A birder's last flight

Today I said good-bye to a local nature lover and conservationist, Joan Williams. Joan was also a birder who enjoyed attending Audubon field trips to view birds around SE Colorado. Joan was a fellow board member in our local Audubon chapter. Though her health had been declining, she attended meetings regularly and served as our refreshments chairperson. She was also very active in volunteering to work at our booths at various events.I looked in my photo files yesterday so I could get a few pics for her family. Though many showed her working our booths, several were of Joan looking at birds brought by the Raptor Center or at those being banded--visual reminders of her enjoyment of birds and of her passion to help promote conservation (sadly, many birders lack this vital link between the birds they enjoy and the activism necessary to ensure their continued existence). I share one of each of those here.As final good-byes were said at the cemetery, two birds sang from nearby trees. How fitting--but was this a musical bon voyage or an invitation to join her avian friends.