Forum Members' Biographies .... S To Z, Bios/Photos of Discussion Group Members.

[Cumbrian]

whensday

New updated Bio and Photograph still to be received

This is whensday's original Bio from the Who are you?/Where From?Thread

I'm Wendy. I live in Portland OR now but grew up in the San Fernando valley and went to college at UCSB. I think that's why I feel a greater connection to Cruz than to the Saanich (sp?) eaglets. I've been watching them all for the same amount of time.

I"m the parent of two teenage girls (I'm watching Cruz as I type and the way his feathers look across his chest he looks like he's wearing a necklace) Back to my family - I also have a husband and four cats.

I have been a preschool (Head Start) teacher for the last ten years and love it. I guess that's it for now.

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Wendy,
Portland OR

[Cumbrian]

willpatt


Hi,
I'm Will and I live in Burnaby, British Columbia. I heard about the Nornby Nest on TV and started watching and reading the forum. After that I watched the Saanich, Santa Cruz and Maine nests and since last fall, the Tesoro nest in Florida. In the spring of 2006 I bought a recorder and started making movies. After awhile I found that too tedious and time consuming, so slacked off on that but still do a few. I enjoy the companionship of the forums a lot.

I have always enjoyed photography and owned a 50 mm SLR for many yrs until it got stolen several yrs ago. After Xmas in 2006, camera prices dropped and I bought the one that had the best discount, a Sony Cybershot DSC -H2. I guess the reason for the big discount on the H2 was that the H5 was already out with a bigger display. Lots of fun with this camera making movies with images and videos! I recently went to Ladner to photograph some hawks but none were around so I got lucky in Point Roberts and found some eagles! A great chance to try my 20X zoom on one perched in a tree appx 300 meters away. Later, one flew by at the boat dock parking lot 200 ft in front of me and carrying a fish. It perched on one of the piles(a vertical dock post), where I got good images and videos!

I was born in Sunny Bank, Gaspe QC and worked in carpentry with my father. Left and joined the Air Force, a few yrs on Unit Record equipment, High School Math and Physics teacher, technician on the DC- 10 Airliner assembly, land surveying and even a cab driver while I studied for my B. Sc. degree. Lived in Montreal, Hamilton, Toronto and now here in Burnaby BC.

My interests have varied from boating, camping, hunting, fishing, R/C model planes and photography. I retired early for medical reasons and now just walk daily, take my camera along and drive on short trips and of course my Jack Russell, Koby goes along everywhere!

I was married and have an adult son and daughter and one grand son with my daughter. My son and his wife don't plan on a family.

I like the climate here on the coast with little or no snow while my relatives and friends back east get buried in it! Too much rain here but at least I don't have to shovel it !!

----------------
Will
Burnaby, British Columbia. Canada



Click on photo to enlarge.

[Cumbrian]

woolf2b


I am Barbara Baguskas and am from Philadelphia, PA. Also planning to move west in hopefully one year from now.

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Barbara,
Philadelphia, PA.

[Cumbrian]

Zlatka


Hi, my name is Zlatka and I am from the Czech Republic. I live in Ventura, CA now, and I visited Santa Cruz several times. We have a small sail boat and we go there a couple times a year. So far we did not have luck to see any eagles, but the Island is absolutelly gorgeous!! The other Island Anacapa is good to visit too, we have been actually married there 7 years ago. I was watching A-49 since begining and I was very emotional around the fledge time! Love the bird!

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Zlatka
Ventura, CA



Click on photo to enlarge.

[Cumbrian]

zuzcat


Happy New Year to all the Wonderful Eagle Watchers on this forum!!!

My name is Judy and I have been keeping track of Cruz since before the fascinating Banding Day. I had read about the Cruz cam on the Saanich (sp?) forum which I watched religiously after the Hornby nest (I also watched the Maine nest after the babies were big enough to be seen over the edge of the nest. But, since I live in So. Calif. (Costa Mesa) I feel more connected to Cruz and enjoy all the information and pictures provided by all the helpful, well informed and caring members of this forum.

Thanks to this family of watchers (and that is how it seems here... one big happy family), I have learned so much about eagles AND about the Channel Islands AND the Montrose Restoration Project.

About 3 years ago, an eagle was spotted near here in the Santa Ana River area about a mile or so from the ocean... it was seen a few times over a couple weeks and a local paper ran an article about the eagle restoration project at Santa Catalina and "suggested" that the eagle spotted here "may" be from there. Unfortunately I did not get to see it, but a friend of mine who really LOVES eagles did get to see it (or another?) fly directly at her office window and then up over the building. She almost could not believe her eyes. But, since she knows so much about them, she knew it was a bald eagle. She said it was HUGE and soooo beautiful! She was beside herself with excitement!!

