Birds and Beans

If you want to feel an unexpected and strangely awesome adrenalin rush, head to Magee Marsh this week to witness the sport of birding in it’s prime. The next few days wrap up The Biggest Week in American Birding and sightings are just heating up!  Magee Marsh, off the southern edge of Lake Erie, is “the best place to witness spring migration of songbirds anywhere in North America”.

Space on the board walk was shoulder to shoulder as avid birders took their eyes to the sky… My eyes were on the beans, Birds & Beans that is. To answer my questions about this bird friendly coffee, I was introduced to Kimberly Kaufman, Executive Director at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Kim was in high demand as I caught her between phone calls and TV interviews. I was curious to what made these beans “bird friendly” compared to other organic blends. Her answer was all about location. According to Birds & Beans, “the special farm must meet substantial benchmarks for forest canopy height, foliage cover, forest structure, and be comprised of native species to qualify for SMBC’s Bird Friendly seal.” That is why the coffee is farmed in Nicaragua, echoed Kim, explaining the natural process. For more information, check out this video.

I decided to bring my daughters birding for the educational experience… in turn, I was educated that I will not be bringing them next time, at least until they are old enough not to disturb the birding peace. Never the less, we had the best morning and left with great memories and some fun bird goodies!

The future of birding is BIG and starts LITTLE! I am so lucky to have a great mentor in my highschool basketball coach, Richard Banish, AKA Bano. He let me stroll around with some heavy weight Swarovski Optiks and I don’t know how I can look through another pair again!  I swear I could see a bird over Detroit with those babies. Thank you, Bano, for showing me the ropes and introducing me to this growing sport!  Once a coach, always a coach! Because birding is a lot like basketball… hands up, head on the swivel!

And thank you, babysitter Syd, for accompanying us on this adventure!