Birding is a terrible addiction. In my decade as a birdwatcher, birds have driven me to all sorts of extremes. I've developed blisters chasing shrikes, given myself a concussion when my binoculars fell on my head, nearly been run over in a crosswalk when I stopped to stare at a hawk, ruined several pairs of shoes, and caught myself on barbed wire more times than I'd care to admit. I annoyed one boyfriend by spotting cormorants on our 'romantic' pre-prom walk on the beach, and permanently traumatized another by getting him caught in a torrential rainstorm three and a half miles from our truck in the middle of a state forest in Indiana.
If, like me, you still love chasing the birdies despite all the difficulties involved, and if you live in (or plan to visit) Western New York, this page is for you.
