A little bit about me, and how it all got started.

I've been going on and on about the project for a while, now and it occurred to me that I have never really shared anything about how the passion for collecting really got started for me.  Those of you that know me, know that as well as the Waterfowl of North America project, I also have a collection of my own, of birds that I have personally harvested.  I supposed the real draw to all this for me is the shear enormity of variety that exists in the world of waterfowl.  Even when one looks at the micro version, that exists just in North America, the variety is huge.  From species that only live in warm costal environs, to species that spend their entire lives at sea, leaving the ocean only to nest above the arctic circle.


Here is how it all happened for me.  This is the event that lit the fire in my soul...


About 20 years ago, I was blessed to have a "rocket ship" cross the bow of my 14 V-bottom fishing boat. Two failed attempts and one lucky BB later I found myself searching the cattails for my prize. As I approached a small channel, I looked across and saw, what to this day still haunts all my visions of waterfowl. A single red eye, was peering at me from just inside the cattails. In what now can only be described as a bittersweet moment, I had my prize in hand. A drake Canvasback, my first.

That moment is engrained in my memory, forever. Not necessarily because of the trophy I took that day. But because of the fire that it started inside me. That was the moment that I understood what waterfowling meant to me. For me the sport of waterfowling is all about new places, new people and, new species.

I'm not much of a traveler, but the instinctual pull I feel to pursue new birds pries me from the comfort of my home and shop, and forces me into the world.

Currently I have 6 species of ducks left to pursue and 2 species of geese. I am hoping that a trip to the east coast and one to Florida, will help me to realize that goal. Currently I am in the planning phases of those two trips, hoping that I can make it happen next year.


To this day the Canvasback still reigns supreme in my eyes.  Every bird I am blessed to harvest receives nothing less than my full respect, be it at the dinner table, or with its addition to my trophy collection.  And much to my wife's dismay, most eventually find there way into the trophy room.


That is the passion that started this project.  I suppose it is my dream to bring this to the general public, hopefully helping someone else to find, even if its a small piece, what I have found in the wild and wonderful world of waterfowl.




Later,
Kev