I give up, I give up.
While on my first Audubon Wenas Campout ('70 something) I was soundly scolded
early one morning, by a small group of other campers, with binoculars hanging
from their necks, for setting up my camp near a bluebird nesting tree (news
to me). Sure, I'd heard about "birdwatchers" and what weird people they were,
but this only made me want to know "what made them tick," so I signed up for
the next available Dennis Paulson Birding Class.
At first it wasn't sinking in. I liked Dennis, and the book was a revelation
(Golden, I still have it) but it wasn't 'till we went to eastern Washington
on the first field trip that I finally began to get the drift. Are you ready
for this? When a lot of people started yelling "Loggerhead! Loggerhead!" and
pointing to a beautiful black and white bird on a telewire, I went into full
resignation, and haven't stopped since.

Amy McQuade
Mercer Island