Big Year

The journey…

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“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms… I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”  ~ Mary Oliver

This week marks one year since an unprecedented tornado tore right through our backyard. The feelings I experienced during the storm event reminded me without a spec of doubt what is truly important to me.  As my life and the lives of my immediate family members passed before my eyes, everything else simply melted away from my mind. I realized in the end.. it was the journey with the people in my life~ the relationships, the experiences with them, and the connections between us all, that mattered.

Plain and simple as that.

Nothing else.

(Check out my tornado blog post here:  At that moment I knew… It went viral and was the most popular Mom’s Big Year post of 2016!  I gather that people really like tornados or something. lol)

Reflecting on that surreal experience inspired me to write this blog post today, highlighting my gratitude and counting my blessings for some of the deep connections and special new friends that walked by my side during my Big Year.

On my recent trip to Maine, a friend asked me what it is that I miss most about the Big Year.   I can be pretty indecisive, so much to my surprise, it took me only a split second to respond. “I miss the journey and meeting new friends like you along the way.” I answered with conviction.

During Mom’s Big Year I made every effort to grant myself the time, the space and the bandwidth to breathe in every single bird, AND to take time to appreciate every person and vista that crossed my path (unless I was running after a mega-rare bird 🙂 lol!)

And in doing all that..  I loved every. single. minute. of this journey!
I truly felt alive.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  

~Howard Thurman

I believe that every person crossing my path has something to teach me… and our meeting is not by accident. I honestly cannot recall a single plane trip during the Big Year where I did not learn the name of the person sitting next to me and some interesting information about them by the end of the flight.

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Screen Shot 2017-06-21 at 11.32.58 PMMost recently, Don sat next to me on my flight back from Maine June 5th. He was eagerly returning from a 6-month deployment in the Middle East as a radio officer for the Army. He showed me pictures of the classic car he was going to buy when he returned to his home in upstate New York.  We talked about the challenges of raising teens and the ins and outs of setting up radios and encrypted military communications. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out I was a licensed amateur radio operator and could hold my own as he described the technical parts of his job. I told him of my Big Year and why I had been visiting Maine. He told me about the birds he saw in Iraq. We talked the entire flight.  Many folks could look at us and think that we had not a thing in common… but I guarantee we’d prove you wrong in a heartbeat.

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The Mom’s Big Year journey contained many people, old friends and new, that played big and small parts in my travels and simply changed the course of my year for the better. They caused me to stop and take time to savor the journey in the midst of the planning and all the challenges of a Big Year.  Several new friends I met in 2016 come to mind as I write this post and I cannot begin to list them all. (Many of you know who you are.)  Like my steadfast old friends, these new friends made me a better person as a result of their wisdom, their unconditional support (for me and for my family) and their friendship…. Driving me to places when I could not drive myself, spending extra hours hiking miles to reach ‘just one more bird’ 🙂 , giving me little good luck charms to carry, and sending me encouraging messages to get me over that next bridge.

I am… in a word…

Grateful. ❤

It’s my hope that I can give back even a fraction of the love and support that has been granted me on this journey.

I’d like to introduce you to just a couple of my special new friends I met during the course of the Big Year. They are beautiful to me inside and out and I count my lucky stars every day for having people like them (AND people like you) in my life!

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Patti and I, post-field trip at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, Titusville, FL, January 2017

This is the lovely Patti! I met Patti on one of my first local Mom’s Big Year trips. It was a Maryland ‘owl prowl’ and we had a blast!   Her positive outlook and genuine love of our natural world and of learning caused us to hit it off right away! She’s a super sharp birder to boot! Read about our first time out in the field together here

—> Bingo

Since that first day of birding together, I feel so very fortunate that Patti has become a dear friend and an awesome supporter of Mom’s Big Year. We had wonderful opportunities to bird together during the Big Year and also during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Florida this January. I look forward to getting out in the field with her again soon and hopefully for many years to come!

