Small world connections add magic to our lives. Such was the case last week when out of the blue I received an e-mail from Sam, a person I have never met. He kindly authorized me to share his story and photos:
“My name is Sam and I live in Manhattan and I own a coffee shop. One morning when I was opening my shop I noticed a small fur ball of a bird.
It was a tiny little thing happily hopping around the ivy in my planter. I had never seen anything like it on the city street. So I took pictures and video of the little guy. I searched all over trying to figure out what kind of bird this was that visited with me. Nothing- the Golden Winged Warbler seemed very similar but not quite the same markings as my bird.
A few weeks later I took a trip to Seattle my girlfriend was attending the Short Run Comics show. An organizer of that very art show who is also an entomologist, Emilie Bess, offered a hiking tour of Seward Park. We met at the Audubon Center- I brought up the bird with Emilie who pulled some bird guides from the library. Again, very close but none of the books we scanned had the planter bird. Oh well we toured the park had a great time.
Before leaving we rolled thru the gift shop (at the Seward Park Audubon Center) and there was your book with the bird I’d seen ON THE COVER! I just could not believe that turn of events. I was just now looking online because I want to order your book and saw your contact info and thought I’d share with you that story. Hope you have a Happy New Year!
– Sam”
Many thanks, Sam, for sharing this story! It continues to make me smile. I hope people in NYC visit your coffee shop* and with luck, maybe even find a Golden-crowned Kinglet just outside YOUR window.
