Face Of This Place
Dorian Anderson, "Biking for Birds"
Why did you aim for one year for the “Biking for Birds” project?
During a “Big Year” a birdwatcher tries to find, within the limits of some prescribed geography, as many species of birds as possible during a single calendar year. This means that a Big Year necessarily runs from January 1st to December 31st - a duration of exactly 1 year. As my North American bicycle Big Year was simply an environmentally sustainable twist on the traditional petroleum-powered model, I wanted the overall structure of the year to adhere to the established timetable. I would soon discover that a year on a bicycle is a LONG time. During 2014, I ultimately biked 17,830 miles. I did not get into a plane, train, car, boat, or any other gas-powered vehicle for the 365 days of the journey. My legs were done by December 31st!
How did you decide that 600 species was a good goal?
Since I was the first person to attempt a full-fledged Big Year by bicycle, I did not have an established number or record to guide my thinking. For a reference, the petroleum-powered Big Year record has steadily crept from 627 (birds seen) in 1971, to 699 in 1979, to 721 in 1987, to 748 in 1998, and to 749 in 2013. There was simply no way I could attain those sorts of numbers using only a bicycle. I sat down with a bird book and made a list of birds I thought I could find if I stayed healthy, motivated, and strong enough to reach all 4 corners of the lower 48 states. I came up with a list of about 585-590 species, but rounded up to 600 since I though it sounded like a good goal. I wasn’t going to se the goal at 587 species!
How did you determine your route? Why did you start outside of Boston?
After looking through the bird book and consulting with birding friends, I decided there were 7 key areas that I would need to reach in order to approach 600 species: Massachusetts in January, Florida in March, the upper Texas Coast in April, Arizona in June, The Rockies in the summer months, the Pacific Coast in September/October, and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas in December. I started in Boston for two reasons. First, I was living in Boston at the time and it made the logistics much easier. Second, I wanted to get the brutally cold winter birding done with as fast as possible. It was miserable, and I am glad that I faced it right off the bat.
How did you get interested in conservation? Are birding and conservation inextricably linked?
I don’t think I ever ‘got’ into conservation as I have always considered the natural world’s interests alongside my own. We are only as healthy and happy as the planet we inhabit. This was just something I understood from a young age. As for birding being inextricably tied to conservation, I am not so sure about that. While there isn’t some objective metric to assay “conservation-mindedness,” birders certainly are, in my experience, much more environmentally conscious than non-birders on average. However, I am not sure being environmentally conscious necessarily translates to being a conservationist. Birders understandably spend their free time birding. They generally don’t perform any of the vital functions of true conservationists: acquiring land, negotiating with funding sources, dealing with policy issues and land claims, fighting against development, reclaiming land, and so on. The bottom line is that birding is a lot of fun, but conservation is a lot of work. Thankfully we have groups like The Conservation Fund to lead the conservation charge.
Your Big Year seemed liked quite an adventure! Do you think adventure is tied in any way to conservation? Is there a link to getting outside and caring about that outside?
I do not think that a sense of adventure and an appreciation of nature are in any way linked. My biking and birding adventure combined the two, but generally an interest in one does not, in my mind, suppose the other. Visiting every Major League Baseball park in one summer is an adventure I’d like to take and it has nothing to do with nature.
As to the second part, there is certainly a link between spending time in the outdoors, developing an appreciation for them, and advocating on their behalf. Most people think of the outdoors as foreign until they are actually afforded the opportunity to experience them. People generally don’t care about that which they don’t experience first hand. The best thing we can do is just get people out looking at trees, birds, insects, whatever. Conservation will come as a logical extension of this.
How/Why did you chose The Conservation Fun to receive your donations (in addition to the American Birding Association)?
It was actually a friend at the ABA that pointed me towards The Conservation Fund (TCF). Looking into the organization, I liked that almost all of the money donated/raised found its way into projects versus into administrative costs. I had a series of nice interactions with people at the Fund, and they seemed a great bunch of folks. I also liked how they furnished me with specific projects towards which the money I raised would go. This demonstrated solid strategy and planning. “We’re going to conserve everything” is not a viable goal, and I thought that the the Fund did a great job of identifying discrete, tractable projects that would pay conservation dividends in the near future.
Do you have advice for those interested in biking as a transportation alternative?
Yes, go for it—but be careful. Biking is a great way to get around, and it will keep you in great shape as well. However, drivers are generally painfully unaware of cyclists. Wear a helmet, ride defensively, and stick to safe roads whenever possible. You unfortunately have to assume that everyone single driver you encounter is the worst driver in the world. If you do this, it’s a blast.
What was your hardest ride of the year? Favorite ride of the year?
The ride from Paso Robles to Taft, California was the worst of the year – hands down. It was close to 100 degrees, the shoulder was skinny and in bad shape, I was riding through hideous smelly oilfields, and I was nearly run off the road by oil trucks every 2 minutes. It was also nearly 95 miles. It was hell on earth. I actually think I might be the only person to ever ride that road (everyone else takes the coastal route).
The rides in Colorado were challenging but spectacular. The same for the Oregon Coast. I would have to say that my ride through Monument Valley in Utah and my ride across the Cascades Highway in Washington were the two best rides of the year. Good roads and amazing scenery make a perfect combination.
What was your favorite bird that you saw in 2014?
There were a lot of memorable ones. Seeing the black-throated blue warbler in Texas was totally unexpected since I found that bird on my own. I looked really hard for white-tailed ptarmigan and greater sage-grouse, so adding those 2 birds felt especially good. The same for hook-billed kite in Texas. However, the red-legged honeycreeper that a bunch of us found in Texas was probably the biggest highlight. Normally found in Central America, that one bird wandered north into South Texas in November. It’s the only time its ever been seen in the US.
What did Biking for Birds teach you?
Pretty simple – anything is possible with the right amount of planning and perseverance. I also learned that crazy ideas are the best kind. Good ideas are safe, and safe ideas are boring. I learned that if a person can think beyond what others understand and believe is possible, then there’s really no limit to what can (s)he can accomplish. People shouldn’t let convention limit them.
Tell us about your next 2 projects, your book and your blog.
I really enjoyed writing my daily blog last year, and I have tried to keep that momentum going since I returned. First, I am working on a book about my adventure. It will focus on what happened as I pedaled about the country, but it will also explore some of my past that was brought to bear on the decision to take the journey. You certainly won’t need to be a hardcore birder, cyclist, or conservationist to enjoy it. It’s really a book about life, relationships, and passions, and how my bike trip helped me find a balance between those entities.
As a side project, I have started a more general birding blog called ‘The Speckled Hatchback’ (the name is explained on the blog). While I use it as a bit of a birding dairy to some degree, I also try to discuss general issues about birds and birding when I can. I like to think that I take nice bird photos, so I try to incorporate those whenever possible. All of my bird photos can be seen at www.dorianandersonphotography.com.
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Biking For BirdsThe Speckled Hathback
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