Serving in a ministerial position with the Catholic Church during his 20s, Michael Carmody didnt have much discretionary income.


What he did have, though, was a high number of bird sightings under his belt and a good reputation in ornithological circles.


As I began to travel to bird watch, others would ask, Can I go with you? says Carmody, now 51. Id say, Ill plan the trip, and you guys pay my way.


It proved to be a good deal for a man of God, as well as for those who followed him in the avocation.


Most people who are passionate about a hobby or craft can only dream that what they love to do most somehow would turn into a money-making venture. For Carmody, his dream has become a long-term career.


Carmody offered his first paid tour in 1984, and by 1991 had formed Legacy Tours Inc. and begun working full time guiding bird-watching and nature trips he organized to a variety of international destinations.


Currently, about 80 percent of the companys business involves bird-watching trips to Mexico.


Between January and August each year, Legacy Tours typically leads seven 10-day bird-watching tours to Mexico. Each goes to parts of the country where birds found only in Mexico can be spotted.


Those tours include 10 participants at mostmore often, its six, he says.


After one of those trips, then they become my clients, Carmody says. I build my client base through these open trips.


Carmody tries to maximize his guiding time in Mexico by planning shorter pre-trip and post-trip tours that he markets to clients who have been on the open trips previously. In these tacked-on excursions, hell offer more focused tours that concentrate on particular geographic areasor on finding a particular species of bird.


He also offers custom trips when established clients come to him with a list of birds theyd like to see, and other things theyd like to achieve. He plans those trips to help them accomplish their bird-watching goals. The custom trips typically are limited to just four or five people.


The generic trips pay me a wage, Carmody says. The custom trips are the difference in a year for me. Its what a person would think of as a bonus.


The standard trips typically cost $2,200 per person, including all expenses except airfare. The custom trips are, on average, $200 a person per day, with all but airfare paid, he says.


The Mexico patch


Carmody says some birds reside wholly in a specific regionrather than being migratoryand are found only in a distinct territory, or patch. Similarly, many bird-watching guides have reputations for being experts in a specific region, and Carmody says his patch is Mexico.


Brian Bell, the Woodinville, Wash.-based president of the Washington Ornithological Society, says he hasnt been on any of Carmodys tours, but knows many birders who have gone on the guided trips to Mexico.


Many folks have gone on more than one of his tours, and everyone has praised him and said they would not hesitate to go with him again, Bell says.


Carmody, who works out of his home as Legacy Tours sole employee, says tour participants are sharing in an expertise that has taken him years to build.


For example, it took him 12 years to find the Sierra Madre sparrow. This endangered species lives at elevations of 10,000 feet above sea level in bunch grass, which has been all but wiped out by farming and livestock grazing, he says.


For years, Carmody would look for the sparrow in patches of bunch grass that grew on the perimeters of fields, but to no avail.


One day, he ventured into some rock formations near some fields and saw his first Sierra Madre sparrow. Now, he says, he typically can find the rare bird within 15 minutes of arriving at that site.


Because were moving from bird to bird, sometimes I dont think people understand the significance of seeing that sparrow, Carmody says.


The bird watchers also benefit from Carmodys knowledge of Mexico and his familiarity with good places to stay and good restaurants to eat at.


Carmody says he has established relationships with hoteliers and other business owners down there, ensuring good service and smooth travels for his groups.


Many guides who develop an expertise in a particular area will move there, but Carmody says hes not interested in living in another country.


I really love the U.S., he says. I love temperate climates more than tropical climates. I love seasons.


In the fall and early winter, Legacy Tours offers trips to other parts of the world that include some bird watching, but also involve visits to natural sites or mammal watching sites. Carmody markets those trips as heritage tours.


Heritage tours typically are largerthe biggest included 17 peopleand are two weeks long, with longer stays at each destination and fewer stops in general. Consequently, those trips appeal more to the nature-loving casual traveler than to the more rigorous bird-watching tours.


Bird watchers, Carmody says, generally have type-A personalities and are passionate in their quests to see birds they havent seen before.


Most of the people who go on the tours are men, and many of them started identifying birdsand became interested in bird watchingwhen they were Boy Scouts. Most like to keep lists of birds they have seen and derive satisfaction out of being able to document new bird sightings.


Carmody says many bird watchers he knows are over scrupulous in their documentation of sightings. Some will have him initial and date list-entries of rare sightings as proof that they saw birds. Others come up with their own rating system for sightings, based on how well they saw a particular bird. One person Carmody knows makes an SS notation next to especially good sightings. SS, in this instance, is an abbreviation for soul satisfied.


Move to Spokane


Carmody lived in Olympia, Wash., when he started Legacy Tours, but moved the company to Spokane when he and his wife moved here in 2000 so that his wife could start a new business.


His wife, Susan, had operated a clothing store in Olympia before selling it in the late 1990s. While visiting their son, who was attending Gonzaga University, she learned about the River Park Square redevelopment in downtown Spokane and saw an opportunity to open a high-end womens clothing store here, called Jigsaw.


It is located on the ground floor of the Washington Mutual Financial Center, at 601 W. Main.