Hard to believe it’s been another whole year of Birdfreak.com. It has definitely been a busy one!!
The two biggest events were:
- Eddie proposed to his beautiful soul mate, Stacia (and she said yes)
- Jennie and Dakota moved to northwestern Ohio after Jennie accepted a cartographer job for the USDA
Some more highlights from the past “Birdfreak Year”:
In December we finished our eCournell course in bird behavior called “Courtship and Rivalry In Birds” Eddie also proposed to Stacia on New Year’s Eve.
In January we completed our 2nd Rock Cut Christmas Bird Count. This is the count The Birdfreak Team initiated to help cover more of our local birding area. Jennie and Dakota also completed their move to Ohio this month.
In February Stacia and Eddie reviewed Stacia’s new pair of Swarovski El Traveler binoculars. They are amazing optics!
In March we reviewed the 2nd edition of Princeton Field Guides: Birds of Europe, a must for traveling birders.
In April we reviewed the brand new Swarovski EL Binoculars with Swarovision. These have easily become Eddie’s favorite bins, although they replaced the “old” ELs which were also supremely awesome.
In May Stacia and Eddie visited Jennie and Dakota in Ohio to participate in the Biggest Week in American Birding. We also made a trip to Montrose in Chicago and saw a bunch of migrating birds.
In June Eddie spent a lot of time learning to horseback ride (and not much time birding).
In July, birding was slow in Illinois. In Ohio, Jennie and Dakota wondered if it was too hot to bird but ending up seeing some interesting birds.
In August we found a Great Blue Heron high in a tree and photographed the local Mississippi Kites in Rockford.
In September we participated in a hawk watch at Rock Cut State Park. We also visited Horicon Marsh for Eddie’s birthday and had a blast photographing a fishing Great Egret.
In October the Birdfreak Team participated in Big Sits in Ohio and Illinois.
In November we discussed the imposing danger of wind turbines in sensitive habitat in northwest Ohio. On a lighter note, Jennie’s talked about the outdoor fun at the dog park with her newly adopted pup, Lily.
The outlook for our 5th year looks pretty exciting! Eddie is getting married in May. The Big Year Movie comes out. And there are numerous places on our wish list to travel to. Where we end up going is still uncertain but we’ll share with you, our wonderful readers, everything along the way!!
Thank you for being a big part of bird conservation and the joy of the outdoors!!
I’d like to offer my congratulations, and the congratulations of the entire team at Black Swamp Bird Observatory, to the fine folks at Birdfreak.com for giving us four years of outstanding information, and for sharing your knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm for birds (and dogs, and horses, and people!) with the rest of the world.
Here’s to four more years gloriously successful years!
~kimberly kaufman