I've created this website with the purpose of sharing some of my adventures with friends and family, and whoever else cares to look. I have had the good fortune to travel a great deal, for both business and pleasure, and, in the course of those travels, have photographed many beautiful sights, met many interesting people, experienced the nuances of a variety of cultures, and, perhaps, picked up a few useful travel tips. And, of course, there's the birds: as most of you know already, I'm an avid birder (the preferred term, as opposed to "birdwatcher", for those of us who take the craft seriously). I observe, study, and catalogue the species of birds I see on a daily basis, whether at home or on the road. With the help of a swanky (quickly becoming outdated) digital video camera, I've been visually documenting these sightings, some of which are represented on these pages. There's a great deal of info on the birds I've seen contained herein; by hard work, sheer stubbornness, and some good luck, I've seen some amazing winged creatures, and a good sampling of other sorts of wildlife. But (hopefully) this is not just of interest to fellow birders- most people are curious about wildlife they may never see (or at least will be unable to identify if they do see it). And, if you have kids, share these pictures with them; they'll love it! I feel I have a special mission to share my love of nature with children, and, in these pages, I will keep you updated on my nature-education video project, entitled Ken's Critters, and a children's book in the works, among other things. While I have copyrighted all the images herein, anyone wishing to reproduce them for the sole purpose of education may do so freely- even a simple image of, say, an owl, accompanied by some explanation, can work wonders! Upon request, I'd be happy to provide more images, video, or any other information that might be useful. I believe strongly in sharing the wonders of the natural world with kids!

Before I move on, I must remind you that this website is very much a work in progress; style and content may change on a daily basis- at this writing, I must say that it is easy to distinguish my first pages from my newest, as my most recent additions have a much cleaner look. Eventually, I will retro-design all pages to my highest standard. I must also offer special thanks to Deric Gerlach, who has offered initial and ongoing advice on the technical details of website construction- without his help, I'd still be swimming upstream! Check out my links for directions to Deric's excellent website, which includes info on getting started on building a website. Please forgive the occasional technical glitch, awkward graphic, or link that goes nowhere; I'm still experimenting, and it will be some time before this site assumes its ideal structure. I do welcome any and all comments of an editorial nature, and it is particularly helpful to know if my pages don't work well with particular browsers, or on a certain size screen. Please e-mail me with any constructive criticism!

A recent experience gave me an idea for another function this site might provide. My friend Meredith wrote me to ask for help identifying a pretty caterpillar feeding on parsley plants in her yard, in the Bay area of California. She e-mailed the blurry photo at right, which gave me something to start with; I searched the web until I found an outstanding site cataloguing butterflies an caterpillars from California (see my links for the site details). I narrowed it down to a family of butterflies, and Meredith sent better photos, and ultimately we both agreed that she had a lovely papilio zelicaon, or Anise Swallowtail. The wonders of modern technology.