Hi all,

As I mentioned yesterday, a group of Short-billed Dowitchers at Shelburne
Bay were quite photogenic as they fed on the shoreline in the warm
afternoon light. I've posted several photos of them and their Least
Sandpiper comrades on my Flickr. I haven't really had many sightings worthy
or posting to the listserv, but over the last week or two I've accumulated
lots of photos of fun birds; colorful warblers, Whip-poor-wills, a Red Fox
pup and other spring migrants. Feel free to check them out at my usual
Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/106350684@N05/

**Forgive me if this next portion is considered off topic by some**

I've been on a bit of a photography binge for the last few months. Some of
you already know, but I'd like to make an announcement to the VTBIRDers
about a year long fundraiser I'm doing to raise money for an Otter Creek
Audubon grant to send a student or teacher to the Hog Island Audubon summer
camp in Maine where they will gain an education in bird conservation and
identification. I'm in the midst of a photographic big year of Vermont,
attempting to photograph as many species of birds as I can until December
31st. Similar to the way the annual bird-a-thon fundraisers work, I am
taking pledges that can either be in the form of one lump sum, or pledged
per species. For instance, Tammy Tanager could pledge $20 or she could
choose to pledge $0.20 per species. 100% of the money raised goes directly
towards this cause.
This is my personal way of paying it forward, as Otter Creek Audubon
awarded me a similar grant 12 years ago that allowed me to attend an
Audubon camp in the Northeast Kingdom that I would have otherwise not been
able to afford. It's a great cause, and past recipients of the grant have
gone on to do great things in bird education and conservation. For example,
myself and Carol Ramsayer of Otter Creek Audubon have been spending time
with the Salisbury Elementary School science classes led my Amy Clapp, a
past recipient to attend the Hog Island camp. She is teaching all of her
classes (K-6) bird identification and about bird migration, culminating in
a bird-a-thon finale where each student is raising money by doing their own
birding big days! Sending one person to Audubon camp is making lifetime
birders out of an entire school of kids, and this is a course that is being
done year after year at Salisbury. If that isn't a great cause, I don't
know what is!

If you would like to help out with a pledge, or if you have some good
advice to find a species that I don't have yet, please email me at
[log in to unmask] Every bit helps! Also, please feel free to share
this with anyone you know who might be interested in pledging!

You can follow along at my Flickr page that I've created specifically for
my photo big year: https://www.flickr.com/photos/141790488@N02/

Thank you all so much! I hope this wasn't too off topic and long-winded!

-Tyler Pockette

*PS- I hit 200 species this morning with the addition of Mourning Warbler.
My goal is to exceed 240 species photographed. It's going to be tough, so
any helpful advice about good bird sightings is appreciated!