 

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Deb and I met through my Mom’s Big Year blog and I am soooo glad she reached out to me! She’s truly an inspiration! Deb lives with FSH Muscular Dystrophy and shared with me that Mom’s Big Year inspired her to stretch beyond her wildest dreams and to do her very own physically accessible mid-Atlantic Big Year! She’s in the midst of it right now and I am simply tickled to hear how well she’s doing with it! The picture of us here was taken just after my presentation to the Howard County Bird Club. Deb drove an HOUR each way at night to come see my talk and completely surprised me when she introduced herself and presented me with flowers and the sweetest of notes. I was utterly speechless and brought to tears! Deb started her blog that VERY night after hearing my talk!  I encourage you to support Deb and follow along with her Big Year and check out her super-inspiring blog “Gimpy Girl Goes Birding” here—>Gimpy Girl Goes Birding

 

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Kim is the most recent of my new friends to cross my path.  After purchasing an organic farm in Pennsylvania on a whim earlier this year, she was nervous she had gotten in over her head. She shared with me that the Mom’s Big Year story empowered her and helped her to realize that she’s on the right path to success with her new endeavor.  We met in person after my keynote at the Acadia Birding Festival and had another unexpected and whimsical meeting in the airport as we discovered we were on the same flight home.  She then shared a more personal struggle and told me that the Mom’s Big Year story had inspired her to finally try to quit smoking once and for all. We exchanged contact info and she has committed to keeping me posted along the way.  Good luck, Kim!  We know it’s not going to be easy.. but we’re rooting for you and all know you can do this!!

I have learned that new friendships, deep connections, and relationships like these feed my soul. I am so thankful to every one of my friends for renewing my spirit and my passion for life during 2016 and beyond. These connections and inspiring and heart-warming stories borne out of Mom’s Big Year were honestly not something I ever anticipated. A bonus! I love that! ❤

In the end, my Mom’s Big Year bird species counts were good and actually much better than I ever guessed they would be.  (Stay tuned for upcoming posts describing the cool ending to the Big Year with all the stats!)

But numbers are simply numbers, my friend..

When all is said and done, what is it that really matters?

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Love, Nancy xoxo

 

 

Home isn’t a place…

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Good morning, Maine.

Home isn’t a place….it’s a feeling.

Was it the sound sound of the Black-capped Chickadee?

the scent of the balsam fir?

the sight of the paper birch trees?

or the kindness of new friends and old that made Maine feel

Just. Like. Home to me? ❤

I was raised in Northern New Jersey where the familiar sound of the Black-capped Chickadee consistently rang out in the trees.  We had a balsam fir pillow in our rec room and the scent chased you down and swirled into your head every single time you entered the space. My dad was from Michigan. He was no stranger to the Northern forests and planted a paper birch tree in our front yard. I clearly recall building my very first snowman with him in front of it.

 

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I traveled to Maine earlier this month to serve as the keynote speaker for the Acadia Birding Festival.  And to say that I was ‘over the moon excited’ about this opportunity is an understatement.

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Me, quite content after having a great look at the Horned Grebe pictured above in Seal Cove
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Acadia Birding Festival Keynote Speakers, Luke Seitz, Pete Dunne, & me

My fellow keynotes were Pete Dunne (one of my childhood birding heros) and Luke Seitz (an amazing young birder/professional guide)

 

 

 

 

From the start to the end of the festival everyone involved felt like family. Becky Marvil and her entire team of volunteers and guides is nothing short of *amazing*!  I am indebted to Becky for tapping me for the festival and am truly honored to have played a part. She’s runs the event like clockwork and truly fosters a deep sense of place and community.  I had heard that all was the case.. and I now know ~first-hand~ that every last bit of it is true. Special thanks to friends, Bruce and Toni Evans who looked out for me and made sure I had all the pieces in place to make it such a successful Mom’s Big Year presentation and festival for me!

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Festival Director, Becky Marvil, me and Toni Evans

I simply cannot WAIT until next year. I would pack the car now if I could!  If you haven’t already~ I encourage you to check out the festival website and wonderful movie about it on its home page here: Acadia Birding Festival 

I hope to see many of you there next year!

Those of you who have been following along know that I’ve been juggling working 3 days a week as a biologist at the North American Bird Banding Laboratory and 2 days a week teaching environmental science at University of Maryland. I simply love love love both jobs and wouldn’t trade either for the world.

