Bird Watcher’s Digest is Coming Back!

 Bird Watcher’s Digest is coming back!

Ivory-billed woodpecker. "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

Bird Watcher’s Digest was the first magazine for bird watchers, and was family owned from its inception in 1978 to Editor/Publisher Bill Thompson III’s death in March 2019. For 43 years, it carried a standard of editorial excellence, reliability, and scientific accuracy in a small but powerful package. The sudden announcement that the magazine was closing its doors just before Christmas 2021 shocked subscribers and staff alike.

 

Like the staff, subscribers, and advertisers, two people: one in Tucson and the other in Terre Haute, were devasted to see this well-respected magazine close down, and instead of standing by, they decided to do something about it. Rich Luhr has been the founder and publisher of Airstream Life since 2004. It’s a niche publication for owners of the streamlined aluminum travel trailers, and like them, it is fascinating, sleek, and beautiful. Mike Sacopulos is an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice and is the CEO of Medical Risk Institute, but at his heart is a birder—a real birder. A family friend got him started at age six. His father took him to see whooping cranes while he was in high school, and he has been traveling to see birds ever since. 

 

Rich and Mike’s task is to strip away that which has impeded Bird Watcher’s Digest, and to keep that which moves us forward. Together they are bringing the magazine back, with Mike stepping in as Publisher and Rich as the Associate Publisher. They are laser-focused on the long-term health and quality of the magazine. To that end, they’re keeping as much of its expert staff as possible, and giving them the resources to build an even better magazine.

 

There will be changes, all for the good. The magazine will grow to 8 1/8” x 10 7/8, creating a vastly improved, more easily read showcase for top-flight writing, photography, and art. A long-overdue redesign will organize and declutter, for a more readable and attractive layout. The name will change—a little. Publishing all-new material, it hasn’t actually been a digest for decades. In homage to our rich past, we’re now simply called BWD.

 

There will be challenges. We must rebuild our social media channels from scratch, having lost 39K Facebook, 25K Twitter, and 15K Instagram followers. With our social media wings so drastically clipped, we will need your help sharing and spreading the word that we’re coming back. The magazine’s website will get a total overhaul, preserving its vast and invaluable library of information while making it more accessible.

 

We’re also rebuilding relationships with contributors and advertisers, and our treasured and all-important subscribers. Many improvements to customer service will come online sometime in April. We’re aiming to come back with a July/August 2022 issue—an ambitious goal, but one that’s well underway.

 

It is an incredible gift to be able to re-imagine an established magazine, to think about how to lift it higher, while keeping the elements that serve it well: editorial integrity; compelling content that’s practical, educational and fun; beautiful art and photography; and most of all its soul. BWD has always had soul.

 

We have mindfully chosen to announce the magazine's rebirth on March 3, 2022. In a more just world, Editor/Publisher Bill Thompson III would have turned 60 today, and we can feel his happy, forward-thinking energy crackling in the air around us as we work days, nights, and weekends to bring BWD back to vibrant life. 

 

Stay tuned for updates; like us, follow us, share this post, and, when the time comes, please subscribe or renew your subscription! (If you’re a subscriber, we’ll be in touch in the next 60 days to confirm your existing subscription.) Thank you for your patience, your support, and your faith in BWD.

 

Facebook: facebook.com/bwdmag

Instagram: @bwd_magazine

As you could probably tell, the post you just read was written in my formal press release voice. And as my readers know, Bird Watcher's Digest is a highly personal endeavor for me, and has been since I painted my first cover for the magazine in 1986, when dinosuars roamed the earth, as my husband used to say.  Bill, I remember another thing you used to say. 

 "One day, I'd like to just get up in the morning, lie down in the yard and watch clouds go over until it gets dark." 

You'd say that when the pressures of running a many-armed, ever-challenging family business got to you. And you never took that day off, dear one, because there was always too much you felt had to get done instead.

 I hope that, wherever you are, your worries are gone, and the cloud-watching is fine. I hope that you're happy that the magazine, to which you gave your entire working life, is coming back. I can't help but feel you're guiding us still, because this Hail Mary rescue of your widely-loved magazine has been all too good and soul-filling to be true. Thank you for giving BWD everything you had. It's a lot to live up to, but now, we're giving it everything we've got. Happy birthday, big guy.

Bill in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Mark Cocker

UPDATE April 25, 2022

Our subscription portal is up and running!

To subscribe, and check the status of your subscription, go to bwdmagazine.com

You can look up the status of your subscription in the tabs at the top.

If you were owed some issues when Bird Watcher's Digest folded in December 2021, 

you can get up to six free issues.