"Ever wanted to catch ‘em all irl? Introducing: Birding"

Even before I began my Pokémon journey in Johto, I have always loved animals and nature— my Pokémon card collection sat on the shelf right next my Zoobooks and Wildlife Explorer binders. I just loved getting to know all the different creatures and learning everything about them (still do, currently doing my PhD in marine biology), and that part of my brain immediately loved Pokémon for the same reasons. I have to imagine that many trainers out there have similar parallel interests in Pokémon and wildlife, so I wanted to introduce y’all to one of my favorite irl nature hobbies that is essentially Pokémon Go with real animals: birding.It is perfectly simple— gotta see ‘em all! This world is inhabited by creatures that we call birds. Birds are everywhere, and their diversity is amazing, with 10,000 species worldwide. That’s a big National Dex to fill!! Your Regional Dex will be different depending on where you live (1,100 in North America, 200 in NZ where I live now. If you’re lucky enough to live in Colombia or Brazil, you can start with a Regional Dex of 3,000+!). A world of dreams and adventures with birds awaits! Go meet many kinds of birds and complete that birdDex!Getting Started1. Key Items. All you need is a field guide and a pair of binoculars. There are many different field guides available, including some pretty decent free apps (Merlin Bird ID, Audubon is good in North America), although there’s something about having a hard copy to flip through (my personal favorite in North America is Sibley’s which has detailed illustrations that point out the distinctive features to help distinguish similar species, also comes in western/eastern editions). Your binoculars will become your best friend, they're your multi-use pokéball for adding species to the dex. While some birds you'll be able to ID just fine with out them, a decent pair of binos will be very helpful for smaller, shier species. Ask around to see if there's a pair lying around in someone's attic for starters! When you're ready to invest in your own, know that while a nice pair can be expensive, they will last you a lifetime if taken care of (my weapon of choice that I've used for 10 years now).2. Finding tall grass. Birds are everywhere! Go into the forest for warblers and woodpeckers, wetlands for herons and grebes, and open fields for larks, and hawks. EBird has a list of hotspots compiled from data submitted by fellow birders where you can see which species have been seen where, a great tool for tracking down new species!3. Adding species to the Dex. There are few different ways to keep track of your birdDex (known to non-pokémon birders as a "life list"). Some of the field guide apps include a life list feature, and if you create an account and submit data to eBird, it will update your life list with any new species reported! I started my life list before eBird was very user friendly, so I just keep mine in a google doc with species name and date and location first seen (currently at 275 species!).With training, you'll become more and more familiar with the species in your area. You'll be able to identify certain species from just a glimpse as they fly across the trail or from the sound of their call alone. You'll become familiar with their different behaviors and habitats. And whenever you travel you can check eBird to see what new species you can find nearby (I recently took an hour-long detour to see a rare species of duck, totally worth it).Feel free to ask any questions in the comments, I may be able to help with more tips to get started! Or just shoot me a pm if you want to talk birds (or pokes for that matter lol). via /r/pokemon https://ift.tt/3cpinLC