After a retrospective of the last year of my life I have eased into a few changes within myself. The byproducts of vagrancy fortify an increasingly “mature“ taste for patience and awareness. Close relationships can help you clue in to the details of the human condition. The shortened time given to us in this life creeps more steadily into my honest perception as I reach the supposed land mark of turning 30 this year. Working on an ambulance and teaching has wired my fuse shorter for things which do not lead my goals forward. It has simultaneuosly made a longer fuse for those which I find to be meaningful. My itinerant ways grease time’s passing, it seems faster each year, bringing me ever closer to appreciating little moments, spontaneous occurrences, and acts based on principle and respect. I think the lesson can be applied to my new found amateur awareness of… birding.

My first bird walk and favorite of the day, The Townsend’s Warbler. Pacific Grove, CA.

The winter of 2021 I was teaching an EMT class for lifeguards in the beautiful Asilomar conference grounds in Pacific Grove. I got to spend a month with my “anonymous mentor”. He is a long time seasonal lifeguard. A California man with a classic surfers drawl and laid back careless stroll. A dead head who’s still committed. A family man who still knows how to party.

Not your average lifeguard.

He’s travelled to 26 different countries to study birds and can recite almost any latin name, call, coloring, and travel characteristics of most birds that pass by in California. My Mentor took a group of us seasonal lifeguards on our very first “Bird 101 Tour“ during this time. We meandered the pathways of Asilomar conference grounds on a day off on a “real birdy day”, according to him. He would mutter out latin terms as fleeting moments and colors flew past us. My world became surrounded by sound which was seemingly non-existent before. I had begun to engage in the required focus of the craft. A bustle in the bush, and my mentor would call out with a light peck of his finger against his lips, talking the birds into showing themselves. He would see things before they happened, and describe birds in a second, while the rest of us clobbered around to raise our binoculars, or in my case, a 600mm lens… and usually miss the moment.

This unassuming salty seasonal lifeguard was my gateway to the enlightening awareness of the birding world through his astute knowledge and secret precision. He even told off a gentlemen who rolled up to our group on his bicycle with a sweater vest, Birkenstocks with socks, glasses, and binos dangling.

“You guys on something good?“

Mentor “No, just a birding 101 class“

“Oh, ok. For a second I was worried I was missing the Flamulated Owl which was here last week”

Mentor “Flamulated Owl? Gnarly…“

“Yeah, so nothing here, really?” (He was thrown off by the large lens and all of the binos)

Mentor “No”

A slow awkward and distrusting pause passed…

“Ok , Have a great day“

Mentor “Fucking beat it, bird nerd“

He muttered under his breath as the man pedaled away.

My Mentor’s disinterested tone and subtle confidence as he walked us around couldn’t hide his distilled passion. An honest reflection of the time he has devoted to the craft and study. Suddenly he would balance out the facts with a smirk and say “Don’t forget to get the Jizz“.

“What was that?!” I said.

“The General impression, Size, and Shape.” As he produced a coy smile.

“Fucking beat it, bird nerd“

Anyway, we had fun, saw a few birds, and I happened to snap a couple photos for practice. I would equate bird photography as one level above sports. High paced, fleeting, precise focusing, anticipation, and just enough dumb luck needed.

I left after that walk hearing and seeing more of the world.

I began to clue in to these details of the new life which was thriving around me on a daily basis, and I enjoyed it. A skill that was new, refreshing, and changed the subject of my usual workload. But, as with anything else, it tends to wane off if you don’t practice.

It stands one meter tall, rumored to eat monkeys, giving it the nickname, “the monkey eating eagle“.

Fast forward seven months later and I found myself in the Phillipines photographing one of the most interesting birds in the world. The critically endangered Philippine Eagle. It stands one meter tall, rumored to eat monkeys, giving it the nickname, “the monkey eating eagle“. It has the capability to hunt small deer, dogs, snakes, and piglets. It’s feathering and overall look is wildly unique. There are estimated to only be about 400 pairs left in the world. It is also endemic to the Phillipines, meaning it lives nowhere else.

The Critically Endangered Philippine Eagle.

The Phillipine Eagle during feeding time eating a rabbit.

These close up photographs are cheating from our visit to the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao. These captive birds were rescued/breeding in captivity. Truly incredible to see such a large raptor so close up, its eyes sizing you up, making you believe in pterodactyls. We did get to witness one soaring over a ridge in the wild, high in the mountains outside of Davao. I hope that would count for my amateur birder credibility. We also got to see a Phillippine Sea Eagle in the wild, a Brahminy Kite, and one of the most profound…

The Isabella Oriole.

