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MassAudubon Bird-a-thon

I've officially signed up for Bird-a-thon this weekend- I'll be birding for the Gordon's Gaggle team. Since my schedule was somewhat restrictive I had to get creative if I was going to participate.

I'm flying out to San Francisco Sunday morning and Steve's going to be working in the field all weekend so I had to find a way to get to the airport. I decided to ask my friend Abbie who lives in Winthrop if I could stay with her Saturday night and then just take a cab from her place (very close to the airport) Sunday morning.

Since I'll be in Winthrop all day Saturday hanging out with Abbie, it would have been tough to meet up with other members of Gordon's Gaggle. That and I'm working all day Friday so it would have been really tough for me to meet up with anyone on that day.

Finally, after some back and forth with one of the team's representatives we arrived at a solution- Abbie would join the team with me and that way my observations would count. (Bird-a-thon rules state that at least 2 team members must observe the bird for it to count.) Abbie's a nature-lover and I know she's already good at identifying some birds so I think she'll be a great teammate to bird with. I even have an extra pair of binoculars for her.

My fundraising page is: http://www.firstgiving.com/cathleenellis

I hope I have some great sightings in Winthrop! I've never birded out there but there are always lots of cool shorebirds reported on the Boston Birds group.

Anyone else doing Bird-a-thon this year?

Comments

Christopher said…
Cool - good to hear that you're going to be doing Birdathon again this year. I hope you find lots!

I'll be doing it again too with our freinds Paul and Diana, covering Woburn, and bits of surrounding towns.

Good luck Saturday, and safe travel next week!
Cathleen Voss said…
Thanks Chris! I can't wait to see your list from the day. It's always fun to see how everyone else does.

I regret not being able to bird with experts from my team, but at least I'll be participating with a friend. I'll definitely be keeping my guide handy!
Kim said…
I will be doing it at Wachusett with the Forbush Bird Club. Good luck to both of you. I hope you see LOTS of birds.
Cathleen Voss said…
@Kallen- I just saw your list from your Bird-a-thon outing. Very impressive! Congrats!

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