Tony -
On behalf of this emigrant TexBirder, thank YOU for all the entertainment you
have given me over the years, as I have read here on TexBirds your triumphs and
travails during Quest254. I have only one question -
When will the book come out?
I want a first-edition, hardcover. ;-)
Clay Taylor
TOS Life Member
Calallen (Corpus Christi) TX
Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
401-965-9064
-----Original Message-----
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Anthony Hewetson
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2017 1:05 PM
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Anthony Hewetson
<fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [texbirds] Finishing my TCC list - a wrap up - of sorts
Greetings All:
This is really more of a thank you note. I have had so much fun doing this
and, though, being somewhat inclined towards solitude, I was on my own for much
of the birding ... I was never alone in my birding. I received tips from
birders, of all stripes, from every region in the state. I don't know how many
good folk responded to the following plea over the years - Does anybody know
where there is public access to good water in _______ County?
- but it was a lot ... and I thank you all.
One doesn't like to mention specific names (due to the risk of leaving out
somebody truly special) but I really need to express my love for and
appreciation of a few people as best, given my not always graceful way with
words, I can.
First, I spent a truly astonishing amount of time birding huge chunks of Texas
with my ex-wife, Aveline Hewetson, during our years together and she made every
trip we were on better and much more fun. I have worked my way through
literally hundreds of pages of field notes, written in her hand, and I don't
believe I ever got around to thanking her enough for being such a patient and
skilled critter-chasing partner. Anybody willing to put up with me on a long
field trip can't be thanked enough:)
Second, though my brother, Martin Campbell, got me started on this quest there
is nobody I have spent more time birding Texas with than Rich Kostecke. Us
inclined to solitude folk make our own families as we grow up and Rich
Kostecke, despite the fact that he has attempted to kill me on many occasions
via death marches through treacherous terrain, is, well and true, a person I am
glad to call 'brother'.
Brandon Best was another birder who helped me along the way, particularly in my
region, and I am very glad to hear that he is coming back to Texas.
Hopefully, I will get to help him a lot if an when he gets into the TCC game.
Other local notables who have tipped me to great stuff throughout my region and
the panhandle as a whole include Phillip Kite, Rob Lee, Cliff Stogner, Jim
Crites, Tom SoRelle, and tons of graduate students (you know who you 'too
numerous to name' folk are).
Though I am not sure I ever actually scored a new county for my TCC list with
Sandi Wheeler and Helen Rezjek I have enjoyed the heck out of birding with them
and their raucous lot on some of their TCC trips - may Yellow-headed Blackbirds
ever grace your view through the sunroof.
These folk are just the tip of a mighty big iceberg but I really wanted them to
know how much I appreciated their companionship and knowledge.
Some organizations deserve a shout out as well. The Llano Estacado Audubon
Society has given me a local 'home' and, though few in number, the members of
this Audubon chapter are mighty in terms of local knowledge and helped me out a
lot when I got started in the region. It was a big transition from Oregon.
More recently, the Texas Ornithological Society has both provided an incentive
to get this thing done and afforded many opportunities to explore needed
regions - and they put up with me at board meetings.
This leaves out literally hundreds of birders that have provided me with tips
either while I was planning trips or while I was staggering about looking for
birds. I am not exaggerating and I wish I was better with names so that I
could sit down with a legal pad, get the names down and alphabetized, and
subject y'all to another of my endless lists:)
And last of all though none of them will read this: the operators of countless
hotels, restaurants, and bars that put up with my mud-coated boots, damp
clothes and, to be frank, stinky self ... as I (dis)graced your premises with
my presence.
Thank you all, so much, for making me feel a part of Texas birding.
I can't wait to see who gets all 254 next and I hope they share.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; recently of Mineola, currently of Lubbock
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