Bird-friendly Coffee - git yer bird-friendly coffee here!

Since I finished my posts about Trinidad & Tobago, I feel as if I've not had much time to post. I've taken a new position in my company, and the learning curve is pretty steep, so even my really early mornings are spent training or reviewing work-related material. (You might have noticed that there was no Woodpecker Weekly Roundup yet...)

But I did want to take a moment to quickly blog about my evening. Kenn Kaufman was in town this evening giving a presentation about migration - from the birds point of view. I saw Ken speak a few years back in Newburyport about butterflies and knew that any time he was near the area, I wanted to see him speak. He has a very easy, comfortable way of presenting with plenty of humor to boot that makes you want him to just keep on going. Tonight's presentation was really to support shade-grown bird-friendly coffee, and once he moved to the main point of the topic, he became a bit more serious, but not preachy, and really was able to drive the point home well. As birders, you have probably heard about shade-grown coffee before, and how important it is for our migratory birds that winter in Central and South America. Unfortunately, not all shade-grown coffees are what they claim to be. Really some good research needs to be done to make sure that the coffee you are drinking really is helping the birds. This is where the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center comes in. Anything that they have certified as bird-friendly, you can be sure that the growers have been held to high standards.

I cannot put it as eloquently as Kenn did, so allow me to recommend you to a web site where you can read more for yourself, and get yourself some d@mn good coffee: http://www.birdsandbeans.com/
Kenn Kaufman, Scott Weidensaul, and Bridget Stutchbury have thrown their full effort into this - so you know that there are some really important reasons for doing so!

Kenn will be speaking again tomorrow at the annual Massachusetts Audubon's Birders Meeting, which I will be attending (as a vendor representing the Brookline Bird Club) and am looking forward to hearing him speak again (and maybe I'll be able to get a few minutes to chat with him as well)!

Oh, and be sure to check out Kenn and Kim's blog. Unfortunately, Kim was not able to join Kenn on this trip to New England, so make sure you show her some love and support in his absence, and join her "Cheer Kenn On" Committee.