| | CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55
discuss which specific species of toucan Toucan Sam ( of Froot Loops fame ) would have been in real life . I enjoyed these excursions . I explored new places , learned much , shared good conversation — but I still wasn ’ t there .
I understand , on a certain intellectual level , the appeal of birding : You ’ re out in nature , you ’ re active , animals are interesting . I get it . But I don ’ t get it . What makes someone invest days , maybe weeks , to glimpse something from afar for just a moment or two ? Why embark on an Ahab-like quest to find one specific sandpiper when there are other , similar-looking sandpipers all around ? Why spend 364 days , twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes competing to be the best in the state for a minute ? Birders all have their own answers . For Sue Palmer , “ It ’ s the excitement of the chase . It ’ s a great scavenger hunt . I ’ ve seen some birders tear up after seeing a bird they sought their whole life .”
Greg Nemes finds satisfaction in a different analogy : “ It ’ s like trying to solve a mys- tery . You either know what mystery you ’ re trying to solve — looking for a certain species — or you encounter a mystery : What species is that ? You may not figure it out in the end , and that fact makes it even more exciting .”
For Barbara Seith , it ’ s simply all about the birds : “ Getting to know the bird is what makes it fulfilling for me — that moment when you connect with this beautiful creature . Then there are the extraordinary bird experiences , like being swarmed by snow buntings or swallowed by a flock of swallows . Birding reminds me to look , I mean really look , at the world around me .”
I even try getting a kid ’ s perspective . Devin Silversmith is a twelve-year-old who took up birding this year , with a little help from folks like Greg . He started listing in May . At first , it was just to keep track of what he saw , not really to compete . “ That has changed a little now that I go after rare birds ,” he explains . “ I have a little bit of FOMO [ fear of missing out ] and really want to see something special that someone else has seen .” His list is already up to 139 — pretty impressive for someone who can ’ t drive .
I can ’ t help wondering , with all the options at a twelve-year-old boy ’ s disposal these
days — video games , smartphones , social media — how does he land on such a genteel hobby ?
“ I ’ ve always loved the outdoors and birding was the activity that made me really want to get outside . I actually have my parents to thank for getting me outside . My mom and dad would bring us on hikes at least once a month since I was born ,” he says , adding , “ and my mom has never let me get a gaming console , so it never really kicked in .”
I try to feel what they feel . I buy a pair of binoculars and set off on my first solo birding excursion to Goddard Park . As I stroll along the shoreline , a woman notices my “ binos ” ( as the birders call them ) and asks in a thick War-rick drawl , “ Doing some birding ?”
“ Actually , I ’ m attempting it for the first time .”
“ Theah yah go ,” she offers , encouragingly .
I stroll leisurely along the water , scanning the trees , the cove , the horizon for birds . I don ’ t see much at first , but I begin to appreciate my surroundings in a way that ’ s only possible when you ’ re looking for something specific and new in a familiar place , like trying to find the new hole-in-the-wall bar
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP , MANAGEMENT , AND CIRCULATION
Statement Required by the Act of August 12 , 1970 , Section 3685 , Title 39 , |
United States Code , showing the ownership , management , and circulation |
of Rhode Island Monthly . Date of filing is October 1 , 2020 . Rhode |
Island Monthly is published monthly , publishing 13 issues annually at |
an annual subscription price of $ 18.00 . The complete mailing address of |
the known office of publication and of the headquarters of the general |
business offices is Rhode Island Monthly , 560 Mineral Spring Avenue , |
Unit 100B , Pawtucket , RI 02860 , 401-649-4847 . The full names and |
complete mailing addresses of the Publisher , Editor , and Managing |
Editor are : Publisher , John J . Palumbo , 560 Mineral Spring Avenue , |
Unit 100B , Pawtucket , RI 02860 , Editor , Sarah Francis , 560 Mineral |
Spring Avenue , Unit 100B , Pawtucket , RI 02860 . The owner is Rhode |
Island Monthly Communications , Inc ., 560 Mineral Spring Avenue , |
Unit 100B , Pawtucket , RI 02860 . Known bondholders , mortgagees , and |
other security holders owning or holding one percent or more of the |
total amount of bonds , mortgages , or other securities : Rhode Island |
Monthly Communications , Inc ., 560 Mineral Spring Avenue , Unit 100B , |
Pawtucket , RI 02860 . |
|
Average no .
No . Copies of
|
|
|
Copies Each
Single Issue
|
|
|
13 .
Publication Title — Rhode Island Monthly
|
|
|
Issue During |
Published |
Nearest to |
14 . |
Issue Date for Circulation Data Below : |
Preceding |
|
12 Months |
Filing Date |
November , 2019 – October , 2020 |
|
a .
Total Number of Copies ( Net
|
|
|
|
15 . |
|
press run ) |
34,101 |
32,441 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
b .
Paid Circulation ( By Mail and Outside the Mail ) 1 . Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions
|
24,507 |
29,249 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 . Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 . Paid Distribution Outside the Mails |
2,266 |
1,105 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 . Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
c .
Total Paid Distribution
|
26,773 |
30,354 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
d . |
Free or Nominal Rate Distribution |
|
|
|
( By Mail and Outside the Mail ) |
|
|
1 . |
Outside-County Copies |
4,413 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 . In-County Copies |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 . Copies Mailed at Other Classes |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 . Outside the Mail ( Carriers or other means ) |
560 |
611 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
e .
Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution
|
4,973 |
611 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
f . |
Total Distribution |
31,746 |
30,965 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
g . |
Copies Not Distributed |
2,355 |
1,476 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
h .
Total
|
34,101 |
32,441 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
i .
Percent Paid
|
84.34 % |
98.03 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Electronic |
Copy Circulation |
|
|
16 . |
|
|
a .
Paid Electronic Copies
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
b .
Total Paid Print Copies ( Line 15c ) + Paid Electronic Copies ( Line 16a )
|
26,774 |
30,355 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
c .
Total Print Distribution ( Line 15f )
|
|
|
|
|
|
+ Paid Electronic Copies ( Line 16a |
|
|
) |
31,747 |
30,996 |
|
d .
Percent Paid ( Both Print & Electronic Copies )
|
|
|
( 16b divided by 16c x 100 ) |
84.34 % |
98.03 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete . John J . Palumbo , Publisher
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RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2020 93