3RBC
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Enjoy Humor in Birding With Bill Thompson, III
Bill Thompson, III, the renowned editor of Bird Watcher's Digest magazine, will reveal the humorous side of bird watching at our 3RBC meeting on Wednesday, October 1, 2008.
His program, "The Perils and Pitfalls of Birding," will start at 8 PM in the Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Avenue, Shadyside. Doors open at 6:30 PM for socializing, and our informal "business" meeting begins at 7:30.
Bill describes the show as a humorous narrative about the many mistakes, accidents, and embarrassing situations he has experienced in his 30+ years as a bird watcher. He urges the audience to avoid these same perils and pitfalls and even offers tips for how to do so. He promises further: "This light-hearted talk pokes fun at how we bird watchers have our own language, dress code, and food preferences. It's guaranteed to generate laughs or I will clean the binoculars of everyone present."
Bill has been an avid bird watcher since the age of 8. His interest was sparked when he saw a Snowy Owl in the front yard of his family's home in Pella, Iowa. He later identified the bird using an ancient Chester A. Reed field guide his parents had. Intrigued by the other birds depicted in the guide, Bill began searching the nearby woods for cardinals, blue jays, and woodpeckers.
When the Thompson family moved to Marietta, Ohio, Bill's mom, Elsa, joined a local bird-watching club. The club allowed kids to come on one Friday field trip a month, and soon young Bill was spotting and identifying birds right along with the adults.
Bill continued bird watching through his school years, despite the teasing and joking from classmates and coaches. When parents Bill and Elsa decided to start a magazine, the family's increasing interest in birds seemed a natural topic for the publication. Bird Watcher's Digest was launched in the Thompsons' family room in September of 1978. Even though he was just a 10th grader, Bill knew that he'd someday work for the family business.
After graduating from Western College at Miami University of Ohio with a bachelor of philosophy degree, Bill worked as a professional musician in Columbus, Ohio, and as a senior account executive at the advertising firm of Ogilvy & Mather in New York. He joined the staff of Bird Watcher's Digest in May 1988. In January 1995, he became the magazine's editor.
Bill's many books include, most recently, The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. Part of the legendary Peterson Field Guide series, the guide was created with the help of his daughter Phoebe's elementary school class. "The result is a field guide for kids developed by kids," Bill says.
Among his other books are Bird Watching For Dummies, Identify Yourself: The 50 Most Common Birding Identification Challenges, Bird Watching: A Year-Round Guide, and (as editor) All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures by Roger Tory Peterson.
Bill has written several popular booklets for backyard bird watchers, including The Backyard Bird Watcher's Answer Guide and An Identification Guide to Backyard Birds. He edits the Backyard Booklet Series for Bird Watcher's Digest, which includes 15 titles and has sold more than five million copies. His articles have appeared in many books and magazines, and his blog titled Bill of the Birds, on the Bird Watcher's Digest website, www.birdwatchersdigest.com/blog/blogger.html, attracts nearly 1,000 readers daily.
He is a founding director of the Ohio Ornithological Society and a longtime member of the American Birding Association. He has served since 2006 as a member of the Birding Roundtable, which consults with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on making National Wildlife Refuges more bird- and birder-friendly. He is also the founder of the Whipple Bird Club.
Bill has trekked to many of the world's great birding hotspots in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America. But some of his favorite bird watching is done near home, on the 80-acre farm in the rolling, wooded hills outside of Whipple, Ohio, that he shares with his wife, artist/author Julie Zickefoose, and their children, Phoebe and Liam. (Julie has previously thrilled our members with 3RBC programs.)
When he is not playing with his children or watching birds, Bill likes to play guitar with his (locally) popular band, The Swinging Orangutangs, which includes Julie.
If you're bringing anything to eat or drink to one of our meetings, please note that Phipps Garden Center, the location of our membership meetings, now prohibits the use of most plastic and paper plates, napkins, water bottles, cups, and utensils (knives, forks and spoons) etc. They are "going green." They said they are requiring that only "eco-friendly paper products" be used at the facility. "The use of water bottles, paper and plastics is not permitted." The materials they list are fully biodegradable. For the time being, if you bring anything, please put it in a reusable container/serving plate, that you can take home.
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/directions.htm.
