Behind the Lens; A Birding Interview with Andrew Simon

As a new installment to the world of Little Bird Nerd, I have decided to begin a series of interviews with birders!

For my first interview, I spoke with friend and classmate Andrew Simon, whom I met at Walsh college just a few semesters ago.

My first interviewee: Andrew Simon

At first we didn't speak much, except to compare statistics notes, until one day the topic of birding arose. Andrew's eyes lit up as I talked about my birding adventures, and then he shared with me his far-reaching history of birding, which ended a few years back. Since then, he hadn't done much birding at all, and was reinvigorated by our conversation. I was happy to see him "get back in the game", and ever since, we've been close cohorts on many birding missions. We often compare sightings and swap stories, and now he is rising in the Macomb birding scene, as well as branching out well outside the county. It has been exciting to watch him track down many of the local bird species he had previously missed. I have also witnessed his willingness to share and connect with others who are interested in birds, including local birders, Facebook birding groups, and with his girlfriend Andi. He also happens to be a master juggler of his schedule: working full-time, going to school, and still squeezing in many more birding trips than I seem to manage! Since we began teaming up approximately 6 months ago, we have had much success. Of the 26 lifers (aka life birds = bird species one sees for the first time) I've seen this year, 9 of them have been while birding with Andrew.

Andi holds a Downy Woodpecker at Kensington Metropark (Andrew Simon, 2016)

LBN: When and how did you first get into birding?

AS: I honestly don't remember. It was so long ago. I've always loved animals and I remember when I was little, every bird was a "mingo" (flamingo). I think it really set in when I would visit my grandma who had a bunch of bird feeders and a Huge book of all of the Audubon pictures.

LBN: That's awesome! So when did you start keeping a life list?

AS: The first bird on my life list is a Sandhill Crane from March of 2003, coincidentally from my grandma's house in Florida.

LBN: So that was 13 years ago, what's your list looking like these days?

AS: Well, it spans 7 countries and 8 states. I found species #389 yesterday, a Crested Caracara, and #390 and #391 today, Piping Plover and Black-backed Woodpecker. My goal is 400 by December 31st.

Crested Caracara found in Munising, MI, 7/15/16 (Andrew Simon, 2016)

LBN: So you're moving at a pretty fast pace these days. Know how many lifers you've added this year?

AS: I've added about 50 this year but some of them were so easy it's like how have I not seen them before, others I traveled around the state for, and some of them are incredibly rare and just happened basically in my backyard like Whooping Cranes and a Kirtland's Warbler.

LBN: That's great, like double of what I have added this year. So you have said before that you sort of dropped out of birding for a time. Was there ever a year where you didn't bird at all?

AS: There were many years I didn't bird at all. Maybe from 2005 til present it was extremely sporadic and only on vacations. Life got in the way and I fell off the bandwagon for a while.

LBN: I've talked to other birders where this has happened for one reason or another, but maybe it's, "once a birder, always a birder" type deal? Anyway, I'm glad you're back at it! You mentioned your listing goal for the year; any other big goals or birding plans?

AS: I would like the 400 on my life list by the end of the year, and 200 in Macomb County for the current year. Otherwise just to have fun and meet new people.

LBN: Well you already met me so you really can't top that (*laughs*). Seriously though, what is the best lesson birding has taught you?

Lark Sparrow, a lifer for both of us! (Andrew Simon, 2016)

AS: Patience is a virtue.
And always bring a rain coat/hat and gloves, depending on the time of year, which is funny because I'm in the middle of the woods at Shiawassee and it's probably going to rain any time and my rain coat is in the car.

LBN: Too funny...! Alright, this question pains me because I can never really answer it, but I feel like I need to ask, do you have a favorite bird?

AS: Not as a whole but on my life list is now a toss between a Trinidad Motmot and the Caracara.

Trinidad Motmot (Andrew Simon, 2009 )

LBN: What about your most satisfying species (because of how long it took you to find it, how difficult was the search, its rarity level, etc.)?

AS: Most satisfying was the Whooping Crane. It is so rare that it ended up here in the first place, and between trying to figure out exactly where they were seen and driving an hour round trip sometimes twice a day for 4 days before finally seeing them, mere minutes before the Whooping Crane organization [Operation Migration] came to pick them up. That was the most satisfying.

Whooping Cranes in Macomb County (Andrew Simon,  2016)

LBN: Last question, do you have a nemesis bird (a bird that constantly eludes you)?

AS: I've found most of them, but maybe a Barred Owl or Long-eared Owl.

LBN: Ah yes! I remember finding both of these birds for the first time, on the same day, thanks to another great birder and friend, Kevin Rysiewski. But that's another interview for another day.

AS: I'm looking forward to seeing other people's interviews!

