The Accidental Birder
How to Kill Time Living at a Hotel in a Pandemic
We haven’t heard from my husband, Mark in a while, so this one is written by him!
In January 2020 (about 2 months before the onset of the COVID pandemic), a Costa Rican man named Julian called me to talk about the tours we were offering to our hotel guests. He said he was a biologist and asked if he could come up to the hotel to meet with me and explain some tours that he could provide. As an enticement, he said “If you want, I can take you on a free birding tour in the forest around your hotel.” The free birding tour wasn’t all that interesting to me, but I reluctantly agreed to meet him.
At this point, Marlo and I had been living at the hotel for more than two years. During that time, I hadn’t paid any attention to the birds around us because we were so focused on our guests and improving the hotel. Sure, I had seen the occasional Toucan, and the Kites and Vultures that soared in the updrafts around the hotel were hard to miss. But for the most part, I was oblivious. I figured Julian and I might spot 5 or 6 birds on our little “tour”.
When Julian arrived at the hotel, he suggested we start in the parking lot. Really?? We were surrounded by hundreds of acres of incredible rainforest and this guy wanted to start in the parking lot?? “It’s easier to see the birds around the edges of open spaces than it is in the forest.” Julian explained. I began to doubt this guy’s credentials.
As we walked to the parking lot Julian asked me if I could hear the Short-billed Pigeon. I looked at him like he was crazy, thinking about the Pigeons in Chicago that my daughter calls “sky-rats”. He said, “It’s the one singing listo-café…listo-café…listo-café” (the coffee is ready). “Oh wow”, I said, “I CAN hear that.” Then Julian started pointing out other birds. He found a Stripe-throated Hermit, a Golden-hooded Tanager, a Black-and-White Warbler, a White-tipped Dove, and a Gray-necked Wood-Rail.
After 5 minutes in the parking lot, Julian had identified at least a dozen bird species by sight or sound. These were birds I hadn’t noticed in two years and didn’t even know they existed. We did eventually walk through the forest, and by the time we finished, Julian had found about 30 species of birds. I was impressed, but after Julian left, I forgot about the birds and went back to focusing on the hotel.
When the COVID pandemic hit, Marlo and I decided to do our lock-down at the hotel (who wouldn’t?). We had closed the hotel and laid off almost all our staff. Although it was amazing having this tropical paradise all to ourselves, I started to get bored. Remembering my bird tour with Julian, I decided to grab my camera and see what I could find.
I wasn’t planning to become a birder – that’s a hobby for nerdy old folks, right? Think of a birder and I bet you imagine an old man with a multi-pocket vest and binoculars hiding in the bushes and getting excited about seeing the first warbler of spring! That wasn’t me. I was just killing time during a pandemic – I swear!
From that day on, I walked through the forest surrounding the hotel every day with my camera in hand looking for birds. Birding is amazingly relaxing and therapeutic, and I guess I accidentally got hooked. I set a goal to take the best photo I could get of every bird species that could be found within walking distance of the hotel. Each day, I would return from my walks with a camera loaded with pictures. I would download them onto my computer and then review and edit them. I used the Merlin App and a field guide to figure out what species the birds were. On a typical day, I would take 200-300 pictures and delete about 98-99% of them. I only kept the best pictures of each species I found.
During the pandemic, Marlo was struggling to figure out how to use the hotel’s social media accounts. Since the hotel was closed, and all our potential guests were locked down in other parts of the world, it didn’t seem right to post pictures and videos of the hotel. We had the idea in April of 2020 to post one of my bird pictures each day of the month. We thought future guests might enjoy the beauty of the birds while keeping them engaged with the hotel. Each day I would select one of my best recent bird pics and give it to Marlo to post. I later learned that the number of birders in the U.S. grew by something like 40% during the pandemic. Maybe we inspired a few?
By the time we sold the hotel in the fall of 2022, I had photographed 217 different species, and I could recognize and name every one of them. I could even identify 30-40 bird songs including listo café – the Short-billed Pigeon. Julian would have been so proud of me!
When we moved back to Chicago, I wondered if my birding career was over. Chicago is a vast concrete jungle. How many birds could there be? I was still walking every day for exercise, and I started noticing that there were more birds than I thought.
With my newly acquired birding skills, I was seeing birds in the city that I had never noticed before. It turns out Chicago and the Lake Michigan shoreline are part of the Mississippi flyway that millions of migratory birds use twice a year as they head north or south.
Knowing that, I set another goal to take the best photo I could of every bird species that can be found within the Chicago city limits. So far, I have photographed 165 species! I never would have imagined there were so many. My Chicago bird photos include the iconic Bald Eagle and the Snow Bunting which flies south from the Arctic to Chicago in the winter for our balmy weather - seriously! I also have great Piping Plover pictures which are considered endangered in the Great Lakes area.
I found that Chicago has a huge birding community and several protected bird sanctuaries. I’m even in a chat-group that exchanges info on the latest sitings around the city. This helps me find bird species I haven’t photographed yet. Cheating? Maybe. Many of the birders I see around Chicago are young and only a little nerdy. It gives me hope that that’s how people see me when I’m out birding – especially when I’m wearing a hat to hide my gray hair!
When I first took an interest in birding, I would never call myself a birder. Too embarrassing! It was better to say I was a photographer who enjoyed shooting birds.
Today I can admit I am a birder – even if I became one by accident during our time in Costa Rica.
All I need is a multi-pocket vest.
You can find more of Mark’s bird photos from our adventures in Costa Rica and from Chicago, IL on his birding Instagram page, reMarkablebirds!
Should Mark get a multi-pocket vest? Do you like birding? Can you recognize a bird from its song or its look? Like this post or leave a comment here!
Fantastic! We saw a lot of birders at the bookstore. Mexico too is a great place to birdwatch. But maybe after seeing your luck in Chicago, everywhere can be! Love the photos!
I agree, he definitely needs the vest! I love the bird pics