Bird watching is something I came to recently as a hobby. I have been an avid hill walker and was aware of birds as I roamed the beautiful peaks of Sheffield and Scotland. I could at a push, probably have recognised and named twenty.
Hobby spotters, however, are different. Binoculars, recognition books, recordings of bird songs are all carried by the keen bird watcher to aid identification. What got me in to bird watching was the gift of a lovely pair of binoculars and a weekend in Norfolk.
In one weekend I saw birds in more detail than ever before. The glossy sheen of the starlings wings changed a dull, noisy bird into one of my all-time favourites. Who knew there were so many iridescent colours in one wing? The binoculars brought the birds literally into sharp focus, and so much closer to me than I could achieve with my naked eye.
And the bird song? Since I took up bird watching, I have sat with eyes closed and simply enjoyed the song. My favourite moment so far, being the joyous exclaim of the skylark on a sunny morning in Shetland. It sang fit to burst and I couldn’t help smiling as I listened.
It’s been sad sometimes, though, to be with bird watchers whose experience of their beloved hobby has been diminished by their loss of hearing or the roar of tinnitus which drowns out the bird song.
Treatments such as our Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy reduce the intensity of the tinnitus and help with the hearing loss which we will all experience as we get older. If hearing bird song is important to you, then mention it when you come in for your appointment. Our audiologist can then make the right recommendation for you so that you continue to enjoy your hobby for as long as the birds continue to sing.
Birdsong helps us to spot where the bird is hiding. How awful not to have that signal, or more importantly for me, not to have the sheer joy of listening to one of nature’s marvels, the skylark.
