Welcome to GBNA!  Who are we exactly?  We're a community of mostly GLBT birders who strive to create a community we can call our own--where we can share our joy of birds with others in a welcoming environment.  Though GBNA is an email list intended to facilitate communication among GLBT birders in North America, we welcome members from all walks of life:  straight or GLBT, North American or otherwise--only an open mind and a good nature are necessary.  Our membership is diverse:  amateur birdwatchers, dedicated weekend birders, ornithologists, and professional tour leaders are all well-represented among our ranks. What do we do?  We discuss many topics, from recent taxonomic changes and birding tips to identification challenges and politics that affect our community.  We arrange dinner meet-ups at conventions and festivals. We also periodically get together for birding trips.  Recent excursions have been wildly successful in turning up mind-blowingly good birds.  Our first ever trip, to Duluth, provided everyone with breathtaking looks at Great Gray, Boreal, and Northern Hawk Owls as well as Hoary Redpoll and Yellow-billed Loon.  A recent North Carolina pelagic blitz rewarded its participants with European Storm-Petrel and both Fea's and Herald Petrels.  The San Francisco Bay Area field trip in April was notable for the number of people it attracted--sixteen GLBT birders!  This spring's "chicken trip" cleaned up on Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Dusky Grouse, and all three species of rosy-finch.  And finally, last summer's Black Hills trip was a smashing success.  Incredible looks at Mountain Plover, Greater Sage-Grouse, and McCown's and Chestnut-collared Longspurs were had in only the first few hours.  The next two days produced birds as diverse as Virginia's Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, Clark's Nutcracker, and Black-backed and Three-toed Woodpeckers.  We hope to have pages up (complete with photos) soon detailing some of our trips. Interested in joining?  Just follow the directions here.  After your (free) membership is confirmed you can jump right into the conversation.  We'd love to have you join us! Please don't hesitate to contact the list administrator with any questions. Oh, check out our blurb in Bird Watchers' Digest!