Eight Random Facts

As I was completing the birding meme on Monday, I remembered that some time ago, John at Born Again Bird Watcher tagged me with the Eight Random Facts meme that has been spreading around the blog world. Though I have been slow in responding, I did not want to pass since I have enjoyed John's blog since I first became aware of it. (And subsequently David and BirdCouple have tagged me, too.) So I decided to finish and post my response.

First, the rules for Eight Random Facts:

• Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
  

Now for my facts:

1. On the night owl - early bird continuum, I tend to be a night owl. This has been true for me for as long as I can remember. Sometimes this gets in the way of good birding.
2. But for the last month or so, I have been more of an early riser.
3. My five favorite birding experiences since I started this blog have been seeing my first cerulean warbler, watching phoebes and yellow-rumped warblers in the snow, coming face-to-face with a barred owl, hearing chorusing barred owls late at night, and reaching 101 species on a birdathon in DC.
4. I am a historian by training; my interest in nature is something that developed gradually outside of my academic pursuits.
5. Central Jersey is considered Mets territory, but I grew up as a phan of the baseball team that recently lost its 10,000 game.
6. My eighth grade class was the last to graduate from my elementary school.
7. Places I will miss walking in DC: the Mall in the spring, Kenilworth during summer, Rock Creek Park in fall migration, the Arboretum in winter.
8. Places I look forward to seeing more in NJ: Great Swamp, Sandy Hook, and the lower Jersey Shore.
   

This seems to have passed around to most of the bird blogging niche - or at least to most of the blogs that I read regularly, so I am not going to tag anyone. But if you have not done it, and would like to, consider yourself tagged.