Well, all that said, the semester snowballed this spring leaving little time for anything else and I have yet to blog about the exciting ending to Mom’s Big Year!  Now things are calming down with school ending and only working 3 days a week.. so I’ll be playing catch up on the blog. BIG TIME!  And I’m thrilled to have each of you following along.

Before going back to catch up..  I just couldn’t WAIT another day to blog about my trip up north to the festival!

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Thanks to to all my fellow guides and festival participants for being such great team players and for making our excursions so much fun and educational for everyone!  Each time I led a trip with any combination of these festival guides, I felt like we had the A-team for sure!  These top-notch guides all worked hard to make the festival a super special experience for all!

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Me with amazing fellow guides and dear friends, Erin and Lena!

The festival’s annual pelagic trip is a highlight for participants and guides alike!

On my last morning, I was fortunate to squeeze in some additional time birding with these lovely ladies!

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And special thanks to Billy Helprin, Director of Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary, for giving us a tour highlighting the impressive work happening throughout his preserve.  The Wildlife Sanctuary serves school groups, teachers and the general public ~ engaging them in a host of citizen science programs (including monitoring Common Loon nests and territories as well as Alewife migration at several locations.) FUN! I encourage you to check out all the things that Billy and the sanctuary’s summer employee, Alex Douwes are doing to protect, preserve and enhance the Somes-Meynell watershed.  Click the link below to learn more about what makes this sanctuary on Mount Desert Island such a special place… Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary Facebook page

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Billy explaining the fish ladders used by Alewives during migration

Mountains. Evergreens. Rocky shores. Water.

It is beauty. tranquility. power…

To me, Maine has all the things I love.

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And in a place where all these things meet…

In my mind, that’s simply magic.

As I sat gazing a trance-like gaze along the shoreline on my last evening there, my eyes dulled to a blur. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. I felt big. I felt small… honored, humbled, filled, empty…… larger than life and smaller than a pea.. all at the same time. (This place reminds me so much of Alaska… but perhaps a non-steroidal version of Alaska, if you will.  😉 )IMG_0916

With all due respect to my friends and family down south… There’s no denying this girl is a Yankee through and through.

And the sights, sounds, and smells of Maine made me feel that I had finally come home. ❤

More soon, xoxo,  Nancy

 

Reentry

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Well, here we are… several weeks into the New Year!

(2017?!  what happened to 1996??  I clearly recall when that year seemed soooo far in the distant future.)

You haven’t heard from me in a while. I’ll admit, frankly, reentry back post-Mom’s Big Year life has been rough. Like coming off of a high. Last year was the best year of my life to date. So definitely tough to follow that. Many of you saw that glimmer in my eye as I always had another trip around the corner.

Since January 1st,  I’ve been playing catch up in just about every aspect of my life and am a bit overwhelmed… Dishes, laundry, work, friendships, carpools, teaching, etc etc…  catching up on everything except sleep. Adapting back to the way things were before the Big Year. These past few weeks have been a time for me to shift my attention back to matters at home and work. It’s truly been a joy to be back with the family!

Paul just suggested we take our Halloween decorations down. I guess it’s been a little busy. Lol!  So, as you can tell, I’m still playing catch up.. but could not wait another day to update you!

I owe you some very cool posts that cover the final push of MBY!  I head to Florida next week for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. I’m super excited to be leading trips for the festival again this year and to be presenting my first MBY talk! Check it out the festival website here:  Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival  And if you’re there, I’ll be at the Wildside Nature Tours booth, so please come by and say HI!

So, going back to start bringing you up to date…

The rest of my Texas trip in November was FANTASTIC!

We met up with friend, Scarlet Colley to take her magical pontoon boat trip for a shot at Wilson’s Plover.  Anyone who has been on Scarlet’s boat knows that ‘magical’ is the only way to describe it. Scarlet talks with her dolphin friends that surround the boat. When I asked her how close they get to the dolphins, she told me, “We feed them our joy…We touch them with our hearts… And we swim with them in our dreams.”

