By ABA Young Birder, Edith Dawson
“There’s no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard.” These first lyrics of my favorite Jack Johnson song perfectly captured my feelings as I sat in my bunk on the last night at Camp Delaware Bay. I was attempting to parse down my wonderful week to a few brief sentences before sending off my promised postcards to friends and family. Though I know I mentioned some of the great birds I saw or the interesting tour of Cellular Tracking Technologies, I kept coming back to the people I met. Camp Delaware Bay was just one of the experiences I have had over these past years that showed me the benefit of birding with a “flock.” Though birding with others doesn’t afford the solitude that birding alone does, the more time I spent birding with others, the more I realized how rewarding group birding is, and how birding truly is not only one of the best ways to strengthen our relationship with the natural world, but also to strengthen our connection with other humans.
I started seriously birding in 2021, and since then I’ve been on many eye-opening field trips through organizations like Iowa Young Birders or the Iowa City Bird Club. On these field trips, it’s been great to connect with other people who love birds. There is always something to talk about with a birder. Any birder can tell you a few facts about their favorite bird, recommend a good hotspot in their area, or suggest their personal tips for finding an elusive warbler. This friendly “small talk” may easily come in use later when you happen to be in the area and want to go birding. With every new bird you see on a field trip, that’s one more connection you can make with another person. One of these connections appeared in the spring of 2023 when I was on a family trip to Indiana Dunes. Our first stop of the day was the birding tower. When my mom and I arrived, there was already a group of men at the birding tower. We introduced ourselves to each other, and they promptly asked if I would like to look through their extra scope to see if I could spot any far-off birds flying over the lake. Of course, I agreed. They were also kind enough to suggest other good birding spots around Lake Michigan as well as to suggest that we check the rare gull in Chicago. Thanks to them, I even saw and was able to identify a Red-throated Loon. What’s amazing is that, though we barely knew each other, birding was able to connect us: perfect strangers from totally different walks of life.
However, even during periods where I am not doing much birding, birds still find a way to become an integral part of my life. This past summer, I put a huge amount of time and effort into running. In fact, I put so much time and effort into running that the week before Camp Delaware Bay, I developed a bone stress injury. So, as I prepared to go to Camp Delaware Bay, I was feeling extraordinarily disappointed. Nevertheless, I woke up after 3 hours of sleep on Day 1 of camp and decided to put on my most positive face. Somehow, it worked. That day, I saw a Curlew Sandpiper and was genuinely thrilled to be visiting Bombay Hook. The birds and the shared excitement around seeing them drew me in. All my apprehensions going into camp thoroughly vanished by the end of the week. As I left camp, I was barely able to say goodbye to everyone because I knew I would start crying. I knew after that that the birds and I were inextricably linked and birding would always be a part of my life.
I want to take my claim a step further: not only can birding connect birders, it has the wonderful power to connect birders and non-birders. During Camp Delaware Bay this summer, we had the wonderful opportunity to take the Cape May Ferry from Delaware to New Jersey. This was a fantastic experience in general, but one bird in particular was the highlight of the ride. One moment I was looking down, and the next I looked up to see a bird flying towards the stern of the boat. What I remember most vividly was the collective gasp of everyone on the ship. This gasp came not just from the birders, but the rest of the people just travelling on the ferry to get to New Jersey. Somehow, even without any advanced birding knowledge, everyone knew that this bird was special. A few moments later, the other Camp Delaware Bay campers and staff identified the bird as a Brown Booby – an extremely rare bird for Delaware. This Brown Booby occupied the conversations of everyone on the ferry after that. Just the experience of seeing the Brown Booby connected everyone on the ferry through the moment of awe that we all felt. I had never before and have never since seen such a strong shared group reaction between strangers. One singular bird connected us all.
This ability of birds to connect people within and outside of the birding community shows us that birding isn’t just a hobby like shopping, collecting cards, or gaming. As much as we may try to avoid it by sequestering ourselves in our concrete forests and our virtual caves, it is impossible to deny the connection between humans, birds, and the entire natural world. Birds are able to connect us all. A small being weighing only 50 ounces can be life changing. I think once again of Chief Seattle’s quote: “Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” Like the Brown Booby or the Curlew Sandpiper, we are just another strand in the web of life. But, like all spiderwebs, these strands are interconnected and must function together to support the web. Because of this, we must take actions to help the birds prosper alongside us humans, both for their sake and for ours, so that the web of life might flourish once again.
Works Cited:
“Brown Booby Identification.” All about Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Booby/id. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025.
Johnson, Jack. Better Together. 2005, open.spotify.com/track/4VywXu6umkIQ2OS0m1I79y.
Edith Dawson is a 17-year-old birder from Mount Vernon, Iowa. When she’s not busy playing with her younger brothers, singing, or running cross country, she loves to explore new natural areas around her. She is an avid traveler and hopes to bird in all 50 states. Her most recent addition to her life list was a Red Knot that she saw in New Jersey.
