Hi all,



The time approaches for the annual Ohio Ornithological Society trip to the
Wilds, that 10,000 acre haven for wintering raptors in southeastern Ohio's
Muskingum County. It's Saturday, January 16th, and the cost is nothing -
free. The Golden Eagle, often the star of the show, has been seen on a
regular basis. It doesn't appear to be a fabulous year for the little
sausage links with legs known as meadow voles - boom vole years bring big
raptor numbers - but there is always a good diversity of birds around. Trips
to the Wilds are always interesting, and you'll meet a lot of your fellow
birders. We typically get 150 people or so signing up for this trip. Of
course, a few chickened out last year, possibly due to the 12 degrees below
zero morning temps.



As an added bonus this time, anyone interested will get to go behind the
scenes and into the rhino house, where there is a new baby rhino. This
roly-poly little bundle of wrinkled joy only weighs a few hundred pounds -
just a shade of the mass of its parental units. The Wilds, as you may or may
not know, is a facility dedicated to the conservation and research of large
animals - everything from rhinos to giraffes to wild horses. It is located
on the vast grasslands of a former strip mine, hence its appeal to wild
birds like raptors.



We need to know who is coming, and space is limited, so if you would like to
be part of the day please send an e-mail with your name and the names of
anyone coming with you to: [log in to unmask]



You can also find info and the contact e-mail at the OOS website:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/ After registering, you'll receive an e-mail with
all of the necessary details. If you want a pictorial taste of last
January's expedition, the following link goes to a blog post I made about
the day:
http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2009/01/birding-ohios-north-pole.html



Hope to see you there, and here's hoping for temperatures thrusting above 0.



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






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