ADHDer Tries Birding

 

A few weeks ago, one of my friends bought me the game Flock Around on Steam. I had so much fun doing bird photography and it gave me such a dopamine rush that I wanted to try it in real life. But I knew I did not have a camera for it, so I just went on a hike and took some pictures of plants and things like that. I thought the itch had been scratched and it was just a temporary fixation because I know I switch hobbies often with my ADHD. I was not sure if it was going to stick after I tried it, but I could not get it out of my mind. I ended up buying a pair of binoculars on Amazon.

The very same day I got the binoculars, I went into my parents' backyard and sure enough there was a bird perched right on a cholla cactus. I put my eyes to the binoculars, adjusted them, and got a clear view of a beautiful little bird with a red head and crest. I did not know what it was at first, so I used the Merlin app to identify it, and it turns out it was a house finch.

It is a perfect hobby for someone with ADHD because I get to use my sight and hearing senses to pick up every little noise and visual twitch. That is great for my ADHD. Also, the unpredictability of it, not knowing what I am going to find or when it is going to fly away, makes it feel like real life doom scrolling. It is good for someone who needs that roller coaster of up and down dopamine spikes like someone with ADHD does. But at the same time, it requires a level of mental presence and a kind of zen that is really healthy for someone with ADHD as well.

I really hope it is a hobby that I stick with, and I am very grateful for the experience of getting to see that bird in my parents' backyard. It was beautiful. Not just the bird. The experience itself was beautiful.