BirdingGirl

On the advice of my neighbor John ( Bird Man of Bridgewater ) I recently joined the South Shore Bird Club . I attended their annual member's dinner last night, held in Norwell. It was a lot of fun to meet other South Shore birders, and it was certainly inspiring to watch the slide shows of the pros. There was a short presentation from Joan Walsh , Coordinator of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2 , and I have to say her speech was motivating- I would love to participate and help them finish the breeding atlas. I'd definitely need to go out with a pro and have some coaching on how to look for breeding behavior, but the biggies (like if they're carrying sticks/nesting material, and obviously if you see them going back and forth to their nest) I think I've got down. Has anyone participated in a breeding atlas before?

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. (Bir...

I just signed up to participate in the MassAudubon Bird-a- thon 2008 this weekend- May 16 th - May 17 th . I'm pretty excited about it since this is my first time birding with a group, and we'll be going to Mt. Auburn Cemetery —one of the most desirable birding spots this time of year. Mt. Auburn is identified as an IBA (Important Bird Area) by MassAudubon . The primary reason is that it's an important stopover for migratory land birds. Another reason is that it supports long-term research and monitoring projects. I've lived close-by for almost two years, and yet I've never been to Mt. Auburn Cemetery . I've always known that it has beautiful gardens, but it wasn't until I started my birding hobby that I learned how well it supports migratory birds, and that it is known as a prime birding spot. Is anyone else signed up to participate in the Bird-a- thon ? It's my first time and I was pretty clueless about donating money and trying to join a team, but...

I have yet another update on my Nation Audubon Society membership saga. It started back in mid-January when I was charged right away, didn't receive any materials until a few weeks later, and as of yet I still haven't received a copy of the magazine. All along I've suspected that national membership does not cover my local chapter membership (which happens to be Massachusetts) because there is such a high discrepancy in membership dues ($20 vs. $44). I decided to get on the phone Monday, as I posted , spoke with a very nice woman from the national office and then waited to hear back from my local chapter. Then I got a call on Tuesday explaining that the National Audubon Society is not affiliated with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. So now I have a national membership that offers me no value (except for the magazine) and I have to start from scratch in getting a MassAudubon membership. I hate to complain so much, especially when I know the funds I've donated still g...