I bought a pair of binoculars and a bird book. New, not "yanked from the used bookstore." Actually paid full price for it. And am going on a trip in order to see birds.
I have succumbed to birdwatching. It is officially a hobby.
The only thing in my defense is that it's a guide to solely Carolina birds, and still has the little color codes, since otherwise it takes me an hour to figure out what species something is so that I know where to start looking. And I still can identify exactly two birds by ear, those being the domestic chicken and turkey. And my lifelist is mostly made up of things seen on the birdfeeder. So it's not bad yet. Yet.
I really need to save up and get a mega-uber-zoom-lens for the camera...