Accidental Birder 🦆

Writes about birds. Memoir about traveling the world to see birds is now on Substack at

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

Link to story: https://t.co/Pne0lIANNN

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

“We arrived early at Boy Scout Woods — one of High Island’s premier birding spots, a lifeline for exhausted songbirds that just spent the last brutal 12 hours or so crossing the Gulf. We parked on the side of the road along with ten other cars. The trail was wide, and I followed Steve to a clearing and was surprised to see a wooden kiosk with a long table.

Steve scanned the clipboard list with his finger to see what people had found.
“Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee,” he said quietly, processing the thrush and warblers that had arrived. Each is named for states they barely spend any time in. It’s the birding equivalent of meeting someone at a party who says, “I’m from New York,” and then you find out they mean, “I once had a layover at Laguardia.”

For the record, the names aren’t wrong so much as they’re historical leftovers. Early ornithologists often named birds after wherever a migrating specimen happened to be collected, not where the species actually lives. A Tennessee Warbler passing through Tennessee for all of ten minutes. A Kentucky Warbler described from a single bird found in Kentucky, and the Louisiana Waterthrush was tied to early specimens from the South.

The birds moved on. The names never did. I wondered what name I was supposed to carry now that the one I’d had on my business card had fallen away.”

Link to story below in Comments.

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

Celebrated eighteen years married yesterday, and I’m still recovering from the fact that I let my bird‑obsessed husband plan our honeymoon. https://t.co/MzKUIt9Orp

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

@DatelineNBC @PlayMorePods @amazonmusic This was amazing! Binged it the past two days. Will there be a Talking Dateline follow up? Because I have thoughts, ya’ll.

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

“…the way forward isn’t about choosing. It’s about caring enough about both to insist we find solutions together. It’s about refusing to let “jobs versus environment” be the only story we tell.”

Caring about Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken.

https://t.co/ZvI1zkZqDv

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

I’ve been holding on to essays about my travels around the world in search of birds. The stories are now found here in my illustrated memoir, The Accidental Birder: https://t.co/XkUFF1WoUY

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

I started watercolor painting recently and honestly birds are intimidating knowing so much hinges on the tiniest markings. So I just keep plugging away. These are illustrations for my memoir. Link to the stories in comments.

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

Read the chapter here: https://t.co/YiNgxPMdhM
#birds #birding #Panama

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

My latest chapter in The Accidental Birder memoir. (Link to story in the comments) #birds #birding #Panama

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

@guttenbirder22 Totally agree! That’s how I got my husband’s scope—from a down-on-his-luck hunter during the 2008-2009 recession.

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

The illustrated Accidental Birder memoir, one chapter at a time, is found here: https://t.co/XkUFF1WoUY

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

I started illustrating my travel memoir about birding. Because adults deserve picture books too. Think of it as Curious George for adults. Link to memoir in comments.

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

chapter 7 of The Accidental Birder Memoir found here: https://t.co/qMaP3kW2L8

[Accidental Birder 🦆 @MsBoice]

I followed the call of a toucan—but what opened wasn’t just the forest. It was a hidden door into awe, quiet communion, and a fleeting moment with a girl in a ric-rac dress. I found not just a bird but a new way of seeing. Find link to story in comments. #birds #birding #panama