Go bird watching and try to identify the birds you see.

“My first experience was with a boyfriend of the time when I was in my teens. We joined a group and headed to the south of England on the coast. First though we stopped at some woodland and walked along a track. They all stopped to admire a bird in the trees and tried to get me onto it, but I just couldn't see it! However, I felt a bit better when we did get by the coast. I was slightly detached from the group at one point watching a little bird flitting around the river mouth. He was grey, white and yellow with a long tail. When I got back to my friend, (I can still remember me saying) "the yellow one is a Grey Wagtail, isn't it"!! And was so pleased to have that confirmed.”

“My wife, Lucia, bought a book called Birds of Ohio Field Guide by Stan Tekiela, and I looked at the pictures to identify birds I saw outside. When I first flipped through the pages, I couldn’t believe such a wide variety of birds lived in Ohio. [...] I began seeing birds— unusual and even exotic ones—through my windows: brilliant blue indigo buntings and other species that I thought existed only in the tropics, such as the scarlet tanager. I was amazed by how many birds I observed “just by watching.” Close to half of them, I had never seen in my life—northern flickers, ruby-throated hummingbirds, cedar waxwings, and a rose-breasted grosbeak, to name a few.”

“During my first year of birding, I did manage to find in the field guide most of the birds I saw. I quickly learned that the challenge of identifying each bird could be both enjoyable and rewarding, but more importantly, I learned that the identifications were hardly ever the most enjoyable or rewarding elements of a day with birds. Indeed, sometimes it felt more rewarding to just stop and look at them, without teasing out each identification.”