I have always loved being outdoors all-year and in all-conditions, but my passion for birding was kinded during my Ph.D. in the state of Wisconsin. It all began on a trail run at the Merrimac Preserve in Central Wisconsin, where I was chased by a mating pair of sandhill cranes while their colt enjoyed the spectacle. After this experience, I found myself "irrationally" heeding to the impulse to pull off into the shoulder of the road to watch groups of  sandhill cranes dancing. I would try to avoid swerving into oncoming traffic as a large group would fly over a quiet Wisconsin state highway. Living near Milwaukee provided my countless opportunities to cultivate curiousity about the diverse birds migrating or residing along the western side of Lake Michigan (e.g., Double-crested Cormorants, Sora, Ruddy Turnstone, Great Blue Heron, Common Tern, etc.). 

Having said all of this, I did not buy a pair of binoculars until I was invited to hide in a blind and watch the breathtaking dance of the Greater Prairie-chickens! I hope the photographs I have taken encourage curiousity in others similar to what I felt as I began to grow fond of Sandhill Cranes.