Farewell to John

Tonight, the Board of Directors of DC Audubon gathered at Burma Restaurant to bid farewell to a wonderful friend and birder, John Beetham. John recently resigned from the Board to return to his home state of New Jersey.

Many of you know John as the "go-to" guy at our field trips to find, ID, and confirm the tough birds. I always made sure to stand next to him during the trips!! We have all learned a lot from John with his seemingly endless knowledge and passion for birds.

What you may not know about John is the incredible role he played on the Board of Directors. As webmaster, John brought DC Audubon into the 21st century by turning our website into an up-to-date and exciting resource for birders and conservationists. Thanks to his blog, calendar of events, and image galleries, local and visiting birders could get plugged in to field trips, events, and activism. It has allowed the organization to grow, take on more projects, and promote the appreciation and conservation of birds in DC.

My favorite project of John's was the Birding by Public Transportation brochure. John is the expert on all the best well-known and lesser-known birding spots around town and how to reach them without the use of cars and excess pollution. We thank him for the research he put into that incredible resource.

We, on the Board, all used to talk amongst ourselves about what an amazing job John does and ask each other what we would possibly do without him. We never imagined that we'd have to find out.

We are hopeful that John will return to DC Audubon and DC's birds, but until then we wish him luck in New Jersey and hope that he continues birding and being active with Audubon.

If anyone is interested in helping with the website of DC Audubon, please let us know. Our website has helped redefine DC Audubon's role and capabilities and we want to make sure that John's efforts continue to thrive.

Thanks John! See you in Cape May! :-)

Check out the photos from the dinner at http://www.dcaudubon.org/image/tid/105.