Like everyone across the country, I am deeply saddened by the shootings in Connecticut. It is simply unimaginable. Sadly, many of us have gotten used to these public rampages, but this one was different. Kindergartners. Lots of them. This one hit especially close to home as my wife and I are both teachers, and Evan, the Captain of our birding team, is in Kindergarten. I cannot imagine the hell those parents are living or how those remaining teachers will pick up the pieces.

I didn’t hear the news until late in the school day, and so I walked out of school with a heavy heart. As I got near my vehicle in the parking lot, I was startled by a Bald Eagle that was flying low about 30 yards from me! Wow. They are amazing birds but even more so up close. It was an unexpected encounter, and I tried to fumble for my phone to snap a pic. But I was too slow and all thumbs, and the moment was gone before I knew it. Regardless, I found myself wanting to get home just a little bit quicker to share this news with my birding buddy. My five-year-old was at home – safe. That was treasure enough on this day. This news that I was about to bring him was just the icing on the cake. It was a reminder that life moves forward and that we need to spend our time cherishing our loved ones and doing the things that make them tick.

I finally arrived home and was gathering my things out of the car when out of my peripheral vision I noticed something flying. Looking up I saw a Trumpeter Swan flying low and alone over our cul-de-sac! What?! We just had a blizzard last weekend dumping nearly 18 in. of snow, and the temps have been below zero over night. Once again I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough. Now I really couldn’t wait to get in the house to tell Evan about my sightings. As I came into the house he was in the entryway, and I told him I had two pieces of exciting news. Before I could share my news, he replied, “Dad! Dad! Me too! I just saw a Trumpeter Swan flying!” To be able to share a moment like that on any day would be special, but on this day it was a moment to remember.

Life is fragile, but it’s beautiful and worth living. So hug your kids extra tight today and bird on.

This weekend is Evan’s Christmas program at church, and my parents are coming down to take it in. Since Evan and I will be around Grandpa Rick, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have a birding movie night. What do birders watch on movie night? The Big Year.

Maybe you’ve never heard of it. After all, it is full of lesser-known actors such as Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson. But if you have heard of it, you know why the three of us need to watch this together. The Big Year is a story about three different birders who are trying to complete a “big year” and become Birder of the Year. In the birding world, a “big year” is where you try to sight as many bird species as you can in a single calendar year. The movie portrays this sub-culture as quite competitive as these birders race the clock traversing the country trying to get the most birds on their lists. This along with all the footage of bird species makes it a compelling movie for us to watch, but the human story is just as intriguing. Steve Martin plays a corporate executive who breaks free from that world to do his big year. Owen Wilson’s character is basically a professional birder who is trying to defend his title of Birder of the Year. Jack Black plays an office worker who is going nowhere in life but has a passion for birding. As all three embark on this quest to become Birder of the Year, their paths often intertwine and their interactions become cutthroat. By the end of the movie, however, deep friendships emerge that trump the competition. Evan may miss the lessons of the movie, but he no doubt will be thrilled to see these the beautiful landscapes and the many images of birds.

For some time I have considered starting a blog in which my 5-year-old and I could detail our adventures as beginning birders.  Last night I finally took the plunge and bought a domain name and have begun work on this project.  Evan and I are new to the sport of birding, and I am new to the blogging world, so this will certainly be an adventure for everyone – readers included!

So how did this all come about?

Over the last couple years whenever my wife or I spotted a pretty bird out the window, like a cardinal or an oriole, we always reacted excitedly and pointed it out to our son, Evan, who is now 5.  While our enthusiasm faded over time, his never did.  When gold finches would cover the thistle feeder day after day, they just became part of the background.  Not to Evan.  Each day he saw one was like the very first time – sheer excitement.  As loving parents we would try our best to sound sincere and say, “Wow, would you look at that!”  It was fake at worst and half-hearted at best.

It’s a good thing that grandparents can pick up their kids’ slack when it comes to sharing the joy of a child.  It also helps that one of those grandparents is a former biologist who has a special affinity toward birds.  As we visited my parents one summer, Evan got excited over the birds on my dad’s feeder.  My dad, Rick, got just as excited and before long the two of them were buried in a bird identification guide looking up everything with wings.

As a dad, I admired this special bird connection between my son and my dad, but I did not share their level of interest.  That all changed when I had an encounter one day on my dad’s property in northern MN with a bird I had never seen or heard before – the chestnut-sided warbler.  From that point on, I was hooked on birding. Now the three of us share this hobby, and it is my goal to detail our adventures in this blog.

In a future post I will explain how I chose the title of the blog, but for now, the picture in the header is of Evan screaming, “Blue Heron!” over the noise of the wind and the boat motor as we cruised across Pelican Lake last summer on grandpa’s pontoon.