LBN: Thank you Andrew for taking the time to participate. Happy Birding! :)

Henslow's Sparrow, a lifer for both of us! (Little Bird Nerd, 2016)

Photo Journal 2016: May

Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)

"It was May, the best of months nearly everywhere..." -Phoebe Snetsinger, Birding on Borrowed Time

This month brought some of the most noticeable changes to my nature plots. From sparse to full greenery, spring breathed life into the woods. The vernal ponds filled up to the brim, and by the fourth week, began to collect a filmy coating on their surfaces. I even got to take some of my nature plot photos on my 27th birthday (Week 20- May 16th).

May, Spot 1

Spot 1: May, 2016, Weeks 18-22

 May, Spot 2

Spot 2: May, 2016, Weeks 18-22

 May, Spot 3

Spot 3: May, 2016, Weeks 18-22

Other May Happenings:

Life Birds

May was a 5-lifer month for me, which is nothing to complain about!

In the birding community, we joke that there is often a sacrificial birder. This is a birder who decides to call it quits for the day, knowing by Murphy's Law that right after leaving, some great bird is going to appear. The sacrificial birder can also be a birder who goes out of town, and while out of town, a rare bird appears in his or her home county. Well, local birding legend Tom Heatley happened to be out of the country this May, searching for his last bird family (he found it!). We figured his absence would make him the ultimate sacrificial birder, and we were not wrong.

Whooping Crane Capture- Photo by: Kevin Rysiewski

The first of these 5 life birds (birds I'd never seen before) was a species that when I heard of its presence in Macomb County, I immediately thought it had to be a joke.  My friend Andrew had been scanning the eBird reports and stumbled across a record of 4 Whooping Cranes in Romeo, MI. We analyzed the GPS position of the reported sighting and tried to determine where these mysterious cranes could be. In the following days, Andrew did the legwork, driving around the reported area in search of this rarity. Finally, on May 3rd, he texted me in a fury of excitement- he'd found the cranes! I was about an hour away, and was about to search a local park for a recently spotted Blue-headed Vireo (not a rarity, but a FOY for me). I was also supposed to take my dad out for dinner for his birthday in approximately 2 hours. Going for the cranes would mean leaving right that second, driving as quickly as possible, viewing them for a maximum of a few minutes, then driving over an hour straight to the restaurant. I wrestled with this mentally, but I was already on autopilot, driving toward the expressway. Seeing the cranes was one of those moments that command silence. I was struck by the reality of what I was seeing, and aware of the fragile state of this protected species. With fewer than 500 wild birds left on the planet, this was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting. As I was pulling up, I was joined by an Operation Migration vehicle, which had come to collect the cranes and bring them back to their breeding area in Wisconsin, where they would have a much better chance of reproducing with the other cranes in that population. The four cranes had completed their first solo migration from the Mississippi Basin back up north. Interestingly, they had reached the exact latitude point at which they needed to be, but were a bit too far east on the longitude. I was happy for their mistake. The capture of the cranes is something I would have liked to witness, but I had to rush off for my dad's birthday dinner. I exchanged a few words with Andrew and Chris DeWolfe, who introduced himself as "the only Ebirder in Lapeer County" and sped off back down the dirt road, grinning from ear to ear. Click here to read more of this story from Operation Migration's blog.

Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina)

May 7th brought 3 lifers in one day! First we found a Lincoln's Sparrow along one of the Ford House Bird Walks with Wild Birds Unlimited Grosse Pointe Woods. As new co-leader of these walks, it was exciting to be able to get a lifer with new birders who were also seeing some of these birds for the first time. After this great bird walk (where we also found the uncommon Hooded Warbler, one of my favorite warblers), I received news there was a Red-headed Woodpecker at Stony Creek!

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

At the beginning of the year, I had set three top bird targets, which I nicknamed, "Code Red, White, and Blue" for the colors of the three target birds. Red was the Red-headed Woodpecker, followed by Northern Shrike (white) and Cerulean Warbler (blue). I headed straight from the Ford House to Stony Creek Metropark, where Kevin R. and Andy W. showed me my lifer Red-headed. Shortly after, Kevin clued me into a spot to find a Louisiana Waterthrush, which is also an uncommon bird I'd been hoping to find. Sitting in the microcosm of a swamp which this bird calls home; the LoWa singing and flitting about, was about the most peaceful moment I could dream up.

Finally, at the end of the month, I located two Yellow-billed Cuckoos at Nicholson Nature Center. Their ka-ka-ka-ka-kow calls helped me narrow down where they were perched, and when I saw their brightly spotted tails and unique profiles in flight, I was overjoyed.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)

Memorable FOYS (first of the year sightings): 

Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)

This month provided FOY sightings of 19 warblers, from common warblers like Black-throated Green and American Redstart to the less common Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat (which has the potential to be taxonomically split apart from warblers altogether), and the most surprising of all- the Kirtland's Warbler, whose appearance may have been the first ever documented appearance of this bird in Macomb County. With the help of Jeff Steinmetz and all of the other diligent birders who posted their sightings, I was able to witness this bird in my own home county. This sighting made the Sterling Heights Nature Center a birding Mecca for a few days, with hoards of birders coming to document this bird one usually must go Up North to see.

