Catherine Shaw

The way that they notice it actually does make a lot of sense.

And sometimes as adults, we can overcomplicate things.

Or they say the Pacific bazaar has a mohawk.

That's the mohawk hawk.

Great.

Why didn't I think of calling a Pacific Bazaar the Mohawk Hawk?

That's a great name for it.

And I also love the joy that a child has the first time they experience a bird.

And I think we can lose that really quickly as adults.

I still got it that time I saw the buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, but I don't get it so much anymore when I see a Golden Whistler.

But the first time you show a child a golden whistler, a male golden whistler, it's like the coolest thing they have ever seen.

And they're like, has this been in my backyard the whole time and I didn't know this thing existed?

And they just stop for a moment.

I love that.

Wouldn't it be great if adults could reclaim a little bit more of that?

And perhaps that's why birding is so contagious for adults is because we get to reclaim a little bit of that wow factor that naturally children have and as adults we tend to lose.

The day that I was watching a PE lesson and the whole lesson stopped because a bird swooped down and a kid went, square-tailed kite, and all eyes went up.

A, the correct, the idea was correct.

I was really stoked with that.

But B, the whole PE lesson just stopped for a moment to watch this bird.