Breathe In, Breathe Out, Go Birding…

 

     To the left is the Great Florida Birding Trail sign that you have probably seen driving along certain highways that indicates official viewing sites of native birds, butterflies and other wildlife. I chose this particular sign because the bird on it is a Swallow-Tailed Kite. I’ve seen this bird luckily many times (however not when my camera was with me 🥴) but most significantly last week it soared outside the window of my oral surgeon as I nervously awaited an unfortunate tooth extraction, thus where the idea came in my head to write this post.

    I was sitting in the chair trying to distract myself with music or anything outside the window but nothing was doing the trick. After a little prayer, I see the beautiful black and white with obvious split tail soaring back and forth and I immediately felt calmer. I was able to breathe in, breathe out, and in this case…go chair birding 😉 A few days after, I was on Facebook and saw that a store in town, Wild Birds Unlimited, had posted an article from the Washington Post about how birding can relieve stress and other health benefits. Here is the link in case anyone was curious https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2023/birds-song-nature-mental-health-benefits/

     It is also interesting after researching the Swallow-Tailed Kite more that I learned some Native Americans also saw these birds as messengers between our world and the world above. I have always found great comfort, relaxation, and joy birding or just bird watching, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post the difference between the two terms, and I think that’s why I love writing this blog to share with others 🤗