Sudden Change of Plans

Quick side note:

Dawn Fine, the goddess of the birding blog world, was kind of enough to spotlight Birding is Fun! over at BirdingBlogs.com today!  Thanks Dawn!  Check out her personal blog here!

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Western Scrub-Jay I photographed in Sandy, Utah earlier this year.

 Many of you know that I have recently taken a new job that has had me traveling the east coast, especially Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas.  Our company repairs foreclosed homes so the bank can sell them.  My job was to hire local remodeling contractors to do the work and then oversee the execution of our unique system in turning these homes around in record time.  We had planned to move to the Raleigh, NC area right after Christmas.  Well...the company I work for, Aspire Design, had a position open up in Salt Lake City and they asked me to fill it.  I will now be one of two liaisons and troubleshooters between my company and our main client with which we have repaired over 6000 homes in the last couple of years in 36 states.

This new role comes with a huge advantage to my family as I won't have to be on the road away from them.  I will get to enjoy the familial bonds every night and weekend, and thus be home for all the kids' school and extracurricular events.  Both Jessica and I have loads of extended family along Utah's Wasatch Front and it is only a five hour drive to see our parents and family in the Boise area.

So, while I am disappointed that I will be missing the spring migration of eastern warblers, I am excited to get to know Utah's birds, birding locations, and birders. 

By the way, there is a great new multi-author blog called Utah Birders that is definitely worth checking out.  You can also follow them on Twitter @UtahBirders.

If you are not already following Melissa Mayntz's Backyard Birds Utah, you should be!  She is an exceptionally talented writer I enjoy reading and is the power behind all things birding and wild birds at About.com.  She can be followed on Twitter to @AboutBirdies.

Because of the holidays and our big family move, birding and bird blogging may be taking a backseat for a couple weeks.  I have some great Birder Profiles scheduled to post each Thursday as well as a rerun of seven posts discussing the birds and their symbolisms as mentioned in the Christmas classic song "Twelve Days of Christmas", so stay tuned!