Last May, my grandparents met us in Panama. When I was there my grandparents had the room next door, and we would sit on the balcony and point out birds in the trees to each other. In four days of birding we picked up 127 species. It was the best four days of my life, to be able to bird with my grandparents in such an amazing place. My grandparents are the reason why I am so in to the birds today.
When I got back I had a cool experience I never wrote about, which was a behind the scenes tour of the Field Museum. On display for the public is only 1% of all the birds they have, and I got to see the rest of them! Peggy Macnamara, the artist in residence, brought me behind the scenes, and then John Bates, one of the ornithologists showed me around (this was extra nice of him considering that it was completely impromptu). He showed me around and opened drawer after drawer of stuffed birds. I was also able to watch the ornithologists work. It helped me to understand a little about what ornithologists do, which I hope one day, will be my future.