Hi, I'm Ronan Nicholson.

Did you know there are over 10,000 species of birds in the world, but there are so few young people that are really interested in studying them to protect their habitat?

“How few?” you may ask.

I have to travel across the state of California to find other people my age with the same interest in birds. Usually, teens are more interested in gaming and texting each other that they are in the natural world. But unlike Pokemon, birds are real (in the words of Kenn Kaufman).

You see, I’ve been interested in birds since I was 9 (I’m 14 now). And since then I have been awarded 3 scholarships by the Central Valley Bird Club to attend bird camps all over the country.

But the biggest crowning glory of my young birding life is being named one of the Young Birders of the Year for 2019 by the American Birding Association. You can check out the announcement here and see my picture at the top of the ABA website here.

In this competition, I didn't just watch birds through a pair of binoculars, but I was taking field notes of birds, illustrating birds, photographing birds and writing about birds. It was a five and half month competition where I competed against other young birders between the ages of 10 and 13 across the nation.

If you have clicked on any of those links right above, you've already also seen that my Dad and I built a website to showcase all of my birding work at www.birdron.com.

Of the four modules that I entered in of the ABA competition, I was awarded gold in the Field Notebook and Illustration modules and…

Silver in the photography module! (You may have to zoom in to see it.)



This was a major feat considering that I was only using this camera...


(That's me stalking a bird with the Nikon COOLPIX P610. The only camera I used to get silver in the photography module.)

Considered a glorified point and shoot, the COOLPIX P610 can zoom in to an impressive 800mm and has a nifty feature called “bird mode”, but that is pretty much where the sophistication ends.

In the case of bird photography, it’s autofocus is slower than a turtle and all over the place, its widest aperture at full zoom could be compared to an oversized pinhole and its shutter speed burst is as fast as a ticking clock (not fast).

In spite of these lacks, I still managed to get photos like this hummingbird...






and this angry bird...




and my mom's favorite...




By now you can probably tell I’m REALLY serious about birds and I want to get REALLY serious about bird photography. 

Here’s what that looks like in the birding world…


(The Canon 7D mark ii with a 100-400 mm lens: THE camera setup virtually designed for bird photography.)


After hours of research on the web and talking to bird photographers and wildlife scientists, I have found that this set up is ideal for capturing birds in pretty much any situation.

Here’s the breakdown of the funds I'm requesting.


Canon 7D mark ii                                        $     1001.00
Canon 100-400mm USM II Lens       $     1799.00
Extra Canon Battery                                 $           61.00
2 x 128gb SD Memory Cards               $           60.00
BlackRapid Camera Strap                      $           70.00
Lowepro Camera Bag                               $           90.00

Tax                                                                        $       250.00

Things I didn't think about                     $       169.00

Total                                                                    $    3,500.00


I have $250 saved up already and I am planning on getting a job over the summer, but it would be really awesome if I could raise all the funds through GoFundMe.

I would like to get the camera before I go to my next birding camp, Camp Avocet, in Delaware on July 26th, 2019. Any extra funds I get from this campaign will go towards my other birding adventures.

Thanks so much for considering donating to this cause and be sure to stop and enjoy the birds in your area once in a while.

Yours Truly,

Ronan Nicholson

PS. Also, as a super big thank you, I’ll send 5 autographed postcards of my best photography to anyone in the U.S. donating $30 or more.

Thanks again!!!