Jim Hoagland and Gerry Tietje
Curious about the authors of the Nature’s Way articles that appear in the SaddleBrooke Ranch Roundup? The authors, Jim Hoagland and Gerry Tietje, both share a love of nature, but it doesn’t end there. Jim and Gerry were both born and raised in the Midwest, graduated from Purdue University, and worked for a time in the Hoosier state. Both are avid birders and photographers, live in Unit 16, have gray hair, wear glasses, hearing aids, and wear Tilley hats when they are out in the sun. Jim is known as the “Birdman of SaddleBrooke Ranch” and his articles are generally about birds and birding; Gerry’s are about flora and fauna in southeastern Arizona.
Gerry’s love of birds was instilled at an early age by his parents who had bird feeders and a large purple martin house on a pole in the backyard of their home in Wisconsin. His interest in nature photography began when he was in high school, when his father lent him a film camera and a friend had a darkroom where he developed black and white films. Canoeing on the Baraboo and Wisconsin Rivers provided opportunities for birding and nature photography before high school graduation. Then off to college, at Valparaiso and Purdue University, for degrees in engineering. Gerry worked for the Navy as a civilian for eight years in Indianapolis and the rest of his career in San Diego in engineering management. Both birding and photography took a backseat to career, marriage, and children during his working years, but were renewed after retirement. Gerry and his wife, Claire, moved from San Diego to SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) on June 1, 2021, and joined one of Jim Hoagland’s monthly bird walks on the nature trail the very next morning. Thus began a relationship that has endured, and a desire to share information about nature with the SBR community.
Although Jim grew up in the farmlands of Indiana and was exposed to nature at an early age, his passion for birding did not begin till he was 62, on a trip to Belize where he saw his “spark birds,” the trogons. From there he began an intense birding hobby, joining the San Joaquin Audubon Society in California, where he lived at the time. Moving to SaddleBrooke Ranch in June of 2020, he began to lead field trips on the nature trail. With more than 100 different participants and over 105 species seen on the trail since he began the monthly field trip, his passion has expanded to sharing his knowledge with the residents of SBR. He has recorded 178 species here at the Ranch. Besides birding, Jim enjoys golfing and traveling where he has accumulated over 2,500 bird species to his life list. He has made several bird and photography presentations to different organizations, the most recent being the Purdue Alumni Club of Southern Arizona, of which he is a member. He is also active in the Tucson Bird Alliance (TBA), formerly Tucson Audubon Society. He started the SaddleBrooke Ranch Cuckoo’s group which has raised over $45,000 in the past five years for the TBA.
If you see a person with a Tillie hat, camera, and binoculars it is probably Jim or Gerry. Feel free to stop and chat; they love to share their knowledge about nature.