Spark Moment?

[angieinto]

I was reading an article online a couple weeks ago, and read about a guys "spark moment", when he got into birds and birding. He was just a kid,  and was able to make a career out of something he was passionate about.

I was just wondering if you remember your "spark moment", when it comes to birding?

For me, it was about 5 years ago, and a chickadee landed in my hand for a  shelled peanut. As silly as it sounds, my whole life changed in that moment. My friends can't believe how much I love birding and how it effects my day to day life, as I'm just much more aware of what's around me now and am always listening and looking.

Rob and I discovered a truly wonderful hobby together, that we both love, and I think actually bonded our relationship even more.  We love going birding together, seeing what we can attract to the yard, and learning as much as we can.

I'm so grateful that the little chickadee landed in my hand that day, as I can't imagine my life without birding now.  

[Axeman]

For me, it was the discovery of a sandpiper nest and a flicker nest...being a boy, I did the unthinkable and robbed the sandpiper nest...we tried to hatch the sandpiper eggs...they turned to rubber...we over cooked them..we "stole" a couple of flicker nestlings for a few days...and then put them back -- they eventually fledged properly...I thankfully never raided a nest again but after that, I had the bird flu

[angieinto]

Bird flu! I like that!  :lol:

[Leslie]

I didn't really have a spark moment.
My grade 8 science teacher used to show bird flashcards to his 3 science classes as a memory test.  (Not surprisingly, his home room class did the best.)  Five or so years later I had a boyfriend who was a birder, & I was surprised that I could identify a rufous-sided towhee (as it was called back then) from those grade 8 flashcards.  My next advance was from a visit to Algonquin Park, when I discovered that I really could identify Confusing Fall Warblers.  It helped that my husband thought birds were interesting too (he's the one with the focus).  We had to give up birding for a while.  I particularly remember when my older son was three.  We specialized in ground-hogs that year.  Once when that child was sick with a fever and I was climbing the walls I took him to High Park just to get myself out of the house.  I thought I saw a wood duck overwintering on High Park's Grenadier Pond & I'd never seen one before so I wanted to be sure of my identification but my son was at his limit.  "Mummy, it's a wood duck," he affirmed (he was right).  It's gone down in family lore.  With kids & all I got away from birding to concentrate on flowers (I need an hour with the field guide for a new species, & the plants don't run away.)  I got back to birding when the middle of my block was threatened with development.  (The OMB hearing, originally scheduled to start this Monday April 12, has been indefinitely postponed.)  When the Cooper's hawk dropped in last fall looking for a snack I wondered if this might be an interesting birding site and took pictures to document the birds breeding here.  Then in December I found the City of Toronto's Migratory Birds study and discovered that we have seen 29 of the migrating species listed and if those records were included this site would be #27 of the 220 locations identified in Toronto.  That's when I realized that birding data was important.
So that's my development as a birder.

[BIGFRANK]

My spark moment...I had done 2 one month long trips to South Africa to watch game. The adrenalin rush was amazing on game drives..never knowing what was around the next corner. Back to my hohum life in Toronto,I wanted some of that excitement back. Since there were no lions to watch in Toronto(except Rowdy up at the Metro Zoo),I decided to watch birds. I went to a raptor watch in High Park and was hooked. Who knew you could see a Bald Eagle or a Vulture in Toronto?? And while there the guys were pointing out everything else that was flying. I looked at the list of birds we'd seen just from Hawk Hill and it was pretty large to me,so I decided to wander about the park and see what else was there. The rest as they say is history. Since the guys at High Park taught me so much,Ive started my own Raptor Watch in Scarborough every fall at Rosetta McClain Gardens,volunteer with The Canadian Peregrine Foundation and have enjoyed seeing over 250species of birds in Ontario.

[Murray]

I have always  loved the outdoors. Did a lot of fishing over the years. Used to see some pretty cool birds such as a GHO out by Wilmot Creek. A Snowy owl used to stop at the Ganaraska Rivermouth in the fall for a few years in a row. Later after I met my wife we used to get up early in the morning & go for what we called our "nature drives" looking for Deer & any wildlife we could see. One day we were driving slowly along a dirt road when we heard this racket in the woods. Then we saw these huge Woodpeckers. As soon as I arrived home I sat at the computer & found it was Pileated Woodpeckers. We would joke that I was a closet birder.
Then about 3 years ago I had the "Spark Moment."
I was surfing around the Internet when I came to a site where somebody named Big Frank was posting about a hawk watch. I had never heard of such a thing. I googled this place named Rosetta Mcclain Park. Hey, it's not too far from where I live. So a few days later I headed over. Sure enough there was Big Frank standing by the fence along the bluffs. There was a few other people as well all armed with binoculars. I introduced myself & Big Frank made me feel very welcome. Within about 10 minutes the first bird I ever saw at a hawkwatch came flying by at eye level. It was a immature Bald Eagle!! Wow, I didn't know you could see a Bald Eagle in Toronto. I was hooked! I have met many kind people who have taught me a lot about birds. The birds are beautiful but the people are so fantastic & so wiling to share their knowledge. Birders  are a great group of people.  
But if it wasn't for Big Frank none of this would have happened.
Thanks Frank!!!

[BIGFRANK]

Thanks for the very kind words Murray. There is nothing I love more then turning someone onto birding. You are so right about the great folks we meet. The highly irregular Rosetta McClain Gardens regulars are a great group of friendly people who welcome everyone.

[Leslie Kinrys]

When I was really young, my father placed a House Sparrow fledgling in my hand. I was fascinated and my love affair with nature (and especially birds) began. As a kid, I used to walk often in the Black Creek ravine (before it was paved over). I admired the Northern Cardinals, and peeked in Red-winged Blackbird nests. I even turned over logs to look for snakes. I still like to ramble in ravines, especially the one near our home (in the Bathurst/Sheppard area). Also, I still have a fondness for House Sparrows.

[JW Mills]

First of all I'm more than a 'bird nerd' (great phrase Angie!).
I'm a nature nerd. Birds, animals, bugs, plants or whatever, it all interests me, always has.
 
As for the spark moment, I guess this was it, I was three;