Fall is magical. The sky is blue,
the sun is bright, the leaves are changing, bonfires are blazing, and the air
is cool (although not cold yet). Fall is that special season when school starts
again, but when it lets out each day everyone flocks to the outdoors to soak up
Mother Nature’s love. At least, that’s how I remember fall being when I was
younger. These days, it seems that even as the weather remains comfortable,
people are staying inside. Whether it’s to knock out a few levels of a video
game or catch up on or binge-watch a TV show, many of our favorite activities
are indoors. Fall just doesn’t feel quite as synonymous with the outdoors as it
used to. Our modern technological world often seems at odds with spending time
outside, as our charging cords only reach so far and our screen brightness just
can’t compete with the shine of the sun. However, using a smartphone can help
us get acquainted with our local wildlife.
So when you find yourself wrestling with your family members to put down their screens and get outside, you might be asking yourself, “What is so good about getting outside anyway?” Our environment not only provides us with food, raw materials, and medicine, but experiencing nature and its diversity has been found to have positive impacts for us such as improving physical health from increased activity and reducing our exposure to pollution. Spending time in nature can also give us mental health benefits such as feelings of calmness and happiness, increased creativity through inspiration, and personal growth through reflection and connectedness with nature.
With urbanization and the
increasing presence of technology in our lives, we can still strengthen our
awareness and knowledge of local birds and our connection with nature (and maybe
even with some of our neighbors once we get outside) through the use of
technology via smartphone apps. Using a smartphone and mobile apps for learning
bird species gives you access to pictures, videos, and audio to identify them.
I use two apps myself to identify birds, the Merlin Bird ID and Audubon Bird
Guide, which are free to download and are available for both Apple and Android
phones. Each one generates a list of possible bird species based on the information
you enter, and in my own experience using these apps I found that both showed
the correct bird species as the #1 suggestion the majority of the time. Even
when we might not be all too familiar with the birds and nature we see outside
our windows, we can have the technology right at our fingertips to get to know
our local wildlife a bit better.
With time spent in nature showing a
wealth of positive outcomes towards human life, we might ask ourselves what
interactions can lead to a better connection with nature and perhaps how we can
incorporate technology into the experience. Studies have shown that communities
felt more satisfied with the well-being of their neighborhoods in relation to
the number and variety of bird species around, as well as in relation to the
number of species they knew. Birdwatching has become a popular leisure
activity, and increases in birdwatching have been suggested to be a result of
people’s growing concern for the environment and the expansion of urbanization.
As our populations shift more towards cities, keeping an eye out for birds
flitting by can be an impactful way to remain connected to nature. So remember
this fall when you’re asking yourself “How can I get my family outside and
experiencing nature?” like the saying goes, there is an app for that.
