Ever since I found the Norris Dam Songbird trail almost a year ago, I've wanted to place a bird themed geocache there. In fact, I've had an idea for a bird themed cache for quite a while, years even. Birding is something I used to do quite a lot, it was even one of the things that brought me and my wife together. But it is also something that I have not been keeping up with as much, especially since geocaching became my dominant hobby. I go out on hikes and listen for bird-songs, and try to spot birds, but am usually much more focused on getting to a location with a cache, than taking my time to track down an elusive warbler. Birding takes patience and lots of time, and I think I've just gotten lazy about doing it. But it is also a really enjoyable hobby/skill. Once you learn a few bird-songs, hearing those songs out in the wild gives you special thrill, and also makes you feel more at ease in the environment. More like a welcomed guest rather than an intruder.
So with that in mind, I finally got around to creating my bird themed geocache. It is a puzzle cache (of course!) in which you need to identify several of the local bird species by sound to get the coordinates. The cache went live last weekend and already was found by some of the areas FTF-hounds. Sounds like they enjoyed it quite a bit. And it also sounds like it has given them an appreciation of birding. If I can turn even one geocacher into a birder also, then I would consider this cache to be a big success.
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