Ed Pullen opened the meeting, introducing Eric Dudley, currently the WOS president, to lead the book discussion. Some short announcements were made. Diane let the group know about the recent deaths of Melody Mayer and Bill Scheidt, which were quite a shock about this power couple.
Book cover
The discussion was very well attended and lively, to say the least, with no holds barred. Eric opened by talking about Kenn Kaufman and his previous books, especially his wild and wildly successful description of his first Big Year (and one of the first publicized Big Years ever), “Kingbird Highway.” Since much of Kenn Kaufman’s new book revolved around spring warbler migration at McGee Marsh in northwest Ohio and the fairly new “Biggest Week in Birding” festival there, which has just exploded, we were lucky to have many people in attendance who had birded there or nearby. In fact, Shep Thorp, who works nights and is unable to attend our meetings, takes a group every year, and we heard all about that. Accommodations near McGee Marsh are sparse, so info was exchanged among our group on where to stay and where to eat. Surrounding hotspots such as Point Pelee were also discussed.
Art and Laurel show off McGee shirts. Laurel’s has her birds check off!
A funny aside is that a large percentage of birders in attendance were wearing McGee Marsh or eastern warbler t-shirts, not just the Willettes! Laurel even had the warblers that she had seen in 2 consecutive years checked off on her shirt!