About Dave's Birds

Birding and Birdwatching were something I was only vaguely aware of for most of my adult life. It wasn't until my Mom became more active in a pastime that she had wanted to pursue for years, Birding, that I started to become interested.

Mom asked me in fall of 1999 to construct a database for her to keep track of her lifelist and sightings. I realize now that this just may have been a devious, motherly way to get me involved, but I'm not sure. I constructed the database, and then thought that it would be nice to include a photograph of each bird in the database for her to compare her observations with.

I began searching the internet for photos and soon realized that although there are many excellent photos on the web, there were some that I figured "Hmmm, I can do better than that". And so began the obsession.

My first "lifer' was a Great Blue Heron on Christmas Day 1999. I began seriously (or so I thought) photographing birds in fall of 2000. Every photograph I take is a lesson in how little I know about birds and photography. Every soul I meet in the field, expert and beginner, teaches me more and more about how to look at birds and appreciate their beauty.

I hope that the photos on this web site, in some small way, express and share my passion and obsession for displaying these wonders of nature.

"Thanks" are, of course, a mandatory part of any "bio". I'll start, again, with Mom - without her "gentle nudging" I would certainly not be in the position to write this bio or have this web site - missing out on something I wish that I'd discovered many years ago; Denise Wight has been, and still is, a major 'sanity check' - without her guidance and patience I'd be unable to positively differentiate a Flamingo from a Pigeon; Don DesJardin for inspiring me to attempt bird photography and making me think (foolishly) that I could approach his level of the art form; and Guy McCaskie for being so patient with a 'fledgling' birder and explaining that as important as it is to correctly identify and document, it is equally as important to get out and really observe nature, not just merely giving it a passing glance. There are too many others who fall in this category to mention here - "Thanks" to one and all - I hope to see you in the field soon.

Cheers,

Dave
1951 - 2019