Thanks for allowing us to host you for this great event!

The 71st annual meeting of the New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) was held October 5 – 7, 2018 in Henrietta, New York, jointly hosted by the Burroughs Audubon Nature Club (BANC) and the Rochester Birding Association (RBA).  It was the 70th anniversary of the first meeting of the organization, formerly called the Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, which was held in Rochester in 1948, with each following 10th anniversary meeting since also held here.

Saturday Night Banquet Speaker: Greg Miller

A Big Year: Life After

The banquet speaker will be Greg Miller of The Big Year book and movie fame. This is the 20th anniversary of Greg’s Big Year. He will approach the subject from the viewpoint of what followed from his adventures: the book, the movie, and his future involvement in birding. He was able to spend time on the movie set interacting with Jack Black (who played him), Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson and serving as Bird Consultant to the movie. He has become an advocate of bringing birding to as many people as possible through talks and leading tours. He has a special interest in encouraging young birders.

Greg is one of the three birders whose competitive Big Years in 1998 became the basis for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Big Year by Mark Obmascik published in 2004 and later the Twentieth Century Fox full length movie starring Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson filmed in 2010 and released in 2011. He has been birding since a young age, started and encouraged by his father. He has been birding for over 50 years, covering all 50 states and much of Canada. Since his Big Year adventure Greg has continued birding and has been very active in promoting birding, young birders’ activities, and bird records contributions through eBird. In 2016, he embarked on another Big Year, this one non-traditional. It consisted of 11 one-week tours aimed at introducing many to target species birding, with a goal of surpassing 500 species with that limited-time, focused approach. He currently lives in Sugarcreek in the heart of Amish Country in Northeast Ohio.