A very tall man with a commanding presence was standing in the kitchen of The Bird House, the Pelee Island haven run by the bird observatory. He towered over me. Intimidated but curious, I introduced myself. He reciprocated. "Sean Dooley", he announced. If I had been a 'birder', I would have known immediately who he was. As we chatted, he mentioned he was on Pelee Island for one day only, he would be catching the ferry back to the mainland (Ontario, Canada), to fly to another bird watching gig. Actually, bird watching isn't technically a 'gig', that's my word, but it might as well be for a fan of bird watchers, domestic or international. Sean was the first international bird watcher I had met and I was in awe. Springsong is the weekend the island hosts birders and tourists. On the ferry over, the conversation usually centres around birds, as birders flock to the Springsong Birdwatching contest. An internationally recognized bird watcher? My day was complete. Not everyone can do sports, or spend a day tromping and tiptoeing through brush, woods, marsh and/or water stalking a bird. Their weapon? A camera. It takes incredible stamina, and that rules me out. While I chose funeral service as my profession with no regrets, deep down, I admired and wanted to be an ornithologist.
As Sean and I chatted, he mentioned his book, The Big Twitch. I meekly mentioned that I too was an author. Somehow, cozy mysteries didn't seem to be his style, nor did a memoir so I let it slide. I asked him to write down the title and he pleasantly obliged. There was also an author retreat on the island that weekend, although I didn't meet or see any of the authors. I did meet Patricia Harman, author of The Reluctant Midwife, who was at the PIBO fundraiser. The weather had prevented the small plane from taking her back to Ohio after her weekend on the island with friends. I enjoyed visiting with her too as she explained how she came to write about midwifery.
The Big Twitch went on my TBR list for future reference. Pelee Island doesn't have wi-fi unless you are with a major carrier, it has a few seasonal restaurants and hotels. One can't order an ebook easily, nor can an author sign an ebook. It is a quiet retreat, accessible only by ferry in season. The Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) has a resident ornithologist who I also met that weekend. Bird watchers are their own breed (flock?) Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, nerdy. My kind of people. I met one of their finest and am looking forward to escaping into The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time - a True Story About Birdwatching |26246582]