Gull Gratitude
More than 200 Gull Watchers Online
Photo: Lesser Black-backed Gull / © Bryan Pfeiffer
Say what you will about the coronavirus tragedy — and I need not add to the dialogue here — but it seems to be good for gull-watching.
What a thrill it was for me that 210 of you joined my “Gulls Demystified” lesson online on Friday. Yeah, 210 for learning gulls, the vast majority of whom stuck around on Zoom for the full 1.5 hours. Although I couldn’t “see” all of you, I did notice some dear friends and former birding clients. I was wistful. So until we can gather together outdoors or in a lecture hall, let’s keep doing this online learning.
If you missed the lecture, you’ll be able to find a recording of it at North Branch Nature Center’s “Presentations and Recordings” portal. (Please donate if you can to the nature center.) I also intend to revise and expand the gull talk into an enhanced lesson, which you’ll be able to view at your leisure for a small fee here on my website. Basically, until we reach the other side of the pandemic, I’ll be offering some of my favorite topics — bird identification skills, butterfly and dragonfly workshops, and photography — here online starting this winter. Stay tuned for that.
Meanwhile, in news about other flying things, our last moths of the season are now on the wing, yes even in the cold. Well, at least the males are on the wing. Find out why (and see my homemade, three-minute indie film about the moth) in an archival post called Fertility and Flight: the Sacrifices of a Winter Moth.
Be smart and safe, everyone. Thanks!