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Scarlet and Nancy, post-Wilson’s Plover #493!
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Scarlet and Gabriel

 

Here are the highlights of my last days in Texas in pictures:

 

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Plain Chachalaca
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Olive Sparrow
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Gabriel Mapel and Gabriel Lugo= Gabriel squared! 🙂
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Greater Roadrunner
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Nancy at Sabal Palm Sanctuary
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Always love running into Superstar birder, Gabriel Mapel and his dad, Daniel!
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Groove-billed Ani at Salineno

My next trip held a big change in temps for me!

MBY headed NORTH!

Check back soon for the last of the MBY adventures. The last weeks were full of surprises and some were ‘beyond birds!’

xoxo, Nancy

 

 

Back in the nest

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Well, momma bird is back in the nest!

There’s SO much to share from these last few weeks, I don’t even know where to begin. It’s been a whirlwind of travel, final exams, family, friends and holidays. BIG fun!

After an amazing trip to the Rio Grande Valley in November, I stepped up the birding again in mid-December to finish the year strong.  With the immeasurable help and support of family, colleagues, and friends at this crazy time of year, I felt so fortunate to squeeze in trips to Minnesota, Southern Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and an unplanned trip to my childhood home in New Jersey… all before the ball dropped. I closed out 2016 with some very exciting hits, some tough misses, and a rather exciting finish to Mom’s Big Year!

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Sneak preview of my trip up north to Minnesota! Evening Grosbeak. Tick!

Now, I’m getting back to reality.. unpacking my suitcase and starting the laundry.  I just submitted semester grades this morning.. so, this month I’ll have more time to blog and recap on what I would consider to be the best year of my life so far! It was certainly a huge year of birds.. but as you all know, for me, it was much more than birds… It was a year chock-FULL of learning, growth, love, healing, travel, adventure, new friends, old friends and family.

I am grateful. I simply couldn’t ask for more.

Speaking of which…Here’s one of my favorite songs, by Sara Evans, I Could Not Ask for More. I’ve posted it before and I’m posting again as I love it so much. I sing it to my kids and hubby all the time. It really captures how I’m feeling right now about them, and you, and my entire support network for Mom’s Big Year.

“These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
And these are the moments
I know all I need is this
I’ve found all I’ve waited for, yeah
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
And every prayer has been answered
Every dream I’ve had’s come true
Yeah, right here in this moment
Is right where I’m meant to be
Here with you here with me”

Click on the link below for the youtube video:

Sara Evans, I Could Not Ask for More

I am so happy that you’re a part of my Big Year. And I cannot WAIT to share more with you!

But for now, it’s back to mom duties today.

I must head to the grocery store now, or we’ll be eating candy canes off the tree for dinner…

Though, I’m sure the kids wouldn’t mind… right?. 😉

More soon, xoxo,

Nancy

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Next trip?

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Hi everyone!

These last few weeks I’ve been doing the mom/work thing.. This week alone has been filled with band/orchestra concerts (5 concerts in 7 nights!!!!!), basketball games, Girl & Boy Scout meetings, holiday parties, the usual grocery shopping/meal planning, school projects etc etc.

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Taking a break from work and birding to celebrate the holidays with dear friends!

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Because of all the crazy busy days and nights- I owe you blog posts from the second half of my fabulous foray through Texas and my success in ticking Short-eared Owl (#499!) a couple weeks ago here in Maryland. More on those soon…  Perhaps I’ll get to write them after I send out LAST year’s Christmas cards I never sent. Lol!

All in a Mom’s Big Year, right?! 🙂

This weekend we had a dusting of snow….our first of the year!  After church, Sunday, I headed over to Maryland’s Eastern shore to see if I could tick #500.

Spend almost 3 hours of driving and 3 hours searching for a reliable Northern Shrike.. but missed it.. It was nowhere to be found!  Rats! Thanks to John and Meg Harris from the Howard County Bird Club for making the trek with me!

dipped on the shrike- but still smiling
the conciliatory dark chocolate

Now I sit in the airport for my final planned trip for Mom’s Big Year!

