This is my first migration and I saw my first Magnolia Warbler...

...And I nearly cried. (1/?)

So, back in senior year my first exposure to birding was Jason Ward’s Birds of North America. I loved birds, but never got into birding as a kid. I don’t exactly know why, it wasn’t like anyone was ever stopping me. I guess I just never considered it as an option for... (2/?)

...*someone like me.*

However, seeing Jason birding and being awesome at it started shifting that image of what a birder could look like. Plus, it’s an awesome show. How could I not keep watching? (3/?)

So, I kept watching. Even today, Warblers in Central Park is a video I come back to when I’m at my lowest. It still means so much to me today. (4/?)

Then, enter Birding with Wyatt Cenac. By that time, I was paying closer attention to the birds around me but wasn’t really birding yet. Still, years back, I coincidentally bought a bird guide when I was 14. I studied it like crazy! But still, not yet a fully fledged birder (5/?)

A minute in, Steve Wong showed up in that episode. I don’t know what happened but it was like something clicked for me. With the faces I saw in BoNA thus far, I knew deep down anyone could be a birder. Until then, it finally clicked that one of those faces could be Asian. (6/?)

...Just like me.

I guess I had a really visceral reaction to that Magnolia Warbler because it showed up in Warblers in Central Park. The first video of an awesome series that challenged my idea of what a birder could look like... (7/?)

...The first video of an awesome series that told me a face like mine could be stuck to a pair of binoculars. (8/?)

Anyway, this was a sappy love letter to Birds of North America and representation. It led to me making this account. Ever since I joined Bird Twitter, I keep following/meeting awesome people whose experiences and identities tell me that I have a place here. That I belong. (9/10)

If you got this far, thanks for being here and for being you. I don’t know if Jason Ward and/or Steve Wong will ever come across this thread, but I hope they know they helped me call myself a birder. I hope I can become that person for someone someday, wherever I end up. (10/10)