Thank you to all of our donors. I can not thank you enough for helping to keep Rowyns memory alive and contributing to something he was passionate about.

Results update:

We held 2 bird outings, one in AZ and one in GA. Here are our observations:

Arizona Jewel of the Creek - 19 attendees

• 14 species of birds including:  Cactus Wren, Gambles Quail, Gila Woodpecker, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Says Phoebe, White-crowned Sparrow, Zone Tailed Hawk, Annas Hummingbird, Northern Cardinal, Hawk sp., Grackle, Mockingbird, Feral Pigeon, Roadrunner
• 10 lizards
• 2 frogs
• 1 snake
• 9 rabbits

Georgia Dupree Park - 6 attendees

• 9 species of birds including: Canada Goose, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Redstart
• 1 snake

Nerdy For Birdies is a youth birdwatching club that was started in Phoenix, Arizona in 2019, by Rowyn Balman an avid teen birder. Sadly Rowyn and his sister passed away in a tragic car accident on November 7, 2022. Both he and his sister had a passion for the natural world and conservation. Rowyn fell in love with birding when we moved to AZ in 2018. His spark bird was Anna's Hummingbird. We attended our first Tucson Audubon Bird Fest in 2019 and haven't missed a festival or birdathon since then. Rowyn's passion was to get more youth interested in birding and in memory of Rowyn team Nerdy for Birdies will be participating again this year so that we can continue his wishes of educating more youth about birds and helping support bird conservation efforts. In 2023 Tucson Audubon awarded Rowyn with the Bill Thompson III Young Birder Award.  We have no doubt that Rowyn will be with us in spririt on our birding days. I moved back to GA to be closer to my family so I will be joining beyond borders this year. However, I have some exciting news I'm moving back to AZ in May and will be continuing Rowyn's youth bird club in Phoenix. Some of our friends will be offering family friendly bird outings in AZ.

More background about Nerdy for Birdies:  The youth birding club was started after Rowyn and I attended the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival in 2019. He noticed that there were not a lot kids at the festival (including the family events that were offered), and was inspired to try to change that. Nerdy For Birdies was created in August 2019, and we held our first youth birdwalk in September. Birding was a huge part of our everyday life and birding has been helpful for me as I go through the grieving process. We have attended many bird events around Arizona, been on lots of birdwalks, watched numerous bird videos/webinars, and participated in several citizen science projects related to birds. We even started volunteering with several of the Audubon Chapters. We also created the Phoenix Metro Christmas Bird Count in 2020, Project FeederWatcher, the Great Backyard Bird Count, International Migratory Bird Day, and the Birdathon in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Team Nerdy for Birdies will be conducting a few outings on different days in both AZ and GA. 

Woodstock GA: April 27th 10:00 am Deer Run Subdivision Woods

Phoenix AZ: April 25th 9:30 am Jewel of the Creek

Register here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1at2mGzeyBGOrwaQdZzP9zxman_nPwyizoc0ENUg43Bk/viewform?chromeless=1&edit_requested=true

If you cannot join us be sure to check back to find out how many birds and what type of birds we see.

You can make a donation or if you prefer you can make a pledge now and pay later...we love a challege!

Rowyn and Gwyn's wings were ready, but our heart's were not! Spread your wings my precious children you are loved and missed by so many and will never be forgotten.

Thank you for your support Kathy Balman (Rowyn's mom) 

Pledges:

• Marcia Grand: $10/species and
  • $150 if you get all four (all must be ID’d and actually seen not just heard): snake, lizard, ground squirrel, rabbit
  • $150 if you see a coyote
  • $150 if you see five different types of waterbirds: ducks, cormorants, shore birds, grebes, herons, etc – anything that swims or is comfortable in the water.
  • Thank you for keeping their memories alive.