Hello, my name is Greg Gillson, an avid bird watcher and photographer. Welcome to my backyard birding blog for the United States, specifically the lower 48 states.
I started bird watching in Oregon in 1972. In 1994 I started a newsletter writing about birds and bird watching in Oregon that became a website (TheBirdGuide.com) and eventually morphed into the Pacific NW Birder blog in 2009. That blog of backyard birds and bird identification continued for 5 years. I also wrote for the Oregon Live, and you can also read an interview of myself from back in 2012 on the Oregon Live here.
In 2013 Marlene and I moved to San Diego. I continued blogging, creating the Greg in San Diego blog in December 2013 and continuing to 2020. I intended for it to be a more personal blog, but it is mostly about birds, bird watching, bird photography and nature journaling and art.
In July 2019 I started this blog you are reading now.
In August 2020 I retired. Marlene and I moved from San Diego to Washington State. I am continuing to add articles to this blog and enjoying life… and the birds!
So I’ve been writing and blogging and sharing my knowledge of birds nearly continuously since 1994–that’s over 25 years!
For 20 years, from 1994-2013 I ran a small tour company where I organized and led over 160 ocean bird watching trips by boat. Called pelagic trips, these trips traveled for 8-12 hours 30-60 miles offshore from Oregon. I had the joy of showing albatrosses and other unique seabirds to about 4000 birders (including repeats) who attended these trips!
My other bird related activities included teaching bird watching classes as a staff member with Hillsboro, Oregon, Parks and Recreation at the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in 2010.
I am co-author of The Oregon Breeding Bird Atlas, (P. R. Adamus, K. Larsen, G. Gillson, and C. R. Miller. 2001. Oregon Field Ornithologists).
I was a contributing author on several seabird species accounts for the book Birds of Oregon: A General Reference (David B. Marshall, Matthew G. Hunter, and Alan L. Contreras. 2006. OSU Press).
I’ve been photographing birds for many years. Whenever possible I will use my own photos in this blog. This blog is more focused on backyard birds and bird feeding than my other blogs. My goal with this blog is to help beginners who are just getting interested in birds in their own backyards.
I was interviewed about my interest in birds back in about 2012 for the Clean Water Services and Fernhill Wetlands.
If you want to know about about this website, you can read this page that explains why I setup this website and who it is for.