3RBC
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Follow a Top-rank Birder in His Exciting "Big Year"
Presentation by Greg Miller
of Sugarcreek, Ohio
What a competition! Energetic birders set out hoping to list the most bird species in one year in the continental U.S. and Canada. Greg Miller of Sugarcreek, Ohio, and two other top birders were among hundreds who joined the contest in 1998. The adventures of the three are reported entertainingly in the book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik.
Greg will tell us his story in person at the Three Rivers Birding Club meeting on Wednesday, February 6. Doors will open at 6:30 PM in the Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Avenue, Shadyside. The meeting will begin at 7:30, and the program will start at 8. His program is a PowerPoint slide show documenting the year. Greg flew 90,000 miles and drove 45,000 miles; went on 17 pelagic trips; spent two weeks on Attu, the westernmost Aleutian Island; a week on an island in the Bering Sea just 150 miles from the Arctic Circle; and hiked through swamps in Florida, mountains in Colorado, deserts in Arizona.
Who won? If you've read the book, you already know. If you haven't, we won't tell. Come to the program to learn the dramatic ending. Greg has been birding for nearly 50 years, since he was a child. He says, "I was so young I do not remember getting my first pair of binoculars. Nor do I remember my first time out birding. It's just been something I've always done. My father was an avid birder and knew bird songs well. Spending time in the field with him was a wonderful experience."
Greg has birded in all 50 states and keeps all kinds of lists. "Lists are fun, but the true joy of birding is getting outside and enjoying the endless adventure of discovering the world of birds. My favorite time of year is spring. I grew up in Ohio and I still get excited hearing my first Wood Thrush of the year. Its song is complicated and magical and a pure joy to listen to. My favorite birds are the wood-warblers. I am especially fond of the Blackburnian Warbler," he says.
In 2001 Greg was diagnosed with leukemia and was given a 50-50 chance of living beyond five years. His report is positive: "As you can see, I'm on the good side of this statistic! I'm very thankful to be alive and still able to go birding." He is a contract programmer on assignment at Timken in Canton, Ohio, sits on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Ornithological Society, and is a listowner of the Ohio-birds listserv.
The Garden Center is at 1059 Shady Avenue behind the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts at Fifth and Shady Avenues. Parking is 25 cents an hour in a metered lot, and more parking is available on Shady Avenue. In addition, Beechwood Boulevard, a block east of Shady, has free parking and is a short walk through Mellon Park to the Garden Center. Detailed directions are on the Phipps website: http://www.phipps.conservatory.org/information/directions.html.
