Malkolm Boothroyd, a 15-year-old bird enthusiast, was inspired to do a "Big Year" after reading books like "Kingbird Highway" by Ken Kauffman. Instead of hitch hiking like Ken Kauffman did in the 1970's, Malkolm and his parents decided to bicycle from Alaska to Florida, traveling 10,000 miles. Their goal is to leave no ecological footprint by limiting fossil fuel consumption and eating locally. The highlights of Malkolm's journey so far include sailing near Monterrey to look for pelagic birds like the Pink- footed Shearwater and kayaking off the coast of Washington where they spotted a Tufted Puffin. Currently, Malkolm has seen 262 species. He hopes by the time he leaves Arizona to reach over 300 species adding a California Condor and California Gnatcatcher to the list.

Malkolm is raising money throughout his journey to give to bird conservation organizations like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, The Nature Conservancy in Central America, and Otero Mesa in New Mexico. He has raised over $1000 and hopes to raise $10,000. You can donate money to these organizations by visiting Malkolm's website below.

Malkolm also is planning a Bird Day Challenge in spring of 2008. Participants devote one day (or part of a day) to birding while reducing use of fossil fuels. Ask your friends to sponsor you to raise money for bird conservation groups. Email Malkolm with your plans telling him - Where you'll go birding - How you will travel - What "wish-list" bird you'd like to see - Where you'll donate the money you raise Sponsors have donated great prizes for participants like artwork, Bird-Jam (bird-song identification products), bird photography, and more to come.

Environment for the Americas is participating in the 4th International Partners in Flight Conference, Tundra to Tropics: Connecting Birds, Habitats, and People. The conference will be held February 13-16, 2008 in McAllen, Texas.

A variety of topics will be presented at the conference including Education Through Mist-netting Demonstrations. This session will focus on the under-utilized opportunity to connect people with birds and conservation through bird banding demonstrations. The goal is to showcase programs or tools that facilitate education at mist-netting stations and to highlight successful products that can be modified for use at various bird banding stations throughout the Americas.

If you are interested in presenting at this session, submit an abstract (250 words or less) to Linda L. Long, USFS Redwood Sciences Laboratory at lllong@fs.fed.us (note that there are 3 L's in this address) and copy Melissa Pitkin: mpitkin@prbo.org. For more information about the conference, visit the web address below.

Traditionally, International Migratory Bird Day has been in the spring. This October, ProAves and other organizations in Colombia are hosting a festival called "Migratory Birds in the Andes" to celebrate fall migration.

The festival will begin on October 5 with the launch of the festival at The Botanical Garden in Bogota follow by environmental education activities in 14 departments of Colombia with parades, competitions, bird-watching, workshops, conservation lectures, exhibitions, and other activities for children and youth.