BOISE, Idaho — When you think of bird watching you might think of identifying different birds you see, but Sunday's bird walk, hosted by the Golden Eagle Audubon Society, had a different purpose: observing what you see.
“It’s just a different style of birding to really kind of connect more with the environment and see what we can find without being super focused on keeping a list of what we see," Liz urban, the education chair of the Golden Eagle Audubon society said.
Sunday morning, Urban led the "Pause, Look and Listen" bird walk at William Shakespeare Park on the grounds of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.
She said she has always been a nature lover and now, as education chair of the Golden Eagle Audubon Society, she's using her love of nature to bring other people to nature, which is part of the society's mission.
“We’re interested in introducing people to nature and engaging people and teaching them about nature so that we can all become stewards and care about birds and the environment,” Urban said.
During the pandemic, bird watching has increased in popularity, according to the Associated Press. During the pandemic, the Golden Eagle Audubon Society had virtual events, but they've resumed in-person events--like the bird walk on Sunday--in the last few months.
For board member, Anna Lindquist, her first passion was plants, but the pandemic led her to bird watching.
“But of course plants are the habitat for all of the wonderful things that come with it. So I got interested in birds over the pandemic like a lot of people,” Lindquist said.
On Sunday's bird walk, there was plenty to see from birds in the trees to ducks in the water and even a fawn.
Urban’s favorite moment was one that sparked a lot of discussion.
“The bald eagle was a definite delight to see and I love the conversation that it comes to of, 'is it a bald eagle'? 'Is it'? There might there be a turkey vulture in the tree next to it?” She said.
While the goal wasn’t to just identify birds, the group came across nearly 30 different bird species including:
- Turkey Vulture
- Bald Eagle
- Woodpecker
- Flicker
- Robin
The Golden Eagle Audobon society has events like this in multiple locations around the treasure valley, multiple times a month. You can find the event schedule by clicking here.
