Most of my birding friends are just like me . . . a little long in the tooth, gray at the temples, slow in the step . . . just plain getting old. It does my heart good to write this article about two of our up and coming local birders.
Ross Schaefer
Ross and His Dad
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It all started for Ross at age six, on a trip to Florida with his parents. They bought him a simple pocket bird guide, which he memorized, and he recalls the birds that set the hook for him . . . Purple Gallinule, Roseate Spoonbill, and Painted Bunting. Good birds on anyone's list.
Now 16, and a junior in high school, Ross is well on his way to becoming one of the "top tier" in the birding world. He has already led field trips for the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, Morro Coast Audubon, and the Kern Spring Festival, and can often be found in the field, chasing and finding county birds.
Ross' world bird list stands at 1675 after extensive travel to Spain, Thailand, Tanzania, the Galapagos Islands, to name but a few. At the time of our interview, his San Luis Obispo county list was 313, bolstered recently by the very rare Williamson's Sapsucker, and others, in the Carrizo Plain.
He and his family moved to this area when Ross was in 5th grade, and he met Jim Royer, who certainly is a top tier birder. Ross considers Jim a mentor, and Jim has nothing but praise for the young man. Jim told me Ross' eyesight and hearing are phenomenal, and he will often find a distant soaring bird before Jim can even see it. "And he probably knows every county bird by ear" Jim said. High praise indeed from the birder I consider the best in the county at birding by ear.
Maggie Smith tells not only of Ross' great skills, but also of his humility, and willingness to ask questions. Ross plans on obtaining a PhD from Cornell in Ornithology. I have no doubt that will happen. Jim Royer hopes his professors stay on their toes.
Eva Moylan
Eva
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Eva is 10, and in 5th grade, and has already caught the birding bug. It all started when she noticed a pair of California Towhees in her yard building a nest. She built a blind so that she could sit close and observe the birds. She noticed how the nest was constructed between two upright branches in the shrub, how the parents would bring food to their young, and then clear the nest of the fecal sacs produced by the single nestling in that clutch. And she was able to imitate the bird's sharp call note for me.
She loves to watch the American Goldfinches at her sock feeder, and recounts the story of the Red-tailed Hawk, sitting on the wires above her backyard eating a mouse. Eva watched the hawk for an hour, legendary patience for a 10 year old.
Eva enjoys photographing the birds she sees, and also draws them. Her Marsh Wren rendering shown here, will attest to her talent. Her teacher is impressed that Eva delves deep into a bird's habitat and behavior, wanting to know much more than merely identification features, and her drawings reflect a great attention to scale and detail.
I got a kick at seeing Eva at Montana de Oro one day, chasing (with her parent's help, of course) the reported Red Crossbills. I was able to show them to her, so she and I both added Red Crossbill to our county lists that day.
When I showed her this page of the SLO Coast Journal where her article would appear, I was thoroughly impressed when she glanced at the top banner and said "oh, a Burrowing Owl." There is great promise in this one.
It is not surprising that both of these young birders have very supportive parents, a lesson to us all, and I believe that they both sparked an interest in birding in their parents. It's hard to chase birds without a driver's license. Ross now drives, but his father still joins him, now working on his own county list.
