I recently wrote a column highlighting one of our former employees, Nathan Tenney. This week I am providing an update on another former employee, Micah Riegner. Micah grew up here in Prescott and worked at our Jay’s Bird Barn store when it was in the Safeway shopping center.
Micah lives full-time in Mexico when he isn’t leading international birding trips. I asked Micah to share his early experiences at our store and how this influenced his career working for a company called Field Guides. Here is his story:
“When I was a teenager, I knew Eric Moore from the Prescott Audubon Society meetings. I bought my first decent pair of binoculars from Eric, Eagle Optics 10x42s, which served me well for many years.
During my sophomore year at Prescott High School (2010), Eric approached me about a new idea: to start weekly Jay’s Bird Barn-sponsored bird walks throughout the Prescott area, and he wanted me to be one of the leaders. What an opportunity!
I clearly remember our first meeting, along with Bonnie Pranter, to plan out the locations. Watson Woods, Banning Creek, Lynx Lake and Goldwater Lake were among the places we decided on, and each week we rotated who would lead the walks.
Soon after that, Eric and other staff members, began training me to work the sales floor where I would work throughout high school and into my time as a student at Prescott College. My duties involved educating costumers about binoculars and the best bird seed blends for their yard, operating the cash register, and moving bags of bird seed in the back room, which kept me in shape for those years. One day, Eric surprised each employee with a brand-new pair of Swarovski binoculars, a tremendous upgrade from my previous pair!
I apply the customer service skills I developed in those years every day as an international birding guide for Field Guides. My tour schedule takes me across the Western Hemisphere from the slopes of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico in early spring, to the lekking sage-grouse and prairie-chickens of Colorado in April, Southeastern Arizona in May, then Alaska in June, the Amazon of Brazil and Peru in July, Bolivia in the fall, and Suriname in January.
I just got back from a tour in Brazil that included the Pantanal, the Cerrado, and a bit of the Atlantic Forest. We saw close to 400 species of birds, including loads of hyacinth macaws, cock-tailed tyrants, swallow-tailed cotingas, a gorgeous large-tailed antshrike and crescent-chested puffbird. We also saw some sweet mammals like jaguar, ocelot, maned wolf, and tapir.
When I’m not on tour, I keep busy here at my place in Cuernavaca, Mexico writing reports, editing photos and recordings, painting birds, making salsa, and, of course, birding when time permits.
Some of the local birds in this area include white-naped swifts that roost under a nearby waterfall, banded quail, black-chested sparrows and russet-crowned motmots. My girlfriend, Michelle, also enjoys birding and watching butterflies, so we get out on trips when we can, be it to San Luis Potosi, Oaxaca or Chiapas.
Our plan is to visit Prescott this coming spring between my Arizona tours. I feel super fortunate to be able to do what I love for work, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Eric and his crew for helping me launch into this career.”
I am so proud of Micah—and envious of his career—as he travels the world as a professional bird guide. I invite you to visit the website www.fieldguides.com to read Micah’s bio and see what trips he will be leading in the near future.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