Besides birds of all sizes (although the bigger the better, I say), cats are my other love. I know, they do not seem to get along all that well, so I only have "wild outdoor birdies" at my house. I am owned by my two black cats (Mittins and Trouble). They are siblings. Mittins has extra toes on his front feet, thus the name. And I have recently been adopted by a neighborhood cat. I call her O.K. Kitty (for "outside" Kat - because Mittins & Trouble have not "taken kindly" enough to her... yet... to let her visit INside). They are all a joy!!

My user name (zuzcat) is "in loving memory" of my previous cat who lived to about 15 years. His name was Zuz... he typed his name for us on the "typewriter" keyboard "back in the day" when we first got him. Good thing he did, otherwise we were going to call him some "human made-up" name which he probably would not have liked at all.

I have a really neat bottle brush (some are cooler than others, you know) which the birdies love to literally FILL twice a day... it is sooooo loud you can hardly hear yourself think... I LOVE it... Hummingbirds, House Finches, Black Phoebes, sparrows, and a few others I have not identified yet... but they are always "on alert" for the occasional visit from a Cooper's Hawk (the entire tree goes completely silent when she shows up).

On the personal side, my daughter is a Junior at USC and my granddaughter is in 9th grade. They live in Westchester, which is a section of Los Angeles near LAX. Their schedules are incredibly filled, but we get together often for FUN.

I was born and raised on a small family farm in South Dakota and moved to California in 1964, back to So. Dak. for a few years in the mid-70's but back to California again in 1978 (loved it too much to stay away). The farm is where I learned to love and respect animals. They all have their own personalities.

I work at home as a medical transcriptionist and love it, but it does keep me away from posting on the forum (I am on my customers' time lines) but I check in regularly to keep up with everything.

I have learned so much from watching all of the eagle cams. I hope more people watch and become aware of how the eagles get along in the world (not just eagles, but all animals in the wild) on a day-to-day basis and how they teach their young to survive. Interestingly, I have observed a great deal of patience exhibited by the parents when the eaglets are learning their life lessons and a sort of "tough love" when dealing with "family issues" - and the gentleness exhibited by the parent when feeding the small eaglets while knowing this same mother eagle will not hesitate to defend her nest to the extreme... if necessary... just makes me so in awe of them. Yes, humans have a lot to learn from wildlife. By spreading this awareness, I think there will be a lot less "trouble" in the world. We are all related. We need to be conscientious about keeping our home (earth) healthy so our entire family will thrive.

Blessings and wishes of health, happiness and prosperity in 2007 for all of you!

Judy
Costa Mesa, California

It is an honor to be a part of this like-minded interesting and interestED family of Eagle Watchers!

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Judy/zuzcat
Costa Mesa, CA

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction." - by Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring" from which sprung a major controversy about the blanket use of pesticides in the environment (see author Linda Lear’s website: rachelcarson.org)



Click on photo to enlarge.

[Cumbrian]

tisme


Hi there,

I live in a town called Dargaville (where the giant Kauri Forest are). My nearest city is Whangarie and the closest big city is Auckland - only 2 and 1/2 hours drive away.

I am retired, but hubby is in the Property buying and selling market. Before that we milked cows all year round.

I just love watching all Eagles, they fascinate me, as in New Zealand we don't have such magnificent birds of prey. I followed with great interest last year, via computer, the Sidney nest, by David Hancock, and the Hornby Island Eagles, but alas no chicks, and just got hooked on them.

Kind regards
---------------------
Claire
Dargaville, NZ

[Cumbrian]

Vynah Bird


Hi, my name is Vina (pronounced Vynah) Williams. I joined the forum as v.williams on June 2, but changed my user name to Vynah Bird a few days later.

I started watching the webcam on Santa Cruz by accident a couple of days before the egg hatched and A63 appeared. It has been incredible (and time-consuming!) to watch him/her grow in the last 9 weeks from a tiny grey ball of fuzz to the feisty busy, busy big bird s/he has become. And I have fallen in love!

I have lived in Laguna Beach CA for the past 13 1/2 years, grew up on the East Coast near New Haven CT. Married my high-school sweetheart and moved to CA, a place I had only dreamed about. My husband of 42 1/2 years passed away 6 1/2 years ago, and lucky me is now engaged to be married again on January 5, 2008, another thing I had only dreamed about, to a wonderful man I met in Laguna Beach shortly after we moved here. You never know!!

