Trying to Understand the Various Me's

As my ADHD brain ricocheted around the 20-some open tabs on my laptop the other day, I paused on my blog page's statistics. I noticed that on that day, a couple people had read an entry that I posted on 24 October 2020 regarding the death of Jerry Jeff Walker . A lot of my heroes and influences have died, but I took that one hard. I reread that post and began to write this one. I have changed the title of it several times. I am still not sure exactly what it's about, but I am going to go ahead and post it. I do hope that it has a positive vibe. It is meant to.

Me in Austin in 1975

I was an Austin, Texas, 'dirt road back streets' hard living (alcoholic) kind of songwriter/singer back in 1975-76. It was a time when living the songs was as important (actually, more important) than singing them well. Although I was only in Austin for about a year, Texas remains a huge and important part of my past. That was the real ‘me’. But then again, so was the artist doing art shows, and the world record setting sports fisherman, and then the touring comedian-entertainer, and then the long distance runner and gym-rat were all real me's.

And now indeed, the birder/author that most of you reading this are familiar with is very much the real me. I have been a few different real me’s over the years. I got pretty good at some of them. I do tend to get ‘into’ things. As my dear FB friend, Harry said (and I will continue to quote repeatedly), “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.” Me too my friend.

In 1978 I had come back from Austin and formed a band. I meant to go back to Austin, but I stayed pretty drunk for the next twelve years or so (until rehab on 16 April 1990).

1972 maybe? At an art show (with a friend. We're in front of her work not mine) I had real long hair at several points in my life

That fish, a Tautog, was the 16 lb line-class World Record in 1983 

Headlining the Comic Strip in El Paso, Texas late 1990's 

Headlining Zane's in Chicago later 1990s too (the top 8x10 was my head-shot).

I spent this past week in a caravan park in the Otways with dear friends who live in our little neighbourhood here in Lara. They sort of know this most current me. But mostly they don’t know much about the past me's. I truly do like and enjoy these people. I even love a few of them. But in truth, they don't know me all that well (yet). And to be completely honest, I don't reckon I really know me that well either. Man, it has been a long, weird road.

White-faced Heron in the caravan park last week

Koala in the caravan park grounds. We heard that she had a joey, although we never saw it.

I did a few miles down this lovely walk while I was there. I will keep at my walking and hiking. "Use it or lose it" is more than a saying. Believe it.

As I approach my 70th this coming August I will often be at my desk writing. Yes, John Beaufoy Publishing of Oxford England is going to publish my third book about Australian birding adventures and I will be doing a lot more writing. I will also be getting out and living experiences to write about. It will most probably be my last book. Although I’ve thought a bit about writing my memoirs in one form or another and recording some about those past me’s. I was thinking that perhaps my littlest granddaughter, Astrid, could read it one day and know her granddaddy better. I can’t even guess about the future at this point. Who knows, I might write it. As I so often say, "We will see."

'Author me' signing books in Perth, Western Australia

Writing does help me to explore, and at least somewhat, move toward understanding who the hell it is that I am. I go back and reread my own words. Being understood is very important to me. Or I should say, "Not being misunderstood" is very important to me. I am genuinely the person you read in the words that I write, but as I said, that person continues in this process of learning who he is. I said to a friend last week that I was open about myself and they said that I was an open book. I said that, yes I was an open book sitting out on the coffee table. Feel free to leave it open. Dog-ear the pages if you like. Lend it to a friend. Take it outdoors and read it under a tree, take it to the beach. Anywhere. I am just happy to be read, to be included. Now that is the real me.

So whoever I am, I remain in process. As it is often said, life is a path, not a destination. And as I continue to learn, it is all about the vibe.

Sending love as I do ❤️

Thank You Birds for Birders

 

James Cornelious, Clint Hook and David Adam in Kutini-Payamu NP

A week or so ago, I wrote a blog entry but I had not ‘finished’ and posted it. I finally finished it today. I was inspired to do so by a lovely chance meeting that I had just yesterday morning.

That blog entry happened to be about birders and our wonderful birding community and then yesterday, I ran into two of my favourite birders that I rarely see, Adam Fry and Ian Davies. I bumped into them in the redwood forest out in the Otways. They are the guys who literally wrote the book on Otway Birds. It is called, “Colac Otway Birds” and they wrote it. I have a copy and I highly recommend it. My new friend Ans took some photos of us chatting under the redwoods.

Ian Davies, me and Adam Fry (looking a bit like we belong in the Kelly Gang, haha)

Many years ago, I first heard Kim Kaufman use the phrase ‘I owe the birds’ for various positive things. She was, and is, so right. I have written in my blogs and then in my books about how the birds have lead me to so many wonderful places, people and things. 

