Thanks for the update, JR. As you have suggested, I'm reporting a
Dark-eyed junco and an Indigo bunting were in my yard here just south of
Hattiesburg this morning. Go figure. Strange days, indeed. The junco has
been here all winter by it's lonesome. The Indigo is a first for my new
yard.
Stay well but enjoy the spring.
On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 9:46 PM JR Rigby <jr.rigby@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
MOS SPRING MEETING - Complicated Update, because everything seems a little
complicated right now.
Hi folks. This is one of those good news/bad news kind of posts. Or,
maybe, good news/bad news/good news. Anyway...
Good News, Part 1
We have an awesome MOS guest speaker lined up for the MOS Spring Meeting.
Have you seen the movie The Big Year with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and
Owen Wilson? If not, you should. There's also a book (by Mark Obmascik,
good read) but the movie is the main event here. It's a fun movie even if
you don't care about birds (ask my wife), but with the added benefit of a
lot of zany birding to entertain birders. And it's a true story (in the way
only movies can be called "true" with a straight face).
Greg Miller is one of the real life people portrayed in the movie (by Jack
Black) and also served as the official birding consultant during the
filming. So, we at MOS have arranged for a public viewing of The Big Year
with none other than Greg Miller to provide commentary (about the zany
adventures and zany cast) during the movie, and for him to do some birding
with us and regale us with globe-trotting stories of a big year. Sound like
fun? We think so! One problem...
Bad News
Due to an ongoing worldwide epidemiological experiment (I'm not being
flippant, things have gotten pretty real, just trying to keep things light
here), we are postponing the Spring MOS meeting. Not canceled. Just
postponed. Until, well, fall. :) But that brings me to..
Good News, Part 2
Greg Miller has agreed to be our MOS Meeting guest speaker this fall! So,
stay tuned.
In the meantime we will be watching the situation unfold. If it looks safe
to meet in late April/early May we may still organize some field trips to
take advantage of migration and make up for a little too much social
distancing.
And since there is so much social distancing going on, please get out this
spring and post reports on Missbird. Lots of folks will be shut in this
season to much greater degrees than normal. Missbird posts are a little bit
of vicarious birding and fellowship we can offer one another for the next
few weeks. Uncertain as things may seem, we can count on the mass northward
flight of millions of birds "living on the wind" that is spring migration.
And seeing that migrant warbler miraculously stopover in our tiny patch,
remember that every one is a little feather-wrapped ball of pure life.
Good birding, everyone.
JR
