I am honored and excited to be one of the 12 finalists for WildBird’s 2008 Birder of the Year contest. Every reader of the magazine has an opportunity to be considered by responding to one of two questions in every issue. The magazine’s staff then chooses one respondent for each of the questions and awards them some nice prizes. Even better, they are then in the running to be crowned the Birder of the Year. The winner receives a pair of Swarovski binoculars and a trip for two to Costa Rica!
Magazine subscribers can vote for the BOTY by mailing in the ballot on page 35 of the current November/December issue. If there are any subscribers out there reading this, I would, of course, appreciate your vote for me, Grant McCreary.
Sorry for this shameless request, but naturally I am excited about this! I promise to get some real content posted soon, including an interview with the one and only Pete Dunne.
If anyone’s wondering, the question I responded to dealt with travel-related bird books. Big surprise there, huh?
Posted by Grant McCreary on October 16th, 2008.
I understand! I got a chuckle when I read this today. I reached out to my friends and colleagues in this same way. I am up for the 2011 “Birder of the Year.” Voting ends today.
Did you win? (I would have to find my March 2008 issue to find out!)
Good luck, Bonnie!
And no, sadly I did not win. However, I couldn’t really complain, the person who won is who I would have voted for if I hadn’t been in the running.
Thanks. After I wrote that note, I found an online post written by the 2008 winner. She sounded very appreciative and deserving. Happy birding!
Hi Grant, I just wanted to let you know that I was named the 2011 Birder of the Year. What an honor! I am so appreciative to WildBird, Swarovski Optik, and the WildBird readers for the opportunity to visit Costa Rica. Anyhow I wanted to let you know about this turn of events, based on our previous correspondence.
Have a great day and happy birding! – Bonnie
Congrats! That’s great. You’ll have a great time.
Make sure you get a copy of The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean. That’s the best, most portable field guide. And you will definitely want to start studying well before your trip-there are so many birds to see there!
Thanks. I already purchased “The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide” by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean, and I have been skimming though it. I have been purchasing new and used books and checking books out of the library about Costa Rica. Basically, I have been a sponge, in preparation for this trip. I am still pinching myself to believe it is real. Thanks again for your good wishes. Respectfully, Bonnie