|
Willie D'Anna has been a NYSOA member for about 35 years and a volunteer for 26 of those years, now serving as NYSARC chair since 2017. Read on to find out how a music jamboree and a cowbird were involved in getting him hooked on birding, and much more about his exciting birding life. You'll also get a taste of what makes the Niagara River and the Lake Ontario plain so special for birders.
How long have you been a NYSOA member?
“Almost as long as I have been birding, so that would have me joining in the early to mid 80s.”
What positions have you held in the organization (and for how long)?
“I wrote the regional report in The Kingbird for Region One for five years and the “Highlights of the Season” article in The Kingbird for five years. I have served on NYSARC for roughly 16 of the past twenty years, including the last three years as the chair. I also helped to organize the NYSOA Annual Meeting held in Niagara Falls in 2017. This was a great experience for me because I got to know different sides of other Buffalo Ornithological Society members who were also on the organizing committee. I knew them all as birders but this gave me a chance to see them in other roles and to find out how exceptionally talented many of them were. It also gave me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and to do things that I had always assumed I would not be good at and then find out that I could do those things. Hmmm. Either that, or the rest of the organizing committee was so good that they just covered for me.”
What is it about NYSOA that keeps you involved?
“As you can tell from the above, my main involvement with NYSOA has been through writing for The Kingbird and serving on NYSARC, endeavors which I found and continue to find extremely interesting. But along the way, I got to know a lot of people in NYSOA who have not only impressed me with their knowledge and dedication to birds, birding, and NYSOA but they also became my friends. I have learned that NYSOA’s goals are the same as my goals and I cannot think of a better reason than that to stay involved.”
How long have you been birding? Did you have a particular experience that hooked you on birding?
“I started in the early 80s, when I was in my mid twenties. My life-partner, Betsy Potter, and I have always had a love for nature and the outdoors. Betsy was a musician and we went to a jamboree session in the country with a friend. That friend had just taken a birding course at the Buffalo Museum of Science and at the jamboree she showed us an Eastern Kingbird, and a Yellow Warbler feeding a cowbird. The recently fledged cowbird was three times the size of the warbler and I just could not believe what I was seeing! That was clearly a hook for me. After that, I bought binoculars and the Peterson field guide and started taking long walks around home, keeping lists of the birds that I saw. I would get home and tell Betsy that I saw a Northern Cardinal and she would not believe me! She had no idea those cool birds could be seen around here. I then started searching for a local bird club and I was put in touch with the Buffalo Ornithological Society (BOS). We immediately joined and started going on field trips. I continued my walks around home and soon found a rare and early Prairie Warbler on one of those walks. When I showed it to Betsy in the field guide, she regretted not being with me. It wasn’t far so I suggested that we go back out and look for it. She was skeptical and was pretty sure that it would be impossible to relocate but we went anyway. And there it was, in the exact same area where I had seen it earlier. I guess you could call that our first successful chase! We quickly became very avid birders and for many years we were probably the most active birders in the BOS. We would go birding on weekends and holidays, after work, before work, during lunch breaks, and I would take a day off of work whenever I thought it might be an interesting day for birds.”
What is your favorite place to go birding in NYS?
“Such a difficult question. The Lake Ontario plain is where I go more frequently than anywhere else. It is now where we live and it is great for migration. Swainson’s Hawk, Townsend’s Solitaire, Lark Sparrow, Summer Tanager, Cave Swallow, Pacific Loon, Yellow-throated, Connecticut, and Worm-eating Warblers are all on our yard list! I also love the Niagara River, one of the best places for gulls anywhere in the world, and where I have seen Ross’s, Slaty-backed, California, and Mew Gulls, 13 other species of gulls, Brown Booby, Elegant Tern, Arctic Tern, Red and Red-necked Phalaropes, Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, Razorbill, Cave Swallow, and lots of lesser rarities. It’s a toss-up!”
Favorite species?
“Not really. I have some special sightings however, some of which involve rarities that I was fortunate to find. Like the first Black-tailed Gull for Texas, which was at the Brownsville dump and discovered with four great friends from Western NY, including Jeanne and Sharon Skelly, Dean DiTommaso, and Betsy. There was the beautiful breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper that Betsy and I found at the Iroquois NWR, which several other birders were also able to enjoy. Betsy and I found the second nest of Yellow-throated Warbler in NY at Allegany SP, after hearing of the birds’ presence from Tim Baird. But the topper has to be the Grace’s Warbler that I found at Point Pelee National Park in Ontario, which I photographed. This was a first record for Canada and I only had the bird for less than half a minute!”
Is anyone else in your family a birder as a result of your interest?
“Nobody else in our families became birders but many of them now notice birds whereas before they were just background noise. Some have even learned a few of the common birds in their area.”
What do you do for a living?
“I was a civil engineer and designed bridges for most of my career. I also spent a few years in the field inspecting bridges. I have been retired since 2013.”
And any other information that you would like to add would be terrific!
“As a birder, I have always been interested in finding rarities and Betsy and I have found quite a few. It has been the major driving force for getting me out into the field and obviously, it is a big part of why I enjoy serving on NYSARC. Betsy also gets excited about finding rarities but she is a more well-rounded naturalist and she notices so many things when we are out in the field that I miss. She also has an artist’s eye and will show me photos afterwards that have me saying, “Wow, I think I saw that but I didn’t see that!”
|
