I began my birding journey in 2012 having never picked up a pair of binoculars. I decided to learn by doing an ABA,(American Birding Association), Big Year and finished with 600 species. 10 years later, in 2022 I did a Canada Big Year, and counted 456 species.
Now I get to talk to the birders of the Big Year, from Sandy Komito who was the first birder to do two Big Years, to Eve Morrell who was only the second woman to see more than 760 species in the continental ABA Area and provincial Big Year Birder, Karen Miller, who still holds the New Brunswick, Canada provincial record of 303 species.
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I began my birding journey in 2012 having never picked up a pair of binoculars. I decided to learn by doing an ABA,(American Birding Association), Big Year and finished with 600 species. 10 years later, in 2022 I did a Canada Big Year, and counted 456 species.
Now I get to talk to the birders of the Big Year, from Sandy Komito who was the first birder to do two Big Years, to Eve Morrell who was only the second woman to see more than 760 species in the continental ABA Area and provincial Big Year Birder, Karen Miller, who still holds the New Brunswick, Canada provincial record of 303 species.
Episode 14: Kelly-Sue O’Connor and Birding with Mental Health Issues
The Big Year Podcast
40 minutes 34 seconds
1 year ago
Episode 14: Kelly-Sue O’Connor and Birding with Mental Health Issues
Hello birders, and other non-feathered friends, and welcome to Episode 14 and the final episode of Season 1 of The Big Year Podcast. I am thrilled to have Kelly-Sue O’Conner, who runs Birder Brains, who along with myself and many other birders, live with various mental health issues, including Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Post-concussion Syndrome. In my case all three plus a few other, including Social Anxiety Disorder. Boy, do I hate the word "disorder" as a descriptive.
Anyway in this episode I did something very different. Because of the subject matter, I didn’t edit out anything, as I thought it important to hear us as we really are and not hide our pauses and such. So, the idea was to not cut out the parts of the conversation that were challenging to us. You'll even hear, in my opening monologue, that sometimes I have trouble getting the words out, because of different mental challenges I have. So bear with us when we go off on tangents, and be patient where there might be some long pauses.
We wanted to get that message out that if you do have your own cognitive and mental challenges, it’s okay talk about it, and if you need help, there's always people you can talk to and people that can definitely give you advice and help you feel more comfortable with what you’re going through. I like to take some of these challenges like OCD and ADHD and put them to use in my everyday birding life.
So, sit back, relax,(unless you’re driving), and enjoy my chat with Kelly-Sue, live from the boardwalk in Rondeau Provincial Park.
The Big Year Podcast
I began my birding journey in 2012 having never picked up a pair of binoculars. I decided to learn by doing an ABA,(American Birding Association), Big Year and finished with 600 species. 10 years later, in 2022 I did a Canada Big Year, and counted 456 species.
Now I get to talk to the birders of the Big Year, from Sandy Komito who was the first birder to do two Big Years, to Eve Morrell who was only the second woman to see more than 760 species in the continental ABA Area and provincial Big Year Birder, Karen Miller, who still holds the New Brunswick, Canada provincial record of 303 species.
