"You need to meet up with a guy named Steve. Absolutely brilliant birder. You can find him at the bar." - British twitcher discussing how to bird Midway Atoll.
Seagull Steve* started birding when he was 12 years old. This did not make him popular with the girls at the time and stunted development in crucial parts of his brain. Growing up in Southern California's fertile Ventura birding scene, he then made his way up to Arcata where he attended Humboldt State University and obtained a degree in Wildlife Management. After playing in a number of crappy (but legendary) punk rock bands and watching a couple of birds, he took a lot of field jobs and saw a lot of birds. He now resides in Oakland, California, where he attempts to see as many birds as possible before the air pollution renders him into a yard birder. His Global Birder Ranking System #7 ranking among active American birders has not gone to his head.
Along with his trusted colleague, The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive, he has dedicated his life to being a Champion Of Fun and to possibly making the world a better place for his winged brethren. At heart, he will always be a birder before a biologist or a photographer. He strives to understand the unusual habits of birders...a truly daunting task. He hopes that by exposing this insidious group to the general public, he can better understand himself.
*He is also completely aware that the word "seagull" irks many a humorless birder, and gets much enjoyment out of that.
The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive is, obviously, a world-renowned ornithologist. His knowledge and influence reaches far above any mortal-based ranking system. Sometimes referred to as The Last, Best Hope For Birdkind, the plight of his avian cousins weighs heavily upon him at all times. The strange and petty ways in which some birders and bird photographers conduct themselves is arguably a heavier weight for him to bear. Felonious is fond of lifers, bourbon and unemployment; his vices are rumored to be many and his slothful nature never ceases to amaze. He is terrified of large centipedes and is rarely photographed. Felonious Jive and Seagull Steve founded Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds in 2008, and have served as unwilling (but heroic) figureheads of the birding community for years.
Cassowary has never seen his namesake and has little ambition to find one. He reasons that they are too handsome on the page, too fierce in the flesh. Having no plans to visit Australia, or to ever leave his natal North American continent again, he once found himself in the Galapagos, where he was badly sunburned while basking with marine iguanas, and, in keeping in tradition with Darwin, tried to kill a bird with his hat. His favorite t-shirt was misplaced somewhere on the island Isabel and, while looking for it, was witness to the slow and violent love making of the giant tortoise. After that, things were never quite the same.
Seagull Steve* started birding when he was 12 years old. This did not make him popular with the girls at the time and stunted development in crucial parts of his brain. Growing up in Southern California's fertile Ventura birding scene, he then made his way up to Arcata where he attended Humboldt State University and obtained a degree in Wildlife Management. After playing in a number of crappy (but legendary) punk rock bands and watching a couple of birds, he took a lot of field jobs and saw a lot of birds. He now resides in Oakland, California, where he attempts to see as many birds as possible before the air pollution renders him into a yard birder. His Global Birder Ranking System #7 ranking among active American birders has not gone to his head.Along with his trusted colleague, The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive, he has dedicated his life to being a Champion Of Fun and to possibly making the world a better place for his winged brethren. At heart, he will always be a birder before a biologist or a photographer. He strives to understand the unusual habits of birders...a truly daunting task. He hopes that by exposing this insidious group to the general public, he can better understand himself.
*He is also completely aware that the word "seagull" irks many a humorless birder, and gets much enjoyment out of that.
The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive is, obviously, a world-renowned ornithologist. His knowledge and influence reaches far above any mortal-based ranking system. Sometimes referred to as The Last, Best Hope For Birdkind, the plight of his avian cousins weighs heavily upon him at all times. The strange and petty ways in which some birders and bird photographers conduct themselves is arguably a heavier weight for him to bear. Felonious is fond of lifers, bourbon and unemployment; his vices are rumored to be many and his slothful nature never ceases to amaze. He is terrified of large centipedes and is rarely photographed. Felonious Jive and Seagull Steve founded Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds in 2008, and have served as unwilling (but heroic) figureheads of the birding community for years.
After years of writing critically acclaimed guest posts for BB&B, The Cassowary officially joined the BB&B staff in spring of 2016. Hack naturalist, failed poet, successful breeder, Cassowary currently resides on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State, where the song of the varied thrush is slowly sending him into a madness of infinite mellow. His primary duties include caring for a small hummingbird and petitioning the local legislature to change the state bird from willow goldfinch to Melibe leonina, the hooded nudibranch, whose lateral body contortions allow it to swim through the water column in search of a new food source or to evade predators. This astonishing sea slug smells of watermelon. A willow goldfinch does not.
Cassowary has never seen his namesake and has little ambition to find one. He reasons that they are too handsome on the page, too fierce in the flesh. Having no plans to visit Australia, or to ever leave his natal North American continent again, he once found himself in the Galapagos, where he was badly sunburned while basking with marine iguanas, and, in keeping in tradition with Darwin, tried to kill a bird with his hat. His favorite t-shirt was misplaced somewhere on the island Isabel and, while looking for it, was witness to the slow and violent love making of the giant tortoise. After that, things were never quite the same.
