While always a collector of pine cones and butterfly wings and a forever stalker of snakes and flying squirrels, dendrology at Stephen F Austin forever changed my life. Trees became the thing. I learned to identify trees at highway speeds and proved that searching for rare trees in Fresnal Canyon and drug smuggling are not equivalents. Eventually I transitioned to birds, but my first love will always be the trees and forests of East Texas and everything in them. Nothing tugs at my soul like a singing Carolina Wren deep in the woods.

Now a retired wildlife biologist, part-time botanist, and full-time tree hugger. I’ve worked mostly with birds, but I’ve performed more Daubenmires than I care to admit. I’m always amazed (and grateful) that I’ve made a living counting woodpeckers and plovers and mapping distributions of rare plants and a myriad of other creatures. I’ve always thanked my lucky stars whether flying around counting ducks, searching for a tagged wolf, or even going bleary-eyed after a morning of 25 frames. It’s all good.

For those of you who provided corrections and identifications or simply agreed with an identification, I am deeply appreciative. Of course, one cannot be a birder without dabbling in eBird.

https://ebird.org/profile/NDkwMzI1/US

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