♪♪ When you go bird watching, you can't think about anything else.

You don't worry about what's on the grocery list that you forgot to pick up.

Now you're concentrating on wow, what kind of warbler is that?

Oh my goodness, I hear something up in the trees.

Is it a chickadee going dee dee dee?

You know how wonderful it is to be able to drop the day to day and enjoy the life around you?

♪♪ ♪♪ I'm Ann Paul, and I'm a retired biologist.

♪♪ Tampa Audubon hosts a nature walk at Lettuce Lake Park the second Saturday of every month.

Oh, there she is.

Okay, can you see the red star?

Yeah.

It's really designed for beginning birders.

People who are just learning how to maybe use binoculars or how to spot birds or what the birds are that they're seeing.

So many times we'll get as many as 25 or 30 species on one of those walks.

It's amazing what we do see.

And Lettuce Lake never disappoints.

Nick, sure.

Okay.

Waterthrush.

All right.

That's a specialty, guys.

See where my light is.

Go to the left.

There the light is actually hitting on that far shore and it's been walking.

It's a little bit behind there.

It's right down by the water's edge.

He's right beside that bright yellow leaf.

Northern waterthrush, actually a warbler.

[laughter] Yippee!

Bird watching is really popular because everybody can do it.

You don't have to be a supreme athlete.

Um, it does help if you have some equipment, if you have binoculars.

I suggest everybody buy the best binoculars they can afford.

Because it really helps when you're looking at birds.

We have big birds that are easy to identify, so that makes it fun.

We have little birds that are hard to identify, and that makes it fun because then when you get to see one, you get this great big thrill that you were able to see it.

Oh, wow!

So many people benefit by bird watching because it stretches our brain.

The other thing is just getting out and walking around.

Nature is really good for you.

If you have a backyard, you can invite birds to your yard.

If you have a balcony, you can put up hummingbird feeders and put hummingbird type plants on your balcony and they'll come.

It's a great thing to have bird feeders in your yard because you really benefit from it yourself.

♪♪ So I've been here for a while.

I'm actually a native Floridian, was born in Gainesville.

When I worked for Audubon, I was hired as a a bird monitor or actually a seasonal warden.

Then I was promoted to assistant sanctuary manager, and then I became something called regional coordinator, which I never knew what that meant.

So I figured it just meant anything I wanted to do.

♪♪ During the nesting season, which is in this area of Florida, pretty much April through August.

We would be out on the water almost every day trying to survey the numbers of birds that were nesting at each particular island.

♪♪ So we've got a few wading birds over here.

I've got tricolored heron chicks, snowy egrets, a lot of anhinga in here too.

♪♪ ♪♪ We are trying to protect these birds and increase their population numbers, so we can eventually have them off of the threatened species list.

My work also helps contribute data to our overall population trends, and we really need that information to help shape policy and government regulations and that kind of thing.

Right now, we're facing a critical time for a lot of bird species with climate change and continued human development and disturbance.

Now is a time where we need to make sure that we're giving those birds a chance to raise their young and stay in our area.

Our birds need space.

They need those wide open beaches and being able to just share the shore with them and give them that space and time is really important to their success.

There are a lot of bird species that use Florida throughout the year.

It's a really great place for for birds, a variety of habitats.

Florida is amazing for bird watching, so I would go out almost every weekend in my free time to go birding at some of our local parks and beaches.

♪♪ Birds bring me joy.

I think they bring a lot of people joy.

They're they're beautiful.

They're interesting.

They give.

They give us a sense of place.

I think whenever you're paying attention to something other than yourself, when you sort of drop out of the your own headspace of, you know, the to do list and can stop and watch a bird and enjoy the beauty of, of nature.

I think that's a positive for anyone.

We care about birds for several reasons.

One, I think, which is really important for us to think about.

If habitats can't support birds, they're not good for people either.

We need clean air and water.

This is good for birds.

But guess what?

It's good for us.

It's good for our children and our grandchildren.

We need open space because it does our hearts and souls good to get out and walk in nature.

They are part of the world that has been given to us.

It's our legacy.

♪♪