‘Fledgling’ editor sees birding’s big picture

I closed my eyes for a moment as my companions paused on our walk along the Samish Crest Trail in Bellingham. 

Bird enthusiasts Steven Harper and Sue Parrott, my guides for the morning, were looking up. (Yes, Parrott’s surname is on the nose, though she notes it’s spelled with two t’s).

High-pitched trills filled the air. As our conversation went quiet, I felt completely surrounded by bird calls as though I was alone in the forest. 

I suspect Harper knows the feeling. Before we set out, he told me that people sometimes ask him whether he’d rather only see or only hear birds. He enjoys listening to them so much, he said, “sometimes I’d say I’d rather listen to the birds than see the birds.” 

We were exploring the wooded trail in advance of Bellingham Bird Week. The six-day stretch of free events, organized by North Cascades Audubon Society and Audubon Washington, begins Monday, Oct. 5. Locals wanting to get in touch with Whatcom County’s avian life can attend a bird drawing session, take their kids to bird-themed story times, rally friends for bird trivia and more. They can also cast their vote for the “official bird of Bellingham.” 

Harper and Parrott, who are married, are both board members of the local Audubon Society chapter. 

When I decided to write about serious birding, I imagined waking up at the crack of dawn, driving for an hour and accompanying a hardcore hobbyist intent on meticulously cataloguing each species we encountered. 

That kind of birder is what some call a “lister,” someone who spends their spare time traveling around trying to log as many bird varieties as they can.

What Harper and Parrott introduced me to instead was a gentler, quieter pace. Though they admit they can get “focused,” their brand of birding has more to do with connecting with nature than breaking records. 

The peacefulness was a challenge of its own. A restless person at the best of times — I’m known to pace in the newsroom when conducting interviews — I was on day one of a new position as Cascadia Daily News’ lifestyle reporter and editor. I was eager to get started quickly. 

In many ways, my first outing on the job required me to do the opposite. I had to be still, walk slowly, stop often. Talking had to be done in hushed tones. 

As I did so, I observed more: sunlight filtering through tree trunks; the rushing sound of wind; the crunch of gravel underfoot. At one point, I watched as a single yellow leaf drifted softly toward the ground. Above us, the treetops teemed with activity as birds socialized and flitted from branch to branch. 

Dave Schmalz, past president of the North Cascades chapter, understood immediately when I told him about the experience. A self-described “big noticer,” Schmalz said in recent years he’s tried to get in touch with “a spiritual side of birding.” 

“It helps me find my place in nature, and actually in human settings too,” he said. “In other words, it helps me nurture my reverence for life.” 

That reverence is what drives birders to not only appreciate the natural world, but work to preserve it too. Harper serves on a committee and coordinates bird surveys for Whatcom Land Trust, while Schmalz volunteers for bird counts. 

The hobby brings you close to the environment, said Paul Woodcock, former board member of North Cascades Audubon. Like Parrott, he’s aptly named. “If we want these creatures to be able to live on into the future,” he continued, “we’re going to need to really start paying attention.” 

Birding, it seems, is about more than birds. For Parrott, “outdoors is my get-out-of-my-head place,” she said. For Harper, too. 

“It’s so beautiful out here,” he said as we walked back down the trail. “I can just sort of forget about it all.” 

I felt the same way. The couple’s excitement when we heard or caught sight of a bird was contagious. There was a subdued rush each time to find it in the remarkably powerful binoculars they’d loaned me. 

Through the lenses, a robin hopping along the path suddenly looked enormous next to a smaller bird pecking at the grass. I watched a hairy woodpecker bounce up and down a tree, and saw a Steller’s jay move its beak open and shut as it screeched. Even a drab house finch looked dramatic up close. 

As a birder, Harper told me, “You’re experiencing birds all the time.” 

The sense of serenity I’d had on the walk stayed with me as I drove away. Harper and Parrott’s kindness felt like an invitation to be part of something larger than myself. 

In retrospect, one of my first interactions with Harper offered a hint of what was to come. I called him in the evening, trying to arrange our birding excursion, but didn’t get through. Minutes later, he phoned me back. 

He apologized for missing my call. He’d been busy looking at the moon from his deck. 

You can observe birds on the Samish Crest Trail on Monday, Oct. 5 at 8 a.m. with guide Carrie Frederick Frost as part of Bellingham Bird Week. The schedule instructs participants to meet at the “trailhead at the dead end of San Juan Boulevard, by Congregation Beth Israel.”

Find a full Bird Week schedule at northcascadesaudubon.org/bellingham-bird-week.

Sophia Gates is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at sophiagates@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 131.