This blog started when you could run out of bird-things to look at, on the internet, in one evening.
Putting random bird-related stuff on a blog was fun. I used to joke that I liked talking about birds so much that I needed somewhere to put it all, so the blog became an outlet. It also became a useful way to start conversations. Someone would ask about something I'd written and we were off.
Eventually, that changed. Blogs, websites, youtube videos and podcasts became ways of competing for attention, selling books and promoting tours. Birding has followed along. eBird "top 100s" ... iNaturalist stats ... algorithms and the rest have added another layer of metrics and competition to a hobby that - for some - is meant to be an "escape" from reality. Quiet time in nature.
I eventually lost interest in blogging - as I didn't want to be part of the "competition".
But perhaps that's also why it might be worth doing again? Blogs have become sufficiently irrelevant to the attention economy that they might be a good place to just put random thoughts. I'd rather you were not on your device - outside, perhaps birding, or spending time with friends of family. But, if you're looking for a bird-related distraction, that isn't controlled by a stress-inducing algorithm or littered with "top 100" lists, stuff may be appearing here again going forwards.
How long will it last? Who knows. But for now: bird ideas, weather, natural history, observations, equipment, whatever. I might even edit the text this time.
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