The Vermont Center for Eco-studies (VCE Bicknell) Thrush bird conservation team recently introduced two of their Dominican counterparts to the Vermont songbird that has formed a bridge between the two countries since VCE began studying the species on Hispaniola in 1994.
Ardent Dominican conservationists Jesus and Jaime Moreno, co-owners of the DR’s top-selling ice cream company Helados Bon www.heladosbon.com and VCE partners in the DR, visited the study site on Mt. Mansfield 29-30 June to personally meet the Bicknell’s Thrush itself.
On the second day of the quest, 4 thrushes were caught and the newcomers were able to see a newly captured male and female thrush. It was an exciting and rewarding moment for all, and Jesus proved an avian Pied Piper, as the male sat in his hand for a full minute before flying off. They mist-netted one more female (a bird banded in 2007), putting their morning total at 7 birds in 7 nets.
Jamie Phillips of the Eddy Foundation and Chuck Kerchner of AgRefresh www.agrefresh.org were also on the visit.
The VCE is beginning an ambitious 2-year, multi-partner conservation project in the Cordillera Septentrional, at Quita Espuela Mountain.
“Once again, the Bicknell’s Thrush had proved to be a bridge between two countries and two cultures, each with equal responsibility for ensuring its long-term conservation,” tells the VCE Bickell center, in a blog.
http://vtecostudies.blogspot.com/2009/07/visitors-travel-from-afar-to-see.html