MNR tour ‘for the birds’

With two professional bird-watchers to lead the way, about 20 enthusiasts spent last weekend searching for–and identifying–various species during the Rainy River Birding Workshop.
“A lot of people find birding really intimidating,” said George Holborn, one of the leaders of the outing. “It doesn’t have to be that way at all, it’s approachable by anybody.”
The session, sponsored by the Ministry of Natural Resources office in Fort Frances and the Wildlife Assessment Unit, saw participants spend Friday evening and all day Saturday in the bush in search of common and not-so-common birds.
Before they headed out, the group attended an in-class session during which Holborn and fellow bird-watcher Doug McRae played examples of songs and calls from some of the area’s most common species.
McRae, who has led bird-watching tours all over Canada and in foreign countries like Zaire and Burundi for Field Guides Inc., a Texas-based tour company, then took everyone out for an evening hike on the Reef Point trails.
“It’s really important to know early on that it’s infinite what you could learn,” said McRae, reassuring some of those out on the trails who were overwhelmed by the amount of information the two guides were giving out.
“Birding is a lot of fun, you’re not going to pass or fail,” he said. “This is meant to be a low-stress learning experience.”
The local birders received advice on the best books and binoculars to get before heading out Friday. And both Holborn and McRae stressed a good birder shouldn’t just look at a bird and then check it off a list but rather take the time to study their behaviour and learn to recognize their calls.
“A good birder doesn’t just look at the birds,” McRae remarked.
On Saturday, the group met again for an all-day bird-watching session near Rainy River.
“If I learn one or two more birds each time I go out, I’m happy,” said Fort Frances resident Henry Miller, who took part in the workshop.