How would you like to spend your vacation along the lower Colorado River between Lake Havasu City and Yuma, Arizona, searching–by boat and four-wheel-drive vehicle–for nesting sites of the rare Yuma clapper rail and the elusive black rail? Or if your tastes run to cooler weather, how about spending a few weeks searching the virgin forests on Prince of Wales Island near Ketchikan, Alaska, for nests of the marbled murrelet or the northern goshawk?
On Prince of Wales Island you need the ability to identify Alaskan birds as well as a current driver’s license and the ability to hike up to five miles a day in rough terrain, live in field camps, fly in float planes, and work in rainy weather.
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I found both of these opportunities for birders looking for interesting ways to spend their vacations in the December 1992 issue of Winging It, a monthly newsletter published by the American Birding Association. They were among 230 different projects in 36 states that offer recreational birders a chance to make a significant contribution to conservation while having a very good time. Most of the projects involve nesting surveys. Some are general surveys; others–like the two described above–focus on particular species.
The “Directory of Volunteer Opportunities for Birders” was compiled by Daphne Gemmill, a member of the ABA board. All the projects are sponsored by federal agencies. A new edition of the directory will be published at the end of this year that will also include projects sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the various state fish-and-game departments, and Canadian government agencies.
But bureaucrats–though we may deride them for spending most of their working day asleep–are acutely sensitive to which way the wind is blowing. Faced with Clinton and Gore, the Forest Service is eager to make itself look like Greenpeace on the Potomac.
Any birders who want to do some good while having a great deal of fun can get copies of the December 1992 issue of Winging It by writing to the American Birding Association at PO Box 6599, Colorado Springs, CO 80934. Enclose $2 to cover printing and postage costs.
