I’ve always been told that to be happy at work, you need to be doing something that you love. Well, there is no doubt that I love my job, and it’s easy to see why: Beautiful scenery, high diversity of birds and other wildlife nearby, and add on top of all that the countless interactions I have with beautiful, interesting, and fun co-workers and friends. However, many visitors to the field station don’t know all of these small factors that add up to the reasons why I love my job, yet when I talk to them 1-on-1 for a few minutes about the research PRBO conducts and the work I do, at least half of the visitors reply “Wow, you have a pretty amazing job huh?”

I can’t help but wonder what it is that they get out of learning about bird research for 5 minutes that makes them think that? Maybe the idea of playing outside for 7 hours a day capturing wild birds brings back memories of being a kid exploring the unknown natural world. Either way, I agree. It is one amazing job that I wouldn’t trade for anything…

~Chad