and the winners are:

Thanks to everyone who was interested in the Conservation Club membership give-away. I hope you’ll all continue to nurture your interest in nature and in conservation, and remember that all our little steps in the right direction add up.

Without further ado, I’d like to introduce the four new Conservation Club members sponsored by Wrenaissance Reflections, in their own words.

Sara

I am very interested in supporting the 10k birders’ Conservation Club, but I am not well funded at this moment. I am currently working on my thesis on structural and mechanical properties of avian appendages.* I have dedicated my project to understanding natural materials and architectonics of feathers and beaks; avian (?) keratin is among the toughest of biological materials, in fact. I hope to instill in engineers, technologists, and other “inorganic” scientists an appreciation for our feathered friends, and I hope that those feathered friends presented from the perspectives of the 10k birders and others out there in the blogosphere will still be there, in their respective native habitats, for me to see with my own eyes when I finish this project.

*No live birds are harmed in this research!!!

Melissa

I returned home to New York City just over a year ago, after 19 years in Maine and Texas. Since my return, I have – paradoxically, perhaps – become obsessed with nature and urban wildlife. I walk daily with my dog in Manhattan’s Riverside Park where I watch a family of five raccoons living in a hole in a retaining wall, red-tailed hawks, squirrels, pigeons, seagulls and sparrows as well as the more exotic tourist birds that visit NYC parks. I’m a new blogger, blogging about nature in the city at Out walking the dog. I welcome the 10,000 Birds Conservation Club membership as part of my process to build a nature-loving community, on-line and in person.

Eva

I work for a nature center in South Florida.  Once Charlie, Mike, and Corey started this project I wanted to sign up but with all of my other donations pouring out to the SMART ride, Peace Corps projects, and Audubon I really am all tapped out.  I am a 20-something birder, which I must admit puts me in a small club but I really love birding, bird conservation, and this organization is right up my alley.  I don’t really know how you will pick people but know that any prizes I win will go to my nature center, any information I gather will be distributed to the public of South Florida, and of course I will be writing it up on my blog, The Flying Mullet (http://www.flyingmullet.blogspot.com/).  Also, if your cat is reading this and wants to pick me I would be flattered.

Deborah

I admire the 10,000 Birds site which is where I was browsing when I saw a link on a subject about ‘A’ Wonderful Wren, in reality it said “One” Wonderful Wren but it perked up my ears because one of the birds I watch avidly for at my feeders are the Carolina Wrens which visit most days.

I have no specific reason why I deserve a membership more than anyone else, but I love my bird feeders and all the visitors I get to them and I value birds and wildlife wherever I find it.  I’m rather home bound these last couple of years due to caring for my elderly father.

I can and do go on short walks to view birds and wildlife in the nearby woods, ponds and fields, and I’ve created the best backyard birding area in my rural Ohio yard that I’ve been able to.  I’m lucky to live where I do but I’m also am always looking for ways to improve things in my yard and I also enjoy the great sites on the web, like 10,000 Birds as well as your site!

Welcome Sara, Melissa, Eva, and Deborah!