I have always been a country girl at heart and never feel more alive than when I am surrounded by trees. We are so lucky in the  Midlands to have a wide variety of opportunities to enjoy the fresh scents, colorful backdrops, and buzzing energy that this beautiful corner of the natural world offers. From Dreher Island on Lake Murray to Sesquicentennial State Park; the majestic Congaree Swamp; or even our in-town nature preserve, the W. Gordon Belser Arboretum, opportunities abound for old-fashioned forest bathing in man’s natural habitat.

As a “girl-dad” of three, my father was always taking me along on his outdoor excursions, and some of my earliest memories are of watching the springtime woods stretch, yawn, and come alive in the early morning. On the heels of that are memories of asking him, “What bird is that?” Not having made much of a study of songbirds, sometimes he knew and sometimes he didn’t.

Only in relatively recent years have I finally turned my attention to answering this question and learning to recognize a few of the different voices and languages sung overhead. I discovered that a surprising number of easy-access resources are available to the wannabe birder. I started with Peterson Field Guides’ CD Birding by Ear, Eastern/Central, which helpfully breaks the more commonly heard birds into like groups and then teaches how to differentiate between them. Learning mnemonic handles for what each bird sounds like or “says” — e.g., the eastern towhee’s “Drink your tea-ea-ea-ea” — was a game-changer that made some songs and calls quite simple to identify.

Others stay tricky, and Cornell’s free Merlin Bird ID app, which requires no subscription, has a remarkable sound ID feature that literally listens from the phone’s microphone and identifies the bird calls surrounding you, lighting up the names of the appropriate bird the moment each calls. The Audubon app is a similarly wonderful — and free! — tool that works quite well in conjunction with Merlin as, upon identifying a bird, I can then look it up there and listen to more song/call variations, look at pictures, and read about its habits and way of life. It is really neat to hear a sound, be told what makes it, and then be able to see pictures, learn about how common it is in our area, and find out other interesting information.

Joanne and Don Wuori have taken their birding to the extremely advanced level of specializing in photography of these winged wonders, a difficult subject to capture if ever there were one! Turn to page 52 to enjoy the uncanny images they have managed to freeze behind the lens while observing the birds flying through the Midlands.

My grandmother, for whom I am named, was an avid birder who always kept her feeders full, becoming especially ecstatic when a painted bunting would alight for an afternoon snack. Sadly, my personal interest in birds came too late to share it with her, but her son-in-law is faithfully carrying on her tradition in keeping the feeders stocked; last year, we saw three individual male painted buntings. On a recent early morning weekend jaunt, Dad and I entertained ourselves for quite some time in trying to identify the sounds making up the cacophony of the awakening woods around us.

Learning about the world and creatures overhead is a wonderfully fun and, I think, worthwhile endeavor with so many resources available. Give it a try!

Sincerely,

Margaret Clay