A “small world” story:

I live in Bruceton Mills, a tiny rural town in WV. So does LeJay, a fellow birder and world traveler.

Last week, LeJay got a message from his friend David, another Brucetoner who now volunteers for the Peace Corps in Colombia. David said his girlfriend’s daughter is a birder in Bogota who is leading day trips in conjunction with an upcoming event and looking for some insights on the standards for offering those types of things to an international audience. LeJay asked me for my input.

What LeJay didn’t know was that I happened to be going to Bogota this weekend, and had a rare free day that I planned to spend birding with Giovani Ortiz.
Giovani is great at throwing together a last-minute adventure when we can both swing it, and he did it again yesterday! I woke up early to meet Jimena in person and hop in a car with Giovani as we headed out on a birding excursion in the mountains outside of the city.

Better yet, Giovani’s sister came along for her first-ever day of birding: where her introduction included Black-billed Mountain-Toucans, Sword-billed Hummingbirds, and a quintessential Antpitta feeding station experience at the end to cap things off on top of a perfect day in the cloud forest. It’s always extra joyful to share in someone’s first birding experiences!

It was a complicated plan that happened to work out perfectly, and it’s so great to be able to connect with folks all around the world like this. And it all started with a handful of us folks in Bruceton Mills, go figure!