Establishing Sister Bird Clubs in North and Central America -- The Adventure Begins!

          October 11th, 2016.

           Today it became real.  The planning is done -- at least as much as can be done from a long distance away.  My bags are packed, and I only had to leave a few, unimportant items behind.  Don't know how much my bags weigh, but I suspect I be paying overweight charges at the airport.  In addition to the 16 copies of the brand new field guide to northern Central America by Jesse Fagan and Oliver Komar, I am also taking along several other, older field guides and a couple pairs of binoculars donated by members of the Cayuga Bird Club to distribute to birders in Honduras.  Plus, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology graciously donated a number of items for me to take as well.

Packing my bags.  More items to donate to bird clubs in Honduras than clothes

for me to wear.  Thanks to members of the Cayuga Bird Club and to the Cornell

Lab of Ornithology for donating items for me to take down to Honduras to share with

birders there.  Photo credit: Jody Enck

          After packing my bags and making some last minute email connections with more people to visit in Honduras, I loaded the car and headed towards Philadelphia.  I'm staying with my niece, nephew-in-law and their two kids tonight.  Then I'll fly out of Philadelphia early tomorrow morning. 

          The only challenges on the way down were a non-functioning GPS (thankfully, I had good ol' hand-written directions as a back-up), and a check engine light that came on when I got near my destination (I'll deal with that when I get back from Honduras.

          I stopped and took a couple of pictures of the amazing fall foliage near Ithaca before I left town.  By the time I get back from Honduras, all those colors will be a distant memory.  The trees near Ithaca will be bare, and there could even be some skiffs of snow on the ground. 

all colors on a hillside outside of Ithaca, NY today.  It sure won't

look like this when I get back from Honduras in a month.

         The calendar might say it's fall, but it sure will not feel like fall in Honduras.  Temperatures in the lower-elevation areas will range from the mid-80s to the mid-90s F during the day and only get down into the 70s F at night.  Even the higher elevation areas won't exactly be cool.

          My adventure has started.  I am excited to meet some of the wonderful people of Honduras, to see some neat birds and other animals, and to learn something of how Hondurans relate to our "birds of summer" when they become their "birds of winter."  There still is time to donate to this effort to support my travel within Honduras.  Head on over to my campaign site, and check it out.