On a beautiful blue-sky day when he was 11, Mason Currier looked up and saw something that really sparked his interest. An Eastern Bluebird perched on a power line suddenly took flight, its vibrant plumage cutting through the air like living sapphire.
“What in the world is that?” he wondered. That single moment ignited a passion that would reshape his life—and eventually rewrite Alabama’s birding history.
Now a freshman environmental science major at Samford University, the 19-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, stands as the state’s record holder for the most bird species observed in a single year. During 2025, Currier spotted 357 species, surpassing the previous benchmark of 334. He achieved the feat alongside friend and fellow birder Andrew Lydeard of Alabama Audubon, with the record-breaking sighting occurring 75 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico amid a flock of rare shearwaters.
A Spark in Middle School
(Mason Currier/Contributed)…