Hello everyone,
On Saturday, May 26th, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) and our
partners at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR) will host the first annual
Ohio Young Birders Conference. The event will take place at the spectacular
new refuge visitor's center located at 14000 West State Route 2, Oak Harbor,
Ohio.
Pre-event field trips will be held on Friday evening and Saturday morning,
and event registration will begin at ONWR at 9:30 AM on Saturday.
While there are many organizations in this country providing opportunities
for young birders, there has never been an event quite like this one! All of
the presentations are being given by young birders and will feature topics
such as:
Ohio's Rails - An in-depth look at Ohio's mysterious marsh birds
Presented by Auriel Van Der Laar, age 16. Auriel has been assisting
primary investigator, Tom Kashmer, with BSBO's rail migration research on the
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for the last four years. Miss Van Der Laar's
presentation, illustrated with spectacular images, will share detailed
information on the migrational timing and habitat usage of these birds, gleaned from
BSBO's banding research.
Night Flight Calls of Migratory Songbirds -
Presented by Ethan Kistler, age 16.
Ethan's interest in this subject took him to Ithaca, New York to visit the
master of night flight calls, Bill Evans. Bill helped Ethan construct a
powerful microphone that works with a dedicated computer to record the night
flight calls of migratory birds, and Ethan's presentation will include some of the
data he has been recording at his home in northeast Ohio this spring.
Taking Field Notes & Sketching Birds -
Presented by Phil Chaon, age 17.
Phil's ability to notice fine details of birds in the field and quickly
capture those fine points on paper is simply amazing. His notes and sketches
became the basis for a regular column for Golden-Wings, the newsletter of the
Ohio Young Birders Club. Phil's presentation will include an outdoor session to
out our new skills into practice.
Our keynote speaker is Andy Bankert. Andy is 18 years old and one of
Florida's top birders. He has developed quite a reputation for his "Florida Big
Days" and this year he's taking on the challenge of doing a "Florida Big
Year." Andy will share his thoughts on the challenges of being a gifted young
birder in a community made up almost entirely of adults, as well as showing off
some of Florida's specialty birds and where to find them!
The Master of Ceremonies for the event is Brad Wilkinson. Brad is 16 years
old and is a very accomplished birder. He developed the very popular online
young birders forum, "Buckeye Birders," and serves on the Youth Advisory
Panel of the Ohio Young Birders Club.
Registration is open to Ohio Young Birders Club members (youth membership,
ages 12-18, is just $5.00 per year, and adults 19 and over may join as
supporting members for $10.00 per year). Youth registrations will be given
priority, but we will have space for adult members as well.
Registration for the conference is $10.00 per youth member and $15.00 per
adult member. Deadline for registration is May 19th, and after that date we will
accept registrations, if there are spaces available, at the rate of $15.00
per youth and $20.00 per adult.
More information is available by visiting _www.ohioyoungbirders.org_
(http://www.ohioyoungbirders.org)
Please e-mail me privately if you have additional questions.
Thank you!
Kim Kaufman
Ohio Young Birders Club Coordinator
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