In a previous post I wrote a short story with pictures about my last trip to Patzcuaro, Mexico and sent it to friends and family, (a habit I started during my first trip to Thailand, only I wasn't carrying a high-tech camera). One of those friends, Gerri Satz in Newark, NJ forwarded it to Audubon. A few weeks later the editor of the Atlantic Audubon Newsletter sent me a missive requesting permission to print it including pictures.

Last week, an Alaska Air co-worker forwarded my Flikr link, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_whitlatch/ to Alaska’s World News. I was subsequently contacted by Christy True Manager of Alaska Air’s Communications and Web Services, writer Robert Carrington, and Don Conrard Internal Communications Manager. Christy gave the story idea to Robert. Robert called and interviewed me. And Don created a slide show of 16 of my favorite bird shots. He even went to the zoo and recorded bird sounds as background music. These folks really went above and beyond the call to highlight a fellow employee.

How did all this get started? Well, I'm part of a growing cadre of people in the world that love all things "birding" related. Birding is a noun become a verb. In his book, "The Verb To Bird," Peter Cashwell features a compound definition of birding: "To observe and identify birds in their natural habitat; waiting for birds to make themselves observable who may or may not be identifiable; Being open to the moment that is not guarenteed."

Birds are like the coal mine canary. Biologists call them "indicator" species. The more diversity of bird life we have, the more healthful our environment can be considered.

Birds possess terrific beauty. Feather iridescence produces a huge rainbow
of color/bling. Have you ever witnessed a male mallard's head change from royal blue to emerald green? Nature's bling, and I use a camera to capture and paint with its light. Birding/photography has/have become my passion. And as a result, a couple thousand dollars worth fly fishing tackle is hiding from E-Bay in my basement.

I use a Nikon D90 SLR camera outfitted with an 80mm - 400mm lens. It features digital vibration reduction (a necessary feature when photographing wildlife that is in almost constant motion). My buddy Mike Morrison and his seemingly infinite patience have mentored my entry into both birding and photography. He has very generously lent me his eye for color, light and composition. I can never thank him enough. My photography teacher is Dave Marr, a local photographer trained by Ansel Adams in the late 60's. I’ve only taken one of his classes at Cole-Marr studios in Boise. I’m looking forward to what I can create once I figure out what I’m doing.

My interest in birds started with their casual observation at friend's bird
feeders. Then I started keeping a list of birds that came to my yard as I
found ever ingenious ways to draw them to my yard. Another, my "life" list of all identified species wherever, just recently went over 400.

It was six years ago that I started bird watching in earnest with my buddies Mike Morrison and Bill Laughlin. We go some place new the first Friday of each month. We'd met through work associations and Audubon field trips. We decided that the three of us made better/quieter company than the intimate company of 25 birders competing for the same bird species sightings.

I have only begun to tap the art process of photography. What I call wildlife events just seem to happen in this Idaho world. And you have to be out there to capture them on film (I know, profound). But they happen, and often. And when they do they are moments of such great joy that rival any "Hail Mary Catch" you've ever seen. Last Friday my friend Jean and I drove over Bennett Mountain to Centennial Marsh and Fairfield for a day of birding. In addition to 59 species we saw a big herd of elk, startled a moose languishing in a marsh and flushed a black bear from the brush we were hiking near... well there's more to the story, I had been in a nearby bush taking a leak... much laughter after the initial shock... No, I'm sorry to say there were no pictures.

For the last two months I've been following Great Horned Owls and Burrowing Owls in the Boise foothills. I have pictures of proud adults with various stages of their fuzzy babies. They live in precarious habitats
currently sitting on master plans of mass housing development, (coal mine
canary indeed). You learn early that these animals spend huge amounts of
energy hunting enough food to live. Raptors are only successful in 10% of their attempts to catch their prey. Environmental threats from predators include 4 legged/2 legged/no legged beasts.

Michael and I are headed back to Patzcuaro, Mexico in November to photograph the monarch butterflies. The Monarchs hang in long tresses from old growth forest branches after their migratory sojourn from Southern Canada. Their migratory path is fraught will similar perils due to predators, and habitat incursion commercial/housing development. And the indigenous mountain peoples of Mexico are cutting the critical old growth forest they need to survive winter. I’m hoping against hope that we are not photographing the last local pictures of these owl and butterfly species. We’ll be staying in the new guest rooms of Georgia and Chuck Conti, http://patzcuarobirder.blogspot.com/.

I love to write stories and make pictures to bring those stories to life for family and friends. Working for Alaska Airlines has really opened my world to a never ending fountain of opportunities. God willing, I intend on doing more of the same for the rest of my life.