Birding

I often quip that I began birding before I was born. My parents were avid birders by the time I was in utero, and I heard many muffled, but vigorous, debates on the finer points of bird identification before I hatched. I began keeping notes when I was eight (notebook entries included "Red Start" and "Pee Wee"). My parents are still birders, and through their studies and dedication have become legendary regional experts.

As my favorite pastime, birding brings me tremendous joy, especially the adventure and discovery that birding provides. There is always something new. New species to see, or familiar species doing new things. New places to visit, or places to visit at new times of the year. New call notes, songs, or habitats. New strategies for finding uncommon species. And the friends I have made through birding have been among my life’s best. There’s no end to the discovery, the thrill of the pursuit, nor the joy of discovery.

Most of my US birding has been in Alabama and Florida, but as a child our family embarked on epic road-trips to western states to explore new regions and meet new species. In college I was fortunate to travel to Antarctica, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Panama. In graduate school, I visited Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and spent a year in Uganda (with a short excursion to Tanzania). Most of these adventures were for other purposes (courses, internships, conferences, research) but I birded as much as I could.

My time spent birding declined when I first moved to Birmingham. Ginger was in medical residency, we had young children, and I was a new professor with a heavy teaching load. But as I settled into my new job, and the kids grew, I had more time to venture out, and I discovered how exciting birding in central and north Alabama could be. One of my favorite courses to teach was a January class where I led students across the full length of the state to find and study birds.

Near the end of my time at Birmingham-Southern College, I moved to Seattle for a year (June 2017-2018) while on sabbatical, and enjoyed Pacific Northwest birding tremendously. There is nothing more fun for me than arriving in an unfamiliar place and learning the local birdlife.

In August 2022 I resigned from BSC and became the Executive Director of Alabama Audubon. This move brought together two of my greatest passions, conservation and birds. My job is administrative, but I occasionally lead outings with our members, sometimes to international destinations such as Cuba.

I enjoy bird guiding, something I did as a professor and that I regularly do with Alabama Audubon. It brings me great joy to show people birds or bird spectacles that gets them excited. But I also enjoy birding in small groups with friends or solo birding. Each has its own rewards.

I post most of my observations on eBird, which can be found here.: https://ebird.org/profile/NTQyMzU1/world.