ABOUT THE BIRD LADY

copywrite©Marjie Gemmell

ABOUT THE “BIRD LADY”

My name is Marjie Gemmell. I’ve been sharing my birding thoughts,via this blog spot for a few weeks, and figure it’s time to introduce myself. Here’s a bit of history about the “Bird Lady” (a name given me by my students.)

I’m an Ohio native, and have always lived in Ohio. I love the changing seasons in this part of the country. Each season brings a change in the weather, the landscape, and most exciting in the bird population!

I’ve been hooked on birds 30 years. My 21 year career as a naturalist blended perfectly with my ever growing infatuation with feathered creatures. I taught elementary students and adults a variety of natural history subjects, with lesson plans on trees, ferns, wildflowers, insects, mammals, butterflies and moths, reptiles, fungus and stream studies. I was enthusiastic about all the subjects…but my passion was and is ornithology. Having spent thousands of hours in the outdoors introducing others to birds has been very rewarding.

Early in my naturalist days I obtained state and federal permits in order to collect and preserve dead birds. This enabled my students an up close and personal look at many different species. Few were the kids or adults who weren’t fascinated by the embalmed specimens. It is one thing to watch a chickadee (for instance) a few yards away at a feeder, but it conveys a whole new dimension to the chickadee, when you can observe one in your hand!

The love of birds and bird watching has lured me down many paths of delightful discovery. I have traveled the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, and nearly every other continent in the world, on my quest to observe and identify birds. Looking back, I can only be very grateful that I was so beguiled by birds. Happy Birding!

Cheeps & Chirps!
Marjie Gemmell

To learn more about bird identification go to:
www.easybirdidentification.com

Posted by Marjie Gemmell