{"id":8490,"date":"2026-07-16T16:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/?p=8490"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T18:05:46","slug":"the-goucher-birders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/","title":{"rendered":"The Goucher Birders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left\"><em>Photo: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/brigida\/52671280983\">Scarlet Tanager<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/brigida\/\">Danielle Brigida<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\">CC BY 2.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In late March, I walked the trails in Goucher\u2019s woods looking for birds. Over the course of an hour, I saw an American robin, a northern cardinal, a northern flicker, a downy woodpecker, a dark-eyed junco, a red-breasted nuthatch, a white-breasted nuthatch, a common grackle, a mourning dove, an eastern phoebe, a turkey vulture, and a hawk I couldn\u2019t identify.<\/p>\n<p>Birdwatching, or birding, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audubon.org\/magazine\/birding-booming-hobby-and-big-business\">exploded in popularity<\/a> in recent years. There are a few good reasons for that.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Birdwatching gets you outside\u2014it can be good for your mental health and great for a little perspective.<\/li>\n<li>You can gamify it. It\u2019s so satisfying to add a new bird to your life list\u2014the compilation of every new bird you\u2019ve encountered. (As a casual birder, I have 130 birds on mine.) With the eBird app, you can find places where rare birds have been spotted and log your own finds. With the Merlin app, you can identify birds by their calls. Social media has also helped popularize birding among younger generations.<\/li>\n<li>Birding doesn\u2019t require money or training. People do spend money on field guides and cameras and scopes and binoculars and harnesses for their binoculars and trips to Indonesia and the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, but for many people, the hobby is just as fun to do sitting in their backyard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8554\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8554\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8554\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker-819x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"the face of a northern flicker peeks out of cavity in tree\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Northern-Flicker.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Northern flicker, a type of woodpecker, on Goucher\u2019s campus. Photo by Carmen Honeywell \u201926.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Most people have a story about how they started birding.\u00a0In 2023,\u00a0<span style=\"color: #004c97\"><b>Carmen Honeywell \u201926<\/b><\/span> was walking along the Northern Central Railroad (NCR) Trail in Baltimore County as she used the iNaturalist app to log bugs and other things she saw. She noticed other people on the app had logged observations of a scarlet tanager. \u201cHow does this thing exist in the U.S.?\u201d she asked herself. \u201cThey look so exotic and cool.\u201d The male scarlet tanager is a bright red bird with black wings that is common in the Northeast and Midwest during the spring and summer, but it can be hard to see high up in the trees where it often stays. \u201cI finally spotted one and I realized it wasn\u2019t a cardinal,\u201d she says. \u201cI was so excited. I couldn\u2019t stop after that.\u201d The scarlet tanager was Honeywell\u2019s spark bird, or the bird that ignited her interest in birding. These days, she uses the eBird app to log each of her birding sessions. She\u2019s seen about 160 birds in the U.S. and more overseas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8556\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8556\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8556\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Carmen-Honeywell-819x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Carmen-Honeywell-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Carmen-Honeywell-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Carmen-Honeywell-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Carmen-Honeywell.jpeg 1115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8556\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen Honeywell \u201926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #004c97\"><b>Sarane McHugh \u201957<\/b><\/span> has been birdwatching for over half a century. It started when she took one of her daughters to a program for children. \u201cOne thing led to another, and soon we were members of Maryland Ornithological Society, which is valuable because they introduce you to so many facets,\u201d she says. One Mother\u2019s Day, McHugh received the gift of attending the society\u2019s annual conference, which was in Ocean City that year. While there, she went on a birding boat tour 10 miles out to sea. \u201cThat was very exciting, to see what birds were offshore.\u201d The family began to spend more time boating on the Eastern Shore, seeing waterfowl and ospreys. \u201cI liked being outdoors, identifying more and more birds.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8557\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8557\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8557\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-scaled.jpg 2240w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-262x300.jpg 262w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-896x1024.jpg 896w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-768x878.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-1344x1536.jpg 1344w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Sarane-1792x2048.jpg 1792w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarane McHugh \u201957<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #004c97\"><b>Meg Ahrendt \u201977<\/b><\/span> comes from a family of birders. Both of her grandmothers\u2014one born in 1889 and one in 1896\u2014were birdwatchers. \u201cThey started their day with their coffee and their birds in the yard and shared that with me,\u201d she says. \u201cEven though one lived in Wisconsin and one lived in New Mexico, it was all about birds whenever we visited.