“I came late to the love of birds.”

Nice collection. Unfortunately, my best sightings of larger birds (mostly raptors) happen when I'm driving across the Thunder Basin National Grassland, and getting a photo has little chance of success. A wildlife refuge that attracts shore birds would help. And patience.

My first “remarkable” bird (and the one that got me interested in birds) was a rare sighting of a Snowy Owl in West Central Connecticut in the winter of 1974-ish. Later in St. Louis, while at art school, I became friends with a fellow artist and avid birder. We painted houses together to make ends meet, and always had binoculars and “The Peterson” handy for whatever identification was required. This fellow introduced me to the love of birds. Dan was a fine naturalist and artist, and his love of birds was infectious. I’ve still got the bug thanks to Dan.

I took a guess. I had the right brand (Nikon) but the wrong camera. However it was a very similar model.

trinity, what a unique opportunity you had meeting RTP!

Yes, I knew he hailed from Old Lyme. Much as I loved and still love his books, the Sibley has replaced it for me. Sigh.

But what a legacy...

Eleven years ago, I had birds brought front and center in my life, as I encountered my hiking partner of last decade, was a wildlife biologist and bird researcher. I was her scout for three years as she wrote, Birds and Birding in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountain Region" . Finally done in 2015. I thought I knew the region, but it was a deep dive on foot and 4X. And my dear friend is leaving the area for home in the PNW in the next few weeks.  
I use Nat Geo, Merlin on phone and iPad, and very active on eBird. I once told my bird and hike friend I was going to specialize in grassland birds as there are only 37 species in our splice of the Northern Plains. 
I am a only passable bird photographer and poor birder. I do participate in a lot of counts but my talent is more in enticing much better birders on my teams. And being an local Audubon leader on public policy. 

Nikon COOLPIX B500