This is Bird Note.

As a kid, science writer Ryan Mandelbaum avoided birds, thinking they were gross and kind of scary.

But when working on an environmental project in journalism school, Ryan had a change of heart.

I just came across a story about how the New York City Audubon Society was painting

Lon Flamingos White to try and attract great egrets back to an island off the coast of Staten

Island.

And I just thought this was so funny and I had to learn more.

That led to a video project and a quest to capture footage of a great blue heron,

a bird that Ryan had never seen before, which was actually hard to find for a totally

novice birder.

But after a lot of trial and error, and with some help from the New York City Parks

Department, they found

one.

Just seeing this bird emerge from its nest, it was so much bigger than I thought it was going

to be, and it was so much more majestic and beautiful than I thought it was going to be.

And it was just this mind-blowing experience, like, oh my God, like, this bird lives in New York City.

Now, Ryan and their spouse go birding all the time, planning vacations around what birds they might see.

Finches have taken the top spot as Ryan's favorite birds, but the heron has not been forgotten.

Great Blue herons still evoke a sense of excitement and almost nostalgia for my earlier days going birding.

For Bird Note, I'm Mark Bramhill.