Let’s go for something historical this time:

What is the connection between Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, and Napoleon?

The winning answer will draw the connection as elegantly as possible, in the fewest possible steps–and to make it a little more challenging, the answer may not mention the  emperor’s (illegitimate) nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte.

Leave your answer as a comment here. The best correct answer, and the wittiest incorrect answer, will win their authors a WINGS cap.

Everybody’s interested in birds, even if they wouldn’t call themselves a birder.

Today started out with a question from a dear friend and former colleague at Princeton University’s Index of Christian Art: just what, she wanted to know, is “bird liming” exactly? (If you don’t know, you probably don’t want to know.)

And on returning from lunch I found an e-mail from the Antiques Roadshow asking for the identification of a bird painted by a famous American bird artist. You’ll have to watch the show to find out yourself, but I was able to pass on the bird’s identity–and, with a little e-sniffing around, the year the painting was likely produced.

Do I love this job?

Our wide assortment of birding destinations world-wide means that WINGS deals with a large number of ground agents and local leaders–and an equally broad array of world currencies. As most of you know, the past months have seen significant fluctuations in international exchange rates; happily for WINGS clients, the trend at the moment is towards a stronger and more stable dollar.

Please note that at invoicing we recalculate the prices of all of our international tours, notably including those organized by our British company, Sunbird. We use the exchange rate in effect on the date of invoicing, meaning that–if the current trend continues–our prices will actually be lower, in some cases signficantly lower, than the prices originally published in summer 2008.

For example, the WINGS website, relying on the exchange rate in effect in July, would show a price of about $8,000 for a tour costing GPB 4,000–but if we were to invoice that same tour today, using the current exchange rate, the actual invoiced cost to our clients would be more like $6,240.

Obviously, given the day-to-day variation in exchange rates, we cannot continuously post new tour prices on the WINGS website. But rest assured that any advantages of exchange rate will be passed along when your tour is invoiced.

Senior Leader James Lidster writes:

I was recently on a whale-watching trip in Husavik, Iceland, and bumped into Gary Rosenberg’s cousin and family. This followed a surprise encounter last December, when I was minding my own business outside my hotel near Ushuaia and there was David Fisher with the WINGS group.

We’re e v e r y w h e r e !

Graceful White-beaked Dolphins on an Iceland whale-watch. Photo: James Lidster.