About Me

“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town”
Henry David Thoreau

“Attention without feeling is only a report.”
Mary Oliver

If you click on the “About me” section of this site, you’ll see my official Bio. I didn’t really have an official bio until a few weeks ago, when I was asked to write one. I was sent a sample page to model my bio after and I was a little overwhelmed when I compared my story to previous contributors. I’m no scientist and I don’t have any formal education or training related to birds or birding. And yet, here I am, about to be published in their magazine. So, I decided to use my 100 words to tell them who I am, and what I believe in, rather than where I work or what I do. I don’t measure the value of a person based on their job or their education level. Anyway, I got an email from the editor telling me my bio was confusing, and they needed clarity.

So, if the bio in my bio is unclear, here’s my UNOFFICIAL bio, a recreation of one I made for Instagram in an attempt to be seen as a whole ass person and not just a bird account.

I am from Detroit

This Detroit

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I’ve bounced back and forth between Southwest, Cass Corridor and North Corktown (we didn’t call it that) my entire life.

We lived in this house, but we didn’t own it.

When I first started getting into birding, I believed nature was elsewhere, and I had to go find it.

My brain had been well trained to believe there is nothing here. That idea extended to nature.

I didn’t have the means to drive an hour or more to look for birds. The few times I had done that, I felt I had nothing in common with the people I encountered there. So in true Detroit fashion, I decided to go it alone.

This was once my Elementary School, now one of my favorite birding locations.

I do my best not to show the ruins. That story has been told many times, and often not by the people who have lived it.

The first time I saw a Cedar Waxwing I knew I was on the right path.

I couldn’t believe something so beautiful was from the same place as me. In that moment, I decided to buy a camera and find a way to share this beauty with others.

When I first got to Instagram, I was content with telling the birds’ stories.

When I saw other people telling OUR stories, and I knew I had to say more.

Sometimes I talk shit on the internet. And in real life. This is my family’s home, 3 generations have lived in this exact house. This was our basketball court. And yes, it really is condos now.