Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100060
Sarasota News Leader December 21, 2012 The bird guide textbooks stay in their cars until the four link up with the amateurs. Then the worn, dog-eared and scribbled-on books are dragged out, used by the team to illustrate to the newbies why they saw a Hairy, not a Downy, Woodpecker. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the team has to interpret its language into one comprehensible to the newbies. And the team members patiently and most cheerfully share their knowledge and repeat tutorials until they finally make sense to an amateur. At dawn, the amateur couple are suddenly nervous about joining this expert team and are feeling inadequately prepared. When they enthusiastically volunteered for the CBC, they knew they had all their ducks lined up, so to speak. After all, they have been hunting and cooking wild ducks in Wisconsin for years. The previous night, they read a Florida Fish and Wildlife study on our native ducks. Over Bird No. 6 Bird No. 5 Page 62