President's Message, October 2026: Sickness and Birding
Updated: Sep 23
By Jessica Parrish, President
As with most of our members, I have found myself particularly busy these past two months and, to my chagrin, most of that time spent was not birding related. Life sometimes finds a way to fill up our time with jobs, travel, and other responsibilities. And with that, also comes sickness, which is what I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. Sickness often finds a way to humble me in ways I always find surprising: my body has new demands, normal activities require the assistance of others, and my demanding schedule takes a dive off of a cliff. My ever present perfectionism reminds me that I'm falling behind.
Recently, I was at Lettuce Lake Park leading one of the groups for our Beginning Bird Field Trip. This was my first event since I had gotten sick. As I slowly made my way through the boardwalk, I couldn't help to reflect that the birding activity mirrored my own lived experience: quiet, slow moving, feeding, and preening activities were primarily what was being observed by my group. This is not odd behavior for September in Florida. We're nearing the end of summer, many birds are done breeding, and many birds are preparing for their next big event: migration! I'm taking my cues from nature this month; it's a time of rest and feeding before a flurry of activity next month. Take care of yourselves and get ready for migration!
