Never too far from flock
Six days a week, the Pastor Terry Little ministers to his flock at Crossover Church in Mead. But on his day off, he focuses on another kind of flock.
Little is a birder.
Some may call him a bird-watcher – a person who looks for birds in the backyard or a neighborhood park – but Little’s hobby is more passionate than that. Like other birders , he makes deliberate excursions around the Inland Northwest, looking at, listening to, and logging the birds he sees.
As a child, Little discovered the lure of birding when his grandparents in Texas took him to a popular gathering spot for whooping cranes. “I met some real birders and was just fascinated that these people could look at dozens of different birds and identify them,” he said.
From that day, Little wanted to be one of those people. His enthusiasm rubbed off on his father, who took him to bird-watchers’ meetings and outings. Within a short time, the teen had chosen his future profession: wildlife tour guide.
But, he said, God had other plans, and he became a pastor instead. The new vocation didn’t change his love for birds; it simply redirected it.
Now he spends nearly every Friday – his day off – watching for fowl throughout neighboring counties. “The key to finding a lot of different birds is to go to as many habitats as possible – marshes, grasslands, deserts, mountains,” he said. Mount Salmo near Ione, the Pend Oreille River and Mount Spokane are among his favorite destinations, depending on the season.
The best time of year to look for birds, Little says, is the last week of May and the first two weeks of June. That’s because they’re staking out their territories and building nests. They do a lot of singing during those weeks, which makes them easy to find.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no birding the rest of the year. “Some people say winter is the worst time, but I think it’s one of the best,” he said. In fact, he participated in the nationwide Christmas Bird Count in December. He and a partner did a census in a small area near Mead, and next time they’ll be assigned to Colville.
Even though Little enjoys these group activities, he prefers birding alone. But he must consider the hazards, whether natural or man-made. His wife, Kelleen, became concerned after a near-disaster near Ione. Said Little, “I was up there and had forgotten to set my parking brake. I turned around and my truck was rolling down the mountain.” He ran after it – with disastrous results, including injury to himself and damage to the vehicle. He summarized the lesson: “When a truck starts going down a mountain, let it go. Now my wife insists I not go anywhere without letting someone know where I am.”
He agreed, and on many trips he takes a friend or two from church, “but they have to be kind of quiet,” he remarked. On other occasions he takes his son, Joshua, a high school senior.
One of his most memorable outings occurred with Joshua. They had hiked up Mount Salmo in the evening to search for owls, which hold a special fascination for Little. “At 6,000 feet, we heard five boreal owls calling late at night,” he said, still awestruck by the experience. A similar trip yielded a sighting of the great gray owl.
Little puts extensive effort into logging the birds he sees. “I keep a list according to counties,” he explained. “I also keep a yearly list – how many species I see. I make a competition with myself each year.”
Even with his focus on the hobby, the pastor says the excursions involve more than birds. “I finish my sermon on Thursday and take it with me on Friday.” While he’s in the wilderness, he goes “over it and over it and over it. It’s a major part of my preparation for Sunday.”
Little finds the spiritual in the solitude. “Just being out and seeing the Lord’s creation and being aware of that,” he said, inspires and motivates him. “I bring that back into my everyday life.”
Another bonus is the bond he’s developed with his son. “That’s the number one thing,” he said. “We just have a lot of time together. Last night he came home at 7:30, wanting to go look at owls. And when your teenage son wants to spend three hours with you, you go!”