Subject: Re: Question: How did you get started birding?
Date: Jan 13 09:34:26 1998
From: Jim Elder - jime at eskimo.com


Late getting to this thread but the recent little thread on towhees
reminded me that I intended to answer this:

Somewhere around my tenth birthday my mother started going occassionally
on morning birdwalks at the Holden Arboretum (near Cleveland, OH). One
day she reported upon returning that they had seen a Rufous-sided Towhee.
I have to find out what a Rufous-sided Towhee is, I thought. I think I
thought that it must be quite something to have such a big name. So I
started going too. When I finally saw a towhee I remember being a bit
disappointed especially since the first one I saw was only a silhouette.
But I was hooked by the warblers. I think if you had asked this question
on an Eastern mailing list almost everyone would give the same answer:
warblers in spring migration.
Anyway I have been birding for nearly 30 years now so I think we
have to conclude that the recent name change to Eastern Towhee might
inadvertently change the course of birding history by failing to attract
the attention of some young potential birder out there.

Jim Elder (jime at eskimo.com)
SEA, Inc.
7030 220th St SW
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043