Almost there...



From Chickadee magazine, November 2012



So I arrived at work this morning to find a copy of Chickadee magazine, thoughtfully left by my young friend Eric Blaney.  This month the magazine is all about India and I couldn't help but share it with you...plus the map above is much nicer than the one I posted. 

This past weekend the Group Study Exchange team met for the last time (before our trip) to finalize plans and practice the presentation we'll be delivering to several Rotary Clubs.  I'm in charge of describing Canada's wildlife...no great surprise, it is a bit biased towards birds...but I will do my best to include a mammal or two as well, maybe even a reptile.  I also heard from the Bombay Natural History Society yesterday morning, and I'll be giving a presentation to their members on November 22 in Mumbai.

  

I am very much looking forward to meeting other wildlife biologists and conservationists while in India, and am hoping to bring home new and innovative conservation approaches that can be applied in the Maritimes. 

Look out India - ready or not, here we come!

Only one week left...



First order of business, purchased Birds of India, the Lonely

Planet Guide and got out my binoculars...what more do I need?



In just over a week, I'll be boarding a plane...off to Toronto, then Munich, then Mumbai.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to learn I had been chosen to represent Rotary, and Canada, on a Group Study Exchange to Maharashtra, India.  I'll be travelling with a group of four - a librarian, a teacher, a human resources manager and a fibre artist.  While there we'll visit several cities, including: Nagpur, Jalgaon, Akola, Nashik and Amravati, and have the opportunity to see our vocations practiced abroad.

While I have been very fortunate to have done quite a bit of volunteer and work-related travel (e.g., bird banding in Tortuguero, Costa Rica) this is the first trip I've ever been on where the primary focus isn't bird banding, research or conservation.  Needless to say, I'm hoping to fit it in a bit of birding along the way and my first purchase: The Birds of India.  I have 600+ species to track down while I am there...a daunting task but I'll do my best.