Senior Leader James Lidster ponders:

One thing that birders never seem to do is relax: always tense, always wanting to get out birding, always checking something in a magazine or on the internet.

So I decided it would be a good thing for me to start reading books. The closest thing to a novel I’ve read in recent years was probably The Sound Approach to Birding! So now I’m reading my fifth Harry Potter book, and am totally engrossed, which is a good thing.

But I’m still a birder. I’m still picturing what Hedwig looks like, why its call is described as a “hoot”… so I guess I’m not relaxing totally, but it does help a bit.

The next way I’ve found to relax is a visit to the sauna. I’ve been suffering from shoulder pain since November, apparently repetitive strain from carrying a tripod all the time (I have never liked using a tripod strap, as that means that my tripod isn’t set up and ready to use immediately).

So I’m installed in the “theme” sauna, surrounded by people of all ages and both sexes; we’re on a deserted tropical island–and my brain starts wondering if there is any good migrant scrub on this island, would it be worth birding…ok, relax! And the heat is turned up, and the smell of eucalyptus and citrus starts to take over; and then they play the calls of “seagulls.”

But this is a tropical island, and my brain starts wondering whether there are many places in the world where large white-headed gulls occur on tropical islands. Is this a commercial recording from America, is it smithsonianus, or maybe it’s from some Mediterranean country, michahellis…. I guess the fact we are in a sauna might mean that it’s a genuine Finnish recording of nominate argentatus.

And that’s the beauty of birding. I was relaxed, really, but there are just so many questions, so many possibilities, and it’s so hard to switch off….

—James