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DonRocks

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First, a question: When did "birdwatching" become "birding?" And how, exactly?

Regardless of that curiosity, the birders I know have such a wonderful passion for the subject that it is a joy to behold. How many "hobbies" (if you can call such a fervent pastime a "hobby") give the participant so much pleasure, satisfaction, and peripheral knowledge, while leaving behind such a small, usually non-existent, footprint?

Birding, especially birding near where I live, is almost certainly in my future, to some degree or other. Likewise, botany, or whatever the "flora" equivalent to birding is. I don't have any strong calling to get out my microscope, but I'd love to walk out into my backyard, and identify every last living thing by name, be it a bird, a blade of grass, a tree, a wildflower - even a weed. With the right resources (the internet, books, expert friends), I could happily spend the rest of my life without ever leaving home, except of course to review restaurants and play tennis. :)

Although the Fine Arts And Their Variants section of this community is national - technically, world-wide - in scope, I'd like to at least take a stab at giving birders in the DMV some resources. This is just a layman's guess, but I suspect that Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia (with the Chesapeake Bay, Rock Creek Park, and Applachian Mountains) provide a unique combination of locales for birders - unique to the entire planet. (All three of those links are birding-related.) I know of at least two members here who are bonafide experts, and if they have anything to add (or subtract), their input would be most welcome.

There appear to be several private companies who undoubtedly have the expertise and resources to provide excellent birding tours. A simple Google search for "Birding" "Washington, DC" "Tours" (or some variation of that) will quickly provide them for you. But there are so many non-profit sources of information out there, that out of fairness, I've chosen only to include non-profit websites. (Again, to our experts: If you know of any private companies that merit inclusion, please chime in - I suspect that many people who are passionate enough about birding to devote their lives and livelihoods to giving tours have a lot to offer - I just don't have the knowledge to correctly include some and not others. Personally, I'd be glad to pay an enthusiastic professional for a tour specifically tailored to my needs and level of expertise.)

In no particular order:

"Birding In DC" on audubondc.org (The Audubon Society of the District of Columbia)

"Birding in Washington, DC" on mdbirds.org (The Maryland Ornithological Society).

"Free Birding Trips" on audubonnaturalist.org (The Audubon Naturalist Society)

"Birding At The Zoo" on nationalzoo.si.edu (The National Zoo)

"Birding in Maryland" on dnr.state.md.us (Maryland Department of Natural Resources)

"Birding in MD and DC - Links" on mdbird.org (The Maryland Ornithological Society)

"Baltimore Bird Club" on baltimorebirdclub.org (The Baltimore Bird Club)

"Birding" on visitmaryland.org (The Maryland Office of Tourism)

"Montgomery Bird Club" on montgomerybirdclub.org (The Montgomery Bird Club)

"Kent County Birding" on kentcounty.com (Kent County, MD)

"Friends of Blackwater NWR" on friendsofblackwater.org (Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge)

"Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Birding Program" on cbbt.com (Birding at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel)

"Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail" on dgif.virginia.gov (Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries)

"Beginning Birding" on audubonva.org (Beginning Birding by the Virginia Audubon Society)

"Northern Virginia Bird Club" on nvabc.org (Northern Virginia Bird Club)

"Birding and Wildlife Trail" on virginia.org (The Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail)

"Virginia Birding Listserves" on virginiabirds.net (The Virginia Society of Ornithology)

As I typed this list, it quickly became clear to me that I could spend all day doing it. There are at least twice this many websites that seem worthy of inclusion, and there might be ten-times this many - and this doesn't even include private companies. While I was typing this list, my goal changed from "including every link" to "including a representative sample of links that would put everybody 1-2 clicks away from what they're looking for" - I cannot possibly imagine there are more than two degrees of separation between this list and any worthwhile birding sight in MD, DC, and VA.

For novices, I hope this list is useful, and maybe enough to kick you into gear; for experts, I hope you find it interesting and perhaps even useful.

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