Living and Birding Gratitude: 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).