The state of Ohio has a long history of leadership in the birding world,
going back at least to the 1890s, when Lynds Jones and W. L. Dawson were the
first birders to break the barrier of 100 species in a day in North America.
There are still a lot of great things happening in the state today.  I want
to focus on one particular area in which Ohio is making an impact.

Recently throughout North America there has been a new focus on getting
young people outdoors and trying to get more young people involved in
birding.  Some good progress is being made in a number of regions, but some
of the most spectacular success has been right here, with the Ohio Young
Birders Club.  This organization for 12-to-18-year-olds has been drawing
national and international attention.  I'm lucky enough to be married to the
adult coordinator of that club, so I've had a chance to watch its
development from up close.  A lot of adults in other places have pondered
the question, "how do we get kids interested in birds?"  My wife Kim didn't
waste any time just pondering the question -- she took it straight to the
kids and asked them.  From the very beginning, the Ohio Young Birders Club
has been successful because the young birders made the decisions -- there is
an active youth advisory group that has decided everything about focus,
activities, field trips, age limits, even the name of the club.

One of the biggest examples of the success of this approach was the first
annual conference, held in May 2007 at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.  At
the planning meetings, the group kicked around some ideas of expert adult
birders who might give programs, but then decided they'd rather give the
presentations themselves.  So at this first conference, all of the speakers
were 18 or younger, including the keynote speaker who came in from Florida
for the event.  As I reported in my column in Bird Watcher's Digest, the
result was one of the most amazing days I've ever witnessed, seeing these
awesome young birders in the spotlight.

The great news is that the second annual conference is coming up: it's going
to be October 4th in Walnut Creek, Ohio.  This is in the Amish country of
east-central Ohio, famous for the great birds found at all seasons.  Seven
Ohio birders, all aged 18 or younger, will be speaking on topics as varied
as ecotourism, tropical birds, radiotelemetry studies of rails, Lake Erie
winter rarities, and the birds of Killbuck Marsh.  The keynote speaker is
Hope Batcheller (age 16) from New York, talking about studies of fledgling
birds.  Rounding out the day will be field trips to hotspots in the area.

The idea of a conference for young birders, put on BY young birders, is
attracting a lot of attention.  As proof of that, one of the top binocular
manufacturers in the world, Leica Sport Optics, is helping to sponsor the
event.  They're even sending representative Jeff Bouton -- a long-time
friend of mine, top-notch expert birder, and leading authority on
digiscoping -- to attend the conference and lead a digiscoping workshop the
following morning, October 5.

I want all Ohio birders to be aware (and proud) of what the state is
accomplishing in terms of bringing up the next generation of birders.  If
you know anyone in the 12-to-18 age group who might be interested, please
let them know about the conference.  And even if, like me, you're slightly
over 18, you can still attend the conference and see some phenomenal young
experts in action.  The registration is amazingly inexpensive, especially if
you're an adult supporting member of the Ohio Young Birders Club.  All the
information is available at
http://www.ohioyoungbirders.org/annual_conference.htm

Hope to see you there!

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio

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