Took a moment to look up from my laptop and this is my view.  It’s a beaUUUtiful start to what I’m CERTAIN will be an INCREDIBLE trip!

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Can you guess where I’m heading?

Hint: I just bought some extra thermals yesterday!

 

 

Finer than frog hair!

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Wednesday, 11/2/2016

Well, it’s been an AMAZING few days in the Rio Grande Valley and I still have a few more days of hard-core birding left!

I am beyond thrilled with the birds I’ve ticked here so far. I have my “Texas A-team” with me and the plan is to leave No. Bird. Unseen.  And with this crew, we’re actually gonna make that happen!

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Mom’s Big Year – Team Texas:  Gabriel, David and Martin… Day 1 – Salineno
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Seedeater hunting- Nancy, Martin, David and Gabriel

Meet Team Texas:

  • Gabriel Lugo– fellow Wildside Nature Tours guide, came ALL the way from Puerto Rico, just to lend a hand. NO bird slips by Gabriel.. that’s for SURE. Gabriel chauffeured the team the entire week for hours on end..from Amazon Kingfisher to Aplomado Falcon to Northern Jacana and back, several times!
  • David Stekoll–  Uncle David has joined me once again to ‘tear up’ Texas for Mom’s Big Year. I’m SO super thankful to have another serious birder in the family!  He’s the BEST!  And fortunately, he’s still talking to this Yankee after driving across Texas for Mom’s Big Year(Austin to Big Bend and back) with me for 7 days in May. Lol!  We got 86 birds on that trip… It was EPIC!
  • Martin Hagne– reigns from the Texas Hill Country and has been an indispensable part of several Mom’s Big Year adventures.  He knows the ‘ins and outs’ of Texas birding and birds – especially the entire Rio Grande Valley- like the palm of his hand! Martin joined the Mom’s Big Year – Arizona edition in August and has so kindly spent hours helping to plan the Mom’s Big Year itinerary.
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Nancy, Martin & Gabriel (taking the pic) setting the game plan for Wednesday

And very special thanks to Greg Miller this week -and beyond- for his constant support, guidance and for serving as a major resource to me throughout the entire year.  I certainly could not have done it all without him. Mom’s Big Year was actually his idea! A shout out to Raymond VanBuskirk for his updates on some local targets this week and to Rich Kostecke for re-finding the Amazon Kingfisher on Tuesday while we were there!

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Post Northern Jacana SMILES!

Our first day here we drove the 3.5 hours to Laredo to test our luck. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a shot at the Amazon Kingfisher!  And…. WE GOT IT!

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Martin, David, Rich & Nancy a minute after seeing the Amazon Kingfisher- MEGACHECK!  Thank you, Rich!

This is only the 3rd time EVER that this bird has been seen in the US… so it’s considered a MEGA-rarity in ‘birding speak’.

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The star of the week-  Amazon Kingfisher.  Photo courtesy of Mary Gustafson

As if things couldn’t get any better, in just two days, I’ve added several new birds to my year list, including Sprague’s Pipit and Northern Jacana.

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Birding Estero Llana Grande (my FAVE spot in the Valley) for Vesper Sparrow and Groove-billed Ani- target birds

After lunch today, I was walking out of ‘Fat Daddy’s’ roadside restaurant near Estero Llana Grande and a frail-looking old-timer in a cowboy hat said a polite and chipper “Hello! How are you?!” as I exited. Basking in the successes of the day so far I responded, “FANTASTIC, how are you?!”

He enthusiastically replied, as only a Texan could,

“I’m finer than frog hair!”

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Well, the way this week has been going so far…That makes TWO of us!

Down to business…

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Just arrived in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas today after a fantastic and VERY fruitful trip to San Diego.

I spent three full days birding, including a pelagic trip out of Mission Bay.  Southern California exceeded my expectations for sure! I ticked 46 new species and brought my total to 475 for Mom’s Big Year!

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SoCal Pelagic!
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Burrowing owl
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Olaf and Nancy- Big Year fusion!
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Point Loma

 

Very special thanks to Steve Ritt for providing me an unbelievable amount of help and expertise to make this such an ‘over-the-top’ successful trip! And thanks to Paul Lehman for meeting up and for providing additional useful info regarding my target birds.

