Presidents Message – Sept/Oct 2025

Greetings GSBAS Members and Friends:

A quick quiz:   

1.  Fastest Overall Bird (Diving)?

2.  Fastest Land Animal?

3.  Fastest Fish?

4.  Fastest Mammal (Horizontal Flight)?

Okay:   Quiz over.  Why,  you may ask,  am I starting this message with a quiz about speed?  At GSBAS one of our goals is to increase membership.   The sooner we accomplish this, the sooner we will  have a greater source of talented, knowledgeable and resourceful members to further the overall goals of our Society.  We are always interested in people volunteering to help with a number of different projects as well as sharing special knowledge and interests they may have.

A local Audubon Chapter in North Carolina was instrumental in passing bird-friendly development policies, indicating strong local advocacy and community engagement that could lead to membership growth.  The Audubon of Martin County in Florida, was congratulated for being the “fastest growing Chapter in the shortest time of any Chapter in Florida’s history” by the National Audubon Society.  We are not in a race, but we encourage people to join us.  Membership dues are nominal:  Adults  $20 and Seniors $15.

We have all heard about the wonderful material called “plastic” and the many uses it has had since its innovation.  Unfortunately,  plastics also come with a major  downside.   Pollution of our air, land and water.  Have you ever thought about the effect of plastic on birds?  We know we should cut up the plastic that houses our soda cans, bottles etc.  so that waterfowl do not get their heads caught in them.  Plastics are found in bird nests.  Birds actually use plastic litter and other trash to build their nests. Used are strips of tarp, gum wrappers, candy and cigarettes.  Creative?  Yes.  Troubling,  Also a Yes.  Note:  The proceeding information came from a NY Times article.  No plagiarizing here.

A joke I was sent:   “As you age, it’s ridiculous how fast bird-watching creeps up on you.  You spend your whole life being 100% indifferent to birds, and then one day you’re like “damn is that a yellow-rumped warbler?”

The quiz!   The answers are as follows:  1. Peregrine Falcon; 2. Cheetah; 3. Sailfish and 4. Mexican  free-tailed bat.

We at GSBAS look forward to meeting you.

Joe Abraham,  President