My birthday is July 26, which makes me a Leo. For you who like astrology, my rising sign is Libra and my moon is in Scorpio. My husband and I raised two terrific sons, who are still married to their first wives (!), and have two children apiece, 3 boys and a girl. The older son is a missionary in the southern Philippines, and the younger son is head organist and choirmaster at the West Point NY Cadet Chapel.

I was a professional classical singer for most of my adult life, and still at age almost 71 sing in a professional chorus called the Pacific Chorale in Orange County CA, although we sing with the L.A. Philharmonic and Pasadena and Long Beach Symphonies in L.A. County, as well as the Pacific Symphony in Orange County. It's a huge commitment, and I love it! Keeps me young.

My life is very full with arts Board responsibilities, attendance at various cultural performances and the like throughout the year. I also have my oldest grandson living on campus at Concordia U., about 20 miles up the road. He just finished his freshman year and is remaining on campus this summer to work. He will visit his folks in the Philippines for the Christmas holiday. It has been wonderful to have him so close to Gramma.

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Vina (pronounced Vynah) Williams.
Laguna Beach, CA
Halfway 'tween Los Angeles and San Diego on the coast across from Catalina Island




Wedding Day ... January 5/08
click on photo to enlarge.

[Cumbrian]

snoopysmom3


Hi Everyone... My name is Carol and I live in Connecticut.

I am divorced and live alone with my cat Mitzie. However, I have 2 of my three children near enough to visit any time I want to. The third, my oldest lives in BC Canada and so that is an undertaking to get there very often... but we do trade visits at least every year or so and we are on the phone regularly. I was there for three weeks last August. I have 4 grandchildren and am called Nona by three of them and Grammymoo by the other. Not sure where Grammymoo came from but I like it. She is the only one that uses it.

I am a Registered Nurse and worked in an Emergency room for many years before leaving to work in the medical department at the local phone company. I have since obtained my Master Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. With that I established an Employee Assistance Department at my company and managed that department until I retired.

Now I love to travel and have been to some off the beaten track places as I am not as fond of going where the crowds are...and I am a nature lover at heart and have been since early childhood.

I have a friend who's husband has a chronic disease and cannot travel but he does not mind if we go off places together from time to time. We have been many places all over the world but the best one by far was the trip we took on a Russian ice breaker to Antarctica 3 years ago.

We flew to Buenos Aires one day and then to Ushuaia, Argentina the next day to get to the ship. Unbeknownst to us, until we actually signed on, this was an expedition put together by Quark Expeditions Company to search for an Emporer Pengiun colony that had been spotted from the air by a commercial pilot. It was just a dot on a picture and they were sure that is what it was but it was not anywhere near the usual locations for Emporers so they organized this expedition to try to find it. We wanted to go to Antarctica and so we signed on and then found out we were on the journey of a lifetime. To make a long story short... we found the colony... we had two helicopters on board the ship so they flew us in to the colony that was 22 miles inland and we spent the day walking with Emporer Penguins and their 2 month old babies. They had no fear of us nor we them and it was the most amazing experience one could ever have. They are huge birds and were just as curious about us as we were them. If we sat down on the ice they came over and climbed on us to check things out. It was so neat. We did not reach out to them, which was our promise, but that did not stop them from reaching out to us. What a thrill!! There was much more to the trip but that was the biggest of the thrills.

Now I am back home and we have booked a trip to Svalbard Norway where we will get on board the National Geographic ship The Endeavor and go to see the Polar Bears in their natural habitat some time next summer.

Soon after I retired I discovered golf and am crazy about the game. Luckily, I have a couple of friends who are as crazy about it as I am and so we play anytime we can and anywhere we are. When I travel I try to play in that location.. didn't do it in Antarctica though... I have played in Hawaii and New Zealand. I would love to play in Scotland but have not done that yet, though I have been there.

I am also very interested in Genealogy, mine of course, and have spent many hours researching my family. I volunteer at our Town Archives where we preserve documents and personalia about our town's history.

I feed hummingbirds and this year have an Eastern Blue Bird couple that has nested and raised one batch of babies so far in my little backyard. I think they are about to raise another. They were almost extinct in this area so that is a huge accomplishment.

I love living in New England and have been in this location all my life. I travel and love the places I go, but New England is the one I keep coming back to.

I am entralled with Limuw and the Eagle program. I have a 6th cousin, whom I found in my genealogy research, who lives in Ventura and he sent me this site a couple of weeks ago and I have hardly left my PC since I found it.

