How It All Began

Starting in 1986 thru 1995, I worked outdoors year round. I was doing home improvements. Mostly vinyl siding, but some roofing and decks were thrown in. I had seen the fall migration of hawks, what was pretty cool, but didn't push me off into obsession land. Thinking back, a cloudy fall morning would mean there would be hundreds of hawks circling overhead. I now know they were kettles of broad-winged hawks trying to find the thermals to keep the migration south going. One day I was leaving work and saw a strange but beautiful bird on the sidewalk. I was so amazed by it I went right to Barnes & Nobel and bought the Audubon Field Guide. It turns out that what I saw was a Northern Flicker. It likes to eat bugs on the ground, which it was doing. I was hooked.