Birds, Whales,
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NEW YORK
I started my bird watching hobby while working as an instructor/naturalist at the Ashokan Center (formerly the Ashokan Field Campus), near the Catskill Mtns. and Kingston, NY. I think it's the oldest residential environmental education center in the country, and grade school students typically stayed for a week. One pre-breakfast activity was bird watching. For those familiar with the PBS Civil War series by Ken Burns, its beloved theme music, Ashokan Farewell, was written there at that time. |
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MASSACHUSETTS
I was able to expand my bird life-list to include seabirds while working as a whale researcher, and naturalist, on public whale watching boats and research vessels, out of Gloucester, MA, mostly during the 1980's and early 90's. The Andrea Gail, the fishing vessel that sadly sank during The Perfect Storm, and Hannah Boden, the last vessel to communicate with her, worked at times from the same wharf that we did, and that storm was during Halloween week of my last year there, 1991. |
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NEW JERSEY
In 1989 I joined other teacher/naturalists on a team participating in the annual New Jersey World Series of Birding, a fun, somewhat frantic, competitive fund-raising event. We did it every year after, until COVID-19. A great Audubon magazine article captures the 'event.' I was fortunate to meet Roger Tory Peterson one year, who participated on a team the first year of the event in 1984. |
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ACROSS THE COUNTRY
After moving to Maryland, I worked in St. Michaels as a teacher trainer of a wetland curriculum, doing workshops in over 30 states. I usually included extra time to include some local birding, which was a great way to see new birds! Many places I visited were federal wetlands, important habitats purchased using funds from Federal Duck stamps. |
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MARYLAND
Later, I worked for a few years for the Chesapeake Audubon Society, including the Pickering Creek Environmental Education Center near Easton, MD. I did educational programs and led bird walks. John James Audubon was one of America's great bird artists and naturalists, painting his famous book, Birds of America, over many years. Maryland has a now very rare full copy on display in Annapolis! |
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CITIZEN SCIENCE
In the last decade or so, one of the biggest influences of my bird watching has been Cornell and National Audubon's eBird. There are so many ways it benefits birders, from finding new birding locations in my area, or where I am traveling to, for looking up sightings of specific birds that I would like to see, or to check what other birders are seeing or have seen in the past. It also can keep your record of sightings. It supports important bird research as well. |
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