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BIRDERS' EXCHANGE RECIPIENTS

Letter from a Courier

Photos (Jen Christenson): (left) Blanco Perez with Birders' Exchange donation in Oviedo Lagoon, Dominican Republic. (right) Blanco Perez and wife Zoila.

Dear Birders Exchange:

I recently returned from the Oviedo area in the Dominican Republic, and was able to give Blanco the Birders' Exchange donations you sent. I imagine you can understand how excited he was (along with his whole family, who spent the entire afternoon talking excitedly while looking through the bird field guides).

Blanco is a guide for the National Park Service (Dirrecion Nacional de Parques) out in Oviedo. He guides all the birdwatching trips to the Oviedo Lagoon, which has an overabundance of birds including several endemics. A sidelight is a stop on an island with two species of endemic iguanas, which are fascinating.

As a lifelong guide for the area, Blanco knows all the birds in the area, but has been limited by the lack of binoculars and field guides. The sunglasses were also a major item, as you can only imagine how bright it is on the Lagoon. On the day I gave him the binoculars, we walked down to the Lagoon from his house. The purpose was primarily to take some pictures of him with his new equipment, but he surprised me in two ways. First, even before I asked him to pose for some pictures, he was already busy with the binoculars counting the flamingos visible. By the time I had my pictures he had counted over 100 flamingos and was recording the numbers. Next, he told me a second benefit of the binoculars that I hadn't even thought of. He told me how much easier it would be for him to catch poachers in the area, as he could now see them from a great distance. This will be a great conservation value to the area, as the poachers know they can get away before they are seen. I suspect they will be surprised when he is able to confront them about their activities when he wasn't actually at the site. It is, I should say, a good thing, for both the birds and the sea turtles in the area.

As for the field guides, I bet they are still reading through them. Both Blanco and his wife were busy working out which birds are which while I was there, and later all the locals around his house were doing the same. They really do want to know what the birds are exactly, and the field guides will be a big help.

Thank you very much for providing such excellent equipment to a person who has no possibility of acquiring it himself. His monthly salary is $90 US, so you can understand why it is not possible for him to buy much more than the bare necessities his family needs.

I am sending you some photos of Blanco. I must say, I am very glad to have been able to help him out, although Birders' Exchange made it all happen. And yes, those are flamingos in the background.

Sincerely,
Keith Christenson

Birders' Exchange sent Blanco a binocular, field guide, sunglasses, and backpack to help him with his work in Oviedo Lagoon.

recipients list

Birders' Exchange
Sharing Tools, Saving Birds
A Program Across the Americas