Does anyone here on Inat get made fun of for being a Birder/Birdwatcher? Comment below 
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I’m lucky, everyone I talk to about birds is either mildly interested, or tells me about the time they saw a Bald Eagle. Where I live, almost everyone has a Cool Bird Story.
I did, a few months ago, have a couple of people (grown adults, not just kids being ridiculous) laugh at me for photographing some moss on the side of a nature trail, but it was more funny to me than anything else because we were on a nature trail, and people on nature trails are usually enjoying nature instead of focusing on what other people are doing.
I hope no-one is ever affected by people laughing at/ hating on something harmless that they enjoy.
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No. I honestly think that I’m at an advantage because I’m a young, reasonably conventionally attractive woman, though. I know that sounds full of it, but I do think it has an impact. Everyone who I tell that I birdwatch, even when I’m poking fun at myself for having “a retiree hobby,” seems to react positively.
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Me too! Thanks for sharing!
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Only by immediate family members.
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I’m around mostly my family so I can relate.
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Not that I can recall, luckily. I definitely get a lot of people wondering what I’m looking at, and being somewhat astounded or at least a bit curious/impressed when the answer’s something other than a very common bird they’ve heard of. Rather, I find I get more comments about how it seems mind-blowing that someone would be able to tell apart bird songs, and think me a wizard for it. Which says more about the state of the public’s relationship with, and education about, the natural world than it does me, I think.
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Why would we get made fun of?? We are the snipers of the animal world. We’re cool. We camp in a place for hours and shoot some photos. I love the cameras with the telescopic lenses and the crosshairs. It makes me feel like I am shooting a gun. 
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Yes, I agree. Nature enthusiasts are generally very friendly no matter the religion or gender identifications. I’ve never met a rude nature enthusiast ever. Some people are rude here though which is quite rare. I mean, in person, they tend to be really nice. Then, again, there isn’t a lot of nature enthusiasts and especially not a lot of bird lovers out there. Lol
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Comrade, does loving birds count as birder? I mainly am interested in plants [nature wise] and arthropods more then larger animals.
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that is a hilarious reaction. We did have 2 passing trail runners - she told him - Look, they have books and everything!
Running thru nature makes me sad when I see them pound past, squashing bugs and breaking branches.
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Not necessarily. I would call you a Birdwatcher. A Birder is the one who puts lots of time and effort in finding birds. Birdwatchers usually just observe birds here and there. The list could go on and on…
That has basically happened to me, too. In my case it was club moss, and at first they were curious what I had found to photograph. When I launched into excitedly telling them about sporangia and gemmae, they seemed to decide that I was probably crazy.
The one time I remember distinctly being made fun of for being a nature nerd was as a teenager. It had nothing to do with birding though. We went out on a school trip hiking through the woods and stopped for lunch in an open area with sandy hills covered in heather, mosses, and all sorts of bugs crawling around. So being more curious than social I spent some time literally digging in the sand for interesting rocks and critters. Little did I know that our teacher was taking pictures of folks having fun during lunch break. Back in class, he showed a slide show of pictures from the trip and there was the one of me digging in the dirt. The teacher even joked something like some folks had fun digging holes in the sand like a dog searching for bones and the whole class burst into laughter. I felt humiliated. I still like to dig in the dirt but I do cut back on it whenever I’m out with other people. And being a teacher myself now, I can see the many problems with my teacher’s behavior back then. He probably honestly thought it was funny.
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Not really. I do get a lot of strange looks when I’m out in the field with all sorts* of optics hanging from my neck, though
*Two sorts, actually.
Lol. Thanks for sharing!
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Could you move this to the main birding/birdwatching thread so more people can see it and vote?
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Oops! It was an accident. Thanks!
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not at all!
usually people ask “what are you looking at?” or “oh! so what is that bird called? (points or describes)”
and Im no birder, but people love to learn even the most common species. everyone knows pigeons and chickens, but sparrows, grackles, or mynas may be new to them. or you can share fun bird facts :)
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I had a smart**s comment about carrying a zoom camera but this is an exception.
The general public usually display a polite indifference.
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Thanks for sharing!