I look forward to many years of Eagle watching with all of you, in between my trips to see other wildlife... I am so glad to have found you.
------------------------------------------
Carol,
Connecticut.


Photograph requested

[Cumbrian]

silveregal

Hi my name is Barbara , I live in New Mexico.

I'm an Educational Assistant I work with special ed/behavioral problem students. I enjoy it and have been able to show them the nests and eagles threw this site.

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Barbara
New Mexico

[Cumbrian]

Yakyak


Hi everyone,

My name is Kay, Yak spelled backwards. I live in Morgan Hill, CA. With my husband and 4 cats (we just lost 2 english bulldogs earlier this year). Morgan Hill is right next to Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world.

We have two children, a son who lives in Sun Valley, CA. With his wife and two daughters, and a daughter and her husband who live in the Los Angeles area with their 3 dogs and 1 cat.

I was born in Los Angeles, and my husband was born in San Francisco...2 native Californians, which you don't find too often here anymore. I met my husband through a friend while he was in the U.S. Marine Corps stationed at 29 Palms, CA.
We moved up north to San Jose in 1963, then up to Redwood City, then back down to Morgan Hill, where we have lived for 37 years.

We live in an area not too far out of town, but we have a lot of wildlife....red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, owls, wild turkeys, turkey vultures, foxes, racoons, possums, skunk, deer, bobcats, some kind of crane or heron and, unfortunately, rattlesnakes and mountain lions. No eagles that I know of.

I began watching Limuw on April 16, when my daughter sent me the website, and I was hooked. I cannot believe how attached I became. I never even paid that much attention to the birds around here. I miss Limuw so much that I don't know whether I can bear to get attached to another eagle. I will wait and see.

I'd like to thank all of the people on the forum who have helped me and been so kind. You know who you are. to you all.

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Kay
Morgan Hill, CA.



.....
Ken and I ................................Me and my grand-daughter Alexis
Click on photos to enlarge.

[Cumbrian]

suuuu

My name is Sue and I live in Ventura, CA across the ocean from Santa Cruz Island. I have a daughter, son, husband of 25 years, plus two Jack Russell Terriers. I am an Office Manager for a chiropractor. One of the unusual things about me is that I love and own Morris Minors, one a convertible and the other a pickup.

I found out about the Santa Cruz webcam from my Bunco group and first visited on April 18th, soon after Limuw was hatched. I was instantly hooked and soon joined the forum so that I could post about that adorable eaglet. ``````I soon learned how to capture and post pictures, plus watch the nest while “working” – good thing I have a very understanding boss! Especially on banding day – doubt if I did ANY work that day!

I am looking forward to visiting SCI in person soon and watching the whole season next year. This forum has a wonderful and funny bunch of people whose lives I enjoy reading about each day.

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Sue
Ventura, CA





click on photo to enlarge

[Cumbrian]

wrightflyer


Hi. My name is Marti. I’m an eagleholic. I am a Kansas girl, but moved to California when I was about ten years old. I was raised by my grandmother and I am thankful for that every day. I have worked forever ;-) .

When I was in high school as a senior, my best friend told me she wouldn’t be there for lunch, as she was applying for a student job at the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). I wished her well. I had no idea what I was going to do after high school. The next day, I asked her how it went. She said, “It went great, until they ‘swore me in’ and I had to attest that I was a citizen of the United States.” She said “I can’t do that. I’m from Canada. But, I have a friend.” She then proceeded to tell me that they were expecting me at 1:00pm that day! The rest is history. I retired in January with 41 years of service. I was lucky to go in to FAA just as the computers were coming out of the computer rooms, and into the office. I got to test, shake down and teach employees about every computer that emerged. (I gave them their first “Computer Migraines”) And to teach, you have to test and learn all the software before it came to the office. I worked in graphic design since it appeared in the mid 90s.

In about 1990 or thereabouts, I learned about the existence of a special little airplane being built at a Northrop facility in Torrance, CA. I became a part of this very special project. The team started in 1979 with the purpose of building an exact replica of the first airplane – the 1903 Wright Flyer (Orville and Wilbur Wright) for the 75th anniversary of flight. It ultimately was placed on loan with the San Diego Air Museum. That museum burned to the ground shortly after. The team put their heads together and decided to build another – but not just to look fantastic – but to learn the secrets from the Wright brothers and inspire the young kids to get excited about aviation. When I joined the team, this was the airplane (#2) that they were working on. They kept talking about “putting it in a wind tunnel for the first time”. Little did I know at that point, that I would end up doing a CA tour with the airplane, ending the tour at NASA Ames in Mountainview, CA, getting to play at NASA for over a year, and seeing our beautiful little bird in their huge wind tunnel. The frosting on the cake, was being able to ultimately bring it home to So. CA and put it in my building at the FAA! The lobby became the “Flight Deck Museum”.

