It's Okay For Birders To Sit Quietly By A Brook

 Birders are often focused on the number, variety, and rarity of birds they can see.We may even use technology to call the birds to us. One of the things that sometimes get lost in the modern era of birding is the joy of letting nature find you as opposed to trying to chase it down.       

Sitting quietly by a brook is a soothing way to appreciate the beauty of an early summer morning.

 Watching as the sunshine lights up the mist rising from the water.

 Or watching birds land quietly nearby as you melt into the landscape that surrounds you.

Birds sometimes may give you a better glimpse of their natural behavior when they're not trying to avoid our presence.

 You can even take time to notice other things outside of birds like this gigantic fishing spider I came across a couple of years ago.

One thing that is great about birding is that you don't always have to approach things the same way. Sometimes birding seem more like a sport but it's up to each individual birder what approach they take. My rules say that there's nothing wrong with sitting down next to a cool, babbling brook.