My son, Jack, and I are novice birdwatchers, but we’re planning to hone our skills this spring.

This past Christmas, Jack asked for binoculars so we’d no longer need to share the pair he found for me on Facebook Marketplace several years ago. We both have hiking shoes, and we purchased small backpacks to hold our field guides, water bottles, and snacks. We’re ready; but the weather here in Central Kentucky hasn’t supported any outdoor activities so far this year. I assume some birdwatchers persevere through the cold and rain. Jack and I aren’t that dedicated…yet.

In the early days of our birdwatching, we participated in the “Search for the Elusive Woodcock” at a local nature sanctuary. The guided hike started at 8:30 PM. I was worried we were being led on a snipe hunt. Jack and I, four other birders, and our guide traversed a grassy field in the dark. We were lucky enough to see the “sky dancing courtship,” but it was too dark to actually see the birds. What we saw were their darker outlines against the slate-gray sky. The nearly indistinguishable shapes soared 300 feet into the air, their wings whistling in the March wind. Afterward, I wasn’t sure if I should add the woodcocks to my life list since I hadn’t actually “seen” them in the darkness.

Jack and I also joined a birding tour through our local cemetery. As we looped through the manicured grounds, the guide would stop occasionally and instruct us to look through our binoculars to spot different species. Each time we stopped, one of the veteran birders mumbled under his breath, “All hell’s about to break loose now.” Jack and I didn’t know what to expect. Nothing ever broke loose, but we added a couple new birds to our lists.

Birding for us has gotten off to a slow start, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my son in the fields and the forests…adding birds to our life lists and making memories that will last a lifetime.