Stay tuned!!

I’ve got the 500 mark on the horizon.

Look out Texas!

I’m here…

and I’m READY!

xoxo, Nancy

Ready or not…

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I’m trying this again. Last weekend’s pelagic is rescheduled for tonight and the conditions have all the makings of a great trip!

I’m heading to Cape May this morning, even though the simple thought of it makes my palms sweat, my heart race, and the hair on the back of my neck raise up. This week my driving anxiety ebbed and flowed… Some days much less comfortable than I expected after such great success last weekend.

That said, I’m still riding the wave and I’ve decided to try a route today that takes me over my biggest challenge yet on the Big Year bucket list-

the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

My carrot?

I need to add Piping Plover and pelagic birds to my year list.

And I’m determined to drive myself right over that stinkin’ bridge to get them.

The caveat?

I’m scared to death. 

Good thoughts welcome! ❤

The good, the bad, and the amazing!

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One. happy. girl. in her absolute favorite place!

Time is short this week, but I’ve been itching to share this post with you all! Thank you for the calls, messages and emails inquiring about how my trip to Cape May panned out.

Here’s the scoop… Bad news first..

I found myself 9 minutes outside of Cape May mid-day last Saturday and received a call from long-time friend, Bill Boyle, informing me that the Sat-Sun pelagic trip (the main reason I had done the trip) had been postponed due to high seas. 😦

<<Insert crying-like-a-baby sounds here>>

So,  I may have traveled 4+ hours to get there prior to hearing this…

BUT the really good news is that I drove to Cape May…

ALL. BY. MY. SELF!

Those of you who have been following along know.. That’s a HUGE check for the MBY bucket list!

There unfortunately were not any birds I needed to chase for Mom’s Big Year in the area.. BUT I was thrilled that I had the chance to spend some time in my *favorite* place with some of my *favorite* people.

And the ‘always a treat’ flight of migrants didn’t happen the one morning I was there.. But special thanks to Vince Elia for being so very sweet to come out to meet me to go birding, even when there weren’t any birds! Depite the quiet morning, we all *beamed* ear-to-ear, as we were simply happy to be out birding Higbee together once again. 

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Dear friends, Bill Boyle, Karen Thompson and Vince Elia
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Above: Birding Higbee Beach, Below: Karen & Nancy in the Meadows
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Special thanks to my dear friends, Karen Thompson and Bill Boyle for always serving as the most gracious hosts during my visits to Cape May.  It’s such a treat to catch up with them and hear about all of their latest birding/nature travel adventures!

Here’s a cooperative Northern Waterthrush we enjoyed for a bit in The Meadows.

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I just can’t even begin to tell you how TICKLED I was to reconnect with all the great folks from Cape May. Some of my friends there have been fixtures in the community for decades, while others are new on the scene. I even got to meet up with a local birding friend from Maryland, Kurt Schwarz, who kindly joined me to chase a salt marsh sparrow. Alas, no sparrow this time.. but smiles and laughter nonetheless.

It was super fun for me to get to spend time with Brett Ewald and Erik Bruhnke on Saturday.  I knew both of them from different chapters in my life, and they both have relocated to Cape May!  And to have us all meeting up in Cape May at the same time…

Well, that’s simply MAGIC to me!

Based on the concert of big smiles in this picture below…

can you see how much each of us simply loves Cape May to pieces!!!???!!

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Nancy with Brett Ewald (Left), the new Program Director for Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO)  and Erik Bruhnke, CMBO’s 2017 Hawk Counter

 

Erik, Hawk Counter extraordinaire
Nancy & Erik

I cannot close this post without telling you about the traveling part of my trip TO and FROM Cape May. I mentioned in my last post the large amount of anxiety I was feeling about doing the drive for this trip.  The major highways, the bridges, the Saturday traffic… all not sitting well with me. At all..

How did it go, you ask?

Well, I was feeling some stress about the highways on the way there, so I took back roads to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  And then, when I got to the bridge…. I sailed my way over like it was NOTHING.

