The Beginning

This post will be what I hope is the first of many as I attempt to share my adventures with whomever would like to join me in my travels and discoveries. My inspiration for this blog comes from various friends who keep blogs of their own, but also because the more I travel and the older I get, I seek to share some of the wonderful experiences I've had lest I forget them myself!

 As a kid, my passion for nature had me pouring through my trusty set of animal encyclopedias, watching Nat Geo nature documentaries borrowed from the library, and watching the birds in my backyard. Now this passion has me tramping through the muskegs of Northern Ontario, sweeping the Texas Coast with close friends, living out of an old Nissan traveling across the American West, and zipping to new continents to snorkel the great Barrier Reef, climb Mount Doom, and discover the Amazon! I am a birder and a naturalist, seeking birds and other wildlife in all these places in the hopes of being delighted, awed, inspired and connected to the planet and all its inhabitants. In particular, I want to see and hear the birds of the world, learn their secrets and delight in their lives. They are amazing creatures, delicate yet hardy. Some travel thousands of kilometers each year to follow food abundance or to avoid the onslaught of winter.  They are beautiful, from the almost comic red green and blue of the Painted Bunting, to the cryptic browns of the American Woodcock. They sing to awaken the world, and fill forest, meadow and beaches with song, laughter and beauty. Everywhere you go, birds are there if you choose to notice. They are your constant companions and link to something entirely non-human made. They are my passion, and these are the tales of my searches to find them. Perhaps I will see every bird, or perhaps not. My hope is that in the process I see the world and its various beauties, meet its people, and come to know and understand our planet's vast natural areas and landscapes.

In the words of the wise... Bird on!!!

Dominic