EYES TO THE SKY TO M S AW Y E R PA R K O F F E R S A B U N DA N T O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R B I R D WATC H I N G Pittman began going on more field trips in and around Jefferson County, including As a child, Patrice Pittman would often rise places she had never visited before, and before dawn on Saturdays in the summer attending meetings where she heard from to accompany her mother to spot birds experienced birders and other nature experts. along the Lake Erie shoreline. Though she was not enthusiastic about the 5:30 a.m. One of the parks she became acquainted with wake-up call, she was more than happy to was E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in eastern tag along with her mother’s bird-watching Jefferson County. She, like many others, had club along the beach. heard of Sawyer Park in the context of sports Writer / Jessica Able
Throughout her life she maintained her love of nature and bird watching. While pursuing a career as a teacher, Pittman became more serious about learning about birds and their habits. In 2012, she attended a field trip organized by the Beckham Bird Club in Louisville. “I remember it being a cold morning and I wasn’t dressed for the weather,” Pittman says. By the end of the day, she was hooked.
and recreational, but she was amazed at the sheer size and scope of its wooded areas. “I was amazed at how big it was, and the diversity of habitats,” she says.
she decided 100 was her next goal. She quickly surpassed that number and is still counting. The total number of bird species she saw and heard at Tom Sawyer Park in 2018 and 2019 is 161. As Pittman’s experience and love of Tom Sawyer Park grew, so did her interest in the park’s potential for other birders like herself. “I realized that the wooded area was a diamond in the rough and had great potential,” she says.
In 2017 she spoke with Nick Price, who at the time served as the park’s naturalist and E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park is situated on is now park director. She proposed putting 539 acres of rolling fields and woodlands, on together a monthly list of bird species what was once farmland. compiled from her hours spent in the park. She now typically goes to the park four In the beginning, Pittman told herself she’d times a week, and spends an average of three be happy to identify 50 species of birds. hours on each excursion. She says every When that achievement came very quickly, hike is different.
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