Craig Brelsford birding with his son, Craig "Tiny" Brelsford. L: Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Volusia County, Florida, 25 Feb. 2018. R: Gemini Springs Park, Debary, Florida, 22 Feb. 2018. (Elaine Du)

Birding While Daddy

by Craig Brelsford
Founder, shanghaibirding.com

The birth of my son ended my birding career in China and catapulted me back to the United States. I returned to Florida on 31 Jan. 2018 and accepted my new status of Birder While Daddy. Here’s how I have adjusted.

Despite the daily dose of joy my son brings, my addiction to birding remains. Fortunately for me, in Florida, getting one’s birding fix is easy. On Fri. 2 March, for example, I was on my back porch, proofreading for Bloomsbury a draft of a field guide. A feeding party of woodland birds arrived in the back yard.

I stepped into a wave of wood warblers (Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler) vireos (Blue-headed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo), and woodpeckers (Downy Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker). A diminutive Common Ground Dove was associating with the wave, as was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, cousin of Eurasia’s Goldcrest. A House Wren emerged briefly from the bushes; Snakebirds, also known as Anhinga, were soaring high above; and U.S. endemic Fish Crow was making its low-pitched caw.

My birding fix satisfied, I returned joyfully to work.

Walking with Elaine and Tiny along the suburban streets of Volusia County, I regularly find interesting species such as Sandhill Crane and Florida Scrub Jay, the latter the only species of bird endemic to the state of Florida. Nature reserves are plentiful in central Florida, and at one of the best, Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Tiny recently added Bald Eagle to his infancy bird list.

Always I am looking for little snatches of time in which to bird. My local patch is Gemini Springs Park, where last month I noted Painted Bunting as well as overwintering skulkers Ovenbird and Hermit Thrush. I recently ticked Wood Duck, American analogue to Mandarin Duck.

I currently am not taking bird photos. With a four-month-old in the house, photography adds to birding a layer of complexity that I must shed. I carry a sound-recorder, and my ears are always open. Recent strolls with Tiny have led to a heard-only tick of Barn Owl and a mysterious night-time flyover of Black-bellied Whistling Duck.

On Monday I start a new career with RedChip, a company owned by my best friend from college and a leader in financial media and investor relations. I’ll be birding less, but getting out as much as I can, as I continue to take on my new role of Birder While Daddy.

Despite my move to America, my expertise on Asian birds remains in demand. Here I am proofreading a forthcoming title from Bloomsbury, A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and Northeast Asia. (Elaine Du)
Despite my move to America, my expertise on Asian birds remains in demand. Here I am on the back porch proofreading a forthcoming title from Bloomsbury, A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and Northeast Asia. (Elaine Du)
My mother (L) is ecstatic over the return of her son and arrival of her newest grandson. I told her, 'This time you got me. I'll never live abroad again.' With Tiny in tow, we were birding 3 March 2018 near my parents' house in Debary, Florida. (Elaine Du)
My mother, Susan (L), is ecstatic over the return of her son and arrival of her daughter-in-law and grandson. I told her, ‘This time you got me. I’ll never live abroad again.’ With Tiny in tow, we were birding 3 March 2018 near my parents’ house in Debary, Florida. (Elaine Du)
Craig "Tiny" Brelsford (R) birding with his mother Elaine Du at Gemini Springs Park, Debary, Florida, 11 Feb. 2018. (Craig Brelsford)
Elaine Du birding with her son, ‘Tiny’ Craig Brelsford, at Gemini Springs Park, Debary, 11 Feb. 2018. When Elaine left China last month, she was the highest-ranked woman eBirder in the history of that country, with 735 species on her China list. (Craig Brelsford)
Elaine and Tiny in the observation tower at Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. The top eBird hot spot in Volusia County, Woodruff is known as a breeding site of Swallow-tailed Kite. Sandhill Crane also breed here, and Bald Eagle are regularly noted. (Craig Brelsford)
Elaine and Tiny in the observation tower (29.113998, -81.377611) at Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. The top eBird hot spot in Volusia County, Woodruff is a reliable site for Swallow-tailed Kite. Sandhill Crane breed in the refuge, Bald Eagle are regularly noted, and American Alligator bask on the creek banks. (Craig Brelsford)
Our four-month-old baby boy at Woodruff. A human baby is a natural phenomenon and a thing of beauty--beautiful in the way a sunset or waterfall is beautiful. I got into birding because my eyes hungered for natural beauty. Now, my son satisfies some of that longing. (Elaine Du)
Our four-month-old baby boy at Woodruff. The young of Homo sapiens is an object of great beauty—beautiful in the way a sunset or waterfall is beautiful, or the bugling of a crane, or the glide of an eagle. I got into birding because my eyes hungered for natural beauty. Now, my son satisfies some of that longing. (Elaine Du)

Featured image: Craig Brelsford birding with his son, “Tiny” Craig Brelsford. L: Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Volusia County, Florida, 25 Feb. 2018. R: Gemini Springs Park, Debary, Florida, 22 Feb. 2018. (Elaine Du)
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Craig Brelsford

Craig Brelsford is the founder of shanghaibirding.com. Brelsford lived in Shanghai from 2007 to 2018. Now back home in Florida, Brelsford maintains close ties to the Shanghai birding community and continues his enthusiastic development of this website. When Brelsford departed China, he was the top-ranked eBirder in that country, having noted more than 930 species. Brelsford was also the top-ranked eBirder in Shanghai, with more than 320 species. Brelsford’s photos of birds have won various awards and been published in books and periodicals and on websites all over the world. Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, published in its entirety on this website, is the most Shanghai-centric field guide ever written. Brelsford is a graduate of the University of Florida and earned a master's in business administration at the University of Liege, Belgium.

4 thoughts on “Birding While Daddy”

  1. Craig, great post on the joys and challenges of fatherhood. Fatherhood certainly is worth all the effort, but it still is great when one can get out for some birding. I have been doing that for 15 years now. It gets even more fun when the kids get old enough to go along!

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