Kirtland's Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii)

Click here for a very interesting radio take on the Kirtland's Warbler story.

Other great FOYs include: Common Nighthawk, Bobolink, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Clay-colored Sparrow.

Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)

Comparisons
Last year's January through May total species count: 170
This year's January through May total species count: 197

Photo Journal 2016: March

I remember once hearing someone refer to March 4th as if it were a command, as in to march forth and charge ahead with confidence. I think of this every year as I regroup from the cold winter and look forward to my favorite season, spring (which happens to start in March). Now that I am a birder, I realize even more how it was fate that I should be born in spring, the season of rebirth and possibility, of renewed energy and awe. As the last frosts melt away and the trees begin to bud, I can almost hear whispers of the collective sentiment to march forth and prosper. :)

March, Spot 1

March, Spot 2

Here in spot 2, it's easy to see the change from the beginning of March to the end. White is replaced by green, and gray skies are repainted blue. 

March, Spot 3

 

Other March happenings:

Life Birds

Harlequin Duck

This month, I was lucky enough to find three new birds: American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), and the ever-impressive Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus). Each of these three lifer sightings provided their own unique experience. 

The first, the American Pipit, was a chance sighting while viewing a Northern Pintail duck. As my friend Andrew and I scanned the beach, wind whipping violently at our faces, we saw a bird jumping around on the sand. It didn't look like a blackbird and it had streaking and tail-dipping behavior. I Love unexpected lifers!

Harlequin Duck swimming

The second, the Grasshopper Sparrow, was a group effort where one birder found it, and through the grapevine, many others were able to relocate and view this little bird. This was a bird I probably would not have spotted on my own, but once I saw it, hopping around with a few Song Sparrows, I could see the smaller size and the yellow wash indicative of a Grasshopper Sparrow.

Harlequin Duck, on the rocks

The third, the Harlequin Duck, was a sighting that was a long time in the making for me! I'd made the journey to Jackson twice previously on what we birders call a "twitch" (traveling a significant distance for the sole purpose of finding one particular species). My two previous attempts resulted in no Harlequin Duck, even though this individual duck had been seen at the same little boat launch area for months in a row. Not to be deterred, I went a third time thinking, "Third time's a charm, right?" and was not disappointed! I was actually glad it took so long because by the time I found him, he was beginning to transition to its more striking breeding plumage reminiscent of a painted warrior. Of course, being only March, he was still not all the way to full breeding plumage, but the beauty of this duck is something I'll never forget.

Memorable FOY's (first of the year sightings):

Male Blue-winged Teal

• Northern Pintail
• American Woodcock
• Rusty Blackbird
• Snowy Owl (waiting all winter for this one...had all but given up... then saw 2 in one week!)
• Barred Owl
• Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals
• Pectoral Sandpiper

Snowy Owl

Comparisons 



Last year's January through March total species count: 61
This year's January through March total species count: 99

9 Ways Birding Has Changed my Life

My favorite tail-less Red-winged Blackbird female

I’m a birder- irreversibly, obsessively, and unashamedly taken with birds. 

As Tom Heatley (local Michigan birder and #14 on the 2014 ABA United States Top 50 list) says, “Birding is a disease, and the only cure is more birding!” Throughout the past year, I have discovered and fallen in Love with this passion. I refrain from calling it a hobby because its effects are more profound. If I listed all the ways, it would be the stuff of a novel not a blog post, so instead, here are 9 of the ways birding has changed my life:

#1) A Calm in the Storm

Birding has allowed me to fight some tough battles, including addiction. There have been times I wanted to be free but didn’t know how to fight through the hard stuff. On days I felt tired, sick, or anti-social, birding allowed me to more willingly exist in that uncomfortable space. The calming effect of nature, the fresh air in my lungs, and the overwhelming realization of the beauty surrounding me all bring peace that nothing else can.

#2) Zen

A few years ago, I discovered meditation through running, pushing through physical discomforts and rising above the body. Birding has produced a similar effect, except with birding I can actually be still. I can easily spend hours on end, walking through the woods and sitting under trees, never considering time until the sun begins to set. As I embrace the values of patience, stillness, and an openness of the mind and senses, birding hours seem like minutes to me. In the Buddhist tradition, the forest is considered a special place for enlightenment, for within it “there is only the ever-present possibility of events, encounters, and insights that emerge directly from reality itself, pure and unpolluted by human wants, expectations, and attitudes. Uniquely in the forest, the most radical of all human journeys can take place” (excerpt from Reginald A Ray’s Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body). I feel this too.