After 11 years, it was an anticlimactic pile of nothing.

Unbelievable.

I floated through the rest of the trip, without issue.  And the trip home was even easier for me than the way over.

AMAZING!

How did that happen?

I have absolutely NO idea, my friends.  It just DID!

I’ll admit, during the last hour of my trip home, I sobbed like I haven’t sobbed in a very long time.  The enormity of the transformation that had happened during my trip this weekend had finally hit me.

And this is the incredible scene I was treated to just minutes before I arrived back home.

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Can I do it again this weekend for the rescheduled pelagic trip?

I have NO idea!  I know this journey of healing is not over. I have felt the gnarly tendrils of anxiety creeping back as I’ve been driving highways near home this week.

BUT I do have a feeling there’s nothing…

Absolutely nothing…

that can keep this girl away from Cape May. 🙂

Special thanks to all of my dear family and friends who are carrying me through this amazing Big Year journey of birds, travel, self-discovery and healing.  It’s not over yet and I’m certain there’s still some incredible adventures ahead. I am grateful to every one of you for following along and can truly feel the unconditional support of all my friends and family, old and new, near and far.

Special thanks to my dear and most wonderful husband, Paul. (It’s good he’s sleeping now.. because he’d never let me post this about him if he saw it…He’s so humble.) Many of you have heard me say he’s a living saint, who has made me realize this Big Year story is about SO much more than the birds.  It’s truly a love story. A story about a love of birds, friends, travel, family, and an incredibly deep love between a husband and a wife. It’s a story in which a husband loves his wife so very much, that he has made a huge sacrifice in giving his wife a gift that no one else on the planet could ever give her….

the gift of a Big Year.

Here’s a link to a song below that seems fitting for how I’m feeling about you all.

xoxo, Nancy ❤

You Raise Me Up- Josh Groban

When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be

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Take it from where you’re at…

NMcAllister Big Year, Grateful, Job, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

 

Breton Bay, St. Mary’s County, MD
My middle enjoying himself!
Yours truly having a blast.

We had a super holiday weekend playing, playing, playing on the water in Southern Maryland and reconnecting with dear family. We took time to share memories of my father, who passed away on Labor Day in 2002.  My dad loved water sports (sailing, boating, waterskiing), so all of the super fun times on the water this weekend were a great way to remember him!

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My Dad

Then, Tuesday, it was ‘off to the races’ as it was the first week where my banding lab job overlapped with my university teaching job as well as the school year for my three kiddos.  Believe it or not, all went great! So far so good!

I’m beyond grateful to my mentor, Danny Bystrak, for tapping me for the banding lab position.

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Danny Bystrak and I at the banding station

And we had a Connecticut Warbler while banding this morning!

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Connecticut Warbler

Now that everything’s hitting me at once..I went from ‘smooth sailing’ to ‘rough seas’ in less than 24 hours. I’m feeling the heat with all the things I need to get done before I even think about packing for a trip to Cape May this weekend. Everything I said I’d do for friends, school, work, the kiddos and hubby… all needed to be done..like yesterday. And, oh yes. .I’m thinking creatively as I start to pack for Saturday’s Pelagic trip where I’ll be sleeping on the top deck of a boat to wake in the morning out at sea amongst the seabirds (new ones for Mom’s Big Year!). Yup.. all that packing/planning still needs to happen too!

Cape May is at the top of my list when it comes to Mom’s Big Year destinations. It’s such a very special and sentimental place to me. But the thought of driving to Cape May and over the Delaware Memorial bridge stops all my happy thoughts right in their tracks and my hands are now breaking out into a cold sweat because of this. 

 

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Delaware Memorial Bridge

In the flurry of it all, I talked with my mom on the phone, looking for some consoling words as I explained the crazy nature of this week and the drive ahead of me on Saturday.  She reminded me of something my dad always said…

“Just take it from where you’re at…”

Well, I started my day today at the banding lab with this…

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American Redstart

and ended the day in my yard with this…

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Monarch larva

So, if I “take it from where I’m at”..

…”where I’m at” doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be 🙂

I am grateful. ❤