Do you know who James Bond is? American ornithologist. The author of spy novels, Ian Fleming, borrowed his name for his character.
Fleming was an amateur ornithologist and bird watcher. In Western countries, this is a very common hobby.
Birds can be observed in your garden, in the park and even from the train window. The goal is to capture as many birds of different species as possible. The real “hunt” is going on for the rare ones. On the days of national competitions, participants must count as many birds as possible in a certain area in 24 hours. Teams are equipped with satellite communications, powerful binoculars and long-range cameras, and some even hire private jets or helicopters.
All this has little to do with scientific observations of birds. It’s more of a sport. You say strange? There are also more unusual ones. For example, aircraft observers spend their free time at airports and air bases, write down the numbers of the aircraft they see, take pictures, and make sketches. Guards at British air bases have become accustomed to people with cameras and binoculars looking over the fence.
There are many fans and a kindred hobby – watching trains. In the New York subway after the September 11 attacks, they tried to ban photography. But this caused such an outburst of indignation among train lovers that the authorities surrendered. They felt that weirdos who photographed trains were doing more good than harm. They watch the work of the railroad so closely that it is easy to spot anything suspicious.
Observe, collect events, capture a fleeting – literally – moment
Although these activities seem meaningless to many, I am sorry that they are unpopular in our country. Having a hobby is generally a luxury that few people today can afford. Free time, if any, people prefer to spend on something useful: sports – for the sake of health and beauty, collecting – as a profitable investment. And observation is a completely disinterested occupation.
Observers collect events: a bird has flown, a plane has landed, a train has rushed by… They capture a fleeting – literally – moment… We all know this desire to stop time. That is why we sort through old photographs with such love: here is our baby smiling in the cradle, here grandmother baked a cake for her birthday, here we were at the sea last summer …
And some are more interested in remembering a flying Boeing. In addition, our family photos are interesting only to us, and hobbies can be shared with others – lovers of planes, trains and birds.