There’s a lot to learn from birds – you just need to listen
By Nick Galvin
When Nathan Harrison was growing up in Mount Keira, there was always a pair of binoculars at the back door.
His father and grandfather were “mad for birds” and with the adjacent escarpment filled with king parrots and bowerbirds, Harrison caught the birdwatching bug young.
Life got in the way, however, and he drifted away from birding until the pandemic hit.
Birdwatcher Nathan Harrison is happy to own the label “nerd”. Credit: Edwina Pickles
“During lockdown I realised how important it is for my wellbeing to spend time out in nature,” he says. “And birds were a nice way to do that. There’s also something about the slowing down, listening and paying attention to a place that does something good for my brain that it turns out I desperately need.”
Then, not long after rediscovering birding, Harrison lost someone close to him and his regular escapes into nature became even more important.
“It became a way to find a sense of peace, to move a little bit, be in a different place and have my attention directed outwards and find a different tempo.”
Now Harrison, also a theatre-maker and actor, has turned his bird obsession into a unique stage show he describes as “part nature documentary, part personal story”, weaving together tales of birds with his own story of loss, wonder and connection to nature.
“The show is an invitation to look at change and time and loss from this perspective of a bird that has literally a bird’s-eye view of this world that’s rapidly changing and kind of saying ‘how do we experience the change?’ ” he says.
“What is it to be a human at this time of really chaotic and intense change where everything is moving so quickly and there’s so much uncertainty in our daily lives, and what is it to then try and slow down, think about our connections to the people around us and in the country we’re on?”
When he’s describing his birding passion it’s usually not long before the word “nerd” comes up, a label Harrison is happy to own.
“A lot of the time I go out birding, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is just Pokemon all over again’. I’ve just swapped out the Game Boy for a pair of binoculars, that’s fine.”
Far from being a solitary activity, Harrison takes great pleasure in hooking up with fellow enthusiasts in the many groups around the city.
“Everyone that I’ve ever gone out with has been lovely,” he says. “People have been really friendly and encouraging. It’s a very welcoming space.”
And while Harrison will happily study any species, inevitably, he has favourites.
“I’ve got a few,” he says. “In the show I talk about wandering albatrosses, but yellow-tailed black cockatoos are also really, really special for me. Growing up in Wollongong and on the South Coast, they just feel like home. There way they move through the air is just magic and I’m transfixed whenever I see or hear them.”
Birdsong of Tomorrow is at the Old Fitz until September 6
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