Bird Therapy, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Nature, Psychology, Wellbeing

Mindful Birdwatching

Image of a chaffinch


When I was asked to write about the mindfulness of birdwatching I wasn’t at all sure how or where to start. I was passionate about birds and had watched them from a very young age; in the garden and later, on my grandad’s allotment – the only bit of green space anyways near home. So maybe that’s where to start.

…  look over there – isn’t that a wren among the flower pots; shush listen – that’s a robin singing from deep in the holly bush too; and here – here’s a blue feather from the wing of a Jay …

That excitement and joy lives with me still as a write these words.  Perhaps we are naturally mindful as children; we need to relearn the ‘how’ as adults.

The beauty of watching birds is that you can do it almost anywhere and at anytime – whether it’s wagtails roosting in a retail park; jackdaws grabbing lunch at McDonald’s; or great tits at the garden bird table. These can all be (mindful) moments that brighten your day.

Mindful Birdwatching like Mindful Gardening  is about getting away from the chaos of daily life; the issues at work or in the home; of health problems; money worries and so on.

It doesn’t even have to be outside. Take a minute to admire the beautiful plumage of the chaffinch by Winifred Austen1 and listen to his song – notice your breathing begin to slow; how your thoughts are less racing.  Allow yourself to enter his world – of orchards, fields and hedges. Appreciate the here and now, and enjoy the moment.

Thank you, dear reader, for reading.

Clive

Authors Notes

A guest post by Clive Bennett introducing his Watching Birds Therapy Series where he writes about some of the birds we may see or hear as we go about our daily lives and how taking time to watch them can help our mental well-being.

Click on the link to watch a video of Starling Murmuration from the first in the series if you want to jump straight in to ‘Watching Birds’.

Citation

The audio clip of a chaffinch was made by Krzysztof Deoniziak, and has been downloaded from Xeno-Canto and used here under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 licence 

  1. Winifred Marie Louise Austen 1876-1964 was an English illustrator, painter, etcher and aquatint engraver, particularly known for her detailed depictions of small mammals and birds. ↩︎

36 thoughts on “Mindful Birdwatching”

  1. Pingback: Seeking the Nemesis Bird… mindfully – The Mindful Migraine

  3. When I was co-tutor on FSC bird-watching courses, I would ask people to stop as soon as they got out of the classroom (or the mini-bus), close their eyes, and just listen for a minute or two. What are you hearing? What aren’t you hearing? Write it down. How does it make you feel? Write it down. Slow down, and hear the birds.

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    1. Thanks JoAnna. I’d love to know what birds you see on your feeders. We have our annual Big Garden Birdwatch in January – do you have one where you live?

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      1. I remember hearing about an annual bird watch counting. Identifying the birds at our feeder is a goal. Most are small hand have a lot of grey, though we often have medium sized woodpecker and an occasional blue jay. I’ll have to post a photo of the squirrel sometime.

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    1. Hi Linda,

      Thanks for your comment. It’s a great way to de-stress. I find it especially helpful when recovering from a migraine. Do you have a favourite practice or method …

      Clive xox

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  7. There is a wonderful Audubon park in North Western Kentucky that has an amazing feeder near the Ohio. I just love the peace bird watching can bring to the soul!

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    1. Me too – we get all sorts of birds but my favourites are the Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I see you get the Middle Spotted Woodpecker coming to your feeder – a bird we don’t see in the UK. Thank you for commenting 🙂

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  9. Hello Clive, Thank you very much for your wonderful post! I also love to watch birds and listen to their enchanting chirping.It is really fascinating how much joy and peace these little creatures can give us.

    Your memories of the time in your grandfather’s garden and allotment garden also awaken beautiful thoughts in me. Those moments of mindfulness where we just sit and watch the birds are priceless. They remind us of the importance of being in the here and now and appreciating the little wonders of nature.

    I’m looking forward to your further thoughts on mindfulness in birdwatching and look forward to learning more about it.

    Greetings….Rosie from Germany

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    1. Hello Rosie,

      Thank you for your lovely comments. Yes watching birds can be fun, is rarely dull, and just listening to their chirping and chatter is a great way to  de-stress.

      Have you seen my piece about starlings – just follow the links at the bottom of the post. The next one in the series is likely to be about the robin.

      All Best

      Clive

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    1. Hi Jennifer, They really are aren’t they especially at this time of year – look out for starlings and winter thrushes – redwings and fieldfares especially, as we get an influx of birds from countries to the north and east of the UK. These birds can be quite ‘tame’ after their migration and will come into gardens after berries, and join our resident birds at the bird table. Clive

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