I'd like to thank everyone who joined Black Swamp Bird Observatory and
Discovery Tours for our Lake Erie Pelagic trips this November.  We had
ridiculously good time and saw some great birds too.  Yesterday's Pomarine
Jaeger was a real highlight for everyone, but plenty of people had lifer
looks at Horned Grebe and Purple Sandpiper too.  Major props to our field
trip leaders John Pogacnik and Kenn Kaufman for lending their expertise to
these trips.  I'd like to thank Andy Jones and Jim McCormac as well.  Andy
and Jim thought they were coming for a relaxing boat ride, and instead, got
put to work helping people spot birds.  Man, do we have some great birders
in Ohio, or what?!!    To Bob Faber -- thanks for making the trip possible.
And to the Captain and Crew of the HOLIDAY, thank you for making the trip
wonderful! We had such a good time that we're planning another trip in early
January!  No date set just yet, but we'll keep you posted. We send out
monthly updates on all the stuff BSBO has going on and we'll announce the
date for the next pelagic via this 'eNews' as well.  You can sign up to
receive those announcements here:   http://www.bsbo.org/subscribe.htm


Some pictures and other "stuff" about the first trip can be seen here:
http://birdingwithkennandkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/pelagic-magic-when-gales-of-november.html


Several members of the Ohio Young Birders Club were on board yesterday and
it was the perfect way to cap off a weekend that also featured the OYBC's
third annual conference on Saturday. I can't even articulate how fabulous
the conference was.  I think any anyone who attended got their $20 bucks
worth, and then some!
 Our speakers--all under the age of 18--presented dynamic programs on birds
and bird conservation issues and took it a step further by offering
practical solutions to some of the challenges the natural world faces.  Our
keynote speaker, Malkolm Boothroyd (who got his lifer Purple Sandpiper on
the pelagic trip yesterday - thanks to Becky Cullen for spotting it!) shared
the adventures that he and his parents shared on their Bicycle Big Year for
Bird Conservation that took them on a 13,000 journey in a loop around the
U.S. and raised more than $25,000 for conservation.  Malkolm is a very
poised and articulate speaker, and I would love to be able to bring him back
to give his presentation again, but he lives in Whitehorse,Yukon, Canada,
and it creates some logistical and financial challenges to transport a
teenager under the age of 18 through all that.  Maybe he could just ride his
bike down....


Three of Ohio's own remarkable teens captivated the audience as well.  Sarah
Winnicki presented: For the Love of Condors: A Conservation Story.  Sarah's
talk was literally one of the best bird-related talks I have ever seen, and
I guarantee you will be hearing more about Sarah and seeing other
organizations in Ohio featuring this amazing presentation.   Lucas Padegimas
shared his interest in and concern for the Piping Plover in a presentation
that took us to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware.  Inspiring,
informative, and funny, this is another talk that you'll see offered again!
And finally, hats off to the young man running the show, our Master of
Ceremony, Elliott Miller, who did a great job of keeping things on track and
keeping us totally entertained in between the speakers.  Elliott is now cued
up to give a presentation next year!
right, elliott...  :  )


An audience spanning the ages of 7 to 89, completely packed the conference
room at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for our event.  The Refuge staff
helped with the conference in many ways and we owe them a debt of gratitude.
There are many organizations, agencies, companies, and individuals who made
this conference--and the OYBC itself--possible.  No one person or
organization could accomplish something like this alone, and BSBO--the proud
founder of this club--is very lucky to have such a strong band of partners
in Ohio and beyond!  To date, 14 other states have followed our model and
launched their own version of the Ohio Young Birders Club.


Yikes, I think I'm edging in to "your post is too long" territory, and
totally clobbering any hope I had of blogging about this stuff too. Oh
well....It seems right to share it with Ohio Birders first.


Thanks again, everyone!

Kim Kaufman
Executive Director
Black Swamp Bird Observatory
13551 West State Route 2
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
419-898-4070
www.bsbobird.org

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