This is where I became a birder. Friends and colleagues had pledged up to a dollar a bird for each species I could identify in 24 hours. I spent a week in preparation, most of it here, at Fannie Stebbins, a refuge along the Connecticut River near Springfield, Massachusetts. It's fabulous in migration, and I got more than 70 species that May day. I return whenever I can.
Most birders begin their visits by parking and just looking up.
The trees can be full of warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, and vireos. And, of course, orioles. These goslings were walking along the edge of the road. Soon, you'll be drawn into the woods towards the river. There's another pond just through the trees.