Bill Thompson III (Whipple, OH) is the editor and co-publisher of Bird Watcher's Digest. He's also a keen birder, the author of many books, a field trip leader, an ecotourism consultant, a guitar player, the host of the This Birding Life podcast (http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/podcasts/thisbirdinglife.php#episodes), a regular speaker and performer on the birding festival circuit, a gentleman farmer, and a fungi to be around. His North American life list is somewhere between 673 and 675. His favorite bird is the red-headed woodpecker. His spark bird was a snowy owl. He has watched birds in 25 countries and 44 states, but his favorite place to watch is on the 80-acre farm he shares with his wife, artist and writer Julie Zickefoose. Some kind person once called Bill the Pied Piper of Birding and he has been trying to live up to that moniker ever since.http://billofthebirds.blogspot.com