The Delaware County Bird Club meetings and program presentations take
place on the fourth Monday of each month, September through April, except in
November and December when they are held on alternate days to accommodate
the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Meetings are held in the lodge at
Deer Haven Preserve at 4183 Liberty Road, Delaware OH, 43015. Doors open at
the new time of 6:30 PM and programs begin at 7:00 PM and will be followed
by reports of local bird sightings and socializing. Meeting dates can also
be found on the Preservation Parks Calendar at this link:

http://www.preservationparks.com/events-calendar/



March 27th: "Dr. Burtt's Mr. Wilson" - Bryan Sharp, Adjunct Instructor,
Columbus State Community College.

     Dr. Edward H. Burtt, Jr. founded the Delaware County Bird Club in 1987,
after arriving at Ohio Wesleyan University as a Zoology Professor in 1977.
Many of us hold dear, fond memories of Jed. He was an exceptional educator,
colleague and friend. Even if you only met him briefly, his benevolent
charisma was clearly evident. He also had an insatiable drive to promote his
passion for the study of our feathered friends. During the course of his
career, Jed gave hundreds of presentations, both nationally and
internationally, on his ornithological research, and mentored countless
students, earning the 2011 Ohio Professor of the Year award from the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education along the way.

     Not only was Jed interested in the natural history of birds, but also
in the stories of his ornithological predecessors. Of particular interest
was Alexander Wilson. Dr. Burtt served a term as President of the Wilson
Ornithological Society and wrote several papers and a biography on Mr.
Wilson. Many people, even those with considerable avian knowledge, consider
John James Audubon to be the founder of ornithology on the



American continent. However, Dr. Burtt sets the record straight by
rightfully bestowing that title on Alexander Wilson. The publication of
Wilson's first volume of American Ornithology preceded that of Audubon's
Birds of America by nearly two decades. There exists some evidence that
Wilson encouraged, or at least inspired, Audubon to pursue his interest in
painting birds, although their encounter appears to have been brief.
Whatever the case, Wilson's paintings are worthy of comparison to those of
Audubon.

     In the March 2017 meeting of the Delaware County Bird Club, we will
explore the main points of Dr. Burtt's biography of Wilson, and, more
importantly, share our own biographical memories of our beloved Jed. Many of
us have been touched by Jed either casually or for many, quite profoundly.
We want this to be a celebration of many of the amazing things he did for
peers, friends, students and club members of the now 30 year old Delaware
County Bird Club. For some fun, please wear a bird tie, bird scarf, bird pin
or bird article of clothing in tribute to Jed. We hope to have a few things
for all to take part in at the meeting.





     Bryan Sharp is a biologist, educator, hiker and birder.  As an
undergraduate, he studied the microflora of avian plumage and its effects on
feather degradation under the guidance of Dr. Edward H. (Jed) Burtt, Jr.
Those studies included banding many songbirds, as did the MAPS (Monitoring
Avian Productivity and Survivorship) project on which he worked in San
Diego, California while conducting research for his Master's thesis on brood
parasitism of Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) on Least Bell's Vireos
(Vireo bellii pusillus).

     Bryan also holds a Master's degree in Educational Administration and
has been a teacher or principal for over 15 years. Other jobs he has held
include banding birds of prey for a season in the Florida Keys, being a
summer camp counselor in North Carolina and Colorado, conducting point
counts of birds in a riparian restoration area and sequencing avian DNA. He
has also volunteered as an ecology and bird guide at parks in San Diego, CA
and Durango, Mexico. Mr. Sharp currently teaches biology at Columbus State
Community College and moonlights as a park ranger with Franklin County Metro
Parks in Columbus, Ohio.





April 24th: "The Birds of Hocking County, Ohio" - John Watts, Resource
Manager, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks.  This will be the last
program of the season.






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