At the Mic: Brian Quindlin
Brian
"BQ" Quindlen is an elementary school teacher in
Garnet Valley School District and the Upper Main Line YMCA Earth Service Corps
coordinator. BQ is celebrating his eleventh year at the Upper Main Line YMCA...
At the Mic: Brian Quindlin
Brian
"BQ" Quindlen is an elementary school teacher in
Garnet Valley School District and the Upper Main Line YMCA Earth Service Corps
coordinator. BQ is celebrating his eleventh year at the Upper Main Line YMCA in
Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and has served as lead coach for the World Series of
Birding teams for the last six years. An active birder in the northeastern
United States, BQ is a member of the conservation organization Friends of Exton
Park and leads bird walks for the Cape May Bird Observatory.
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New Jersey Audubon Society celebrated the 30th annual World
Series of Birding on Saturday, May 11th and for the first time a
youth team took home the cup! The Upper Main Line YMCA’s “B.B. Kingfishers”,
comprised of three high school students from suburban Philadelphia, tallied 186
bird species for the historic win.
Senior Director of Youth Development Brian Raicich (left) and birding coach Brian Quindlen (far right) stand with the B.B. Kingfishers and the Urner Stone Cup, won for achieving the highest bird count of the World Series of Birding. Center: Nathaniel Sharp, 17, Ben Bussmann (captain), 18, Austin Smith, 16 (Photo by Kriston J. Bethel)
The B.B. Kingfishers hail from the Upper Main Line YMCA Earth
Service Corps, a teen environmental service-learning program in Berwyn,
Pennsylvania. The team’s captain, Ben Bussmann, 18, and his teammates Nathaniel
Sharp, 17, and Austin Smith, 16, participate in our year-round YMCA program. In
addition to the B.B. Kingfishers, the YMCA was also represented by the middle
school team, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Brant! Yusuf Romaine-Elkhadri, Liam
Gallagher, Connor Simpkins, and team captain Tyler DiAndrea came in second
place in the middle school division with an impressive 157 species.
Team captain Ben Bussmann, a senior from Conestoga High School
in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, tipped his hat to all of the younger competitors at
this year’s World Series of Birding awards ceremony. “I’m really proud of all
the youth teams,” Bussmann remarked. “Of the top 12 teams, five of them were
youth teams.” He is a seven-year veteran of the World Series of Birding with
many career highlights, including one middle school division victory, one high
school division victory, and now, the coveted Urner Stone Cup. Ben will be
attending State University of New York College of Environmental Science and
Forestry this August.
Austin Smith, 16, Ben Bussmann (captain), 18, and Nathaniel Sharp, 17, scan the trees in Stokes State Forest (photo by Brian Quindlen).
Nathaniel Sharp is a junior at Strath Haven High School in
Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and his Urner Stone Cup victory marks his fourth
year competing in the World Series of Birding. A meticulous and academic
birder, Sharp is an active member in the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
and participates regularly in local Christmas and Spring Bird Counts. Last
year, Sharp’s World Series of Birding team took home the high school division
championship.
The third B.B. Kingfisher, Austin Smith, is a five-year veteran
of the World Series of Birding. A sophomore at Great Valley High School in
Malvern, Pennsylvania, Austin has captured one middle school division title
during his years as a competitive birder. One of Smith’s most prominent mentors
is his older sister, Dani Smith. Dani is an Ornithology Department intern at
the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and a decorated YMCA Earth
Service Corps and World Series of Birding veteran.
Marsh Wren at Jake’s Landing, NJ (photo by Brian Quindlen).
This is my sixth year as the YMCA Earth Service Corps
coordinator, and one of my responsibilities is to act as the lead coach for our
World Series of Birding teams (in addition to my full-time commitment as an
elementary school teacher). I began my career as a birder for the YMCA during
its first year of competing in the World Series high school division eleven
years ago. Once I graduated high school, I returned to th