American Birding Association donates to Caribou Parks & Rec

        Contributed photo
    Neal Sleeper, right, recreation program director for the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department and Billie Martin, program assistant, look over items recently donated by the American Birding Association.
Sleeper came across the organization while looking to acquire new materials for the departments’ CRX outdoor program. The donated materials included 15 sets of binoculars, 17 birding books, a spotting scope and cassettes to introduce junior ornithologists to bird calls. The American Birding Association is a non-profit organization that promotes birding worldwide and helps to support bird conservation and education efforts in the western hemisphere. The organization indicated that this is the first time they have donated this much equipment to a domestic effort. The items received were not suited for the Neotropics but are perfect for northern Maine. Sleeper estimated the value of the donation to be in excess of  $2,900.