Carla Miller
The first thing you notice about Jon is that he is sporting a stylish Utilikilt with traditional pleats and snazzy silver buttons while birding, regardless of the weather. His color coordination is spot on as the bold red-and-black shirt blends with and brightens up his camo coat. Look closely and you’ll notice that even his socks are black to match the kilt, and his brown shoes and belt tie it together and bring out the brown in his jacket.
Jon doesn’t just wear his kilt to look good. Instead it’s functional, sporting deep pockets and an ease of movement. He jokes that the salesperson told him the best thing about it is “it will hold a half rack of beer.” He also confessed that there were “advantages” he couldn’t tell me about, though the Utilikilt website mentions “freedom and accessibility.”
He won the binoculars in a drawing from Cornell for turning in over 500 eBird lists in a year. Jon is not full-on Scottish, which one may guess, but German-Scot/Irish. He asked for the kilt for a birthday gift from his wife.
He is usually decked out in his kilt and matching accessories, and even wore it on his trips for his “Big Year” in 2019. Given Jon’s accomplishments and strong birding skills, one might conclude that the kilt has many advantages that a birder might enjoy.
