Cole Porter’s classic song “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” kicks off with, “Birds do it.” How apt is that? Can approaching romance like field research as a human take some of the sting out of the uncertainty of the pair bonding dance?
In my latest story, “The Migratory Suitor,” published in 2025 Nov/Dec BWD (formerly Bird Watcher’s Digest), I describe how I approached a renewed entry into dating after a divorce, with an attitude of expansive “scientific detachment.”
And it was scientist and author Wenfei Tong’s book Bird Love that directed my “research” at this time in my own family life as a human. You will see Tong make a significant appearance in the story, advising me on a specific question I had for her about bird pair bonding.
I examined my own experience of pair bonding as if entering the bird world version of the same thing. We writers are always documenting, we observe and take notes. “Everything is copy,” as writer Nora Ephron said. We collect observations to share stories that are ultimately a shared experience of tensions felt by humans, romantic tension included! Tong’s commentary assured the ending of this piece, so you’ll just have to read the whole thing to find out what happens!
Here is a sneak peek at the first page of the story.
Sorry for the baiting, but the rest of this story is behind a paywall. I encourage you to subscribe to BWD; You’ll see content from other birding creatives like me, from writers to visual artists to photographers: Alex Warnick, Julie Zickefoose, David Lindo, Katie Fallon, to name a few. I hope you’ll consider subscribing to BWD to read the full story!
I will share a PDF of the story here on my site after 90 days from publication, by permission of BWD. If you can wait that long to find out how it ends.
And if you want to hear Wenfei and I talk about both her book and this article, listen to our interview with Nate Swick at The American Birding Podcast!
Thanks for reading, listening, and thinking on this topic. I hope it offers some levity for the day. And if you peruse a bit through earlier posts on this site you just might catch a glimpse of the real Mr. Osprey.