Hello RBAers!
We hope you all have enjoyed your summer. RBA will have our first meeting since May on September 9, 2021 at 7 pm. As of this writing (Aug. 7), we do not know if we will be meeting in person or continue on Zoom (email notification to come later). Either way, our first speaker or two will Zoom in, which has the advantage of allowing us to have speakers from faraway places, in this case, from the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
I met Faraaz Abdool through a wonderful online organization called Learn the Birds. Based in South Africa, Learn the Birds presents free weekly webinars on a wide range of topics related to birds worldwide. It also holds master classes on bird photography, and Faraaz, who is head of programs for the Americas, holds monthly casual chats called The Bird is the Word. Check it out at: learnthebirds.com.
You can see Faraaz’s great photography and read his thoughtful blogs at: https://www.faraazabdool.com and on https://www.10000birds.com. Please join us as we learn about this superb birding destination.
Jeanne Verhulst, Vice President and Program Chair
The Zoom meeting link is below. The “meeting” room will be open 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting to allow folks to chat with one another. Join via webcam or call in to the phone number below:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Dial by your location
+1 (646) 558-8656 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 813 7502 9324
At 7 pm the meeting will begin and everyone but the presenters will be muted. There will be time for Q&A after the talk. You will have a better viewing experience if you use “enter Full Screen” mode. If you are new to Zoom, please visit Zoom Help Center: https://support.zoom.
Trinidad and Tobago boasts the second highest species density of birds per unit area in the world. In this talk, the viewer is whisked along on a tour that goes back in time from the formation of the islands to the present day avian cornucopia. Stunning visuals of T&T’s wild spaces and of over 150 species of birds form the backbone of this virtual birding tour of these two continental islands in the Caribbean.
Faraaz Abdool is an internationally published freelance conservation and wildlife photographer/writer who specializes in birds and the issues they face worldwide. He graciously serves on the Trinidad and Tobago Bird Status and Distribution Committee (formerly the Trinidad and Tobago Rare Bird Committee), and leads birding trips on both islands. Faraaz also runs yearly birding and wildlife tours to East Africa.
Faraaz is also the author of “Casual Birding in Trinidad & Tobago”, an extensive volume designed to market T&T as an attractive and easy birding destination as well as to educate the local population about their avian cohabitants. Read a review here: https://newsday.co.tt/2021/04/11/theres-nothing-casual-about-casual-birding/
Although he doesn’t keep a life list, Faraaz has been a keen birder for many years, separating Black and Turkey Vultures at distance as a little boy, skipping class to gaze at Magnificent Frigatebirds as a teenager and quitting his job as an electrical engineer to put all his energy into conservation as an adult.
Faraaz cultivates wildlife consciousness via his words and images in a last-ditch attempt to reconnect humans with nature and save the world.
Faraaz Abdool
