Pete Encounters

Admiration is a funny quality, and if the admirer applies all the right principles of admiring to the admired, the whole concept seems to be one big paradox. This observation came about when Pete Dunne caught my attention. Pete Dunne is a famous birder who pioneered new ways of looking at birds. His G.I.S.S (General Impression of Shape and Size), brought a new generation of birders even closer to admiring better the Avi-fauna that they knew and loved so well.
Pete is the president of the Cape May Bird Observatory where I have done a good many hours of volunteering. The first time I spoke with him, I was nearly dumbfounded. Here was the “ambassador of birding,” the one whom the New York Times heralded as “The Bard of Birding.” And there I was in the presence of birding greatness. I was truly stunned and in awe.
As I drove home however, I thought, “Why, he puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like I do.” I was afraid that my admiration would somehow cast an artificial aura of holiness around this mere mortal. I wasn’t sure how to evaluate my feelings towards him.

Then I read one of his books. I knew of his writings, but never had taken the time to read one for myself. When I did, however, I found that most of the feelings I had towards him were truly deserved. Here was a man who felt the same way about birding as I did. He found the true beauty in the natural world and felt passionately about it. I couldn’t believe how much I admired him but was also careful not to put him on an even higher pedestal than he was already on. He had successfully created yet another paradox in my mind. And that is why I admire Peter Dunne the most.