A New Pledge to Fledge

I would like to encourage fellow birders to make a "Pledge to Fledge"!

What is a "Pledge to Fledge"? This is basically a personal resolution to actively, frequently, and patiently share with others the beauty and wonder of birds thereby inspiring their own appreciation of birds.

I challenge you to make such a commitment to reach out to non-birders and start opening their eyes to the birds around them. Scoping shorebirds at the beach? Approach a beach-walker and tell them to check it out. Walking through a park on a Saturday morning? Share the Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, or whatever with any one that passes by. Offer them a glimpse through your binoculars! These little acts start to chip away at the wall of ignorance that separates most people from not just birds but the natural world in general.

This year, my own personal pledge is to plant at least 10,000 "birding seeds" by the end of school on June 20, 2010. Each seed shall consist of a discreet and explicit bird-centric interaction with a current non-birder. Furthermore, I will do my best to post at least weekly updates of my pledge along with highlights featuring cute, funny, or poignant anecdotes.

Why a "Pledge to Fledge"? By sowing such birding seeds, we are chipping away at the barriers that exists between most people and the world of birds. We may not create the next uber-birder but we WILL building a general awareness of birds which is a critical first step in promoting a societal bird conservation ethic!

On behalf of our birds, please consider making your own Pledge to Fledge = )

In the context of my pledge, a discreet interaction shall be each separate discussion with an individual. Some examples would include:

- pointing out a passing flock of birds to a friend will count as 1 seed,

- celebrating a new life bird with a class of 25 students counts as 25 seeds as each student will have learned something new about birds,

- chatting with 5 coworkers at lunch about the hummingbird that Lori had on her feeder would count as 1 seed,

- HOWEVER if the above conversation results in each coworker chirping in with their own backyards sightings, this would be 5 seeds,

- bringing a friend along on a birding excursion would count as 1 seed yet bringing his wife and two kids along would be a total of 4 seeds!

In the context of my pledge, an explicit conversation shall be both proactive and direct in nature. Some examples of an explicit seed would be:

- wearing a t-shirt from a terrific birding destination AND discussing the rich bird diversity of that area with someone,

- having a bird calendar on my chalkboard and inviting/entertaining questions about the particular species with a coworker,


- inviting a complete stranger/passerby to sneak a peek at plovers and peeps on the beach through my scope.

For my personal pledge, the following would not constitute a "bird seed" being planted:

- wearing a t-shirt from your fave birding hot spot without any further explanation or interaction,

- decorating my class with bird artifacts but NOT explaining any of them to the students.

While I look forward to sharing my progress with you, I'm also eager to hear about your own birding interactions!

Schoolyard Birding Challenge

The Schoolyard Birding Challenge is a monthly birding "contest" for all public, private, and homeschools in North America. The basic premise is that teachers or parent chaperones take the students on walks around their school to find, observe, identify, and record the various bird species. At the end of the month, each group will submit an electronic sightings submission form.

The school with the mosty net species for the month will receive severla birding-related prizes. There is also a random drawing of all participatin schools for additional prizes.

Learn more about our Schoolyard Birding Challenge at www.fledgingbirders.org/challenge.html

Working the Web

My most daunting Fledging Birders related project has probably been two complete overhauls of our website in the past year. While there are many pages to check out, there will be much more content added over the next few months including more bird-infused lesson plans for teacher and more information about the benefits of birding for children.

The latest incarnation can be found at www.fledgingbirders.org.

If you would like to help get more kids out birding, PLEASE send the following link to any and all teachers you know: www.fledgingbirders.org/challenge.html

Bird Education Conference in Jekyll Island, Georgia

Yes, it's been a crazy busy year or so for Fledging Birders. My highlight reel would, without a doubt, include many scenes from the "Bird Conservation Through Education: A National Gathering" hosted by the Council for Environmental Education and BEN on Jekyll Island, Georgia back in February.

In the duldrums of the recession, more than 110 bird educators from 30 states and several countries descended upon this jewel of the Georgia coast to exchange effective strategies and new ideas in bird education.

Read more about this highly successful event in the BEN Bulletin at www.birdeducation.org/BENbulletin12_000.htm

Writing Winged Wonders

For what it's worth, I write another birding blog for my local newspaper - the CourierPost. This blog is totally bird focused however it's NOT aimed a birders!

The Winged Wonders blog is aimed at (dramatic pause) introducing new people to the diversity, accessibility, and sheer beauty of our local bird life. These posts may not always be so entertaining to experienced birders but they are opening some people's eyes to the birds around them. This is an important component of the Fledging Birders movement, as well as the Bird Education Network, which aims to promote a public bird conservation ethic.

Feel free to visit the Winged Wonders blog at: blogs.couirerpostonline.com/wingedwonders

(Little League) World Series of Birding

For the 4th year in a row, I was the coach of a WSB Division B Youth Team from my school. We had a lot of fun with Spring Training, strolling the wooded edge for about an hour before school every fair weather day.

I call our effort a Little League World Series of Birding because of our limited field of play AND "morning only" approach. For a slew of reasons, our Big Day is focused solely on our relatively small town of Voorhees, NJ. While this is not a tiny village, Voorhees does not have much in the way of habitat diversity. With our limitations in mind, I projected our first year would yield 50 species.

Well . . .

The first year we hit a pretty nice 60 species.

In 2007, we wanted to set a personal best record - 72 species including many unexpected birds.

I tried to keep my hopes in check for 2008 with just a single 3 year veteran. To our surprise, we found 82 species = )

This year, we went for broke and decided to go for a century run - 100 species. We added a few stops and a couple of hours. While we did not achieve our lofty goal, we did set a new school record with 86 birds.

More importantly, our WSB efforts are not just a game of numbers. My morning birding kids bring their families, and sometimes friends, for a social birding experience. It transcends the Big Day. We talk about bird distribution, habitat needs, conservations concerns, and the stunning beauty of the birds themselves.

Even though many of them have moved on to high school, I still hear from the kids (and their parents!)about birds. They tease me about my "Mississippi Kite run". In my defense, it was the first county record of Mississippi Kite to the best of my knowledge!

BEN - Bird Education Network

One of the exciting endeavors that have chipped away at my "free time" for the past 18 months or so is the Bird Education Network - aka BEN. Hundreds of talented and devoted bird educators are, at some level, involved with this growing network.

If you are a birder that cares about the future of birds and birding, there are several things you can do to learn more about BEN.

1) check out the BEN website: www.birdeducation.org

2) join the BEN listserve. This e-mail service will help you network with bird educators from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Visit the link below to get on the list:
www.birdeducation.org/get-involved.htm

3) peruse and contribute to a developing National Bird Education Strategy at:
www.birdeducation.org/strategy.htm

4) discover some other bird education resources:
www.birdeducation.org/resources.htm

Feel free to ask any questions about the Bird Education Network!

New Pledge Coming Soon!

Our Fledging Birders movement has been crazy for the past year with a lot of interesting developments and exciting activities. Unfortunately, this has distracted me from the blogosphere.

A new "Pledge to Fledge" campaign is coming VERY SOON!