Every year, since 2004, I have attended a trade show in Atlanta, Georgia to shop for Jay’s Bird Barn. When our son, Jeremy, and his family moved to Virginia a few years ago, we combined business with pleasure – visiting them and attending the trade show.
My roots are originally from New England, and my early childhood was spent in Maine and Massachusetts. That is where my love of birds took root. To this day, I thoroughly enjoy birding in the east. Common backyard birds of my childhood included blue jays, robins, and chickadees.
I’ve often reflected on what got me interested in birds at such a young age. What was my “spark” bird, the one bird species that sparked my interest and turned me onto birding at such an early age? My love of birds started when I was five years old—prior to the next phase of my childhood.
Shortly after turning six, my life took a sudden turn. I was sent to live in Tucson, Arizona, at a boarding school for asthmatic children, and my time in the east ended abruptly. Four years later, my family moved to Tucson, and I never lived in the east again.
Now when I visit the east, I enjoy seeing and hearing the birds that were the genesis for my love of birds—it is like visiting old, familiar friends. I have had such a lovely time in nature this past week, searching for every bird species I could find (when I wasn’t spending time with my grandchildren, of course!)
Over the last week I’ve spent time in Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and I am now in Georgia attending the trade show in Atlanta. Each state has been a source of delight as I’ve spent time birding. One day, in North Carolina, I spent an entire day birding at Bird Island, just south of Sunset Beach.
I walked over 15 miles that day and observed over 80 species. I got thinking how when driving a car we talk about miles per gallon. I had the thought this past weekend of birds per mile! On that day, I averaged almost six different bird species per mile.
The day next day I cut back—and only walked 8 miles—but I still had a fantastic time. Some of the highlights in South Carolina were wood stork, northern gannet, pileated woodpecker, semipalmated plovers, sanderlings, and more. I wish I could share with you all the different bird species I observed.
However, I did record all my observations in eBird, and I treasure having a record of each sighting. With all the birding I’ve done this past week, I have already seen over 100 species in the new year—and it just started!
On Thursday of this week, the day I fly back from Atlanta, my store manager, Ryan, will pick me up at Sky Harbor Airport and we will head straight down to Willcox, Arizona to set up our vendor booth for the Wings over Willcox Birding and Nature Festival.
The Highlight at this festival are thousands and thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese that winter in and around the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
This coming Monday, January 16th, is the Martin Luther King holiday, and Prescott National Forest is waiving the five-dollar entry fee for the day. I encourage you to get out in nature and deepen your connection to this lovely place we call home.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of Jay’s Bird Barn, Arizona Field Optics, and Hallmark in
Prescott, Arizona. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. If you have
questions about wild birds that you would like discussed in future articles, email
him at eric@jaysbirdbarn.com.
