Veery’s son Dakota, received a large package today from the American Birding Association. We could hardly wait for his school day to end to see the contents.
The box held a LOT! We are so proud to announce that Dakota tied for first place in the Writing Module of the ABA’s Young Birder of the Year contest! He entered all four of the modules last year (field notebook, writing, illustration and photography) and he worked really hard.
The contestants won an ABA Checklist, a compass with the ABA logo, a tote bag, a bandanna, a Stokes Audio Field Guide to Bird Songs CD set and a signed copy of Kenn Kaufman’s Birds of North America!
In addition, for the Writing Module, Dakota also received four books: Kingbird Highway, Falcon Fever, Return to Wild America and Club George.
Dakota received great feedback from the judges on his work and gained invaluable knowledge from the whole experience. It was hard to stand by as he misspelled “Ruddy Duck” (Rudy Duck) but we wanted him to do all the work by himself with limited editing and proofing.
Dakota has decided to wait a year before entering the contest again. It was a great experience and we are so glad he got involved. As the busy school year draws to a close, look for more blogging and birding from him on his website: Dakota’s All Natural Experience.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and GREAT JOB DAKOTA!
Kudos to the judges who helped out with the ABA/Leica Young Birder of the Year Contest
- Bill Thompson III
- Bill Maynard
- John Sill
- Steve Carbol
- Bill Schmoker
- Moose Peterson
- Rick Wright
- Ted Floyd
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO!
Congrats Dakota, it will probably take you the whole summer to read all those books! Are you going to find any time to go birding?
Congratulations to Dakota!! What a wonderful experience, and obviously a great job done by this smart, hard-working young man. I know you are all so proud of him, and justly so!
Congratulations Dakota, that’s quite a stash you got there! Well done!
Really enjoyed your work, Dakota!
Rick Wright
The look on Dakota’s face says it all! That’s a wonderful accomplishment. Congratulations, Dakota! It’s so nice to see that some organizations are encouraging younger folks to participate both actively and passively in discovering and enjoying nature.
Great job, Dakota!
High Five Dakota . . . It couldn’t have gone to a better kid!
What great news. It’s great to see the younger generation taking such an interest in nature study.