[nfbmi-talk] roommate for convention

Wed May 29 19:41:26 UTC 2013

National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
20812 Ann Arbor Trail
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127

May 29, 2013

Dear Michigan Federationists:

     There is a female Affiliate member who is attending National
Convention who wishes to find a roommate. She is willing to pay for
half the room for the entire Convention. If you are interested in
sharing, please get in touch with me.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,
Larry Posont
President
National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
(313) 271-3058
Email: president.nfb.mi at gmail.com
Web page: www.nfbmi.org

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On 5/29/13, Fred Wurtzel <f.wurtzel at att.net> wrote:
> The Web is an amazing place.  This is a great Blog post.
>
>
>
>
>
> VisionAwareT
>
> Resources for Independent Living with Vision Loss
>
> American  Foundation for the BlindR| Reader's Digest Partners for Sight
>
> On CBS News: Blind "Birding-by-Ear" with Donna Posant
>
> Posted on 5/28/2013 at 3:07 PM
>
> by
>
> Maureen Duffy
>
> House wren
>
> My Twitter friend
>
> Fred Wurtzel
>
> , an avid blind birder from Michigan, alerted me to a new "blind birding"
> video on
>
> CBS News, entitled
>
> Birding by ear: The birdwatchers who see by listening
>
> , featuring expert birder Donna Posant. Donna is the field services
> director
> for
>
> Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind
>
> (OUB) and a widely recognized "birding-by-ear" teacher and naturalist.
>
> You can learn more about Donna and the birding-by-ear experience by
> watching
> and/or
>
> listening to the video (with closed-captioning)
>
> on the CBS News website
>
> .
>
> Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind
>
> (OUB), through OUB Camps, provides outdoor education and recreation
> specifically
>
> adapted for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
> "Birding-by-Ear"
> is a
>
> series of sessions held monthly in lower Michigan to "introduce the wonders
> of identifying
>
> birds by their songs for children, youth, and adults who are visually
> impaired or
>
> blind."
>
> About Birding-by-Ear
>
> As a dedicated longtime "birder," I also read - with great interest - a
> story by
>
> Donna in the Spring 2012 issue of the
>
> Cornell Lab of Ornithology
>
> newsletter, entitled
>
> Sensing Nature's Beauty in Sound, Scent, and Touch
>
> . Here's an excerpt:
>
> Without sight, our other senses are fine-tuned to nature's rhythms and we
> find ourselves
>
> in harmony as she reveals herself to us through touch, sound, and scent.
>
> Behind the thick undergrowth a catbird is claiming his territory. Up over
> the wooded
>
> hill there is an ever present chorus of Eastern Wood-Pewees, Blue Jays,
> Red-eyed
>
> Vireos, American Robins, and the always-delightful Black-capped Chickadees.
> The occasional
>
> Ovenbird is calling for the
>
> "teacher-teacher-teacher."
>
> In the middle of it all we hear the"yanking"
>
> of the White-breasted Nuthatch, walking upside-down to find his meal. We
> heard a
>
> Barred Owl here recently during one of our jaunts. He didn't stay in one
> spot for
>
> long, probably busy hunting for a mouse. The kids love this bird's
> questioning call:
>
> "Who, who cooks for you, who cooks for you now?"
>
> More about Blind Birding
>
> Here's a helpful explanation fromSouth Birder Magazine
>
> (not available online), in an article about the Texas-based Outta-Sight
> Song
> Birders,
>
> entitled "Blind Birding Takes Flight":
>
> There's an "Aha!" moment when you mention blind birding to those folks who
> know the
>
> difference between an Eastern Towhee and an American Robin. It's that
> moment
> when
>
> the avid birder realizes that the sense they use most often in their sport
> is
>
> not seeing, but hearing
>
> .
>
> Instead of binoculars, digiscopes and field guides, blind or visually
> impaired birders
>
> use reference CDs, mini cassette recorders and sighted tour guides to
> identify different
>
> birds by their sounds. For the [blind] birdwatcher, a bird's song or call
> is
> as valuable
>
> a tool as the color of the bird's eye ring, feathers and breast is to the
> sighted
>
> birder.
>
> "The best analogy I can use is that when you start birding, it's about 80
> percent
>
> visual and 20 percent audio," says Jim Booker, naturalist at Bentsen-Rio
> Grande Valley
>
> State Park. "I've been a birdwatcher for 28 years and as you get more
> experienced,
>
> it becomes more like 80 percent audio and 20 percent visual, and you're
> lifting your
>
> binoculars less and less."
>
> Listen to Bird Calls
>
> As a (sighted) birder myself, I know this is true. I often hear the
> distinctive birdsong
>
> long before the bird is in my sights. Try it yourself by listening to the
> following
>
> bird calls:
>
> Black-capped Chickadee
>
> Additional Blind Birding Information
>
> Throughout the United States, many groups are beginning to acknowledge the
> benefits
>
> of blind birding. In Idaho, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
> sponsors
>
> birding trips, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society has partnered with the
>
> Lowell Association for the Blind
>
> to lead
>
> birding-by-ear trips
>
> in the Park River National Wildlife Refuge.
>
> The Great Texas Birding Classic: Blind Birders' Tip Sheet
>
> provides guidelines for sighted birders who accompany blind birders, and
> the
>
> New York Timesprofiled the Outta-Sight Song Birders in
>
> For a Few Birders in Texas, the Victory Is in the Trill
>
> . (Clever title, wouldn't you say?)
>
> You can find more information about a variety of outdoor recreational
> activities
>
> for adults who are blind or visually impaired at
>
> Recreation & Leisure
>
> on
>
> VisionAware.org
>
> .
>
> Topics:
>
>
>
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