Target Birding with Greg Miller

Greg Miller and yours truly!

I know what you must be thinking.  The answer to your question is yes.  I only go target birding with guys named Greg.

For crazy birders, no introduction is needed for Greg Miller.  For my non-birder friends who may be reading this, Greg Miller is a bit of a birding celebrity.  One year of his life is documented in the book The Big Year.  In 2011, that book was made into a feature film of the same name in which Jack Black plays Brad Harris (the fictional Greg Miller), a computer analyst who decides to make 1998 his Big Year.  The movie is good, but the real story is better.  I highly recommend the read.

Although Greg has received quite a bit of attention due to his amazing story, he is a very grounded individual.  Elissa and I spent about 5 hours birding with Greg Miller, and I was very impressed with how positive a person he was.  Although Greg helped me get Blue Grosbeak and Barn Owl checked off my list, my favorite part of the whole experience was listening to his stories, knowledge, and philosophy.

Elissa and I drove down to Millersburg, Ohio Tuesday night.  We stayed at the Hotel Millersburg.  When we arrived there at 10pm, we found that our key had been left for us in the foyer.  Nobody was at the front desk.  We got up at 5am.  I dropped the key in a drop box on our way out the door.  Nobody was at the front desk.  Great service!

We picked up Greg at his place around 6am.  Less than an hour later, Blue Grosebeak went from target bird to bird #249 on my list.  An hour or so later, Greg took us to a local farm to look for bird #250.  Sitting up inside the top of a grain silo were two adult Barn Owls.  Why I didn't take a picture of these guys I have no idea.  Two Barn Owl butts would have been a funny image to pass along.

Dickcissel

Although we struck out on Kentucky Warbler, Prarie Warbler, and Lousiana Waterthrush, I found the trip down to Amish country well worth it.  I hope we get the opportunity to bird with Greg Miller again.  If you would like a custom birding tour from Greg Miller I encourage you to visit his blog at Greg Miller Birding.

On our way back from Millersburg, Elissa and I stopped at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area.  We didn't spend a lot time there, and I didn't add any birds there, but Elissa did got her lifer Dickcissel.  I know the last part of that sentence might be difficult for some of my friends to leave alone.  I can't help what people name these silly birds.

In other news, I added Broad-winged Hawk yesterday at Oak Openings.  My goal of 300 species feels very reachable now.  I'm excited to see how many I can get before my trip to Texas at the end of the year.  Now that Blue Grosebeak is out of the way, my new nemesis bird is the Black-billed Cuckoo.  They're pretty sneaky birds so there's a good chance this one might not make the list.  We'll see!  Happy birding everybody!