Big Year on a Unicycle
A birding enthusiast is traveling across the country on a quest to see at least 500 species in 2020.
On a unicycle.
John Patten Moss of Augusta, Georgia, “wanted to have an adventure,” and he’s got a very big year mapped out.
To plan his route, he conducted research through online birding groups to figure out the most productive places to be at different points during the year. Based on that information, he decided to start his year in Washington and head down the coast from here before turning eastward.
On Jan. 1, Moss officially got rolling at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, northeast of Olympia. By the time he arrived in Aberdeen on Thursday afternoon, he had already recorded 79 bird species.
He’s spending nights at hostels or with members of the Warm Showers Community — a worldwide network of of private homeowners who are willing to host long-haul cyclists passing through. He spent Thursday night at a Warm Showers home in Cosmopolis.
Moss is looking forward to spending some time on the Long Beach Peninsula before he leaves Washington behind. He hopes to make it home by Christmas — with a lengthy bird list and plenty of stories to tell.
