Wild Places, Wild Birds

Welcome

If you like birds and nature, I hope you will find my website useful and enjoyable.  The focus of Wild Places, Wild Birds is the advocacy of birding and the protection of the environment we ALL share, all birds, people, and all the flora and fauna of the planet.  I enjoy birding, nature, photography, making web pages, and educating people about the environment,  so WPWB is a result of blending all those interests into a product I hope creates more interest in birding and protecting the environment. 

First time visitor to Wild Places, Wild Birds?  There is a blog, a collection of birding videos, birding resources , bird sound recordings of North Carolina birds, and some Michigan birds), a photography collection, and a “Bird of the Week” feature coming soon. And last but not least, travelogues of our adventures around the world.

I am an avid birder, amateur naturalist, retired high school Earth/Environmental Science teacher, loving husband, father, and grandpa. 

This is my personal website with personal opinions in no way related to any employer, past, present or future.

There are dozens of great birding websites and organizations, many of which are listed on the Birding Resources page. In particular, eBird from CLO(Cornell Lab of Ornithology), ABA (American Birding Association), and CBC (Carolina Bird Club)  are all excellent resources I use regularly. And yes, we do love acronyms in birding.

WPWB hint: many postings about bird sightings use species acronyms, such as GBBG, Great Black-backed Gull.  Here is a link to all the codes.

The goal of Wild Places, Wild Birds is to present birding to birders and non-birders alike. There are hundreds of “birding” organizations, birding websites, and birding blogs.  The goal at WPWB is to present the art of birding,  especially to beginners, in a manner that does not overwhelm them, that does not make them feel minimized, and,  that will excite their inner bird to get out, get birding, and get involved. Many expert birders, in my experience, lose connection with beginners.  Most have good intentions but perhaps are too wrapped up in the finer points of birding to be able to relate to beginners.  Even I forget how exciting it is to see, hear and identify the first Catbird, Tanager, or Hooded Merganser.   Experienced birders need to consider how they interact with other, less skilled birders, and the general public.  Beginning birders, too, have a responsibility to study up on birding ethics and common courtesies.  Hopefully,  Wild Places, Wild Birds will help make accessible the information needed to make birding enjoyable for all, for the ultimate benefit of birds and the environment.