Chapter 1: What inspired Mia to become a birdwatcher?
This episode was recorded in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne is known as Narm by the Wurundjeri people, whose country we have the privilege to be on. I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and to any First Nations person from around the world listening to this podcast. Welcome to Weekend Birder. I'm Kirsty Costa and here together we notice birds.
I've been thinking a lot lately about social media, its challenges and its benefits, because it's through social media that I get to introduce you to Mia Grundy. Mia and I have been Instagram buddies for years now, so it's really nice to have her on the show to talk about the life of an everyday birdwatcher.
Mia has always loved being outside and like many of us, birds came into her life gradually.
Well, I've always been a lover of nature and being outdoors. I did my wildlife and conservation biology degree a couple of years ago and then over time I found myself drawn to birds in particular. So I used to like go hiking and walking just for some fresh air. But then birds gave me a deeper meaning to be outside. And yeah, I think in 2021, I bought my first field guide, the Simpson Day one.
And then it became like a passion of ticking off checklists and learning which species were in each areas. I didn't know the difference between a rainbow lorikeet and an eastern rosella at the time. So we had a lot of work to do. And then over time, I've just fallen in love with all different species and even going interstate or overseas to find different birds.
It really becomes a mission now to be like, oh, where am I going to go? Oh, what birds are going to be there? Yeah, I find when I go walking with my friends now, we go away for a weekend, I just give them a heads up of telling them, you know, oh, this might not be a 30-minute walk this time.
It might be two hours because, you know, I might get fixated on taking a photo of one little species that looks like a brown bird, but it's actually really exciting.
Mia says that the way she birdwatches has changed over time.
I think I like started off every time I'd go birding, I would bring out the checklist. I'd bring out eBird. I'd even write a list of species that I wanted to see. And I do that. I do that still. But sometimes, you know, I just I'll be out on my walk at lunchtime at work and I'll notice birds without even, you know, recognizing that I'm doing it. So it's not intentional birding.
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Chapter 2: How did birdwatching help Mia during tough times?
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.
And somewhere along the way, birdwatching has become part of how Mia sees herself.
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.
Time and time again on this podcast, Weekend Birder guests have reminded us about how birdwatching can steady us during uncertain times, like during COVID lockdowns.
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
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Chapter 3: What role does photography play in Mia's birdwatching experience?
My grandpa, my partner and I, we went out to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia and we went to a little town called Hawker on the way and straight away I looked out of the car and I didn't really believe it. I was like, I think that's a rainbow beater. And I was like, oh no, it's flown away. I'm never going to see it again.
And then we hopped out of the car at the camping site and I reckon we saw upwards of 20 to 30 and I was just in my element. I think we arrived at 9am that morning and I was just walking around.
It's quite a small town, you know, just walking around this small town during, you know, the middle of summer when it's like 40 degrees, just looking at the sky and, you know, the little wire fences and branches. And yeah, I got some really good pictures. I'm excited to upload them soon. Yeah.
Obviously I'd heard the sounds on, you know, like recordings and whatnot, but to hear it in real life, it's not loud, but, yeah, it's orchestral and, yeah, it's beautiful.
I love them. That recording was gifted to us by Mark Anderson. I love rainbow bearders too, and my favourite place to see them is on Dja Dja Wurrung country near Bendigo in central Victoria. If you're curious about this colourful bird that's full of personality, head back to episode 45 to learn about them with Stephanie Chambers from the Sydney Bird Club.
One fun fact that stayed with me from that episode is that rainbow bearders dig tunnels up to 90 centimetres into the ground to create their nests. Birds digging tunnels still blows my mind. Like many of us who are community focused, Mia's spent quite a bit of time thinking about what birdwatching actually is and who it's for.
I really don't think there are any rules, of course. It's nice to, you know, log species properly and have our checklists all neat. But it's really about being immersed in nature.
And I think a lot of people that I've met along the way, you know, whether it's, you know, reserves and I've seen them capture a photo and it sparks a conversation or, you know, just out in the community that call themselves birders. They're not academics, you know.
You know, they're not researchers, but they have so much knowledge just through years of being outdoors and being connected to country. And they've learned through observation and conversation as well. I think conversations like this is really important. But it's not about having all the answers.
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Chapter 4: How has Mia's approach to birdwatching evolved over time?
In the next episode, we're heading into the forest to meet Australia's woodland birds. Speak to you again soon.