It is bird-a-thon season at Point Blue Conservation Science (formerly PRBO Conservation Science)! A bird-a-thon is where a team of observers go out into a particular geographic area, usually a county, to see as many species of birds as possible in a 24-hour period! It is a big day, fundamentally, but with a twist. PBCS organizes the bird-a-thon as a fundraising event. The teams collect sponsors who donate a fix amount or pledge a certain amount per species seen on the bird-a-thon. This acts as an extra drive for the team to find the maximum number of species they can. Over the course of the last couple of decades that the bird-a-thon has been taking place, teams have raised over 2 million dollars! Every cent of this money has gone straight to the bird conservation efforts of PBCS.
I have been a member of one team for over a decade now. It is the PBCS Youth Bird-a-thon Team, called the Drake’s Beach Sanderlings. This team was founded and led by Rich Stallcup and Ellen Blustein, and I was one of the original members. Even now that I am not a ‘youth’ I have continued to participate as a mentor. We go out for a whole day and drive back and forth across Marin County, CA to find as many species as we can. We usually find about 150, and our all time high was 172! It is always an incredibly fast-paced and exciting day! Rich passed away last December, and so a new leader was needed. Actually two new leaders were selected to fill Rich’s shoes: Bob Battagin and myself. We will be joining Ellen as co-leaders this year. I am very excited and honored to be participating in a new and more involved way in this event that is so near and dear to me.
One of the many reasons that this is such an amazing bird-a-thon are the youths. These are kids who have a strong interest in birds and birding and who simply have a love of going out into nature. They are the conservationists of the future, and by supporting this team, you can help to support and inspire this next generation of birders and bird conservationists. You can help to insure that there will be people who care about birds and will work to protect them tomorrow and the next day and the next. And making a donation is easy! Just go this link:
and click on the ‘Give Now’ button on the right side of the page. I hope you will choose to support this team. It generates money for bird conservation, it supports young birders, and it helps to insure the future of birding. By making this year a success we make sure that this important event will continue.
Thank you!
abirdingnaturalist 
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