Every birder has a spark bird. Before my spark bird, I had a passing interest in birds, getting excited about the occasional Great Blue Heron, or the unidentifiable raptor sitting on the telephone pole on my way to the river with my dad. I feel as though everyone has some interest in birds, and their path to becoming a birder is just one really cool bird away. 

Dalton Spencer, my former roommate was the one that helped my find my spark bird. Early 2023, Dalton was well on his way to obliterating the Montana Big Year record - an informal event in which a birder tries to see as many species of birds as possible within a region, in one calendar year. Before one of his many outings, Dalton asked me if I wanted to try and find an owl with him. Not knowing what I was getting into, I said yes. 3 hours later, I was in a remote region of Montana, armed with only my hand-me-down binoculars and a bottle of water, I had no idea what was happening. 

Dalton drove, and along the way he was pointing out birds hundreds of feet away, barely giving me a chance to find them as we drove past. "American Dipper" he would say, pointing at a dark gray bird on a dark gray rocky river bank 300 feet away as we drove at 40 miles per hour. it was truly impressive, and I am sure the stupid look of wonder was across my face the entire day. 

Arriving in a rural neighborhood, he announced that this is where we would find the infamous owl we drove 3 hours for. Par for the course, I was not sure where to look for the bird. Crawling along a gravel road, he slams on the brakes and says "There!" He had found it. The Northern Hawk Owl was sitting on a fencepost maybe 4 feet off the ground, looking content as it surveyed the surroundings for it's next meal.