For the Birds: Lifelong experiences with birds

By Jamie Johnston

I loved all flora and fauna as a child, I had no favorites.

I was young, a pre-teen just wanting to go out of the house to see what I could discover. I’d sneak out of the house just as the sun cast its warmth on the land in the early morning and head for the woods, snooping for hidden mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects. Finding a nest of some gamebird or songbird made my day. Coming across a fox den or tripping over a young fawn was always exciting for a 10-year old.

It was a great upbringing, in part for the differences between habitats I encountered in Cooperstown and in New Haven, Connecticut. Each was unique; New Haven more urban and gentile, Cooperstown with more working farmland. But with all the time I spent in the woods, the more I liked both. Each day was an adventure that went through constant changes thanks to weather and the seasons.