\u201d Ahrendt remembers taking walks with her grandmothers, who would hear a bird call and tell her which bird it was, \u201cwhich I still can\u2019t do,\u201d she says. Now a grandmother herself, Ahrendt is passing on the birding tradition to her five-year-old granddaughter, \u201cwhich is a great joy.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8558\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8558\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8558\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-Prettyboy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-Prettyboy.jpg 1292w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-Prettyboy-300x285.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-Prettyboy-1024x973.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-Prettyboy-768x730.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meg Ahrendt \u201977 in the Prettyboy Watershed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On my outing, walking some of Goucher\u2019s three miles of trails that circle the 287-acre campus, I heard many birds that I\u2019ve seen before but was unable to find this time: a Carolina wren, a Carolina chickadee, a tufted titmouse, a red-bellied woodpecker. That\u2019s a standard, and frustrating, part of the birding experience. Some people will count birds they\u2019ve only heard on their life lists, and others don\u2019t. The tricky part is making sure it\u2019s not one of the many birds\u2014like the northern mockingbird, the gray catbird, and the brown thrasher\u2014that can imitate other birds. I thought I heard an American goldfinch, a cedar waxwing, a red-winged blackbird, and a brown-headed cowbird, but then realized that all those sounds might have come from a European starling in the tree above me.<\/p>\n<p>Who knows what other birds might be seen at Goucher in the upcoming years: The college is implementing a 10-year forest management plan to address invasive species, plant native trees, improve trails, and promote greater biodiversity throughout the college\u2019s green spaces.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8562\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8562\" style=\"width: 774px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8562\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-3-881x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"774\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-3-881x1024.jpg 881w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-3-258x300.jpg 258w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-3-768x893.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-3.jpg 1289w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8562\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eastern bluebird. Photo by Meg Ahrendt \u201977.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Honeywell has done a lot of birding on Goucher\u2019s campus. She started with the trails, which were convenient and yielded some new lifers. But birding in the woods can be tricky, as it\u2019s hard to see birds in the canopy, and many birds prefer ecological boundary zones, like the border where a forest meets a meadow or marshy areas between water and land. On the morning of our talk, Honeywell had gone to the college\u2019s horse field, her favorite place on campus for birding. \u201cI realized that it\u2019s a really good place for aerial insectivores, like bluebirds and phoebes,\u201d she says. \u201cI saw some chipping sparrows there, too.\u201d She also recently checked off two new lifers in the field, a pine warbler and her favorite bird, a brown creeper. \u201cI think I like the creeper because it\u2019s the only tree creeper in the U.S., so it\u2019s unique,\u201d Honeywell says.<\/p>\n<p>She likes to go out as early as possible. She has a pair of binoculars and uses a Nikon Coolpix to take pictures. \u201cA lot of birders use it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of basic, just for documentation. You can get some good pictures from it, but you have to be really close to the bird.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: normal;font-size: 1.125rem;line-height: 1.75rem\"><p><strong>Advice for birders<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Put a feeder out. Their favorite food is black oil sunflower seed, and they also like suet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: normal\">\u2013 Meg Ahrendt \u201977<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These days, Ahrendt, who is retired now but was a teacher for 30 years, does lots of birding in her backyard. She and her husband live on a two-and-a-half-acre property in Baltimore County with an alfalfa field on one side and the Prettyboy Reservoir watershed on the other. In the winter, they put out bird feeders and leave dead flowers up in the garden, which birds can forage seeds from. \u201cWe get your typical backyard birds,\u201d she says, like Carolina wrens, cardinals, titmice, goldfinches, and chickadees. She sits with her coffee and watches them, just like her grandmothers did. They also see plenty of eastern bluebirds, bald eagles, and black vultures in the alfalfa field as well as great blue herons flying overhead. With binoculars, they\u2019ve seen tree swallows, pileated woodpeckers, and red-headed woodpeckers all raising their young.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8565\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8565\" style=\"width: 659px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8565\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-1-843x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"659\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-1-843x1024.jpg 843w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-1-247x300.jpg 247w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-1-768x933.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-1.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8565\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Red-headed woodpecker. Photo by Meg Ahrendt <span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2019<\/span>77.