Christmas Bird Counts

[John Connors <John.Connors@ncmail.net>]

Sometimes I worry that my birding friends forget to look beyond the
nearest bird. The National Audubon Society is a conservation
organization, and has always, and continues to do great things
protecting birds and habitat, and promoting conservation-minded
legislation in statehouses and in the Congress. As President of Wake
Audubon I know how involved we are locally in protecting habitat...we
were there fighting the Durraleigh Connector to protect Umstead Park,
and kept the Greenview Wetlands from being drained, and have worked to
create a 10-acre wild meadow planting at Anderson Point Park, among
other things. Our North Carolina Office works with National Audubon in
managing the Coastal Island Sanctuary System where most of North
Carolina's pelicans, terns and long-legged waders breed. You can't find
a more impressive southern swamp than Audubon's Biedler Forest Sanctuary
in South Carolina. It saddens me to think fellow birders choose to
abandon the Society because they perceive it as a publicity-seeking,
self-serving organization. Its not a bird club- but it is the country's
leading conservation group with a focus on birds- and it serves your
birding interest whether you are a member or not.
As for whether the Christmas Bird Count should be published or not,
well, that's another matter. I sympathize with those who want a hard
copy. I do too, and I'm comfortable reading discussions of that issue. I
began my birdwatching career 40 years ago with Auduboners on a Christmas
Bird Count in New York, and I still go back to those reports every year
to compare findings and to see who is still participating. I can't
imagine printing those counts out and so I would miss that. Still there
are alot of things changing in the world that I'm not happy about...but
I'm much more concerned that I'm losing the birds themselves, than
worried about access to a hard copy of the Christmas Bird Counts. Thats
why I stay with Audubon, and feel the need to defend the organization.
Sorry to bend the rules of the list serve.    John Connors