So long, Texas
In less than a week, I'll be moving away from Texas, to start a new career in Boston, Massachusetts.
I'll sorely miss the incredible biodiversity of Texas, which I still feel like I've only scraped the surface of. There are quite a few Texas specialties that I never managed to find during my time here, in particular I managed to miss nearly every LRGV bird rarity that crossed the wires, and I never did find a Coral Snake in the wild! Given its richness, I imagine that I will come back to visit Texas in the future, but I'll miss living right in the heart of it all.
I am excited for Boston though, as I've never lived so far north. A huge number of winter waterbirds and cold-water pelagics will be wholly new for me. On land, I'm looking forward to seeing Bicknell's Thrush, Snow Bunting, and all the breeding warblers. And I'm completely unfamiliar with the butterflies and odonates of the northeast, and I'm excited to get to know them. All that said, I can imagine exhausting the possibilities relatively quickly, and the winters will be a struggle to endure. We'll see if I remain there for the long-term, but it'll be an exciting home for the foreseeable future at least.
Finally, I've really enjoyed getting know all the excellent naturalists of Texas, both in-person and online, and it's been great to have such a passionate community sharing sightings, advice, and time in the field. I've grown immeasurably as a naturalist during my time here, thanks to iNaturalist and the community here. Though I won't be contributing observations to Texas any longer, I'll certainly enjoy keeping up with what everyone is seeing, and I'll miss being a part of it!
All the best to everyone, take care, and keep in touch!
...
Roger
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Good luck at your new home. As you probably already know it's much colder up there in the winter with lots of snow. But you'll be near sea shores, forests, and mountains which should all be interesting and fairly bio-diverse. Being a meteorologist, I'd like to visit the observatory at Mt Washington in the summer someday and if I make it up there I'd want to see the Maine coast too.
You're welcome to stay with me over the next 3 or so years if you ever get the urge to visit. I'll miss you too; now I won't have anyone in the lab to talk with about natural history :( Still, good luck in Boston!
Best of luck to you, Roger -- we haven't gotten the chance to meet in person, but I've so enjoyed your comradery here on iNat. Looking forward to seeing your New England observations now! :)
Best of luck, Roger! Are you starting a new job?
Wishing you the best, it's been fun keeping up with your observations and i'm looking forward to seeing what you'll find up there. If you ever plan to come down to South Padre Island get in touch with me and we'll do some iNatting!
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