A new frontier in knowledge Birding

On a cool rainy Saturday on January 2006 I was looking for spiders under a bookshelf in my mom's living room when i came across a book with a white plastic cover and  a green bird. The spine of the book said The National Audubon Society Guide to Eastern Birds. Out of boredom I flipped through the book thinking its was going to be another boring book with out pictures. At that time I only read books that were about insects, spiders, coral reefs and aircraft. As I paged through the book I saw the entry about the Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, Prairie Warbler, Yellow Warbler and the most colorful of all, the Green Jay and Painted Bunting. After seeing the color photos of these birds I became hooked on bird watching and began reading the book. I found out that some of the birds that I admired were either found in Southern Texas, Southern Florida or are strays that enter from Mexico or West Indies. However, many of the birds were in North Carolina or in most of the United States. I knew the cardinal was the state bird of North Carolina but I did not think there were common and I only remember seeing them at my mom's feeder during the winter. Once I found out that the Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak and even the Painted Bunting can be found in Wilmington North Carolina I began searching our yard for birds. I gave out after several minutes of searching because I could not tell the brown birds and gray birds from each other and there are many brown and gray birds in that book. I went to a class at Halyburton Park (A local park with a education center) that was taught the Cape Fear Audubon Society. I learned the most common backyard birds in the area and when they are in our region. That class helped me find the Cardinal and Indigo Buntings that were abundant but prefer to stay in bushes or trees. That October me and my mom found the hanging platform bird feeder and brought a small bag of wild finch seeds. We waited a week and a male cardinal was the very first visitor to the feeding station. Chickadees, House Finches, Morning Doves and Dark Eyed Juncos began to visit the feeder and our porch. An Evening Grosbeak and some goldfinches arrived that winter along with the first squirrels. Over the years our feeding station has expanded from one tray feeder to several feeders with different types of food. Today our feeder station has a double tube feeder inside a metal cage, a double suet feeder, a sturdy plastic bird table and several ground and treat feeders. Now there is a second feeder station along our driveway and the entire outside area in our yard is a native plant habitat ornamental flower garden and a organic orchard and vegetable garden. Over the years I have participated in Audubon hikes and events and participated in many bird, plant and conservation groups and organizations. I feel that studying and observing birds has helped me to expand my interest and gave me a reason to follow my mom and my sisters idea of restoring and expanding our garden.

Facing the fears of nature

                             Facing the Buzzy Terrors

When I was a kid I always liked to study and observe nature but my fear of bees, wasps, flies and hummingbirds prevented me from going out the enjoy this. I also feared freak lightning storms on summer days. I found out that learning about what I fear helps me face my fear overtime. It took several years and some help from my mother to get me to go to Carolina Beach State Park after the last experience with horse flies and deer flies. After I faced my fears of flying insects and realized that they will not sting unless you provoke them and only horse flies, mosquitoes and deer flies bite i began to admire these insects and provide habitats for them in the garden. Today I build mason bee, Carpenter bee, paper wasp and bumble bee nesting structures to attract these beneficial insects to the yard. All of these insect pollinate the garden and wasp catch caterpillars and aphids that can be detrimental to a vegetable garden. 

First Day WIth Nature

When  I was four years old I was in my backyard with my family in Wilmington NC. My mother and my sister was working on the garden when i saw some insects in the garden. My mom said these were Rolly Pollies and they roll up. Most field guides call these arthropods pillbugs and they are crustaceans. I was fascinated by these insects and began to keep them in jars. The critters did not survive the night and died the next morning. At that time I was afraid of bees, wasp or anything it files but I had an fascination with beekeeping. The noise of the male Carpenter Bees along our wooden fence scared me, especially when they dive after their rivals or a passing person. Later that year I wanted to have an ant farm because I also liked watching ants as they move across the sidewalk. From that year onward I began to enjoy nature and wanted to have a career involving nature.