“Go [birding] somewhere where you can get really excited about it, and the rest will take care of itself.”

I met Shari while driving out of town from Lander, I passed a lake along Highway 287 which I had birded earlier in the week. A Subaru was pulled over on the side of the road, and when I saw a scope sticking out I knew I had to stop and chat! (Clearly the friendliness of people in Lander has been rubbing off on me) I stopped and introduced myself, slightly surprised that she has heard of The Birding Project. We spotted some Canvasbacks, and other ducks while we chatted about birds.

How did you get started birding?

I had exposure to birding for a while: I took an ornithology class in school, I worked in Yellowstone as a naturalist, but it wasn't until I went to Kenya. My friend and I had a book and a pair of binos. One of us would be flipping through the book and the other would be looking at the bird and saying, It's yellow and green and blue! What is it? What is it? I don't know! They're all red and green and blue! So I learned to pay attention to detail. The bill, the habitat, the behavior. We were two beginners teaching ourselves to bird in an incredible environment.

As a birder how do you use technology?

I still don't have cell phone connectivity but i'm using an iPad when i go out.

Your attachment from your phone to your scope, that almost doesn't surprise me- there's so much that's out there. I wonder what I'm going to learn tomorrow?

How did you hear about The Birding Project?

I was on eBird as was like, "Who is this Birding Project guy? What's his name? What's his story?" A friend I went to Texas with saw a story about you on County 10 news. She told me about you.