I bird to bird, not for my eBird list.
—Holly Merker
Generous. That’s the word I think best describes my latest Ten Birding Questions guest, southeastern Pennsylvania-based birder Holly Merker. Generous with her time, generous with her wisdom, generous in her openness. For well over an hour Holly was willing to share stories from her birding life, some of them deeply personal.
As I researched Holly’s expansive career in preparation for our recording session, it dawned on me that there was just too much to cover in one interview. Writer, podcaster, educator, bird guide, eBird reviewer, and driving force behind the Mindful Birding movement. What a life lived among the birds! I wanted to talk about it all, but some questions I had to shelve. I hope we did justice to the topics we did cover, including:
Birding as meditation and the benefit of slowing down and adding mindfulness techniques to our birding practice.
Teaming up with birds. How listing, eBird, and Merlin can be complementary and not at odds with mindful birding.
Ornitheraphy. The healing power of birds and birding in the face of serious illness.
Life as an eBird reviewer—understanding the review process, how the filters work, and how she has seen eBird evolve since joining the project in 2005.
How to deal with the stresses that sometimes come with birding, like FOMO and listing anxiety.
Of course we talked birds throughout. That is, after all, what this is all about. Some of this month’s cast of characters includes Chipping Sparrow, Red Knot, Dark-eyed Junco, Whimbrel, and Clay-colored Sparrow. I especially loved learning how one bird in particular sparked Holly’s passion for bird songs and vocalizations.
As I point out in the interview, I’ve always maintained that the song of the Black-throated Green Warbler is reminiscent of the transforming sound the Transformers made in the old '80s cartoon. After giving both a listen, I don’t think I’m too off base, but judge for yourselves!
What my guests may not realize from the time they receive an invitation to be a guest to when the interview goes live is that the whole time I have been secretly scheming to one day go birding with them. Put a mindful birding walk with Holly Merker at the top of my bucket list.
When I launched this podcast, I had my doubts about asking guests their favorite bird as a way of concluding the interview. I was wrong. The question is a highlight of the conversation every month, including Holly’s pick, a wonderful singer from the Family Icteridae.
I’m so grateful to Holly for her willingness to share such personal stories from her life and lessons of Mindful Birding. I hope you, listeners, will consider carving out some time in your birding practice to slow down and open yourselves to the calming, centering, healing power of birds and nature. I also encourage you explore Holly’s expansive world of Mindful Birding:
The Birding magazine article that has had me thinking about birding’s health benefits ever since, “The Birding Prescription.”
Learn more about her work promoting health and wellness through birding on her website, Ornitherapy.
Be sure to subscribe to Holly’s Substack, The Birding Prescription.
I highly recommend The Mindful Birding Podcast, co-hosted with Holly Thomas, which covers many birding-related topics through the lens of Mindful Birding.
We didn’t even get to her book, the award-winning Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul.
Do you want to learn more about Mindful Birding or about how you can join the movement? Check out the The Mindful Birding Network.
Finally, check out some of Holly’s beautiful photography on Instagram.
That’s all for this month. Do you practice mindful birding? Has birding helped you through a challenge life has dealt you? Do you sometimes feel FOMO creeping into your birding practice? Are you an eBirder? What do you find are some of the benefits and drawbacks of making checklists? As always, find me in the comment section!👇
Until next time, thanks for listening, and don’t forget to bird like Holly!
nwb
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This post was human generated.
Developmental edits by Alexandra Hidalgo.
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