At 07:23 AM 3/7/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I'd love to hear other ideas of the things you've done to keep things
interesting
>when the chance of seeing a life bird close to your home becomes very
slim.
>
>Good Birding,
>
>Darius Ecker (dariuse at abs.net)
>Columbia, Maryland.
>

Hi -

Watching bird behavior is fun. You always get surprised; you always
learn something. Sometimes, the behavior is so unusual or unexpected, it
makes you laugh out loud, or gasp in astonishment. You're certainly not
going to be bored!

Volunteering for birding projects is fun, too. My brother Ron and I
participated in our first Christmas Bird Count in 1996. We volunteered
at the last minute, and it turns out that they really needed us, as one
of their regulars couldn't get time off from work. His area would have
been uncounted. (See--our help is vital).

Ron and I also volunteered for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and
Wildlife Refuge Migratory Bird Stopover Habitat Survey. That's a very
long name for a bird-counting project. We learned a lot about the
methods used to scientifically count birds. We helped in the
preliminary stages of a project to establish a new wildlife refuge in the
Connecticut River Valley. This can only be good for the birds (and for
us) in the long run.

Also, in the spring, my two brothers, my nephew and I like to do a "Big
Day," to count as many species as we can in 24 hours (exhausting, but
fun!). We're nowhere near good at it yet (we only got 120 species last
year--I think the record is 186 for the State of Connecticut). But, we
have a lot of fun, we see a lot of birds, and we raised some money for
The Nature Conservancy.

I feel it's very important for birders to volunteer for some of the many
projects that can use our help. You don't have to be an expert birder.
Some of the projects involve other skills, from carpentry to computers.

The American Birding Association has a publication called "Volunteer
Opportunities for Birders," which lists such projects all across the
country. ABA can be contacted at 800-850-2473. Or, you can contact your
Regional Migratory Nongame Bird Coordinators for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, or the State Coordinator for Partners in Flight, the
Important Bird Areas state programs, the Breeding Bird Survey, the
Monitoring Avian Productivity (MAPS) program, Project FeederWatch
(Cornell University), the local chapter of The Nature Conservancy, or
your local chapter of the Audubon Society.

The list of organizations that can use our help is extremely long. The
work, though unpaid, is very rewarding. I guarantee you'll learn
something about birds!

Of course, when I really get desperate to see new birds, I fly off to
visit my Army-sergeant son and his family. I've been able to visit them
in Louisiana and El Paso, Texas so far. This year, I'll be heading to
the Seattle/Tacoma area to see them and.....new birds!

Cathi Pelletier, Waterbury, CT Heronwing at juno.com
"What fun we had then!
We reveled in sunshine then,
And skinned both our knees."