Practice Makes Perfect for Bird ID Scholarship Winner

By Guest Blogger Brandon Pascua Redic

I found my love for the environment after taking an introduction course back when I was attending Ohlone College in Fremont. What I love about this field of study is that it brings together people of similar interests to help stand up for the earth. I also love being outdoors.

Luckily, I was fortunate to stumble upon the opportunity to take SFBBO's Diurnal Raptor ID Workshop with Alvaro Jaramillo, when it was shared with students in the Environmental Studies Department San Jose State University where I currently study. I was interested in this workshop because identifying raptors has never been my strength. In fact, whenever I saw a bird in the sky ...

I did not even bother trying to distinguish what species it was. However, by attending this workshop I built some confidence that I never imagined I would have had when identifying birds.

​I did not realize when observing a raptor there are multiple aspects one can look at. A few things I learned from the workshop are that someone can observe the pattern in which they fly, the color on the bellies, the size of the raptor, their call, and the location where they are found. When understanding these identification methods, my confidence for not only animal, but plant identification rose significantly. This workshop helped me realize that all it takes is practice, and I would be able to overcome any fear of misidentification.

I would definitely recommend this workshop to anyone who loves observing what nature has to offer! Overall, I thought the whole workshop experience flowed very smoothly. To start, Alvaro Jaramillo was an amazing speaker. He was very nice, answered all questions thoroughly, and was able to relate to his audience regardless of their experience with raptors. I also enjoyed how he incorporated breaks into the workshop because it gave me time to stretch, get something to eat and drink without missing any valuable information. I would also like to mention that the speaker, as well as the workshop coordinator, were very tech savvy because no online issues came up. Lastly, I want to thank the donors who contributed to my scholarship.

Brandon Pascua Redic is a student at San Jose State University with plans to graduate with an Environmental Studies degree in Spring 2021. He enjoys spending time outdoors, including CrossFit, hiking, surfing, and snowboarding, and his favorite indoor activity is gaming, specifically MMORPGs (Mass Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games).