When John Audubon first visited the Punta Gorda area on Florida’s Gulf coast in the early 19th century, he wrote that wading birds were so numerous that thousands flying overhead transformed daylight into darkness. Yet less than 100 years later the profligate population had been decimated. In small part, the decline was caused by homesteaders [...]
Posts tagged ‘birds’
The recent crash of a USAirways jet stirred up memories for me. A few years ago I was flying from the mainland of Honduras to Guanaja in the Bay Islands, which is located about 30 miles off the northern coast. The twin engine puddle-jumper took off to the east and banked left out over the [...]
There’s a birdbath on my bedroom deck but I never remember to fill it with water, so it sits there like some long abandoned cast iron sundial, ignored by the neighborhood birds. Over the last couple of days, however, the rain has done my job for me. This morning I woke to the sounds of [...]
The other day I was wondering why, with all the millions of birds in the world, you never hear of anyone being splatted with bird doo-doo. Maybe people have always talked about this and I just never noticed. Or maybe by thinking the thought I released some kind of fowl energy. Whatever, since the moment [...]
After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. 
















