Birding
In 2001, Michelle and I got into birding as a hobby. After a couple of birding trips we were hooked and now carry our binoculars everywhere. We had always been hikers and loved the outdoors so this was a natural progression for us. You can find us out hiking and birding almost every weekend.
In 2002 we helped form the Buchanan County Bird Club in Buchanan County, Virginia - here is a link to photographs of some of the club outings. Our love of nature has led us on two extended birding treks to various National Parks in the western U.S., two trips to southern Arizona, a trip to south Texas, one to Florida and two Atlantic pelagic trips. The write-ups and video from these birding trips can be found under the Navigation panel to the left or at the bottom of this page.
We moved to Kentucky for 7 years, saw some great birds out in the bluegrass region, but are now back in our home of Buchanan County, Virginia and are once again active in the Buchanan County Bird Club.
In May 2006, the Buchanan County Bird Blub hosted the annual Virginia Society of Ornithology meeting at the Breaks Interstate Park. It was a great success with 141 birders attending and 117 different species noted, including 29 species of wood warbler. Don Kroodsma, author of the Singing Life of Birds, was our guest speaker and also led birding hikes during the weekend.
My wife Michelle located a beautiful Lawrence's Warbler in Buchanan County, VA on April 25, 2002. She found it in Caney Island Branch - a small hollow just past the Rt. 460 bridge across the Levisa River near Harman Junction. The next day I was able to return to the area and get about 7 minutes of digital video. The warbler remained in the area for at least two weeks, entertained many members of local bird clubs in the region, and was seen on one occasion defending its territory against a Blue-winged Warbler.
This bird was singing both the Blue-winged Warbler and Golden-winged Warbler calls - as well as his own combinations. These pictures are video captures from 8mm.
[Sample VARCOM Form - 1st VSO totally electronic submission and approval]
Here's a link to an article I wrote several years ago for the Mountain Peeks Magazine.