Kenn and Kim Kaufman and me ten years ago (hard to believe)

The birds lead me to writing my own books! Never in life when I first read Sean Dooley’s, “The Big Twitch,” and Kenn Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" did I think that I would write a somewhat similar book and that it would be published and successful. And then that I would write a second book and that would also be well received. And now... there is to be a third published book! No, I never imagined that I would become an author and I truly do owe that to the birds (and thank you Kenn Kaufman for your enthusiastic encouragement for my words).

For me, birders are one of the very best things about birding and of course I owe them directly to birds! These are the people of my ‘tribe’, my friends, my kindred spirits. There are very few birders that I would choose not to be friends with, or that would choose not to be friends with me. There are a few but I can literally count them on one hand with fingers left over. The number (as far as I know anyway) is four in case you are wondering. No, I will not say who.

In general, I have found that birders are a wonderful, interesting, intelligent, compassionate, funny, complex and diverse group who share much more than a love of birds. They tend to be thoughtful and self-aware. They cross age groups and genders. I can relate to the twenty-something birders as well as eighty-something birders. 

I referred to the Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s Biggest Week in American Birding as the ‘Heart of Birding’, but it is of course in North America. I have wished that Australia could have something similar here. I have wished that there was somewhere, and some time, when you could see your Australian birding friends all gathered in one place. Well, I discovered that January in Kutini-Payamu (the Iron Range) is close to being a miniature ‘Biggest Week’. I had no idea until I was up there that it would be like that. I loved it.

I wish I had taken more photos of friends while I was in the Iron Range, but at the core of it, it was a birding trip. I completely owe being there to the birds (please have a look at my four previous blog entries about Kutini-Payamu). There are Australian birders who I love, but never get a chance to see in person because they are scattered all across this country. Here are a few from January.

Clint looking at me talking to Phil Maher

The wonderful Doug Herrington of Birdwatching Tropical Australia

Love this photo (posted before) true birding legends all and at that back table as well. This is at the Out of the Blue Cafe in Portland Roads (my favourite restaurant full stop)

This post began in a chat on messenger with James, Clint and David and I was inspired to write more. Yes, the birds lead me to write more. Writing is how my soul breathes. And with a third book to be written and published (again by John Beaufoy Publishing of Oxford England) I plan to keep breathing for at least a few more years, haha. Thank you birds.

I will include a few more photos, a very few. As I mentioned, I wish I had taken more photos of people on the January trip and just out birding in general. But it can be sort of awkward taking photos of other people. Regardless, I wish that I had. So here are a few photos of birder friends. Many I consider dear friends, but I usually do not get to see them very often. There are many more than these, but I do not have photos. There are new friends and dear old friends scattered around the globe. There are some who I have lost contact with over the years and a few who are no longer with us. I have not forgotten them, and I owe having met them to the birds. So thank you birds for these wonderful people. (I will not caption each one... you know who you are).

I love this photo (and person) Ruth Woodrow

Sending love as I do ❤️

Kutini-Payamu NP Iron Range: Part Four

 

Ms Australian Spotted Cuscus

This is the fourth blog entry about my Trip to Kutini-Payamu NP in January 2023. I have to say that to me, that year seems like something from Star Trek. I cannot be looking at 2023 on expired expiration dates. It’s in the future. It’s impossible that it is this year but... it is and I will be seventy this August. Now that really is impossible. But I digress before I have even begun. As I do.

I am back to writing blog entries. I feel like there is a permanence to my Blogspot page that FB does not have. It’s why on the advice of friends, I began blogging back in 2015. Since then a lot has changed on social media as well as with me. It was eight years ago. It was the year that we began, “the year that became a book.” Yes, that seems impossible too. The second book ended in 2021 which seems like just the other day, while also seeming like a long time ago. Time is weird and the older one gets, the weirder it gets. You cannot understand that until you have lived it.

Yes, I spent a week in one of my favourite places in the world. That was wonderful time. In this entry I will recap some more of the week and include a few things that I did not include in the other three blogs. James, Clint, David and I arrived in Lockhart River on Monday afternoon. After a quickish visit to the grocery, we dropped off our stuff at the wonderful house on the hill across the street from Greenhoose. I loved it. Full stop. Thank you, Sophie for your hospitality as well as being a friendly, positive ray of sunshine.

That arvo we went to Quintel Beach and had the best views I have ever had of Palm Cockatoos. Even I got some excellent photos. Those photos (and the Green Tree Pythons) remain my favourite pics of the trip.

