Marie McGee named 2012 ABA Young Birder of the Year!

Congratulations to 16-year-old Marie McGee from Clinton Township, Michigan, the 2012 Young Birder of the Year! Marie was one of thirty-three young birders from across North America participating in this prestigious annual contest conducted by the American Birding Association and sponsored by Leica Sport Optics of North America.

Marie McGee, 2012 Young Birder of the Year

Winning the 10-13 year-old catetgory was 11-year-old Zachary Marchuk from Neebing, Ontario.

Zachary Marchuk, 10-13 year-old age group winner.

Winning contestants receive prizes donated from numerous birding-related businesses and organizations. Marie and Zachary, as the top finishers in each age group, will receive a pair of Leica Trinovid 8x42 binoculars. Congratulations to everyone who participated in this prestigious competition.

You can see a list of all of the module winners on the ABA website, and in the coming week stay tuned to the ABA Young Birder Blog to see excerpts from the winning entries, interviews with the winners, and more.

"The high quality of the' entries shows the true dedication each one of these kids poured into their contest participation and submissions. I was captivated by the examples of talent we received for this year's contest," said Bill Stewart, ABA Young Birder of the Year Contest Coordinator. The ABA received entries from 18 different U.S. states, as well as from Ontario, Canada.

For more information about this year's contest or the 2013 YBY Contest, contact the American Birding Association headquarters at 719.578.9703, e-mail bstewart@aba.org, or look for contest details online at http://www.aba.org/yby.

Comments

[Kirby Adams]

I'm proud to be a Michigander today. We had Sarah Toner tearing it up in the 10-13 division last year and Marie McGee winning Young Birder of the Year this year. We raise good kids here in Michigan!

Congratulations, Marie and Zach!

[George Holborn]

Way to go Zach!

[Rachael Butek]

Go young birders!!! Many congratulations, I hope I have the opportunity to go birding with you some day!

[Katydids and Bluebirds]

Congratulations, Marie and Zachary!! It's people like you that encourage me to keep birding. Way to go!

~Katie B.

[Marie McGee]

Thank you so much to everyone!I had a wonderful, rewarding time participating in the YBY contest.

Rachael, I hope we can go birding together someday!

[Alan Wormington]

Very strange.

So Marie is from “Clinton Township, Michigan” yet Zachary is from “Ontario, Canada” — and I
was almost positive that ABA was supposed to be a continental organization, not a U.S. one.

For the record, Zachary lives in Dorion, Ontario, along the shores of beautiful Lake Superior.

Congratulations to both Zachary and Marie!

[Jennie D]

Hi Alan,

Many thanks for your comment. I'll take responsibility for this one (this is Jennie, the Young Birder Blog manager). I knew we were missing the name of the town where Zachary lived, but due to a combination of circumstances was unable to get the information in time to include it with the initial publishing of the post. I had to make the executive decision to go ahead and publish the post with the information I had at the time.

I've just updated things (I was told that Zachary lives in Neebing, or at least that is his address of record with the ABA) and sincerely apologize for excluding this detail in the original post.

Thanks very much for reading, and for your feedback. Please check the blog in the coming week or so for more details about each of these talented young birders!

[Alan Wormington]

Jennie,

Thanks very much for providing an explanation.

Neebing is in fact close to Dorion, so that is fine.

But really no need to include "Canada" with Zachary's location, since "U.S.A." is not attached to Marie's location. That was the crux of my first note.

I think you are doing an excellent job. Good to read about these great young birders, who simply become even greater birders as they age and gain experience.