Catching up

Well, it’s almost the end of June. How the months have gone by!

We have had a big year in a non-birding sense. First of all, we bought a house! That’s certainly cause for celebration. We have also had two great trips. Our first was to Hawaii and American Samoa this winter, and the second was a comprehensive Scandinavia journey from Iceland to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden though Finland and Estonia.

Other than that, things have slowed down. Most of my time has been dedicated to furnishing and remodeling the house bit by bit. My birding, unfortunately, has plummeted this year.

According to eBird, my list for Milwaukee County, where I live, stands at 75. Normally, I should be in the mid to upper 100s.

Birding withdrawal, and the nature deprivation that comes along with it, has affected me. I haven’t been getting up as early in the morning to catch the morning rush of birds. I missed most of spring migration. I’ve become a homebody.

All is not lost. One of my projects has been to start a modest podcast. Writing has always been my preferred mode of communication (I can be incredibly shy), so I figured a podcast would be a great way for me to practice my speaking skills and become more comfortable around others.

I hope to also write more here, but also on my IG channels. My backlog for processing photos has grown since my 2024 trip to Madagascar. Looking at the RAW files on my memory cards has discouraged me from attempting to post them, but I am eager to finally finish this daunting task.

My YouTube channel remains a repository for short clips and videos. That, too, has potential in becoming another outlet. We’ll see.

Ambitious? Yes.

Promising? Yes!

Here’s to the next six months of 2026!