At 13 years of age, I remember my father and I taking some scrap lumber and building a bird feeder. He would tell me about his father keeping track of all the birds he would see each year. It interested me.

The feeder was placed outside our living room sliding glass door and the birds started coming. Unfortunately I didn’t know much about birds and identifying them. I mean, I knew the common ones but not all. Dad then purchased a couple field guides, Peterson’s and Golden. There were just so many birds in these books! It fascinated me.

That Christmas I received the best gift I could remember getting, a pair of Bushnell 7x35 binoculars. This gift exposed me to the details of these feeder birds I was seeing.

What happened next was an innocent article in the local newspaper. It was just a little recap by some guy named Bill Ostrander, of all the birds counted on the Elmira Christmas Bird Count. It was interesting. Many of those birds I had seen at one point or another but I was determined at that point to find each of them. It sparked a fire.

Being somewhat of a loner I often found myself escaping the teenage world by going for hikes up Newtown Creek just to see what I could find. My list grew. If I walked far enough there was a large gravel operation between Newtown Creek and Route 13. The variety of waterfowl there was amazing!

Through my teenage years I honed my skills on these walks and created a pretty good list. It was my passion at the time and I made the best of it. Weekends I would get up before dawn and walk the creek, sometimes going as far as climbing Bowman Hill on the opposite side of Rt 13. During the week when school took over, I’d take my field guide to school with me and study it. Maybe I was obsessed. I mean when my grades at school faltered all Mom had to do was threaten me with no walks up the creek unless my grades got better. It worked.

During those years I remember a few family day trips to places like Sapsucker Woods, and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. My list grew, and so did I.

A day came along, when talking to a member of our church about my hobby. I learned his brother was leading bird watching trips locally. Interesting. I decided to join one of these trips. This was my introduction to none other than Bill Ostrander. Until this point everything I had done was solo. I hadn’t realized there were other people who did this. I didn’t realize there were bird clubs. I didn’t realize there were people who kept lists. There was more to this.

Bill knew his stuff, I felt I knew my stuff too but I was humbled by his knowledge of nature. However something told me he was impressed by this guy no one knew of that had a list of local birds that was pretty impressive. Bill and I spent many hours together on his field trips, finding great birds and learning and teaching each other about the things we found. I’d go to Tanglewood and meet up with Bill and search the woods for anything possible. Great times!

Fall came meaning the local bird club was starting their monthly meetings and my new friend Bill invited me to attend. I was shy and nervous but yeah why not go. I did and was introduced to the Chemung Valley Audubon Society. ( so yeah all of you who know me can blame Bill). It was a great night of learning about our local birds and more importantly meeting some incredible people. People who became like family for many years.

How do you describe this group of people? Let’s just say, being a part of CVAS, was likely the most wonderful days of my life. The togetherness, the fun, the learning and growth was something words can’t explain. There was a camaraderie that I hadn’t experienced before. There was friendly competition, friendly banter, friendly conversations. It was a new experience learning with others about a common subject. Nature. Particularly birds.

Through those years I was the new blood in the group. Some doubted my findings, understandably. I was new, I was seeing things like Forsters Tern in gravel pits along Rt 13. I saw Peregrine Falcon flying over Kmart in Horseheads, and who would believe Pomarine Jeager over my parents home in Horseheads flying south with the daily movement of gulls from Watkins Glen to the Chemung River? I earned respect because the people of CVAS encouraged me and quite frankly because they were what lead me to find these birds and share them. My knowledge grew thanks to this.

I was brought in, encouraged, and thrown into the fire! The group needed a new president and why not this new guy? It was a new experience and I will admit, never a comfortable one. However i learned a lot in that time. I learned the way the organization worked, the laws and bylaws. I learned the history of the group. The members always supported me and this made my time as president meaningful and I will always be grateful for the opportunity I was given.

Of course, now that I was hooked in the group things changed. I was basically the youngest member (early 20’s at this time) and with things like the internet and computers becoming commonplace in the world things were bound to change. My interest in these modern inventions lead me to put these tools to work.

My input to CVAS, besides finding birds, and great people was an inspiration to grow the group. Birding e-lists, where bird sightings could be emailed instantly to all members. Starting a group website. Making the club newsletter. Helping raise money for the group with the Spring Census but my personal favorite addition to the club was the creation of the Corning CBC. I mean who wouldn’t want to do another bird count and learn about another area in our club’s boundary? My heart was finding and sharing birds. My heart was teaching others. Although my time as president was short, as was my time as vice president, my home with the club was my time as statistician. Yes, organizing field trips, activities, bird counts, and records was my home in the club.

The Chemung Valley Audubon Society, although my years in the group were cut short by things in life, will always have a special place in my heart. The members, all of them, have meant the world to me. It was a pleasure and quite frankly an honor to be a part of group that has now been around for 75 years. From the bottom of my heart I thank my friends for welcoming me to this group. For supporting me during my leadership rolls. For teaching me so many things, and allowing me to share my love of nature. Mostly thank you for the friendship and times we had together. They say it’s about the birds. We join together with that common bond. What it’s really about is the people. People who care. People who share. People who love nature. People like you, the members of the Chemung Valley Audubon Society, past, present and future. Please enjoy your evening, Steve Kress is a great speaker and Project Puffin a remarkable work. Happy Anniversary and from the bottom of my heart peace and love to you all!

Sincerely,
Dave Russell