Only about 50 Isabella Orioles remain in the entire world, as it faces extinction. I never got a photo of the Isabella Oriole, but did get to see a pair flying in unison through the canopy and another fleeting glimpse of one shortly thereafter.

A Brahminy Kite flies with a snack in its talons.

Truly incredible to see such a large raptor so close up, its eyes sizing you up, making you believe in pterodactyls.

Isabella Oriole. Photo: Merlijn Van Weerd

Merlijn Van Weerd is one of the leaders of the Mabuwaya Foundation which is responsible for a significant portion of conservation for multiple critically endangered species throughout the Phillipines, including the Phillipines Crocodile. It was rad to hang out with someone who had actually devoted a lifestyle of living half of his life in the Phillipines to protect and preserve these endemic and critically endangered species. A new layer and viewpoint into the extent birding can devour you.

A Brahminy Kite soars over the Phillipine Canopy.

Exactly one year later, my birding déjà vu would culminate back full circle at EMT class 2022. Here I was with My Mentor once again, except this time with a newfound awareness, understanding, and some level of street cred from having seen some “lifers“. One day during a lunch break, a little birdy (sorry I had to) told us that there was something special hanging out on the beach. A vagrant bird from very far away. When My Mentor heard the news he was truly excited. But our hopes for it still being there were flattened by our busy schedule and hunger. So we decided to meander to the beach to have a look after our bellies were full from the infamous Crocker dining hall. Low and behold, (and playing in the beach rack) was the Snow Bunting.

The Snow Bunting made its way from the Arctic, notice all of the purple where it is year round? So did beachgoers from all around and locals with lenses and bifocals abound. Unassuming kids and dogs passing by innocently would threaten the birders’ etiquette and received a swift shout and wild waving of hands.

I immediately sprinted back to the my room to retrieve my 600mm lens, and almost puked. Speeding through traffic to not miss the opportunity, here I was fulfilling the stereotype of every driver I ever cussed at loudly in my car, and every birder I judged. But I made it. My pant pockets filled with sand as I army crawled to get the ground level angle, and just in time for lunch to be over. I’m somewhat proud of the photo. But it wasn’t over yet.

The next day, a day off, My Mentor headed back to home to the wife and kids and I decided to follow up with the Snow Bunting in case it was still hanging around to give me another shot.

I meandered with my camera and found the bird nerd circle to ask where the Bunting was.

“Oh, its back there somewhere, we are her for the Nelson’s Sparrow!“

“What’s that?” I inquired as I sized up the scene.

“It only comes around every fifteen years or so!“

The Nelson’s Sparrow, who was making the Snow Bunting look like old news, would jump back and forth foraging in the beach kelp and grassland area about every 15 minutes, and only stick his head out sporadically. A challenge to photograph whilst navigating the foreign birder/bird photographer etiquette. I sat there for several hours and got about two photos worth showing.

And so there I was… Birding. All in the span of one year. Shattering expectations of what I thought my future would hold. Most people have pressures of a new job, wife, kids, house, etc…

Me… I haven’t told my mom yet. Im a Born Again Birder.

Life has its ways of detail and mystery. Most people pass through it with ignorance to its fragility and fleeting wonder. They say photographers see more of the world because of their “eye“ for light. I think “You have an EYE for photography“ should be an outdated term.

It’s awareness.

Because everyone has eyes. We are all using them. So what you see is actually dependent on your capacity for awareness of that perception. The birds were always there my entire life. Now I am aware, and inspired, and slightly more nerdy than before.

I think “You have an EYE for photography“ should be an outdated term.

From my initial spark for birding to strange opportunities, I managed to go from zero knowledge to seeing and photographing some of the rarest birds in the world, all within the last year. When I walk outside, I can’t help but hear the chirps and squeaks, and tune in to those fleeing glimpses of the unknown. Still clueless to most of the species and details, but I am getting there. So as I sit here listening to jazz late at night writing a blog about birding, I’m trying to convince myself that I haven’t finally gone mad. Or maybe I’m trying to convince you that there’s more to it… and that I haven’t gone mad.

These vagrants which passed by as metaphors for life’s fleeting moments reminded me to slow down, look around, become aware, and appreciate that it may never be the same after. If you take the time to actualize the little details of existence on this crazy planet you may find yourself a new opportunity, or become immersed in a world which you never knew existed. Enjoy your life, take your chances when they appear, and don’t take moments for granted.

Thanks for reading!

-Drasko