A Bird's Eye View to Wilderness Wildlife Week 2015

Back in January, I decided to take advantage of an unspoken-for weekend and take a short drive down to Sevierville, Tennessee to visit my father-in-law, Norm Kallemeyn. The timing wasn't completely arbitrary. For years Norm and my mother-in-law, Bobbie, had been talking about Wilderness Wildlife Week, which they had attended and volunteered for many years. Bobbie passed away this past June and I was due to visit Norm. I thought January a good time for me to try to break up the gloom of winter with my ever-sunny disposition and cheery attitude (read - sarcasm). If my visit coincided with the 25th annual Wilderness Wildlife Week, all the better.

A "Birds' Eye View" by Clay Thurston (hanging in my man cave)

"Focus" - driving down I-89 at night with freezing rain; the temperature around 32; no snow tires; being passed by semis. It was a long trip to Tennessee from Northern Virginia and I didn't get in until fairly late. It was good to be there and Norm and I got an early start Saturday morning.

Events started on Saturday, January 24th and ran through Saturday, January 31. There were seminars all week, entertainment, hikes in the Smokies, and vendors to visit.

I had identified a couple presentations I wanted to see pertaining to outdoor photography, outdoor writing, wildlife, and the geology of the Smokies. First, Norm had to introduce me to a couple people, about 1,351 or so acquaintances. Not being well-liked myself, it is hard to imagine that many people seemingly genuinely happy to see you. I had to ice my hand that night after so many introductions. I don't know how the politicians do it.

OK, next the bird eye quiz. Yes, I did by this photograph. My wife and daughters didn't quite believe it at first. It is now hanging on the wall. Make your guesses. Write them down - starting top row, left to right. Whoever wins gets my Parakeets or a prize of similar value (which would mean you pay me money). I think I only got 3 or 4 correct.  Here goes, sung to the tune of "Ten Little Indians" (or Ten Native Americans to be PC): Row 1: Brown Thrasher, Great Blue Heron, Mockingbird, Sandhill Crane, Burrowing Owl; Row 2: Carolina Wren, Cattle Egret (breeding colors), American Goldfinch, Tricolor Heron (breeding colors), Robin; Row 3: White Ibis, Mourning Dove, Indigo Bunting, Blue Jay, Double-crested Cormorant (breeding colors); Row 4: Anhinga (female breeding colors), Cedar Waxwing, Saw-whet Owl, White-throated Sparrow, Great Egret (breeding colors); and Row 5: Wood Duck (male), Red-bellied Woodpecker (female), Black Vulture, Cardinal (male), Atlantic Puffin. Let me know where to ship the Parakeets. Their names are Sid and Geno.

Raptor-man's Friend, unhappy

All the presentations I attended were good to excellent. I particularly enjoyed the presentation on "The Dos, Don'ts and Hows of Photographing Birds" by Clay Thurston (865-281-0645). Clay had a ton of great photos and was humble enough to include many "out-takes" where his bird subjects didn't exactly cooperate. Clay imparted several useful bits of information in his presentation. These included how to position the bird in the picture, using the rule of thirds, to highlight the bird's movement and other features of the photo and that you usually have to take a lot of photos to get that one really great shot.

I also attended a very interesting presentation by Norm's friend, and financial advisor, J. Greg Johnson on hiking in Israel and Ireland. OK, they aren't the Smokies, but Greg is a proud Appalachian so that was the hook. As a side note, Greg is also the author of Sanctuary, a book on meditations from the Great Smoky Mountains.. I read it and it is very well written - especially for a financial advisor.

It was a about the best free event I may have ever attended, not counting my wedding or the birth of my daughters (but those weren't really "free"). And I had a very nice visit with my favorite father-in-law. You can't beat that.

In the back of the Wildlife Week program was an "in memoriam" section for friends and volunteers who had passed in the last year. This section had a nice write-up on my mother-in-law Bobbie and her service as a local volunteer and involvement in the community. I know it meant a lot to Norm.

The big drama among the volunteers this year was the announcement that they were moving the event from January to May in 2016. Time will tell what the impact will be - to speaker and vendor participation and general attendance. One thing for certain, it will be a lot warmer for the hikers.

Keeping New Year's Resolutions . . . Hiking, Birding, and Photography

      Back in January 2013, before my work life went crazy, I wrote about New Year's resolutions for the Mountain Gazette. I outline some suggested resolutions that I thought would make the sporting world a better place and sportsmen better people - if that is possible.  Among the resolutions I suggested was "Take up a new and complimentary 'hobby'; something to get you out in the woods during the off season. Take up photography, bird watching, hiking, canoeing – something to get you outside; something you can do with family or friends...."

Tri-Colored Heron and Great Egret, Cape May, NJ

I decided to follow my own advice (for a change) and take up several "hobbies" to compliment hunting and fishing activities. And while many hobbies don't come cheap, they don't have to be expensive (unless you get a new camera and new hiking shoes, and a new backpack...not that I'm saying I did...).

Being outdoors keeps me sane. Some people have no problem dealing with crowds of people, tons of traffic, and lots of buildings and pavement. Not me. I need the outdoors to recreate and regenerate. When I'm in Vermont, I'm surrounded by the outdoors. When I'm away, not so much.

My "hobbies" bring me outside when noting is in season or, God forbid, I don't have time or feel like hunting or fishing. When I'm away from Vermont these same pursuits give me a great reason to head for the hills - not that I need too much of a reason.

Sky Meadow State Park, VA

I started snowshoe day hiking on the western slopes of Mount Mansfield after hunting season was over and before trout season opened with . The woods were almost empty and I certainly didn't overhead.

Friends in Virginia told me about Sky Meadows State Park, which has become a favorite - especially the section that runs along the Appalachian Trial. Wherever I am on the weekend I look to see what local trails are available.

Sometimes the weather is less than desirable or I simply don't have the time available for a good hike. Enter the hobby of birding. I used to bird back in high school and my early fatherhood years - both periods of time with my friend Tom Kenefick. Back in the day, we'd pack our daughters Lauren and Katie and go looking for Bald Eagles at Mason Neck in Virginia. We'd tie feathers on the girls and let them flop around in their winter coats hoping to attract some birds. (Just checking to see if our wives ever read my blog.)

Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, VA

In fact, back in high school we birded with David Allen Sibley (once). David was in my class and Tom and I ran track with David's older brother Steve and sister Anne. We went out one night looking to call owls and stayed through dawn. We ended up in a marsh, trying to convince David to leave so we could grab some breakfast. To say that David had an unusual level of focus for a high school guy would be a gross understatement, certainly where something other than girls were concerned. Of course, having more focus than either Tom or me was a low hurdle to meet.

So, I'm birding again and taking some short side trips to various locations near and not so near and it has been a lot of fun.

Whimbrels, Cape May, NJ

The Tri-Colored Heron, Great Egret, and Whimbrel photos were taken on a September trip to Cape May, NJ. The shots were taken from a boat in choppy water. I was using a Lumix GX-7 with a 100-300 lens. The camera has an anti-vibration feature, which was handy shooting from a boat.

I saw 34 species of birds. Many of the birds were firsts for me. Kind of neat. It gets me out and is an interesting challenge to learn to identify new birds. It is like preseason scouting, where you aren't sure of what game you'll actually find.

One interesting sighting while at Cape May was a Whiskered Tern. You won't find it in your local bird guide since it is from Africa. It was visiting Cape May when I was. It was only the third sighting of this bird in the United States. Frankly, it wasn't an impressive looking bird. It was nice to add such an unusual sighting to my life list.

Expect to see many more photos in coming posts. I already have quite a backlog.