This post kicks off the start of my new blog, tentatively called In Sympathy with Nature. As a self-described nature nerd, my plan is to use it as a platform for sharing various field and travel experiences with a focus around my interests in birding and native plant gardening.
Lately, I have been thinking about when did my avian journey truly began? what helped stoke the interest? and when did the roots fully take form? I’ve increasingly come to the conclusion that my mother’s low-key yet sustained interest in birds was a key factor.
During my growing up years, I vividly recall her love for all things
related to the spring, that special season of rebirth that occurs each March, April and May. While she would never have called herself a “birder,” per se, as a teenager I remember she had couple of palm-sized copies of the Golden Field Guides: Birds of North America at strategic picture windows throughout our house – ready for a quick scan for a bird she wasn’t quite sure of.
Mom grew up on a family farm in upstate New York, in a small town called Mexico – just east of Oswego, and literally only a couple miles from the southeast corner of Lake Ontario. Continue reading “For the Love of Birds”