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ahrendt and her husband frequently carry binoculars when they go for walks near Prettyboy Reservoir. One day, they decided to try to find some owls. \u201cThere are certain trees we call the owl trees, these big white pines that are back in the reservoir property,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re looking, we\u2019re looking, we see nothing.\u201d They give up and go home, but then, while standing in their yard, they hear it: \u201cWho cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?\u201d It was the classic barred owl hoot. \u201cThey were telling us where they are,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s something to think about; they see us all the time. But just because we\u2019re looking for them doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to show themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before retirement, McHugh worked in consulting and fiscal management in Baltimore City. Now living full time right on the water on the Eastern Shore, she sees the usual East Coast backyard birds as well as great blue herons, green herons, ospreys, and bald eagles. As a member of the Maryland Ornithological Society, she gets email notifications about rare birds entering the state. That was how, one winter years ago, she learned that there was a snowy owl less than a mile from her house. \u201cThe word got out,\u201d she says, and McHugh, along with \u201cprobably all the birders on the Eastern Shore,\u201d went to see it. \u201cJoining a bird society, whether you are active or not, keeps you quite interested in what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: normal;font-size: 1.125rem;line-height: 1.75rem\"><p><strong>Advice for birders<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I\u2019d start with a book and a good pair of binoculars. If you\u2019ve never done it before, find a group that\u2019s taking a trip. There are also courses from Cornell Lab you can take online.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: normal\">\u2013 Sarane McHugh \u201957 <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>McHugh has taken birding trips to places like Alaska, the Georgia Sea Islands, and the Hebrides in Scotland. She once went to Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada, and traveled by small boat to nearby Machias Seal Island for the puffins. \u201cThat was the best experience of my birding life,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause you\u2019re watching from a blind that looks right out into these rocks where the puffins are coming in to feed little fish to their young ones, and they\u2019re so cute. It\u2019s quite a sight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also regularly participates in the Mid-Winter Eagle Survey at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, MD, which has been going on since 1980. That first year, 24 eagles were counted. This past year, thanks to concentrated recovery efforts, volunteers counted 329 eagles, the highest number yet.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8583\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8583\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8583\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Juvenile-Coopers-Hawk.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Juvenile-Coopers-Hawk.jpeg 1350w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Juvenile-Coopers-Hawk-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Juvenile-Coopers-Hawk-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Juvenile-Coopers-Hawk-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8583\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juvenile Cooper\u2019s hawk on Goucher\u2019s campus. Photo by Carmen Honeywell \u201926.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But threats to bird populations remain\u2014from habitat loss, collisions with buildings, pesticides, and cats. <b><span style=\"color: #004c97\">Jackie Greenberg\u00a0\u201973<\/span><\/b> does a lot to help birds where she lives in South Florida. She volunteers with Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, a wildlife rehab facility for native birds and other native animals like opossums, squirrels, tortoises, and snakes. Greenberg sits on the board, where her experience as a certified public accountant is useful. She also does volunteer work like cleaning pens and preparing meals for the birds. She loves that it means she gets to spend time outdoors on the bay, \u201cinstead of having to pick a sport like tennis or something,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Pelican Harbor treats many shorebirds, like pelicans, skimmers, gulls, and cormorants, but also warblers and corvids like blue jays. They have some permanent residents, too, including a great horned owl, an eastern screech owl, and six pelicans. \u201cOne of the pelicans is blind in one eye, so he can\u2019t fish without bifocal vision,\u201d says Greenberg. Another was kept by a family in Vancouver for a month, so he is used to being fed by humans. \u201cBringing him back into the wild would be very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8576\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8576\" style=\"width: 962px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8576 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Jackie-Pelican-Harbor.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"962\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Jackie-Pelican-Harbor.png 962w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Jackie-Pelican-Harbor-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Jackie-Pelican-Harbor-768x511.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 962px) 100vw, 962px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8576\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left, Jackie Greenberg \u201973 feeds American white pelicans and brown pelicans, permanent residents at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station. Right, Benny the Vancouver pelican.