By Jim Wright
Special to The Record | USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

  Her name is Emily, and I knew she was a terrific birder from the get-go.

    We were looking for a red-necked phalarope at a local nature preserve, and she spotted it before I did. She also started pointing out other distant birds and identifying still more by faint calls that I could barely hear.

    When she talked animatedly about seeing a rare warbler I’ve never seen, I knew that she was one of those gifted birders who operate on a more rarified level than I’ll ever attain.

   Did I mention Emily is 10 years old? Or that she’s 4-foot-7 and weighs 77 pounds including binoculars? Ounce for ounce, that makes her one of the better birders that I’ve ever encountered.

   Her full name is Emily the Birder, and she’ll be a fifth grader this fall at the Hawes Elementary School in Ridgewood.

    I recently met up with Emily and her mom, Ellen, to talk about the joys of birding, and I came away even more impressed than when I arrived.

   Emily started birding with her grandfather, a lifelong birder, three years ago in a place she dubbed “kingbird heaven,” and she was hooked.  “I remember I also saw a phoebe there,” she added. “How cool is that?”

   What attracts her to birding? 

    “I love the thrill of the hunt and the excitement of getting a new bird species on your life list,” Emily said, before pausing to comment on a pair of quarreling tree swallows. “I love the fact that birding takes you to such cool places and that you get to amazing wildlife, not just amazing birds.”

    Her favorite bird? “I love Carolina Wrens and how quirky they are. And Sandhill Cranes.”

     I asked Emily if she had any advice for other young birders: “Just get out in nature. Observe. Listen. Go for walks. Stuff like that.” 

    Emily also had some words of wisdom for parents of young birders’: “Expect a lot of early mornings, and memories and lessons you didn’t ask for.”

    Emily’s parents seem pretty amazing as well. Her mom even has a rare bird alert on her cellphone so she and Emily can zip off to see a new species at the drop of a ping.

     When I interviewed Emily, her life list was 190 bird species, but she said she hoped to reach 200 when her family visits Yellowstone this month. To prepare, every night she listened to recordings of the call of black-billed magpies, Clark’s nutcrackers and the park’s other notable avian attractions. 

    I figure Emily has a pretty good chance of reaching her goal. How many other 10-year-olds enjoy studying during their summer break? 

    When I visited Yellowstone a few years back, I didn’t see very many of Emily’s target birds. Then again, I never did my homework.

   The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday. His latest book is “The Screech Owl Companion.” Email Jim at [email protected].

Postscript: Emily and her family returned from Yellowstone after I wrote this. I am pleased to report that Emily saw 19 new species, giving her a life list of 209. Congratulations, Emily!