Birdman of Fresno State always on the lookout

by Kay Conner

No area is too remote and no mountain is too high to climb when Lynn Hemink goes in search of his quarry - North American birds.

The executive director of auxiliary services, whose license plates read "BRDMAN," was introduced to birding by his sixth-grade English teacher in Buffalo, N.Y. Hemink began serious birding in 1979. Today he is president of the Fresno Audubon Society and a member of the American Birding Association (ABA). He has more than 700 documented sightings of the 914 birds that are found north of the Mexican border, an accomplishment to be envied by bird enthusiasts and admired by anyone.

Birding, a term used for bird watching, is a passion with Hemink. Birders enjoy locating, viewing and identifying birds in their natural habitat and will go to great lengths to get to a location where important sightings have been reported.

In 1998 Hemink joined a group of 60 people who came from all over the world for a trip to Attu Island off the Alaskan coast. The island's only inhabitants were the 17 men stationed at a U.S. Coast Guard radar base, and the only accommodations were concrete buildings from WWII. After reaching Anchorage, Hemink boarded a prop plane for a five-hour trip to the island. During the flight, he looked out the window to see smoke coming from one of the engines. The engine soon quit, but the plane flew on - one engine less, and on a wing and a prayer, according to Hemink. The plane landed safely. Hemink and his fellow passengers found their bird, and spent time looking over the only site on the continent where the Japanese army staged an invasion during WWII.

While Hemink's wife, Ellen, isn't a birder like her husband, she is tolerant of his hobby. Her lack of enthusiasm could stem from the fact that birders will often get up at 3 a.m., travel for hours by bus, then walk for several miles to the final site. After all of the effort to get to the target site, there is always the possibility that the bird will not show up. Birders are thrilled, however, when it does.

An example of a no-show bird is also the story of one of Hemink's more interesting journeys to a site. Last summer he and a group from ABA rode horseback up the side of the Ruby Mountains in northern Nevada. When they couldn't go any farther on horses, they dis-mounted and climbed to just below 10,000 feet where they waited for the Himalayan snow cock to present itself for viewing. The bird didn't cooperate, however. It was heard - but never seen.

Not all of Hemink's bird sightings have been this difficult. He says that one of his more memorable experiences was somewhat of a gift. He was in Texas for a meeting and got up before sunrise to go for a walk. He knew there was a rare bird that inhabited the area, and was very pleasantly surprised to have the golden cheeked warbler fly right in front of his face as he sat on a bench. He recorded the sighting and made it back to his hotel for his 8 a.m. meeting.

A computerized field checklist helps Hemink keep track of the birds he has seen and helps him plan for future birding trips. The checklist also provides a guide to birds that might be found in a region during a particular season. The next trip he plans will be a return to Attu Island in May, where he hopes to see birds from Siberia.

In the Auxiliary Corporation offices, the employees tease their director about his hobby. As Hemink walks through the complex, they begin to tweet in unison. It is very likely, however, that they too would be excited to see an eagle swoop down to the water in a high country lake, grasp a trout and fly away with it.