Have you been to a bank recently? Did you ever think you would approach a teller with a bandanna face mask and ask for money? Situations like we have now sometimes have defied our normal thinking!
As your President this year, I have enjoyed leading our Board and Chair Persons and hope you have enjoyed our meetings and field trips up until April.
It is with some sadness that I am canceling our general meeting scheduled for May 7th in an abundance of caution. The Oxbow Eco-Center building is closed as of now (although the trails are open if you are interested). It looks like any change by St. Lucie County will still include limiting people to 10 or less, so that will not work for us. We will try to reschedule our speaker, Juanita Baker, to next season.
Our Board and Chairs have all agreed to postpone our annual election of officers until the next general meeting in October. The entire slate as presented to you in March and in our newsletter, will remain the same as this year’s slate, and there are no opposition candidates, so everything will continue throughout the summer with all carrying on in their positions. We may need to make a provision in our By-Laws to handle this type of situation in the future, but until then, we are not alone statewide as many of the chapters are doing things this way as well.
Now for some good news, we still have a birding challenge to participate in. The “Global Big Day” is taking place on May 9th. Here is more information:
Global Big Day is an annual celebration of the birds around you, and this year is no different. While not everyone may be able to leave home to bird this year, Global Big Day is still an opportunity to check in with the birds in and around where you live. Join in on 9 May and be a part of a global birding community by sharing what birds you see with eBird.
Participating is easy. Wherever you are, you can be a part of the global community of birders on 9 May. Please remember to always put safety first and follow all local safety guidelines and closures. You can enjoy birds from inside your home and still be part of Global Big Day.
If you can spare at least 5 or 10 minutes, report your observations to eBird online or with the free eBird Mobile app. If you have more time, submit checklists of birds throughout the day at different times. Can you find more birds in the morning, or the evening? You never know what you might spot. Your observations help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.
This year, Global Big Day will focus on the number of checklists we can collect as a global team. Last year, 35,209 eBirders from 174 countries collected an astounding 92,284 checklists in a single day. Will you join us on Global Big Day to make 2020 the year that we surpass 100,000 checklists of birds in one day? Help us set a new checklist record!
Learn more and prepare with our Global Big Day resources.
I will try to keep in touch through our website, and it is my hope that by next fall we will be ready to meet again and enjoy seeing each other and discovering birds together. I am available by email anytime: stlucieaudubon@gmail.com
—Ellen Lynch