This is the story of how I sort of met a celebrity birder. I’ve never met any celebrity in my life. I think the most famous person I’ve ever met is Jackie Joyner-Kersee. I was running in a half marathon in Quincy, IL and she was the one placing medals on all of the finishers. I almost fell on her when she placed the medal on me. She asked me, “are you okay?” I have to admit that there is a feeling of pride that an olympic athlete almost put her arms around me.
I’ve told my birding celebrity story a few times. Only once have I not had to explain who the person was. I had made a deal with my two daughters who were with me at the time. We picked up food at Fazoli’s before crossing the Alton bridge to go to my most frequented hotspot, The Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Missouri. I drove out to the back access point of Heron Pond. I saw three people that I did not recognize in the parking area with birding optics. At this point, it was unusual for me to see that many birders at the Riverlands and not recognize even one. It was this year that I’ve met more birders than I ever have before. I no longer have to rely on making birders out of nonbirders (besides my children, of course). I jumped out of my Subaru with angus mac and cheese and fork in hand and asked “am I late to the bird party?” They were looking at something in the lone tall tree through a spotting scope. One of them said to me, “Black-throated Blue Warbler”. I, of course, paused my mac and cheese devouring to say, “seriously?” I had only recently seen my first Black-throated Blue Warbler a few weeks earlier. The birder replied, “on your shirt.” I quickly remembered I was wearing my World Migratory Bird Day shirt with the warbler on the front of it. I suddenly felt embarrassed that I was not only standing there scarfing down some pasta but that I also got all excited because I forgot what clothes I was wearing.
“I’m guessing by your shirt, that you’re a birder”, he said. “We have a Merlin in the scope if you want to take a look at it.” Of course, I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to see a Merlin in a scope. I finally became less oblivious to the fact that my daughter was saying to me, “Are you going to let me out?” She couldn’t undo the straps on her car seat by herself. Her and my older daughter ran up to go play in the sand behind the bird blind. I stepped up to go see the Merlin in the scope. It was the closest view I’d ever had of a Merlin and through a most excellent spotting scope as well. I saw the other birder, a man, talking with a young woman birder. They appeared to be about ready to get into one of the cars to leave. The man’s voice sounded familiar and his face was a little familiar as well. I gathered that they were looking for a certain species and wanted to see it before it got dark. Once I imagined the man without the hat and glasses, I suddenly recognized who he was. I felt like I wanted to say something and maybe ask to get a photo for this blog but I just watched as they got in the car and drove away. They were going to Lakeside Park I believe to get Eurasian Tree Sparrows, a species that I’m sure could be found on the next road.
The birder who had shown me the Merlin told me he was sure about the ID because their original tour leader, whom I also knew to be a very knowledgeable birder had found it. And also, “Do you know who that other guy was” , he said. I replied, “yes, I think so.” He said, “that was Noah Stryker.” I should have been aware of the possibility of him showing up since he had just spoke at Mizzou about his World Big Year. I listened to it on YouTube the next morning on my way to a birding field trip at BK Leach (which was terrific, by the way). The man told me that his wife would be happy to hear that he was going to be home early. I hung out by the blind while my daughters played. I don’t remember seeing too many birds that day but I felt I had a great story to tell my wife when she got home from work, how I had almost met a birding celebrity.
What makes someone a birding celebrity? Was it the books he wrote? Was it the trips to places not many us go, like Antarctica? I had not heard of Noah until I read the article about him before he started his big year. It was cool to hear how down the earth he was when he spoke about his adventure. Perhaps being a birding “celebrity” is what many of us strive to be (at least those of us who write blogs). Some people have found a way to get paid to go birding. I am not one of those people. I had a paying birding gig for about a day. It was cancelled due to the flooding of the Mississippi River. Even my youngest daughter had it figured out for me and herself, “Dad, if your job was birding then you wouldn’t have to take us with you all the time because you would have already been birding all day.” To be honest, I wouldn’t have to quit my job to go birding all of the time, just everything else I do with my life. I’ve seen that other birders do a statewide big year every year. I might have to settle for the St. Louis Circle which goes from Carlyle Lake in Illinois to somewhere in Missouri past St. Charles county. I saw more birds in 2021 than I have in any year before and I never had to leave the circle. In fact, there is only 1 bird that I saw outside the St. Louis circle that I did not find within. Can you guess what it is? It was in this story.
Perhaps when more people start reading this blog, I can take more daring trips and write about them. When I was in college earning my Master’s degree, I was the resident bird expert. Now when I go on a field trip or do a citizen science bird count, I’m the guy that nobody knows. I want to accomplish a birding feat that is new and interesting, something that someone wants to read about. That’s all for now, National Geographic is calling…