During the first weekend of August 1982 I was cycling past Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens NY, when I noticed an odd bird flying overhead. I stopped and gawked at my first official "lifer", a glossy ibis. I went into the refuge that day, and the following, and every weekend in August until I moved north to Syracuse. I was completely hooked on birding after a single month in that great wildlife sanctuary, and have been an avid birder since. I moved to Arizona in 1992, and find that I'm no different here than I was back east, still an avid birder. I've been birding the Verde Valley and Flagstaff area for 13 years now and know it to be a wonderful spot where anyone can turn up a real gem at any time.