The past several months have been productive. In fact, I can’t recall a period when I have accomplished more. We have ginned out three major reports, organized my images into a major on-line gallery, traveled throughout the Caribbean to gather information for my report on Key Biodiversity Areas, and have spoken at a number of events and conferences including the National Extension Conference on Tourism in Detroit. As I write this quick update I am finishing interpretive plans for the eleven scenic byways in Kansas.

In the next few weeks I will be on the speaking trail again. I will be in Toledo in early November to conduct workshops for the Toledo Metroparks, then I will continue to the Pennsylvania to speak at the Schuylkill Highlands CLI annual breakfast. In January I will join The Conservation Fund and Ed McMahon for the first of two Appalachian Gateway Communities Regional Workshops. The first of the workshops will be held January 14-16, 2014, in Abingdon, VA (southern communities), with the second February 10-12, 2014 in Shepherdstown, WV for northern communities. Here is a link for additional information about these workshops.

Here are links to some of the work that has been produced these past few months.

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  • Sandhills Journey (Nebraska) Scenic Byway Interpretive Plan

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For those interested in my photography, I have created a new website from my imagery at this link. Check out the new portfolios for our clients and projects. Look for much, much more in the near future.

One last note. Here is a link to a recent article covering our project in the PA Wilds. What a wonderful story! I can’t think of a nicer group of people to be having such success.

 

Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) Lifetime Achievement Award

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SCSCB's Howard Nelson, Holly Robertson, and Lisa Sorenson with Ted Eubanks' Lifetime Achievement Award
SCSCB’s Howard Nelson, Holly Robertson, and Lisa Sorenson with Ted Eubanks’ Lifetime Achievement Award

There are few regular meetings that I am not willing to miss. The biannual SCSCB conference is one that I try to make come hell or high water. Conservationists and educators from around the Caribbean meet every two years to discuss Caribbean birds and what needs to be done to ensure their futures.

Due to my wife’s surgery, however, I had to cancel my trip to Grenada to take part in this year’s gathering. However, this morning I received an email from Lisa Sorenson, SCSCB Executive Director, letting me know that the organization had awarded me a lifetime achievement award in absentia. What a pleasant (and timely) surprise! Thanks to Howard Nelson, Lisa Sorenson, Holly Robertson, and the SCSCB family for this amazing honor. You will never know how much this means to me and my family.

Here is the award citation given by Lisa Sorenson at the meeting.

We are honoring Ted Eubanks for his tireless work in helping the Society develop the Caribbean Birding Trail Project. Ted has spent much of his career studying and promoting experiential tourism and outdoor recreation as sustainable approaches to community revitalization and conservation. Ted is also a certified interpretive planner and trainer through the National Association for Interpretation. His expertise in the field of environmental interpretation has been particularly instrumental in advancing the Caribbean Birding Trail’s goal of telling the story of the Caribbean’s vast natural and cultural resources.

Ted has attended 3 SCSCB regional meetings, giving plenary talks and workshops on bird and nature tourism at each one, including a workshop to develop the CBT at our last meeting in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Over the past 12 months he traveled with Holly Robertson and myself to three Caribbean countries to launch the CBT at seven sites. From this he has provided us with an interpretive strategy for the sites and for the entire region, plus many other valuable tools that we will need moving forward. This includes taking thousands of photos that capture the essence of the Caribbean, writing numerous articles for the CBT blog, and getting us established with social media and the website.

Ted has donated countless hours and days of his time helping us achieve the level of success that we have today, and for that we want to honor him.

Ted Lee Eubanks
9 August 2013

Bare Naked in Big Bend

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Rio Grande Sunset by Ted Lee Eubanks
Rio Grande Sunset by Ted Lee Eubanks

In 2011 I wrote an article for Birding magazine about bare-naked birding. The concept is simple.

That’s right; embrace “bare-naked” birding. Find a bird, gather as much information about its identity as possible without binoculars or field guides, hazard a guess as to its identity,then put glass to eye to confirm your guess. You will quickly become sensitized to the bird’s every aspect, by noting how it presents itself in life (not just the cartoonish field marks of field guides) and in the ways all aspects of a bird interrelate to form a living, breathing creature.

Ted Floyd, editor of Birding, has done yeoman’s work in promoting bare-naked birding, including completing the first bare-naked Big Day this spring in Colorado. Now the National Park Service has embraced this approach. Here is a link to the visitor’s guide for Big Bend National Park. Notice the section on page 8 about bare-naked birding and bird watching. The NPS had done a great job promoting the approach and explaining the concept, particularly for those who might be birding for the first time.

The lead story in the latest issue of the National Parks Conservation Association magazine describes birding Big Bend National Park by a first time birder. In the article the author embraces bare-naked birding, and explains how the approach helps with new birders. How nice to see a simple idea take hold!

Ted Lee Eubanks
15 July 2013