Maddie VandenBoom, University of Massachusetts graduate
and Wooster, Massachusetts, native returned to Kiawah for
her third year of banding. She enjoyed being part of Little
Bear’s pilot season where the group captured several species
that were not captured on Captain Sams.
Sean McElaney from Austin, Texas, and the University of
Texas has worked previously in Peru and Columbia and
plans to return to Bogota in 2016 to continue working with
migratory birds. One of his fondest memories of the season
is of the day when Aaron brought his two-year-old son to the
station, and the banders let him hold and release a few of the
smallest birds. “The look on his face was priceless.”
Nancy Raginski, a Toronto, Canada, native and graduate of
the University of Western Ontario, found Kiawah the most
beautiful place she has ever worked. She especially enjoyed
the opportunity to band many species that are rare in Canada
and loved the day when her teams banded 434 birds—
completely smashing the previous one-day record of 274.
She will head to Texas in 2016 to work with golden-cheeked
warblers.
Chris Snook happily returned to South Carolina this
year after a brief return to England. We featured Chris
in the March 2014 edition of Naturally Kiawah when he
was banding Wilson’s plovers but was about to depart for
his native land. He was excited to return this year and to
supervise activities on Little Bear with Aaron. He plans to
stay in the area.
Every one of the banders mentioned that the very best part
of the job was working with and learning from Aaron. In the
words of Chris Snook, “Best part of the job—working with a
good, amiable boss. That’s a Given!” NK
WINTER/SPRING 2016 • VOLUME 35
29