This is the story of a sixty-year-old man who travels the country seeing and listing bird species, what is known in the birding world as a Big Year. Leaning heavily on his family for emotional support, he deals with the loss of his parents and the retirement from his career by fulfilling one of his lifetime goals. Throughout the year, he visits the locations other birders have made famous in birding circles and finds many birds and other creatures which refill his reservoir of happiness that had been depleted over recent years. He also recounts some of the adventures from his past as the spirit of his parents guides his way. What he finds is far more than birds.