“Chasing the North America Big Year Record”, with David & Tammy McQuade<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"Tammy](\"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tammy-and-David-McQuade-1-300x225.jpeg\")
If you have ever wondered how someone could possibly see the most birds in North America in one year (while holding a job!), then we have a story for you.<\/p>\n
David and Tammy are high school sweethearts who each developed a love for birds and the outdoors as children. In 2012, their life changed forever when they saw the movie: “The Big Year”. The idea of counting birds had an incredible appeal to them. The challenge of a year long scavenger hunt really resonated with them.<\/p>\n
They started with a Big Weekend around Lee County, Florida. It didn\u2019t take long for it to grow rapidly to County Big Years, then Florida Big Years. Once they realized they could coordinate their work with birding, that changed everything. They expanded to Lower 48 Big Years, ABA and US Big Years, and more recently North America and AOU Big years. They have been fortunate to finish #1 multiple times in each of these categories. They are also the only birders to see over 700 birds in the US 7 years in a row.<\/p>\n
While they are proud of their accomplishments doing Big Years, they are most proud of their contributions to research in understanding bird diversity in the Gulf of Mexico. When they are not traveling or working, they love to venture out on long-range pelagic trips in the Gulf of Mexico on their boat, the McLagic.<\/p>\n
David is a former Board of Directors member for the ABA, with Tammy having served on several committees for the ABA. They are the current administrators for the SW Florida Bird Alert Facebook Group, and are annual guides for the Cape Coral Burrowing Owl Festival.<\/p>\n
Nov 9, 2026
\nTBA<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nDec 14, 2026<\/strong><\/span>
\nCCBC Members Only Holiday Party… 7-9:00 (Doors open at 6:30)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nJan 11, 2027
\nTBA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nFeb 8, 2027<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>TBA<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\nMar 8, 2027<\/span>
\nTBA<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nApr 12, 2027
\n<\/strong>TBA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nMay 10, 2027<\/span><\/strong>
\nTBA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nList of Past Programs and Speakers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTHLY MEETINGS Monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. from September through May at the Cape\u00a0Cod\u00a0Museum\u00a0of\u00a0Natural\u00a0History, 869 Rte. 6A, in Brewster, MA. The door opens at 6:30 to provide time to socialize and pick up information. Meetings are held at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Brewster.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":40,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-123","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":659,"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8922,"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/123\/revisions\/8922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Peter-Alden-300x225.jpeg\")
From the jungles of New Guinea to the plains of Tanzania, one man\u2019s lifelong quest to see the world\u2019s rarest birds became a journey through the heart of our planet\u2019s wild places. As a pioneer of ecotourism, he led travelers across continents long before GPS and guidebooks, facing snakes in the Amazon, lions in camp, and more than a few brushes with danger\u2014all in pursuit of wonder. Part memoir, part travelogue, My Wild Life celebrates six decades of adventure, discovery, and devotion to the natural world.<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/capecodbirdclub.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Peter-Alden-book-100x150.jpg\")
Concord, Massachusetts native, Peter Alden, is a world renowned naturalist, lecturer, ecotourism guide and author of 15 books on North American and African wildlife, including the