Alexander Borzenko: “It seems to me that everyone who loves birds should generally be good people”

material: Sofia Khananashvili
illustrations: Sofia Khananashvili

Having finally recognized our millennialism, we decided to ask people about their hobbies and find something suitable for ourselves. For this purpose, the editors of Demagog magazine sent designer Sonya Khananashvili to interview one of the most famous bird observers, Alexander Borzenko. Sonya talked with Alexander about the birdwatching community in Russia and Latvia, about the popularization of bird watching and why everyone should do it.

— First, I want to ask about your personal birdwatching experience. Can you tell us how you started doing it?

— If we talk about current birdwatching, I started doing this around 2015. I have always loved nature in its various manifestations, I loved being in nature, books, including about birds, but at the same time I did not observe many birds in nature, I knew practically no names.

There was one episode this year, probably in 2013. We hung a feeder with the children, and a fieldfare flew to it. And this is the kind of bird that people send me every day in winter and ask what it is. Because the fieldfare is quite unknown and at the same time super bright, with an ocher breast, very noticeable. And you can take a picture of it on your phone, which is important - usually people don’t send me pictures [taken through] some six hundredth telephoto lens [telephoto lens, it is used for shooting distant objects - approx. ed. ].

And then I became interested too. And in my searches I came across such a program at the Moscow State University Zoo Museum, which coordinates bird lovers. And in particular, I found an interactive map of Moscow, where it was written which square contains which birds. Naturally, the first thing I did was look at the square where we live, it was in the very center, and I was very surprised - something like a black kite, a gray crane, etc. was listed there. Now I understand that it was about birds in flight: people just raised their heads and saw. But then I thought: damn, is there really a gray crane wandering somewhere around Devichye Pole, and we don’t see it? (Laughs) This somehow intrigued and inspired me. I lived with the idea that nature was very far away, but it turned out that there were birds all around us, we just had to look. And then I found the greenfly, which was also on the list, and I thought: wow, this works, it really is here!

And then we moved to Riga in 2014, because I started working at Meduza and went as part of the first team, which, in fact, opened all this. There, at some point, Tisha, my son, became interested in birds; he was probably six or seven years old. And all my childhood experience and this recent experience came together into one. When we moved, it was very difficult, to be honest, because for the children this is a super new place - they were cut off. We kept thinking that we needed to find something for them, and I latched onto this idea. I started googling where to go to see birds with my child, and saw the Latvian Ornithological Society, started digging, found the English version, wrote to them, thinking that no one would answer me, but suddenly I received a letter: “Yes, you can join the Latvian Ornithological Society, just fill out the form and pay the fee.” I wrote on Facebook then: “I felt a strong desire to join somewhere. And he joined the Latvian Ornithological Society.”

It was more of a meme for me back then. And then began what I usually compare to Harry Potter, when he receives a list before the first of September: he needs to have a magic wand, such and such a cauldron and such and such books. Once every three months we began to receive the magazine Putni dabā (“Birds in Nature”), and I felt like I was part of something, I felt that we were accepted here in such a pleasant place. Tisha and I entered there together; this was another important element - our common cause. Then a schedule of walks appeared, and I was simply stunned, because the first invitation sounded like this: “Come with us on a bike trip to look for hoopoes in Jurmala.” Well, like this, by the way, by the way. And Tisha and I went.

There were some absolutely wonderful people there who treated Tisha very carefully, and he turned out to be an only child, there was a lot of laughter. I didn't expect there to be so many young people. These were people more or less my age, maybe a little older - active, cheerful people who took their bikes and went to Jurmala to look for hoopoes. We didn’t find any hoopoes then, but we did find a bunch of other birds. And for the first time I saw a person in action who identified birds by their voices and their approximate age. This is what I am doing now, and people are often amazed: how is this possible? And then I thought so too and was absolutely delighted.

— Do you know what was happening in Russia at the same time? Was there anything similar there?

- Yes, yes, yes, it definitely was. But I learned about this retroactively, because at that time I was completely focused on Latvia. Then, in 2019, I left Meduza, we returned to Moscow, I had already written a long letter to the Moscow State University Zoo Museum about my experience, offered to help with their project and immediately received a huge response, very warm: “What happiness, come, we are looking forward to seeing you.” For me it was a very special thing in every sense. I felt that I had gained some kind of background and could now do important work in my own country. This was very valuable, because in Russia at that time birdwatching was not at all as popular as it is now in Russia or at the same time in Latvia, and there was a very shortage of observers.

I then chose a square where we had a dacha, where I had most contact with nature, and looked at all my native places with completely new eyes, saw the same birds that I had seen in childhood, but now I knew what it was, who they were, where they were, what they were doing. And there was a feeling that this was absolutely terra incognita: every time I felt like a pioneer, because you were coming to a place where no one had seriously recorded birds for a very long time.

