Mia Grundy

It's just when I hear a call or I look up in the sky, there'll be a bird there and I

So I instinctively do it now.

And yeah, it's just a way that I experience the world.

And I think we live parallel with wildlife.

They're not separate to us.

So I think it's, you know, a beautiful way to be present.

If people ask me if I was a birder, I would definitely say yes.

My intro on Instagram now is I like birds.

So I think I make it a big part of my identity.

Yeah.

So I started my degree in 2021.

So we were just sort of coming out about that time, but we still had some lockdowns and yeah, during like the five kilometer, 25 kilometer radius and crazy times.

Yeah.

And I'd go birdwatching and yeah, just get out and make sure that would provide some structure to the day outside of Zoom and Google Meetings.

but as well last year i lost my dad quite unexpectedly and i'm usually a very busy person i love to do things but i just couldn't yeah so i would be at home and just you know days would go by and by and by and i'm thinking oh nothing's changing you know my mental health wasn't getting much better um so birding and photography really became the staples of my days

and they'd helped me leave home during that time so yes every few days I'd get my phone and get on eBird or iNaturalist that is both and just log birds that I could find and so yeah having that small purpose to go out and record what I heard or saw yeah gave some structure to days that felt really heavy

and then yeah this time went by every three days turned into every two days and then every two days turned into every day every morning I'd start that sort of ritual and it would be like a morning meditation I think once I found myself getting outside in the morning I couldn't

do the rest of the day I think it's just that first step yeah every morning felt very heavy like it's not just when you're going through grief it's not just a mental thing it's physical like your brain and body you know they're connected and they both feel heavy and sometimes it would you know I'd literally drag myself out it wouldn't just be like stepping out of bed um and honestly you know like sometimes when I go for my morning walk it would still be really hard and

I wouldn't even get out of my pajamas, you know, but slowly I'd, you know, listen to a bird, even if it's just, I can't say even, but even if it's just a crimson rosella, which is super common down here, I'd be like, oh, that's beautiful.

You know, I've seen that today.