brown-headed nuthatches and Eastern bluebirds and their competition for nest sites.
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