Editor:

I would like to thank the Bee-Picayune for publishing not one, but two articles (Jason Collins, Jan. 9, and Rita Arnst, Jan. 16) on the Northern Wheatear’s rare visit to South Texas.

And I especially want to thank birder John Borntrager for first identifying the rare bird, then contacting fellow birder Jimmy Jackson for confirmation (standard procedure in the world of ornithology), and above all, graciously opening his Amish farm to visitors.

Indeed, visitors have flocked to Bee County to see this bird. To date, hundreds of people from as far away as British Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, as well as many local birders have signed John’s guest book.

The Wheatear has been obliging and stays near John’s pastures and back yard. Most of us have seen the bird within a few minutes. In the past I have waited hours – even days – to get a “lifer” (a species new to me). Thank you, John Borntrager.

As is usually the case, one rare bird opens our eyes to other birds around us. Note Joy Goade Zowie’s letter to the editor on Jan. 16. The bird her husband saw was on his pickup truck’s mirror. Whether or not this bird was also a Wheatear, the important thing to notice was that Mr. Zowie observed, enjoyed and told his wife (and she told us) about his remarkable encounter with a wild bird.

Birds are small pleasures available to all of us. Get a bird book, gather your friends, look around you and enjoy our amazing world.

Karen L.P. Benson