I just participated in my first ever birding adventure.
I tried hard to not draw preconceived notions in my mind about what these “birders” would be like. I thought studious. Quiet. Maybe wearing a pithe helmet, you know the one with the mosquito netting.Wrong.
ACE partnered with the New River Birding and Nature Festival and took the birders on our Zip Line Canopy Tour for a different ornithological perspective. I have zero birding skills, so I was anxious to see how this would play out.
My nephew, Hunter, is obsessed with birds. I’ll never forget a couple of years ago, we were outside and he heard a certain bird call. He looked at me and said, “Uncle Scott. A pilated woodpecker.” I thought he was a bird savant. I discovered that his mother is a bird watcher herself and has instilled that knowledge in him.
Back to the birders. They were a colorful bunch with different experience levels in birding. Some were more seasoned while some were admittedly novices. However, they were all fun. It was amazing.
We had stopped between zip-lines 2 and 3 and they heard a bird. (I didn’t hear a thing.) Immediately, they knew it was a black-and-white warbler. Suddenly, Jeff Gordon – bird watcher, not NASCAR superstar – pulled out his iPhone and started using his bird call application. He programmed it for the black-and-white warbler and held it up as his phone made the sound. Sure enough, here comes the bird and sits on a branch 5 feet from us. The Bird Whisperer incarnate. I was in awe!
As the day progressed, I found my ears becoming more in tune with the sounds of nature. They were so great about explaining things to me on my beginner level. The different calls. The different colors. The different species. It is refreshing when something unexpected happens and you learn something. It was also interesting to know that last month these birds were in South America.
I knew ACE was a summer destination for our guests. Who knew it was for the birds as well?
