This week’s post is written with new and aspiring birders in mind. Birding is a boundless hobby that can take you in so many directions! But it’s also one that can feel intimidating if you aren’t sure how to get started—especially with all our spring bird walks and field trips on hold. I’m not here to give you any expert advice, because I’m not an expert. Far from it. I’m a new birder myself. I went through this process not long ago and I’d love to share what I learned.

Read on for a few simple steps to get started with birding!

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

Welcome back to our Entryway to Birding blog! We are another week closer to spring and new birds are arriving in Madison by the day. Common loons are diving on Lake Monona. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are back drilling their holes. Golden-crowned kinglets are flitting fast about. Our daily schedules may be thrown to the wind, but the rhythm of the seasons is still a constant—and there is comfort in that.

Last week, I wrote about the joy, the comfort, the wonder of birds—and how watching them can help us feel more connected to the world around us. This week, I’m going to explore the places that connection can take you.

Because the truth is … birds are just the beginning.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

Do you know that feeling you get when you look at the stars on a clear night? When you stand alone, in silence, with a whole universe twinkling above you? Such a vast array can make us feel small—minuscule, even—but connected to the world in a deeply intimate way.

Do you know that feeling? That deep sense of awe, of wonder, of connection that swells in your soul?

That’s how birding makes me feel.

Photo by Monica Hall