Mostly the women in my family who are avid birders -- started in the early 1960s when my mother and aunt needed something to occupy themselves on our summer trips. You should see my mother's copy of Peterson's field guide, full of notes about where she first saw each bird. I don't think she has counted up her life list though.

I don't go on dedicated birding outings but keep an eye out where ever we are. And Bob loves the hummers that we feed around here, maintains his own feeder outside his home office window, including taking turns at boiling up the food. We've had a hooded oriole and mate move into the neighborhood, he comes through and does his best to steal from the hummer feeder!

Here's a night heron I saw early one morning. I was walking out of the parking structure at Long Beach Aquarium, headed for the convention center to do my annual stint at the Long Beach Grand Prix. He's hunting in the fountain in front of the aquarium! And very nicely stood there while I dug my camera out of my backpack to record the moment.