Kind, friendly and unassuming, it took a bit for me to realize that Dylan Vasapolli, who seems quite young to one of my generation, is an incredibly good birder. He found birds most often by ear, and later I came to find out he is described as having the “golden ear” by his colleagues. But he patiently made every effort to get each group member on every bird, especially the endemics and target birds. His tireless enthusiasm was infectious, and gave the group a sense of enjoyable cooperation and togetherness. He also made very good coffee and biscuits for us in the field each morning! He was an excellent group leader. Dylan is like the friend you want to go birding with, and I hope I have the opportunity to do so again in the future.