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My Spark Bird: A Yellow Warbler

A yellow warbler lit in my willow tree one long-ago August day and I have never been the same since.I didn't know it was a yellow warbler, of course. Unlike my husband Bill, whose interest in birds had...

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Modern-day Pterodactyl

I don't know that I had an epiphany that suddenly ignited an interest in birds. Something in me is hardwired to be smitten with nature, and birds were my first source of fascination. This passion for...

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A Goldfinch Epiphany

On a sun-splendored day in early September the young boy went outside to play in the yard of his parents' Maryland farm. But something he saw held his attention captive almost as soon as he ran out the...

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Blackburnian Warbler

I came into bird-watching in a casual sort of way, occasioned by the initial interest of my wife, who, as a kindergarten teacher, decided to add a unit on birds to her lesson plans. With her leading...

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Discovering Warblers

My spark bird was a warbler. I was about eight, and I heard the sound of small wings splashing in a seep in the forest behind my house in Richmond, Virginia. The pool was surrounded by catbrier, and I...

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An Owl Nest That Made a Difference

As a kid, I was a deadly predator. I spent hours and hours hunting and fishing. Even though Dad was a wildlife photographer and I worked for him in summer – mostly doing errands and yard chores – I had...

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Ivory-billed Woodpecker

"Grandpa! Grandpa!" The year was 1950, and I was running down the path that led to the Baby Beach where my grandfather was working in his garden. The garden down at the beach was his favorite place in...

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The Spark - Spotted Towhee

The year was 1973. I was working at the Sleep Disorders Center at Stanford University and living in a tiny cottage in an older section of Palo Alto, California. I regarded my little abode as charming,...

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Spring 1970: Freshman year at Ohio State University. A guy in zoology class asks me to go bird watching. He'll pick me up Saturday, and we'll head south of Columbus to study migrants for his...

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