#3) Constant Wonder

When I began to get serious about birding, I realized how many local birds I had never seen before. These birds had been living nearby or passing through the area since long before I was born, yet I had never noticed them. Each new bird is a moment of realization, a chance to be curious, amazed, attentive, and aware. Sometimes it isn’t even the new birds that excite me, rather a close encounter, a great photo, or an unusual behavior. Birding keeps me on my toes and keeps me looking up (double meaning intended).

#4) A Break in Routine

Birding changes the landscape of days and lessens the divide between the workweek and the weekend. I’ve never subscribed to the idea of “The Grind”, of working Monday through Friday 9-5 and wishing it all away. I live my life for the day, even if it’s Monday. After all, every day is a new chance for adventure!

#5) A Network of Friends

Kevin R., Jeff S., and me (Photo courtesy: Paul Poronto)

Here I am, one full year into birding, and I’ve somehow managed to meet and befriend more people than I ever have in a single year. Through eBird, walks in the park, and a string of serendipitous events, I have quickly built up a network of birder friends who could also be described as family. These birders have welcomed me into their homes, taken me under their wings on road trips across Michigan, and shared with me anything I need including: toe warmers, extra gloves, bug spray, sunblock, snacks, equipment, books, hugs, and most importantly, an endless stream of knowledge. We don’t always have to be together but when we are, we pick up right where we left off, somewhere between the wingbeats.

#6) A Breath of Relief

I never had a clear plan for my career. I used to spend many days worrying over my lack of conviction. I felt directionless, lost, and envious of those who knew what they wanted to do with their lives. To be honest, I am still quite uncertain about my career goals, but now the not-knowing doesn’t bother me as much. I found what fills my heart with joy and discovered something in birding from which nothing can detract. Blogging about birds has been a recent development. It has given me hope that my marketing education and birding passion can in fact be linked. If I can use my degree to share my passion, that would be the best-case scenario. Until then, I can be at peace with the uncertainty because I find peace in birds.

#7) A New Role

While I’ve always been an avid reader and sponge for knowledge, I have never considered myself a good teacher. Anyone who has witnessed my teaching attempts would understand this, as I often stutter through explanations and make up words as I go. I am very much an introvert who prefers to lead by example rather than explain something. However, birding seems to be the exception. This passion has given me an entirely new identity. People now come to me with their bird questions and sightings because they know I will be interested and will provide feedback. I find myself surprised at my willingness to offer information, reach out to others, and yes, even teach others about birds. To be depended upon in that way feels like a sign of maturity and an indication I have something meaningful to offer.

#8) A Test of Limits

Birding may sound like the antithesis of adrenaline-seeking, but for me, it has been the motivation to broaden my horizons and test my limits. Consider last winter when Kevin (my friend and fellow birder) and I spent hours trudging through snow in frigid temperatures. We were searching for Long-eared Owls who had been spending time in a particular patch of trees. As soon as we were enveloped in that dark canopy of conifers, standing right underneath an impossibly camouflaged Long-eared Owl, there was simply no other place to be. Alternately, I have never been on a plane and am still terrified at the idea. Still, despite my fear, I know one day I will want to expand my birding horizons and visit birds that would never reach Michigan. I find it fitting that birds will most likely be my incentive to fly.

#9) Natural Connection

While birds are often the main subjects of my adventures and photos, they are not the only creatures with whom I have connected. I have always loved nature and the outdoors, but now I feel even more connected to it and aware of it. More and more, I find myself a keeper, collector, and protector of nature. I save centipedes; allow spiders to crawl on my hands; pick wildflowers; collect rocks, leaves, and shells; and eat wild berries. Some days the birding is slow, but there is always, always something beautiful to be seen.

The following is an excerpt from a book that speaks to my soul, a book called Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. In this passage, Estés discusses the effects of the Wild Woman, or true feminine nature:

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

These transient ‘tastes of the wild’… come both through beauty as well as loss, that cause us to become so bereft, so agitated, so longing that we eventually must pursue the wildish nature. Then we leap into the forest or into the desert or into the snow and run hard, our eyes scanning the ground, our hearing sharply tuned, searching under, searching over, searching for a clue, a remnant, a sign that we have not lost our chance. And when we pick up her trail, it is typical of women to ride hard to catch up, to clear off the desk, clear off the relationship, clear out one’s mind, turn to a new page, insist on a break, break the rules, stop the world, for we are not going on without her any longer… When women reassert their relationship with the wildish nature, they are gifted with a permanent and internal watcher, a knower, a visionary, an oracle, an inspiratrice, an intuitive, a maker, a creator, an inventor, and a listener who guide, suggest, and urge vibrant life in the inner and outer words.