I’ve been a birder for several years now, but only this year did I hear the term “spark bird”. It turns out that a “spark bird” is the term used by birders describe a species of bird that got them seriously interested in birding.

So it made me wonder – what was my spark bird?

Before we get there, I need to roll back the clock a little bit.

Growing up in Ohio in the 70’s and 80’s, I wasn’t exposed to many “big” birds – mainly because of DDT pesticides affecting bird reproduction. Sure, there were plenty of Robins and Sparrows, but nothing that ever grabbed my interest as a child or even a young adult.

In the 90’s, I fell headlong into the sport of mountain biking, and spent nearly every free moment riding our local trail systems, and traveling to other places as well.

One morning during a solo ride at Caesar Creek State Park, I descended down a trail that crossed a stream. As my front tire hit the water with a splash, a giant grey bird jumped out of the water right in front of me. Its wings nearly blocking out the sun as it rose above me, making almost a “barking squawk” noise – probably showing its disgust at me ruining its morning breakfast hunt. I fell over into the creek, so amazed at the encounter I forgot how to stay upright. I watched it fly away, and sat in the cold water for many minutes afterwards - wondering what I had just seen.

Photoshop Ai rendering of my “Spark Bird” moment.

As soon as I made it home and cleaned up, I ran out and bought a bird book at Barnes & Noble, and quickly identified the bird as a Great Blue Heron.

Soon I was noticing them more often near larger rivers and bodies of water, and they always grabbed my attention. But that was about the extent of it at the time. I had mountain bike races to attend, and a 9-5 job that I worked to pay for it.

Fast-forward many years, and I began a new job outside of the bike industry and basically put my bikes away, at least for a while. I was photographing a lot of landscapes and macro at the time, and met a group of guys at the new office that went out at lunch photgraphing birds. So I jumped in and was hooked on birding from nearly day one. And what was my favorite bird, to the annoyance of most of the guys I went out with? My “spark bird” – the Great Blue Heron, or “GBHE” in birder speak.

ME: “Look, it’s a Great Blue Heron flying by!”

STEFAN: “Meh, I’ve already got a GBHE for this month’s count. Let’s keep moving.”

ME: “But look at him!”

STEFAN: “Come on, we’ve only got an hour. What’s that tiny yellow bird way up in the Sycamore tree?”

And so that’s how I re-engaged with my spark bird, and dove into the hobby that is birding. To this day, I still can’t resist photographing any GBHE that I see when I am out. Even if its nearly a mile away I still take the shot. The GBHE is still my original “love” in the birding world.

Below are some of my favorite GBHE shots from over the years. I literally have thousands of them in my archives, but these rose to the top. Click on the first image to view them larger and scroll through.

While the GBHE remains my spark bird, I must admit I’ve been eyeing another species the last few years, and have developed almost an equal obsession over the Belted Kingfisher (BEKI). Just the sound of one makes me go into a near frenzy trying to locate them. They tend to be fairly afraid of people, at least they are here in the States. I see some amazing photographs of other Kingfishers in other countries like the UK or Scotland and have watched videos where they are basically hunting just feet in front of people, but that never happens here.

Finally, this year I snapped an image of a BEKI to be proud of. I watched a female hunting at Ceasar Creek State Park, and managed to work my way in close enough to her perch on a dead tree to get a good shot when she came back with her catch. The shot below captured her re-orienting the fish in her beak before bashing it against the tree and swallowing it whole.

My obsession continues with both birds. I probably will always be that annoying guy who stops and is mesmerized by what most birders consider to be “common” birds.

And that’s OK with me.

What about you? Do you have a spark bird story? I’d love to hear about it.

As always, thanks for reading!

Jeremy