I was reading a book review about 'slow birding' in the NYTimes recently -- a non-competitive version of birdwatching modeled on the slow food movement. The crappy little sparrows that populate your yard are sufficient, that kind of thing. Sounded like my kind of birding, and I thought, 'you know, I really ought to give this a try'. So I headed into the yard armed with my biggest ass lens. But of course it is the middle of winter and the birds are mostly out of town for the next couple of months. I did, however, observe some of the local tree rodents doing their thing. Which was climbing up to the sunniest spot they could find, spreading out and trying to keep warm in the 30 degree weather. In my version of slow birding, observing non-birds is totally allowed since noticing nature is what it's all about. And it was kinda fun, to be honest.
