Why birding is better than Pokemon Go.

This past summer there was a big craze in smart phone

gaming called Pokemon Go. I never played the game myself and perhaps it has seen it's 15 minutes of fame and faded into gaming obscurity. If so, it would render this comparison fairly obsolete. Even so, I am reminded of an incident last fall while birding in a popular local park. I was peering through my binoculars at a Raven high in a spruce tree when a small group of pre-teens accompanied by a couple of adults walked by. They paused as they walked up to me, and curiously asked what I was looking at. I simply said "bird watching."  They looked puzzled for a second as I'm sure they mulled over in their minds why anyone would be standing there just watching a bird. As their confused looks turned to acceptance, they replied "oh, ok" and turned to continue walking. As they departed, I took the opportunity to quip "It's better than Pokemon!" which got a few muffled chuckles from the adults.