To Bird:To Write

​If you would ask me why I like bird watching so much it would be difficult to give a succinct.  For sure I would say that birding helps my writing.  Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.
Birding  is a very activity.  The act of sitting at a desk or table or maybe balancing your laptop on your lap is also a passive activity.  Birding, successful birding requires a great deal of focus and concentration.  Writing too requires both focus and concentration.  Many fiction writers report a “loss of time” when they spend time creating and then living in their imaginary world and characters.  When I was birding in Ashland last week I was out in the woods for hours and didn’t notice the time until returning to the conservation center.
Birding requires keen observation skills using sight and sound.  Fiction writers are notorious “people watchers” and the leap from a bird watcher to a people watcher is quite small.  When birding you study the bird’s behavior to help in identifying the correct species.  I like to watch people’s behavior where ever I go.  Those behaviors appear on every page of a novel.
Birding allows a person to feel a part of the natural world, that sense of connectedness.  Writing fiction is a way to both feel and behave connected because it is a way to express who you are.