Birding Shabbat

Getting your 20 Bird MDR is important, but what if you suffer from Bostick Syndrome?

In order to encourage birding-life balance, some folks may consider the value of taking a day off from the 20 Bird MDR as a birding shabbat.  Personally, I usually take Sundays off.  I still try to identify every bird I see, and I may even write them down, but I take a rest from the relentless birding drive for the daily 20.

LDS Temple in Lake Oswego, OR--nice to be able to get birds at a wedding, in this case Anna's Hummingbird, Song Sparrow, Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee, Western Scrub-Jay, etc.

For example, on Friday I got my MDR in Camas, Washington while helping my sister and new brother in law tow a truck and on a walk with my brothers around my folks's neighborhood in Oregon (highlight a Merlin in a nearby subdivision where I used to deliver newspapers as a kid).  On Saturday, I got most of my 20 while standing around taking pictures at my sister's wedding.  Yesterday, I drove down to Dayton, OR to visit a cousin with my mom, and I just took it easy.  I still looked at birds, and noted the Eurasian Collared-Doves (still crazy to see these birds in Oregon, since I found the first accepted record over a decade ago while on a similar wedding trip home to visit the family).  But I didn't keep a list.

We all need balance.  The 20 Bird MDR is a tool to help you to keep birds in your life if you tend to get caught up in other things.  If you lean too far the other way, consider a birding shabbat.  You can still watch birds, but you don't have to go crazy. By all means bird, but bird responsibly!