We asked several of our writers the same questions. Here are the answers to the one above.
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Even if I wasn’t a vegetarian, fishing wouldn’t be my thing because it is too boring. Birding, in turn, can easily be combined with hiking (Peter Hinow)
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I’ve always enjoyed outdoor pursuits, including shooting and hunting (on horseback), while I played tennis quite seriously until my knees cried enough. However, you can still watch birds while doing whatever else you are doing in the countryside. On more than one occasion, I’ve had a game of tennis interrupted by pausing to watch a hunting Barn Owl next to the court. Woodcocks are secretive birds seldom seen by birdwatchers. Once, while watching a pack of hounds draw a wood, I saw more than a dozen Woodcocks flushed in just a few minutes. Nobody would ever have guessed that such a small wood held so many Woodcocks (David Tomlinson).
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There is probably a natural hunter in me – for books, for records, for birds – but not a killer. And I very much like the combination of outdoor (the actual birding) and indoor activity – preparing for a birding trip, editing photos, writing about birds (Kai Pflug)
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I did both from a young age, even to the point of owning a seagoing fishing boat with my dad and brother. It’s very time-consuming, and when time became a scarce commodity, something had to give. I focused on birding, and my brother played golf (Peter Penning).
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I used to fish for a while when I was a child, too. My son is an avid angler—so we complement each other very well. I earn money from birdwatching, and he feeds the family, as he often says (Rolf Nessing).
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It lacks the kill factor. I come from a hunting/fishing background. Yet, I always found that the magic of the hunt is completely destroyed by the kill. With birding, the excitement of being on the hunt continues for as long as you are outside (Jochen Roeder).
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Fishing is just so boring that I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse to do. I think if I were forced to go fishing I’d just be watching or listening to the birds… leave fishing to the experts like the Kingfishers and Herons (John Hague).
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Growing up on a small island, I spent much of my teenage years on the beach, so fishing should have been the obvious choice. But I never had the patience to sit there waiting for a fish that clearly had other plans. With birding, I still do plenty of waiting, but at least I can walk around while pretending I know where the birds are (Fitzroy Rampersand).
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There is something about birdsong that makes people feel happy—and calm. It’s the reason that birdsong is piped into so many public places! I love birding because of the song—It’s amazing to realize we are getting something for free that reduces our stress and increases our happiness, and all we have to do is stop and listen (Susan Wroble).
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That is a great question and I do not know why this obsession versus fishing or knitting? It just happened. It was like switch was tripped one day because of a question I had about that bird. For me now there is life before birding and life with birding (Mary Alice Hayward).
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My parents introduced me to both, but birds won out. I’ve also had bird feeders at every home since I was tall enough to refill them. At some point, watching birds stopped being a hobby and simply became part of who I am (Kelly Isley).
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There’s something so charming about showing up quietly in nature to admire a bird without disturbing it! (Rhea Alaudra)
Photo: Barn Owl, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China
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