How many of you like to get presents? Today I want to give you a gift. This gift will guarantee you will never again be bored. This gift will turn long car rides into adventures. This gift will turn grumpy days into happy days. What is this amazing present? The gift of birding. This is how I begin my Birds Class at the Des Moines Y-Camp. Students and adults get very excited about receiving this gift. However, when I tell them the gift is birding you can see their shoulders droop.
We teach them the fundamentals, how to use field guides and binoculars and then head outside. Once they begin to experience the chase, the stimulus, the beauty and the challenge they become electric with enthusiasm. A Blue Jay, American Goldfinch or Northern Cardinal when seen through the eyes of a child become as exciting as seeing a Painted Bunting.
I like to close the class with new questions. How many thought this would be boring? How many thought this was fun? How many of you will do this again? This I the gift I wanted to give you. Students don’t want to quit this new found passion. They are eager to go home and find or purchase binoculars and bird books or make their own bird feeders. Take the time to find a young person and give them the gift of birding. Get them outside and aware of what is around them. They may think it’s going to be boring but trust me, you will win them in the end. We all keep lists. Start a life list of the people you turn on to the gift of birding.
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