Misadventures of a Young Birder

Welcome to my new blog! My name is Hannah. I am a young birder living in the South Georgian bay area of Southern Ontario. Let me tell you how I got into birding:

Me taking pictures of ducks in Minesing swamp

My interest was first sparked by my Great Grandmother. I visited her small cottage in the backroads near Woodstock, New Brunswick every summer. Her walls were filled with posters and news articles about loon conservation or an interesting local sighting, her mantels decorated with plates featuring each of Canada's provincial birds, and her side tables crowded with birding magazines. And then there was her Audubon bird clock and her dog-eared 1970's Peterson Field Guide. I was 5 at the time, and every time I visited, I would climb into her green La-Z-Boy chair, flip through her bird book and match the pictures in the book to the pictures on the wall. It was like a game to me, and I guess it still kind of is :).
One day, My cousin (about 11),  My sister (about 8), and I (about 6), found a bird under her bird feeder who had hit the window. The birds was a live, but barely. The first thing I did was ran inside and grabbed my Great Grandmother's Bird Book. I think I ID'd it as a Mourning dove. We found the phone book and called a local wildlife rehab centre. That was the first time I had held a bird in my hands. That moment added another log onto my brewing interest of birds.

Fast forward to 2008, the year my Great Grandmother passed away at 90. That was also the year I received my first bird book: A 2004 National Geographic Field Guide. I dabbled in birds for a few years, but had not yet discovered the world of "Birding"...

...Until March 10th, 2014, When I visited Homosasa park in Florida. It was there, at the spur of the moment, when I decided I would try to take pictures of as many bird species as I could with my Canon Rebel XS and My 300mm lens.

A picture from the day I got into birding. 

Two year, Three field guides, Two binoculars, one scope and 260 birds later, Here I am: Misadventures of a Young Birder. Come with me, as I try to navigate the world of birding as a 15 year old among adults, all while trying to explain the difference between a Chickadee and a Goldfinch to my parents.
Welcome to Misadventures of a Young Birder.

Me finding my birthday bird- Little Gull- In Barrie

A bird joke- What's the difference between a Baltimore Oriole and a Bullock's Oriole? Not much, according to some scientists a few decades ago!