Two years later, while we are still tired from the CA tour, we were contacted by our organization, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). They asked us “How would you like to do a national tour with your airplane?” Let me tell you…. The first reaction to that question for a bunch of working folks was sheer terror! But AIAA took the reigns, and all we had to do was schedule the team to be at each location on the required dates (Set up, events and take down and load up for the next spot) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! We were on the road for 13 months. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world! What an experience.

The team is currently working on airplane #3 – To Fly!!!

Since I retired in January of 07, I have had to spend the majority of my time in Texas, but go home on a regular basis. I just got back from the last trip. The day I was there, there was an airshow! (We are at Flabob Airport in Riverside) That was a blast. (I’m an airport groupie) The adventure continues with airplane #3. Who knows what will be in store for us.

Since I retired, I am enjoying a less stressful lifestyle. I have been able to join the IWS which I had discovered while working and have now joined. Eagles (or eagleholics) all the time! It is a privilege to be a part of this amazing and dedicated group.

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Marti
Rockport, TX/Los Angeles, CA





http://www.wrightflyer.org

[Cumbrian]

scraps


Hey folks,

This is scraps(Carrie)

I’m originally from planet Earth – oh, what a beautiful place! -- and I’m still here!

My greatest challenge in life is to reconcile being a part of human endeavor with being part of the food chain. This is my constant companion, and is both galling and comforting on any given day.

I mean to be as kind to people as I am to other life forms. So far I have not gotten used to the world, which gives me countless opportunities to practice. Good thing!

When I was three years old, my heroes were my dad and my dog. By the time I was seven, my greatest hero was Jane Goodall, and she still is – but she is in the company of my other heroes: every person who gets up for the day’s work of giving each other and Earth a reason to be glad humankind is here.

If you are reading this, you are among them.

Ephemeris (look that word up – it’s a good one!):

Born 1957 in southeastern WA, about a stone’s throw from the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Resided and was educated in Kennewick and Seattle, WA; Ann Arbor MI; Concord CA. Job: Building Maintenance and Network Technician for local park district. Lifetime interests: Carpentry, Ornithology, Astronomy. Work: see above.

See you on the excellent eagle forum!
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scraps/Carrie
Concord, CA

[Cumbrian]

stormkatt


Hi everyone. My name is Stormkatt and I am originally from Bellingham, WA but because of various job transfers, now live in Bartlesville, OK.

I have 9 fur kids which I love to talk about. I love all fur children and have a meerkat jeopardy site, a member of the elephant sanctuary forum, and two horse forums. Meerkat Manor and Lemur Kingdom are two of my fav shows. [I watch a looot of animal planet].

When I lived in WA I would really enjoy going to the rivers and look at the huge clusters of eagles waiting for the salmon to swim by.

I have not seen many bald eagles in this area but there are some goldens. I saw the link to the live nest watch on one of my horse chats and thought how cool...a site for eagles.

Thanks for inviting me ....
---------------------------------
Brenda,
Bartlesville, OK.




This is me in basic training in 1986

[Cumbrian]

wb6qop

Hi All
My name is Ann Dunlap, forum name is wb6qop. I have been watching these eagles since last year. Ya, I think I am addicted and that is not a bad thing.

I was born in upstate NY and grew up in Texas. I moved to Southern CA in 1964. I lived in Oxnard for several years and moved to Thousand Oaks in 1969. So I have been here a long time. We raised 6 children here. Three sons, two daughters and a granddaughter. We now have 6 grand children and 2 great grand children.

I am now a semi disabled senior now but get around reasonably well. On the day that I turned 65, Spirit was hatched. I don't think I have been this excited in my life.

My husband and I are ham radio operators, that is where my forum name of wb6qop comes from. We have a mountain home in the Big Bear area and spend a lot of time there. I have even seen some eagles up there.

I have two hobbies, eagle watching is my priority at the moment. Second is doing genealogy. I have been doing this for about 20 years. Maybe I should start doing a family tree of the eagles.

When the eaglets were snatched out of the nest I panicked not knowing what to do. That is when I decided it was time to do my bio, better late than never I guess.

I just want to thank all of you for all you do for our precious birds, adult, sub adult and babies. They must know we love them all.

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Ann
Thousand Oaks. CA



Photograph requested