Posted by Helena Wimpole
Rotarians are flocking together under this Fellowship, sharing their passion for bird life throughout the world. Commencing in 1991, during the Rotary International Convention in Mexico City, when a group of enthusiastic bird watchers took a bird walk near the convention site.  Since then the Fellowship has continued to meet annually.  With binoculars and guidebooks in hand, they share their enthusiasm for spotting the local birdlife by setting out the day after the convention in areas surrounding the host city.
 
The Bird Watching Fellowship has observed bird life in places such as the coastal cliffs near Glasgow;
on a seven-day trip through much of Malaysia; a fifteen-day trip in Southern Africa, including Kruger National Park, and much of Swaziland and Botswana; and, most recently a trip to a restored marsh on the outskirts of Hamburg, Germany.
 
The interest in bird watching has increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Whilst people are in lockdown, it is not so for our wildlife.  In Melbourne, a member of the Birdlife Australia organisation remarked that the number of people contributing to the magazine has risen tenfold during lockdown.  He also reported with great excitement that he had seen an endangered Australian swift parrot outside his window in Melbourne, such is the increase in birdlife being observed in our backyards at this time.                       
 
The International Fellowship of Bird Watching Rotarians has more than 250 members across 45 countries. It supports projects such as raising money for a bird sanctuary in Kerala, India, and a vulture rehabilitation centre in South Africa.  The group has also purchased copies of a field guide for young Spanish-speaking birders in the United States and Central America to encourage them to become bird guides, an economic opportunity for an area.  Projects financially supported by the Fellowship largely relate to environmental issues and the care and welfare of birds.
 
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