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are plenty of success stories, too. \u201cWe have very good veterinary care,\u201d she says. Baby birds that fall out of nests can be looked after and returned to the wild. Broken wings are fixed and head traumas from building strikes heal. A big news story recently involved a great white heron injured in Key Biscayne by a fisherman, who was later arrested. \u201cThat bird was brought to us,\u201d says Greenberg. \u201cIt took about six months for it to be taken care of because it had a seriously broken wing, and it was just released within the last month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Greenberg points out that it\u2019s important for people to be educated on problems like this\u2014they need to know what they\u2019re not allowed to do to birds, but also what they are allowed to do. People sometimes call in asking about baby birds found on the ground. \u201cWe encourage them to try and find the nest and put them back in the nest,\u201d she says. \u201cThat whole thing that if you touch them, the mother will never feed the babies again, is just an old wives\u2019 tale.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8564\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8564\" style=\"width: 643px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8564\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting-731x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"643\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting-731x1024.jpeg 731w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting-214x300.jpeg 214w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting-768x1076.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting-1097x1536.jpeg 1097w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Indigo-Bunting.jpeg 1285w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 643px) 100vw, 643px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Indigo Bunting. Photo by Carmen Honeywell \u201926.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As a young birder, Honeywell wants to do and see so much one day. She says she\u2019s not a twitcher\u2014that\u2019s the lingo for someone who travels a long distance to see a rare bird\u2014but one day she\u2019d love to go to Costa Rica, a mecca for bird diversity, or even southern Texas or Arizona. \u201cI like little brown birds,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are a lot of different little brown birds around Arizona, like rock wrens and canyon wrens and clay-colored sparrows.\u201d For Honeywell, the one that got away, what some people might call a \u201cnemesis bird,\u201d was a Wilson\u2019s warbler. Once, she was on the NCR trail and the Merlin app picked up the song of a Wilson\u2019s. \u201cThere was one in a bush, and I saw a teeny tiny little flash. But I did not get a clear enough look to log it.\u201d She was curious and looked up a picture. \u201cIt was a little yellow bird with a toupee. I was like, I need to see this because they look so funny. They\u2019re not even that rare. They\u2019re just one that I just can\u2019t find.\u201d A while after we spoke, once spring migration was fully underway, she finally saw one.<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: normal;font-size: 1.125rem;line-height: 1.75rem\"><p><strong>Advice for birders<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Start with binoculars. Don\u2019t do what I did. I spent as much on a telephoto lens as I would have on binoculars, and it was so much harder to use. Even a cheap pair of binoculars is going to help you so much. Merlin and eBird\u2014start on them early. That\u2019s really all you need.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: normal\">\u2013 Carmen Honeywell \u201926 <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are challenges that come with birding. Ticks, mosquitoes, too much sun behind the bird you\u2019re trying to see, or not enough sun to make out details. There\u2019s the disappointment when you\u2019re sure you\u2019re seeing a new bird and it turns out to be one you\u2019ve seen a hundred times before. But there are so many joys in birding, sometimes just from seeing a familiar bird do something unexpected. On my campus walk, I saw a large bird fly by in the distance. I searched and searched for it in vain. Then I heard a noise, turned around, and there was something else entirely on the tree right behind me\u2014a red-breasted nuthatch, which, according to the Merlin app, was an \u201cunlikely\u201d sighting for the Goucher campus in late March.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8561\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8561\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8561 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Meg-2.jpg 1908w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8561\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two northern cardinals, one with leucism. Photo by Meg Ahrendt \u201977.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Honeywell saw two red-tailed hawks mating on campus. McHugh was once in her vegetable garden on the Eastern Shore when a fish dropped from the sky right next to her. She looked up and saw an osprey. Two winters ago, Ahrendt saw a leucistic female northern cardinal at her bird feeder. Leucism is a genetic condition that prevents melanin from depositing in bird feathers, which makes the bird white in spots or even entirely so. Another time, Ahrendt was sitting outside with family visiting from Germany when two male scarlet tanagers began a singing contest. \u201cThey were facing off against each other in a white pine, and we had a very clear view. It went on for about half an hour,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know what the result was, but it was a magical moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8559\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8559\" style=\"width: 1157px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8559\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1157\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing.jpeg 1800w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing-300x233.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing-1024x796.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing-768x597.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/Cedar-Waxwing-1536x1195.