Moose Jaw Times-Herald: A Beginner’s Guide to Birding

A Western kingbird hangs out in a tree
in Wakamow Valley on May 21, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

A birdcall echoed through the trees under the beating sun in Wakamow Valley.


I looked up, watching and listening. The bird circled around and flew across from branch to branch. Quickly, I used a telephoto lens to zoom in to get a closer look.

Spotting birds isn’t easy, but it’s made a little easier with binoculars or, in my case, a zoom lens. Fran Kerbs, an experienced birder guide from Regina, identified the species of bird. She told me she started out as a general photographer before she really got into birding.

Two birds are pictured in
Wakamow Valley on May 21, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

I had never been birding before. General photography has always been a passion of mine, but not birding. I have captured photos of birds in the past – even so much as capturing a crystal clear photo of a duck flying midair in Crescent Park – but never have I trekked into the lush valley specifically to look for and identify different birds.

This changed on Thursday evening.

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