Tony

I have enjoyed bird watching for years. This covid spring and summer my two boys (ages 12 & 9), along with my wife have now really gotten into bird watching. We have been camping in Smoky Mountain National Park, visited multiple bird reserves, refuges and parks along with a trip to the NC coast to see some migratory birds as well. What a joy for me to see my family take to it. My oldest son is quite the researcher, now seemingly having memorized a couple field guides (he can tell me what page various birds are on and he is unbelievable in remembering details of size and marking etc.) My younger son is the artist, taking pictures and then drawing the birds...its also mesmerizing to me. Having studied under an ornithologist for a semester in the Rockies during my college days to now many years later having my family get into birding is a thrill for me. While at Smoky Mtn National Park we encountered a family of Pileated woodpeckers near the ranger station and we followed them around a bit enjoying the show. Just yesterday, at our home, we had a surprise visit from a couple Yellow billed Cuckoos....to date, since March, we have identified a little over 50 species in our yard (piedmont of NC, USA). To date, since March, we have identified almost 160 species from the mountains to the coast and all in between.