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1157px) 100vw, 1157px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8559\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cedar waxwing on Goucher&#8217;s campus. Photo by Carmen Honeywell \u201926.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Birdwatching\u00a0has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0Our writer spoke to birding alums to find out why they do it, then took a walk around campus looking for birds.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352,"featured_media":8491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[87510,87528,87563],"tags":[87503],"ppma_author":[87484],"class_list":["post-8490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-goucher-news-feature","category-summer-2026","tag-cover-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Goucher Birders | Goucher Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Birdwatching has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Goucher Birders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Birdwatching\u00a0has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Goucher Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1505\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly Englund\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Goucher Birders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Birdwatching\u00a0has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly Englund\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Molly Englund\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/43155b9e9455876089c51a5a895ca8ca\"},\"headline\":\"The Goucher Birders\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2732,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cover-story\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"Goucher News Feature\",\"Summer 2026\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Goucher Birders | Goucher Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Birdwatching has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1505,\"caption\":\"Red bird with black wings sits on a leafy branch\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/features\\\/the-goucher-birders\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Goucher Birders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Goucher Magazine\",\"description\":\"The magazine for Goucher College&#039;s alumnae\\\/i since 1921.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Goucher College\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/G_logo.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/G_logo.gif\",\"width\":300,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Goucher College\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/43155b9e9455876089c51a5a895ca8ca\",\"name\":\"Molly Englund\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=gb58c87739d7e579ba3fa778f0f114c2b\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Molly Englund\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.goucher.edu\\\/magazine\\\/author\\\/moeng001\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Goucher Birders | Goucher Magazine","description":"Birdwatching has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Goucher Birders","og_description":"Birdwatching\u00a0has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/","og_site_name":"Goucher Magazine","article_published_time":"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1505,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Molly Englund","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"The Goucher Birders","twitter_description":"Birdwatching\u00a0has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Molly Englund","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/"},"author":{"name":"Molly Englund","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/43155b9e9455876089c51a5a895ca8ca"},"headline":"The Goucher Birders","datePublished":"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/"},"wordCount":2732,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","keywords":["cover-story"],"articleSection":["Features","Goucher News Feature","Summer 2026"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/","name":"The Goucher Birders | Goucher Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-16T20:39:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-03T18:05:46+00:00","description":"Birdwatching has\u00a0exploded in popularity in\u00a0recent years, in part because of social media\u00a0and\u00a0easy-to-use\u00a0apps.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2026\/07\/52671280983_e7e28172fc_o-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1505,"caption":"Red bird with black wings sits on a leafy branch"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/features\/the-goucher-birders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Goucher Birders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/","name":"Goucher Magazine","description":"The magazine for Goucher College&#039;s alumnae\/i since 1921.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#organization","name":"Goucher College","url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2018\/02\/G_logo.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/files\/2018\/02\/G_logo.gif","width":300,"height":150,"caption":"Goucher College"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/43155b9e9455876089c51a5a895ca8ca","name":"Molly Englund","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=gb58c87739d7e579ba3fa778f0f114c2b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Molly Englund"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/author\/moeng001\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":87484,"user_id":352,"is_guest":0,"slug":"moeng001","display_name":"Molly Englund","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e687550d6628807db9571095d4bc4be35a9498346515c6d7c5f214aa8b3b9a0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"Molly","last_name":"Englund","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8490"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8876,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions\/8876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=8490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}