For me it was such a big cool game where everything was real. I have developed what I jokingly call square patriotism: it is very important to you what birds you find in your square; you know what is included in your territory and what is not; you are upset about what is happening on your territory; You communicate during research with a huge number of people with whom you never thought to communicate. And then, by the way, I saw how very different Latvia is from Russia: there are practically no fences in Latvia, Russia is just one big fence. That is, for example, there was almost no such thing as a security guard approaching me in Latvia. This happened once, but when I came to the hydroelectric power station with all my optics to observe the wintering cormorants, and they were like: “Eh, guys, this is a strategic object, sorry, don’t come here with your binoculars.”

— What is your impression of the Birdwatching community? How pleasant is this community?

— Regarding the community, there is generally no universal rule that all birdwatchers are this or that - birdwatchers are equal to ordinary people. Probably, except for the fact that I still believe that if a person is seriously passionate about birds, this slightly reduces the likelihood that he will turn out to be cruel. In general, the formula “a fisherman sees a fisherman from afar” absolutely works here. The first reflex when you meet someone with binoculars is to share your joy: look, I had such a cool find, go there, you will also get this joy. I have already spent more than a hundred walks in a variety of cities, mostly with Russian-speaking emigrants - with different experiences, different ages, different backgrounds. But in ninety-nine percent of cases, these are people with whom I feel very comfortable, with whom we quickly find a common language, with whom we share some universal values. On the unpleasant side, when I returned to Moscow, I was impressed by the toxicity of the Facebook bird community. There is such a huge group “Birds of the European Part of Russia”. And people, for example, post photographs of the same fieldfare and ask what kind of bird it is. And the first, say, fifty comments are “Have you tried Google?” And sometimes from people whom I respect and value very much. There is a feeling that everyone is very tense, as if everyone is constantly defending themselves. But in fact, when a person comes with such questions, he doesn’t always need to know what kind of bird it is, sometimes it’s just an opportunity to chat, to share the joy that he managed to take a photo of someone.

This feeling of tension intensified when I began to encounter photographers. It is actually a very interesting thing that in Latvia the classic birdwatcher is a man with binoculars, sometimes with a pipe. And in Moscow I met a huge number of people for whom wild nature photography comes first. And they also had a lot of passive aggression: they are always trying to teach something rather toxic, they laugh at newcomers. There were also scandals in Moscow, for example, when people hit a pine tree with a stick so that the bird sitting there would take the correct pose, so that it would wake up, and it could be photographed. Or they immoderately use provoking birds with their voices [turn on a recording of birdsong to attract the desired species - approx. ed. ]. Of course, this does not apply to all birdwatcher photographers, I have great respect for people who take great photographs, but in Moscow I had such an unpleasant experience several times.

And in general, from this we can draw far-reaching conclusions about all Moscow birders. I met absolutely wonderful people there, with whom I am still friends. Basically, the community, the birder crowd with which I talked in Moscow, regardless of age or anything else, are deeply anti-war, anti-Putin people. But there is also someone who has gone crazy there. But in general, people there understand everything perfectly. I remember when all sorts of unpleasant things happened in my life related to the authorities, they always wrote to me, supported me, it was very important to me. If it turned out that the people who are important to me in these bird affairs are some kind of crazy Putinists, for me it would be a very big contradiction in my world. I think everyone who loves birds must be generally good people. Of course, this is some kind of great-heartedness, probably, but I believe that such a correlation still exists. These are environmental values, a non-consumer love for nature: when you look at a turukhtan in the mating season, and you just want to cry from the beauty of the creature. There are many such people in birding, and it’s easy for us to understand each other.

— How often do you encounter people who, consciously or not, violate birdwatching rules and intervene? For example, does the popularization of birdwatching that you mentioned have any impact on this?

- Of course, on the one hand, when we increase the upper funnel, when there are more birdwatchers, there are probably more people who in one way or another violate some ethical rules. But, on the other hand, it seems to me that it works the other way around: the more people get involved in it, the more discussions happen. You just have to try not to shame him to death, but to somehow explain your position. The most painful issue and the most common is the provocation of birds by voice. Because before our very eyes, phones with the ability to attract birds appeared.

On the one hand, this is very good because it helps to carry out some research, and we would not get some scientific results without provocation. But on the other hand, this is interference in the life of the bird, and if this is done for one’s own pleasure, then, it seems to me, we are turning the bird into a bear in the circus. Like the difference between the theater of free people and the serf theater.

But at the same time, these are all, let's say, first world problems. Because if you open YouTube or TikTok, the most popular people who are into birds are birders. That is, people who simply completely illegally remove birds from nature, luring them into nets for the call without the purpose of ringing, without the purpose of study - sometimes for sale, and sometimes just for content, because the birds look very cute and cute in their hands. And these people often have many more followers and likes than responsible birdwatchers and ornithologists. And when you say something - like, guys, this is not very cool - dozens of their subscribers come to you, who completely trample you into the dirt and don’t let you say anything, because they simply don’t want to hear, no matter how politely you communicate. But when I communicate with people who have less experience than me, especially with children, I always try to say: during walks we should not harm anyone, this is our rule.