As told in Part Two, the next day brought my biggest target of the trip hopping across the leaf litter of the rainforest floor and onto my Australian Life list. Number 765 Papuan Pitta you are beautiful. All of us saw that bird. We also all saw the Graceful Honeyeater in the front garden at our house as well as a Frill-necked Monarch and a cool as Channel-billed Cuckoo. I had Graceful on my list from my first visit in 2015 before it was split into the Cryptic further south and Graceful in the Iron Range. It was nice to get a photo of an old armchair tick. That evening James shared my Lifer Pie ice cream (I pushed my luck and purchased it at the grocery before I had seen the Pitta).

Graceful Honeyeater, seen, heard, and photographed.

I love a Channel-billed Cuckoo

Frill-necked Monarch without its frill up

Lifer Pie ice cream 

That night we began our experiences with the emerald beauty noodles (Green Tree Pythons). As told in part three, the first was a young, yellow one shown to us by the delightful, Jazz Zeleny of Faunagraphic. She also tried to show us our first Australian Spotted Cuscus. I rushed over to the Greenhoose but Jazz had left and I could not find it and I stood on an ant’s nest wearing Crocs (never a good thing. Only one sting but the pain lasted for over an hour). Later that day, Matt Wright, my dear friend and the other half of Faunagraphic, and Jazz refound the Cuscus on the Greenhoose grounds and I got a Lifer mammal. Later, we had one by our track up to the Heaven House (I will refer to our house on the hill as ‘Heaven House’ because that is how I felt about it). The opening pic and these are the photos of that one. Also I will thank Matt for delivering 'our' 4WD Triton. He brought it to the house and took away the van we had been using. I appreciated that.

With much gratitude, I will mention the generosity of the professional birding tour guides that were up there. January in Kutini-Payamu was literally a who’s who of tours and guides and they all shared some info with us. I am grateful, and I consider many of these people my friends. Some I have known longer than others and some I have spent more time with than others, but they all deserve my heartfelt thanks and I will mention them briefly here. Thank you my dear friend David Mead of Great Northern Birdwatching Tours for not only your knowledge up there but your and Janet’s hospitality in Cairns. And thank you my dear old friend Laurie Ross of Tracks Birding (I have known Laurie longest) He gave me excellent info as he has many times before. Thank you to Matt and Jazz of Faunagraphic. I love you guys. Thank you Phil Maher for your friendship, sense of humour and for sharing your scope with us in the rain on Chilli Beach so that James could get his Black-naped Tern tick (I got to use my new umbrella, see photo). 

I referred to Phil as the Plains Wanderer Whisperer in the first book. It was great seeing him up there. And thank you to one of my new favourite real-life friends, Doug Herrington of Birdwatching Tropical Australia who I had only previously met through social media. Doug shared the beautiful Northern Death Adder with James and me.

We saw some lovely birds and critters during our week and I will include some photos (recording shots mostly). I have written a lot in the first three blogs. There is not that much left to say (although there could be if I just kept writing). I wrote about the ‘vibe’ up there in the third blog entry. The importance of that cannot be overstated. It is very real. I can feel it. It is so ‘me’ up there. Here are some photos.

Pacific Golden Plover on a termite mound by the airport

Trumpet Manicode there were a few around

Black-winged Monarch

Magnificent Riflebird (female or young male)

A pair of Marbled Frogmouths

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo just behind Heaven House

Large-tailed Nightjar and its chick (we did not notice the chick until we saw our photos later)

Papuan Frogmouth seen spotlighting

Yellow-legged Flyrobin 

Papuan Frogmouth on nest in someone's yard in Portland Roads

And I will include a few scenery shots. Just because they are wonderful to see.  In no particular order here they are.

Veranda at Heaven House

Chilli Beach beautiful on a rainy day

Chilli Beach beautiful on a not rainy day

Portland Roads

Portland Roads (there is a cafe and a few houses tucked in there- such a wondrous place)

All too quickly of course it was Sunday and time to leave Heaven House. Normally (being the anxious kind of guy I am) I do not do any birding or much of anything on the days that I fly out. I just double-check everything and go to the airport and wait, But our flight was not until afternoon and we had a lot of time. So I ended up taking a few photos of Spotted Whistling Ducks at Mango Farm dam. Thank you David and Clint for sorting permission to go on the Traditional Owners land. 

We flew to Cairns where once again Janet Mead collected us (David was on the same flight). We went to their lovely home and had a delicious dinner with them and spent the night. James discovered that the Ulysses Butterfly eggs that we had seen being laid the week before, had hatched and there were little caterpillars on the leaves. Very cool.

James and my flight home was easy. I had arranged for a taxi service to take me to Lara. For those of us with difficult ADHD anxiety issues, (other than having a friend or family collect you) a good taxi company is a God send. I called the company I had used before and everything was taken care of seamlessly. I rolled up at our house in Lara in a comfy, cool Mercedes. For me, the peace of mind is very much worth the cost.

Keep in touch. I love hearing from y'all.

Sending love as I do ❤️