After a childhood absorbed with reptiles - my great hero was Raymond Ditmars - I started birdwatching on May 18, 1974 and have been fanatical about it since 1986. Most of my birding has been around Gainesville, Florida. Over that time I've been state coordinator for the North American Migration Counts (1994-99), a member of the Florida Ornithological Society's Field Observation Committee (1996-2000), president of the Alachua Audubon Society (1998-2000), eBird reviewer for Florida's northern peninsula (2011-present), and author, with Mike Manetz, of "A Birdwatcher's Guide to Alachua County, Florida" (1995, 2006). I have a general interest in natural history, especially herps, insects, native plants, and ecology.