It is important to understand that birdwatching is an absolutely huge thing, a gigantic movement. This may seem strange, but if we look at the eBird statistics . ed. ], then we will see that millions of people are actively involved in this matter. And in America, for example, for every twenty people there are exactly six birdwatchers of varying degrees of activity [according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 96 million people in the US are engaged in birdwatching - approx. ed. ]. Here everyone, of course, sets different accents for themselves. There are people for whom the goal is the largest list [of found birds], this is a kind of sport; photography is important to some; someone makes great progress in science; and some simply contemplate the birds while chilling, without any excitement. It is important for me to take on some part of the scientific work: collect data, participate in volunteer projects, so that after the ornithologist writes a scientific paper, thanks to the help of people like me. And this will improve our understanding of how birds live just a little bit, by a micromillimetre, and, accordingly, will help us take some adequate measures to preserve them. And the second important thing for me is educating and involving people in this world. When I lead walks or just when I play the role of the city crazy at a party - and everyone is like: “Oh, the bird guy,” - they ask me questions. Both such small talk and communication on walks help, in particular, to instill those values ​​that seem important to me. Well, it just seems to me that everyone should do this. There is a quote from Charles Darwin that is often quoted: “I have wondered why every gentleman does not become an ornithologist.” Well, at that time, a birdwatcher and an ornithologist were basically the same thing.

That is, birdwatching still has a positive effect; birds do not die from being crushed by birdwatchers. There are a huge number of truly significant factors that threaten birds. In the first place is the loss of habitats due to global warming and human actions. For example, a certain type of bird needs trees with certain branches. And nearby, for example, there should be a river with fish. But in Russia they can simply, as recently on the outskirts of Moscow, come and use excavators to fill up a huge colony of gulls along with their eggs. Just because they decided to build a house there, and that’s all. Or there is Losiny Ostrov Park, one of the completely unique places in Moscow, amazing, and you can go there and meet a moose, a badger or a fox. And this is not to mention the world that no one thinks about at all - about myxomycetes, some fungi, lichens. There is a phenomenon that is usually described with the help of a panda: here is a cute panda, the panda is saved well, but those who are not so cute, for example, a toad, are not saved so well. Just think, we’re talking about moss, that’s just nonsense, or some kind of slime on a tree. And only a freak claims that this is a super rare thing that needs to be saved. But in nature everything is interconnected: it all forms a habitat. And Losiny Ostrov is an officially protected area, it has the status of a nature reserve. So what? We decided to build a road directly through Losiny Ostrov. And people who resist this are subject to repression, insults, humiliation, administrative and criminal prosecution. And the people who should be responsible for this don’t care at all. And it's just a disaster. You don't have to be a super die-hard activist to understand that this is trash.

And when people are interested in birds: they live, say, near Losiny Ostrov, and they are accustomed to the white-backed woodpecker or the great owl flying here. And they love and appreciate all this, they become more and more attentive to environmental issues, their level of intolerance to the outrages that others create increases. The same effect of square patriotism.

Another fairly common problem is large windows. Now there is a very clear answer on what can be done to prevent birds from crashing into them. For example, a company called Stop-Window has appeared in Russia; it makes dots on windows, which have been proven to be effective, unlike stickers with silhouettes of black predators, which, unfortunately, do not work. This is still not very common, but, for example, in Finland, before they build houses, they already think about bird flight paths. And they don't build huge glass panels that hundreds of birds just crash into every year. Well, somewhere they still don’t think. But it seems to me that things are getting better with this.

Birdwatching in general has quite a strong impact on people, even just physically: if you do it a lot, then you can’t help but do it. If you hear a bird's voice, your brain immediately starts working. Or when I'm driving, it doesn't happen that I'm just driving and not looking at birds. This is already OCD for real.

“I even felt it myself after my only birdwatcher’s walk—after such concentration on voices, you can’t just hear the heavenly chirping. Your brain is already beginning to analyze these sounds almost like human speech. So you need to be careful, birdwatching has irreversible consequences.

- Yes, and then this topic begins, when you definitely need to understand what kind of species it is. That is, it is not by chance that I am talking about OCD. It is known that people on the autism spectrum are often very successful at birdwatching. For me it’s literally like this: when I see a bird, it’s important for me to at least say to myself what kind of species it is, to write it down in some kind of internal list. (Laughs)

— It turns out that some people channel their OCD in a peaceful direction. In your experience, why do people most often start bird watching?

— It seems to me that it often happens that this helps people simplify their existence a little. It’s very difficult for all of us, especially after 2022, sometimes you just really don’t want to live, it’s very scary, you feel absolute helplessness. And when every day you don’t know what to expect from the news, birds are a good way to feel here and now, without getting lost in an anxious carousel. You feel your involvement in something bigger, in nature, where everything goes on as usual. Birds still nest, feed their chicks, build nests, sing - and in war zones too. I know many Ukrainians who watch birds. I even wanted to write about this somehow - about the fact that people continued to keep checklists on February 24, 2022. I collected some checklists that are available in Ukrainian eBird.

At the same time, I don’t feel that there is any vicious escapism in this - let everything burn, I’ll watch the birds. In fact, there are studies that show bird watching can help with depression. This is simply a way to calm your cuckoo in a way that does not harm anyone. It happens that people's lives take on a new direction thanks to birdwatching. And I am very, very pleased that I had a hand in this.