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| Who are We?? |
| When I started this website, I was hoping to have input from other birders on Long Island. I certainly knew that I would need help if I was going to make this interesting, informative and ever-changing. So far, two birding friends stepped forward to help write and organize some of the feature pages; Karen who will be writing some of the Featured Bird articles & Dee, who is writing articles and taking pictures for the Backyard Corner pages. Here is some information on all of us.... Thanks for being interested.... Dianne |
| Dianne Taggart (Webmaster) I am 60 years old, live in Moriches and work for Suffolk County. I have a grown daughter, a great son-in-law and two wonderful grandkids; a 14 year old granddaughter, and a 19 year old step-grandson. I share my apartment with my room mate, a 17 year old tabby cat named Daisy Mae, who takes her bird watching even more seriously than I do. I have lived on LI all my life, right here in Suffolk County. I have moved around a lot, so I have had the pleasure of living in many different areas of the County. I like it best where I am now, although I would like to be even further east. (Maybe when I retire!) For many years I was part of a marine mammal stranding team (another time, another life!). At one time we worked on cleaning pelagic birds after a local oil spill, and that's when I first became interested in learning more about the birds we see here on LI. When I left the stranding team (about 12 years ago) I started seriously birding, and it has become a true passion. I have met some wonderful people and have made friends who travel with me to see new birds around the country. It has been very exciting, and extremely stimulating. Adding to my "life list" is great, but behavior watching is the real thrill for me. I can sit and watch the same birds that come to my backyard feeder, watching the different behavior at different times of year, and get just as excited as when I have "hunted" down a rare bird or seen one for the first time. Why do a website? For many reasons, but mainly to share and to help forster the birding community on Long Island! Thanks for sharing this with me! (An Open Letter on why I started this site; click here) |
| Dee (Our Backyard Corner Person) My name is Dee Rocanello. I'm 46 years young and live in East Islip. I was born in Terrace Heights, NY, but my family moved to Long Island long before I could recall anything about the city. I grew up in Plainview , and I use the term "grew up" loosely......I'm still a work in progress!! I've always loved animals and have always had furry "brothers and sisters"...and also had some "feathered" ones when I was younger. I am the proud mother of 7 cats and 2 dogs , as well as my OUTDOOR kids...a gazillion birds and almost as many squirrels. I'll never forget the first time someone pointed out a pair of BALTIMORE ORIOLES to me...I was SHOCKED..thinking..WOW..they must REALLY BE LOST.....hey..I was only 23...what did I know? I became interested in birdwatching 2 years ago. It was winter and I just thought it would be cool to put some birdseed on the ledges of my deck. Well, the birds started to come....every day...and I sat by the window with my camera in hand taking pictures of them. First, it was the USUAL suspects..northern cardinals, blue jays, grackles....and assorted sparrows... Then some strange looking birds came...birds I had never seen before.. and from there I became a bird junkie. I bought my first BIRDS OF NEW YORK book, started studying the photos and learning who my visitors were!! As my deck became a birdie restroom, it was time for bird feeders..and birdbaths... ! I'VE ALWAYS LOVED PHOTOGRAPHY, BUT PHOTOS of birdpoop were just not cutting it for me ANYMORE! LOL! One day in late fall, when it was almost dark, there were a bunch of mourning doves on the deck and I noticed a bird with what appeared to be BLOOD on it's neck ! I took a photo and thought..this poor bird has been pecked on the back of his neck and he's bleeding!! I went online and by chance found THIS SITE!! I quickly emailed Dianne and sent her the photo of this "bleeding" bird. I was soooo relieved to receive a quick reply from Dianne, telling me that, no, this bird is NOT bleeding..it is a NORTHERN FLICKER!!! LOL.. I'd kept in contact with Dianne and I was thrilled when she asked ME to take over the Backyard Corner narratives !! Well, there are birds waiting to be counted and photographed and fed and bathed.......... SO... Off to the BACKYARD I GO~ TO BIRDWATCH!! |
| Karen (writes for the Featured Bird section) I am 62 years old and I was born and spent the first 16 years of my life in Coconut Grove, FL. The "Grove" is a small hamlet just south of Miami - very tropical. At a young age, with the natural curiosity of the young and two fascinating "birder lady" neighbors, I was introduced to nature and birding. Life and its many adventures took me away from birding for a number of years but I feel I have always had an eye to the sky and treetops. After a move to LI, marriage and a job in a junior high school library (for 31 years) I gradually got back into birding. The two main events that brought me to where I am now were my enrollment in the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Naturalist & Master Birder Training Programs. The wide variety of beautiful places on LI and the many birds that reside, breed, and/or migrate through LI have spawned many adventures and have introduced me to many new friends. I was excited about Dianne's new web site and I think the information found on it's pages will be useful and informative. I'm happy to be a part of this. So, with all that said...Let's go watch the birds!!! |
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| LI Birding Logo designed by Amy, computer graphics artist and webmaster for www.dangrabbit.com (also my daughter!) |