Matthew

Activity 1: I'm somewhat of a latecomer to birding, but the more I learn, the more awestruck I am. They're so beautiful to look at and listen to. The plethora of bird species reminds me of how there's room in this world for so much diversity and so many niches. This thought makes me feel more connected to nature, both nonhuman and human. Activity 2: I don't own a cat, but if I did, I absolutely would not let it roam freely outside. I don't drink coffee, but it was good to learn about shade-grown coffee as beneficial to birds—now I'll keep that in mind if I ever give it as a gift. I'm striving to reduce my use of plastics, opting for companies that use other materials for packaging. I don't use pesticides in my small vegetable plot in my communal garden, and one day when I might have a yard or garden of my own, I'm going to eschew turf for some native plants. Finally, now that I'm feeling more comfortable with eBird, I'm going to use it more often to add my observations to the gestalt of citizen science. Activity 4: I'm inspired to go on more organized boardwalks with my local Audubon chapter, and I'm eager to learn more from other Cornell Lab of Ornithology courses.