Our tropical field season is coming to an end and, even though it is snowing outside in Jamestown right now, we are gearing up for field work here. The latest findings from our work in Panama and Costa Rica will be revealed soon as we work through data. but I can tell you already that there is all sorts of exciting news to report on. In the mean time, I wanted to share this picture, taken by Laurie Doss, during a February trip to Cocobolo Nature Reserve with students and staff of the Marvelwood School in Connecticut. Not only were the students actively involved in monitoring and banding neotropical migrants and resident birds, they also educated local school children about the migratory connection that exists between Panama and North America – many birds that breed in our backyards winter in Panama and journey back and forth each year. In some cases they are followed by researchers and students who try to learn more about this fascinating process and educate everyone along the flight path in order to better protect these birds. What better way to do this than by sharing ‘For the Birds’ the fantastic book on the life and work of Roger Tory Peterson? It is no coincidence that our education staff is teaching this exact same book in the western New York schools right now – its all about those connections!
Twan Leenders
President
