I am not a birder. I’ve been in denial since my sons and a brother started teasing me about having to buy more life insurance on me as a Black Birder. So, no, I photograph lots of birds, learn which is which, become curious where they are and what that signals about ecosystems.

There were two sparks that made me focus on birds.

The first was the variety of birds landing on my balcony. I live next to the Napa River, and am blessed with animals that are adapted to being near humans and some that are just moving through, on their way to warmer or cooler places. I was pointing out the joys of watching a new-to-me variety to a good friend, who then challenged me to name them. I only knew three or four. So, I had to take worthy portraits of each and create flash cards to learn what a spotted towhee was, and a chestnut backed chickadee. We got a bit serious about it, noticing that there were pretty creatures a short walk away that I didn’t see at my place. We had to know why. Of course, no sighting is real until I get a decent photo of it. That’s a rule. It didn’t happen unless I have a photo.

The second spark was on a hike in Skyline Park, my favorite place to get exercise and experience natural environments. I saw a bird zipping by that had some red on its head. I’d never seen that before, so tried to follow it to get a better view. It landed on an oak and started pecking. A woodpecker! I’d never actually seen one before. I knew they existed and heard pecking, but in my many years, never seen one. Yes, I’ve been a very urban person. As I continued hiking, I noticed more and more woodpeckers until I realized the place is filthy with them, and I just had not noticed. A rich world that I’d been oblivious too. That became a metaphor for many things, and a challenge to be more observant, and to understand what I’m looking at. I may be old, but not beyond learning new things about my world that I’ve been oblivious to.

My friend and I have made trips around California, ostensibly to see new varieties of birds, but actually learning more about the contexts, environments, and histories.

To be clear, I am not a birder.

Bio: According to Roland, "Basically, I’m an overeducated refugee from Corporate America."

Roland Dumas was born into a large family in Los Angeles, and claims to have the middle-est of middle childhood experiences, being fourth of seven with two older and two younger sisters and one older and one younger brother. He says that it gives him a greater appreciation of symmetry. He went to public schools in Los Angeles, and to college in Claremont, CA, attending both Harvey Mudd college of Science and Engineering and Pitzer College, which has a social science focus. He graduated with a degree in physiological psychology, focused on information processing in the visual system. His received a Ph.D. from Stanford in the psychology department, with a focus on cognitive neuroscience.

He became a management consultant, bringing statistically based approaches into all areas of companies and diagnosing systemic barriers to performance and engaging talent. He ran global executive seminars for many years, along with long term engagements with companies as varied as Apple Computer, Abbott Labs, and Kauai Coffee company. He had a side business of fine art image printing and web application development. A long time resident of San Mateo, CA, he was active in the San Mateo County Park Foundation.