Birdwatching Newest Outdoor Craze
Do you consider birdwatching an outdoor activity? No? Well you should. Just a few short weeks after the announcement that the number of hunters was trailing off, comes another shocking announcement: birdwatching is a growing hobby. Could it be we are going more sensitive?
According the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, birdwatching is a "hobby of 47.8 million Americans, with wildlife watching up 8 percent from 2000 to 2006. With numbers like that, it's amazing that I don't know one birdwatcher. Have you been birdwatching? If so, I would love to hear about it.
More than 20 states have created "birding trails" since 2000 to guide newcomers to good spots to watch fowl. Outfitters that once specialized in hunting expeditions or horseback riding are branching out to offer trips focusing on feathery critters, too.
Rapp wants to help the Chesapeake region cash in on the trend. A former zookeeper, Rapp heads Delmarva Low-Impact Tourism Experiences, a nonprofit that aims to boost ecotourism in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
Rapp is beginning work on a "Cape to Cape Trail" from Cape May, N.J., to Cape Charles, Va., to show off the region's bountiful bird population, including one of the nation's highest concentrations of bald eagles. Peregrine falcons roam the skies around the Chesapeake Bay, and the marshes along the Atlantic coast attract migrating waterfowl in the fall and spring.
Standing on the bed of his truck in the Deal Island Wildlife Management Area, Rapp spies plenty of birds despite the hot weather.
"I see one, two, three, four, five different species of birds right now," he says, pointing his binoculars toward a marshy copse of trees in the distance. Herons and egrets seem not to mind the attention, but rarer black ducks fly away in groups when Rapp's truck rumbles down the gravel.
~admin
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wrote on
The birdwatching post is the only I’ve read on this site so far. I can tell you that I began to enjoy watching birds as a backpacker, general hiker and commercial tuna fisherman. It’s all a part of observing nature for me and it, along with observing the animals, plants, weather, rocks, and water, make the outdoors a complete package. The best part is you learn to continue doing these things even when not on a trail, like walking around town, while driving and any other time you’re out and about.
I do occasionally go out exclusively to look at birds, but it’s far more normal for the birdwatching to be part of a bigger adventure. I have noticed that birdwatching is one way to get a whole new bunch of people out into nature, and then they want better trails, and more trails, and spiffed up habitat.
I think this is a good trend.