I’ve always loved birds and I’ve gotten more into birding in the last few years. I find the birds themselves to be fascinating and the practice to be really grounding; just sitting or standing or strolling and intentionally paying close attention to your surroundings. One thing I’ve never been great at is recognizing bird calls, but Merlin Bird ID has this great feature where you can start a recording and it’ll identify the birds for you! I usually just use it when I hear something I don’t recognize, but you can leave it on in the background and it’ll notify you when a new bird is identified. Kinda nerdy, kinda cool! It’s helped in connecting me more to my environment, made me a little more mindful and attentive.
