When two hobbies collide...

I've never felt it to be a bad thing to have a large variety of interests. One can never be bored if there are enough things to pursue. The problem sometimes becomes one of picking and choosing, however. Of late, I have been having a blast by combining two of my interests; birding and scrapbooking. Throw in a third interest of "not wasting resources," and I guess I've covered three.

I've enjoyed trying my hand at bird photography, sharing many of those images right here. What then? My skills and equipment are not of a level that would ever allow me to seriously consider marketing my work; this is just for fun. I had started a scrapbook some years ago to showcase some of my best work, and that was fine--for a time. When I upgraded my equipment to digital + big honking lens, the number of photos that fit the criteria for "my best work" grew beyond anything reasonable for a scrapbook.

Enter my Birder's Life List project. I had the brilliant idea that maybe a little show and tell would be a nice inclusion if I should ever receive any calls for programs now that I'm listed in the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology Speaker's Bureau. I could print out my favorite photos, scrap them on a small layout of 6 inches by 6 inches, using up my too numerous leftover scraps saved from other projects.

I think I've created for myself a whole new hobby. In the past week, I've already completed nineteen of these layouts. Now, although my North American Life List stands currently at 206, I certainly don't have good photos, or in many cases, any photos, for all of those. Still, I have enough to keep myself busy for a nice long time. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get back to saving family or vacation photos in my scrapbooks now.

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who has found a way to combine this love we call birding with another passion. Share yours. Now that I think of it, I've combined one more; my Speaker's Bureau offering is a program of stories from world folklore, sharing tales of birds and why they do the things they do!