Looking again, listening differently

Both texts below are newly written practice sources about invented experiences.

Text One: An original account by a beginner watching birds at home.

I used to imagine that birdwatchers travelled to remote places and collected the names of unusual species. When my cousin suggested watching from our back step, I could not see the point. I had looked at that small yard every day for years.

For seven mornings, I sat there for ten minutes and wrote down what the birds did, without trying to name them. My first entry said, ‘Nothing happened except one small bird landing.’ On the third morning, I noticed that a bird dropped from the television aerial to the same cracked paving stone before moving beneath the hedge. Later, two birds waited on the fence rather than landing together.

Reading the week's entries showed me that the yard contained repeated routes and pauses which I had never noticed. It no longer seemed empty or ordinary. I also remembered individual mornings more clearly because each was connected to a particular movement.

I still spend ten minutes on the step most Sundays. Birdwatching has not made me an expert at identification, but it has made me more patient. I no longer decide that there is nothing to see simply because nothing happens immediately.

Text Two: An original account by a beginner taking part in an evening bird walk.

Before the walk, I expected the leader to hand us binoculars and point towards distant birds. Because my distance vision is poor, I assumed that everyone else would notice more than I did.

Instead, we were asked to leave our binoculars in their cases for the first part of the route. At three stopping places, we listened for one sound at a time and marked its direction and rhythm on a folded card. Near the fountain, I initially heard only water and traffic. After standing still, I picked out a repeated three-note call from thick leaves beside the path. The bird remained hidden, but for the first time I knew where one was without seeing it.

At the end of the walk, I unfolded the card. The marks brought back the sequence of places and sounds more clearly than a list of bird names would have done.

A few days later, I heard the same rhythm above the entrance to my workplace. I had crossed that courtyard for years without thinking that birds used it. Now I sometimes pause there and listen before going inside.

Synthesise the evidence from both texts to show how the beginners' ideas about birdwatching are challenged and what changes afterwards.

To help you organise your answer, consider:

• what each beginner expects at first;
• the experience that makes each beginner think differently;
• what each beginner continues to notice or do afterwards.