The power of a group of like-minded individuals working together towards a common goal never ceases to astound me. No, I’m not talking about the blatant (and unsuccessful) efforts of FIFA referees to keep the U.S. team from advancing in the World Cup! I’m speaking instead about the greatest group nature blog on the planet, the Bird Ecology Study Group website out of Singapore.

The BESGroup blog, led by the indefatigable Y C Wee, takes the group’s commitment to know more about a bird than just its name forward by providing a platform from which each member can share field observations, photos, and research. This blog is simply amazing and successful too based on its long history! If you’re not already a fan, you’re in for a treat but make sure you start with Y C’s “many faces of birding” edition of I and the Bird #128.

While we’re on the subject of long histories, can you believe that I and the Bird is about to celebrate its 5th anniversary? Five years of the world’s best blogging on birding and wild birds is well worth commemorating. In order to do that in style, we should look to one of the cornerstones of bird blogging: the trip report.

To make our anniversary special, I’d like everyone to look back in their archives and determine their very best trip report. This could be a post from years ago or as fresh as next week (meaning you can write one if you don’t have one you love), the destination can be far-flung or close to home.  You can even submit one you’ve already shared with I and the Bird. I’ll be the host so send me a link to your submission along with a brief explanation of why you chose that report. Get your submissions in by 7/6 for the 7/8 edition.

Is five years of I and the Bird enough? We don’t have any hosts scheduled beyond July. Sign up to host and take your place in bird blogging history! Dates allocated on a first-come, first-served basis but first-time hosts receive extra latitude.

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.