Hi everyone,



On Saturday, January 19th, 2008, the Ohio Ornithological Society is hosting
a field trip to the vast and African savanna-like plains of the Wilds in
Muskingum County. There, we hope to see such birds as Golden Eagle and
Northern Shrike, and should be assured of the opportunity to study plenty of
Northern Harriers, Rough-legged Hawks and other raptors. One never knows
what else might show up here. This is the site where, a few years back, a
Prairie Falcon thrilled those lucky enough to see it, and then returned the
next year to further frustrate and thrill birders. There are usually Eastern
Meadowlarks hanging on here, and if there is any open water in the numerous
small lakes, waterfowl diversity can be very good. All in all, this should
be a good chance to start your New Year's list, have some fun, meet other
birders, and learn more about birds.



One of my fellow OOS board members, the always fabulous Bill Thompson III,
and myself are spearheading this mission, and have enlisted a number of
great birders to come along. The Wilds has graciously consented to open one
of their buildings for us at lunch, so we'll have a warm place to eat and as
an added bonus, listen to a lunch-time talk about raptors at the Wilds by Al
Parker, who is their conservation educator.



We did this trip last year, and had a great time, even though the little
furry sausages with legs known as Meadow Voles were way down, and thus the
raptor numbers were too. Shouldn't be the case with this trip. Al tells me
the vole population is way up and so are the birds that snack on them. We
welcome anyone and everyone who wishes to go, and there is no charge for
this event. Just bring your lunch and birding gear. Warm clothes will also
be a good idea.



If you are interested, please e-mail for me details. I need to know an exact
count of everyone that is coming in order to make appropriate arrangements
with the Wilds and to facilitate field trip organization. Hope to see you
there!



Jim



Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/

Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org






______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]