Member spotlight

Glenn Hurst
Pottawattamie County

My best friend introduced me to birding when we were about 10. My mom had several bird feeders and bird houses in the back yard and he would come over and sit at our sliding glass door and just watch as we went through the chorus of, “What do you wanna do?” “I don’t know, what do you wanna do?” “I don’t know, what do you….” Ad nauseum. He was quite adept at bird identification and drew me in with his interest. Over time I got used to sitting there, looking. That became the thing we wanted to do.

We eventually joined the local nature club, a group of 60-80-year-olds who went on bus trips to see birds but mostly didn’t leave the bus. He and I did. We went hiking in the woods around our development and in the nearby nature preserves; watching for new species, hoping to see something rare, and tracking our adventures and sightings. We were exposed to naturalists who taught us identification, conservation, and the value of protecting the environment around us.

I eventually dreamed of being the Chief of Ornithology at Cornell University, the Vatican of birding. Alas, it was not to be. 17-year-old birders don’t get a lot of dates, and the passion moved to a secret hobby as I aged. But, I have kept up my birding interest, just being more enthusiastic at some points in life compared to others.

This year, the drive to bird was unusually strong. I had seen over 150 species in Iowa in the first 5 months of the year, on track to be one of the top 20 birders in the state. I had traveled across the state to see sandpipers, cranes, and a host of waterfowl and waders.

Of course, my mind was often on the poor water quality of the rivers and lakes that I visited. My experience with conservation as a young birder had made a deep impression. I am sure this influenced my passion to prioritize the protection of the Earth as part of my US Senate campaign. So, as enjoyable as it was, I had some anxiety and grief around what I was witnessing, but I was still really caught up in the chase to see the most birds.

So as I birded, I mused about the effects our lack of action was having on the wildlife and the wanderers like me. I noticed that the bird populations themselves had changed during some of my absent years. Migration patterns have shifted due to climate changes and geographic evolution. I watched one lone prairie chicken, in a place where there used to be quite a few, dance solitarily to the dawn. There was no mate for him to attract. I learned a few weeks later that it had been killed by a passing automobile. It was the last known of its species in that part of Iowa.

Then the tornadoes of late April hit my small town and broke my streak of  100+ days of consecutive birding. Our shifting climate and weather patterns took out, not only the birds but the birders. My focus since then has been on the recovery of our community and I have struggled to find the energy to put back into birding.

After the storm, birding felt like a luxury. It was almost too guilty of a pleasure to indulge in while the community tried to put itself back together. As a City Council member, I felt the need to be in the community and to be helping those who were severely affected. So that is what I did. But much of the work is done, and I am still struggling with getting back out there. I’ve fallen far behind the top birders, which is fine. It’s a pretty egotistical goal anyway, but only if you know a lot of birders. Otherwise, it’s pretty embarrassing for your family.

But I have taken to reminding myself, that as great as a day of birding can be, it is also an important action. To witness what has been, and what is changing, and then to take action to influence what is to come; it is all part of it. I’m planning to get back out there soon, but I miss the innocence of sitting by that sliding glass door just admiring the colors and seeing something new. Some of the joy is lost by the reality of what is happening to our planet, and I think I will always feel like I am just trying to get one last glimpse before it's all gone.

Without CCI, I think I would always feel like I am just trying to get one last glimpse before it's all gone. And I do feel that way sometimes. But involvement with CCI helps me enjoy birding and turn it into an important action; to witness what has been, and what is changing, and then to take action to influence what is to come. I miss the innocence of sitting by that sliding glass door just admiring the colors and seeing something new. But by being a part of CCI, maybe I can help make it last for the next couple of nerdy kids with a bird feeder.