Happiness is a bird.

In last Sunday’s Life, Lee Wei Ling’s article “More to life than the pursuit of happiness” got me thinking about my life long hobby. She said that “Happiness, in whatever form one sees it, becomes more elusive the harder one tries to pursue it”. She is right of course.

But for many of us, birdwatching and the pursuit of birds with our cameras is the pursuit of happiness. The more elusive the species the happier we get when we see one. The harder we try to find the rare birds the greater the happiness when it shows up. I think that is why birders are generally happier. We may not be pursuing happiness but jumped for joy when when see a bird, especially a lifer.

This year I decided to relax and do some easy birding. I still walk around with my antique lens and shoot the same birds with my fellow birding friends. We never run out of birding stories to talk about, be it where to find some uncommon species or the latest who-ha. There is always some good laughs to share and know-how tips to pick up.

Some of the common species I shot this year that made me happy.