I want to thank all of you who responded to my question. I love reading all those stories. Often there's a common thread: some special event such as seeing a spectacular bird at an early age, often early teens, becoming fascinated by the beauty of birds' appearances or songs, then getting hooked on the fascination of their variety, searching for more new birds to add to the life list. The features of your stories remind me of similar points of other birders' stories from years past. Thank you very much for sharing your stories with us.

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503