Birding Buddies

One of the best things about my birding big year in Cache County has been getting to know so many great birders and great people. I've been joined in the field by many friends, and had several others help by sending tips, letting me watch their feeders, assisting me with identifications from photos, or posting their sightings on the discussion groups. Sadly, Cache County has also lost many birders this year, some of which are dear friends to me. Mo Correll moved away temporarily, and Keith Archibald, Craig Faulhaber, and John Weiss moved away for good. Larry Ryel (whom I never had the fortune of meeting) and John Barnes passed away this year. I wanted to use this post to acknowledge the help and friendship of the entire community of birders, serious and casual, that have made this year so enjoyable. Here are a few photos of some of them, but you should not consider the text or the photos of this post to be exhaustive - there are too many to name and if I tried, I'm certain I'd miss a few and in so doing, be more offensive than simply ommitting any names. So, here is a tribute to all of you, illustrated by photos of a few of you.