Hey folks,
Sorry to repost such a long message again, but I learned the special
hotel rate at The Hampton Inn South, Columbus, (1-614-539-1177) needs to be
booked by February 11th (not 12). That's this Thursday (not Friday). Don 't
forget to mention the Waterfowl Symposium to get the discount rate.
Also, OOS and Columbus Audubon, with support of BSBO/OYBC, are making
several student scholarships available to young birders. Deadline for
application for a student scholarship is February 15th. Please contact Kathy
McDonald (513-941-6497) or email her: [log in to unmask] If you know of a young
person interested in birds and birding, please forward this message to them
asap! We'd love to have them attend.
Hello Fellow Birders,
The Ohio Ornithological Society and Columbus Audubon, with sponsorship
from The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, are hosting a Waterfowl Symposium the
weekend of February 26-28 at the new Grange Insurance Audubon Center (GIAC)
in downtown Columbus.
Don't miss this event! The cost is just $80 for the weekend which
includes Friday night's music and food/drinks, Saturday's impressive line-up
of seven speakers, and birding Sunday morning at Central Ohio's waterways.
Or, you can attend ONLY Friday evening for just $10.
Please register ASAP so we can get an accurate head count. The Columbus
Dispatch will soon run an article on the Waterfowl Symposium: don’t delay
registering because space is limited.
There are a multitude of reasons to attend!
First reason: have you seen the GIAC building? It's a LEED-certified
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), "green" building. It's an
inspiring site to behold from either inside or outside the structure. We'll
have behind-the-scenes tours of the building on Friday evening, February 26.
There's also a sculpture exhibit featuring larger-than-life bronzes in the
GIAC lobby: the Lost Birds Project, by a Cornell University professor,
depicts the extinct species such as the Great Auk.
Second reason: on Friday evening, The Swinging Orangutangs (better known
as Julie Zickefoose, Bill Thompson III, and friends) will perform a benefit
concert. Bring your dancing shoes and leave your hiking boots in the car!
We'll have appetizers, beer, wine, and a taste of the Middle East.
Why the Middle East theme? Friday evening is a benefit for Nature Iraq,
hence the special food theme (but we'll have regular appetizers, too, for
non-adventurous noshers).
You may recall, Ohio Army National Guardsman, and birder-extraordinaire
Randy Rogers, did bird surveys on his Al Asad base in Iraq, as well as
fundraising on behalf of Nature Iraq. In fact, ALL of Ohio backed Randy and
this cause: several thousand dollars of donations were raised to support
NI's conservation efforts to restore Mesopotamian Marshes drained by the
prior Iraqi regime. Randy has been working overtime on behalf of NI since
he's returned from Iraq, from guest lecturing around the Buckeye State, to
working behind the scenes organizing the Waterfowl Symposium.
Third reason: Friday evening, we'll also have bird-themed beer:
clarification, the beer is not made with 'actual' birds!!! Mendocino
Brewing Company offerings such as Blue Heron Pale Ale, Red Tail Ale, White
Hawk IPA, Eye of the Hawk Ale, and Black Hawk Stout will be available for
your enjoyment. Drink, and bird, responsibly!
Mendocino Brewing Company is supporting the Waterfowl Symposium with a
donation of these brews: please register in advance so we'll have an
accurate head count so everyone can get a taste. FYI: if you can't attend
the entire weekend ($80 for Friday-Sunday), it's just $10 to attend on
Friday night! Sign up your friends, family, and co-workers too!
Fourth through tenth reasons: the meat and potatoes (actually, the
continental breakfast, boxed lunches, and self-serve pasta bar dinner on
Saturday)! We've lined up seven speakers on Saturday. You'll hear about
Spectacled Eiders, the secret life history of waterfowl, Hooded Merganser
habitat restoration, duck stamps, eBird, aerial surveys of Lake Erie and
impact on wind turbine development, and a Saturday evening keynote
presentation on Nature Iraq's marsh restoration of a Ramsar wetland site of
international importance. The keynote speaker is Dr. Azzam Alwash, CEO of
NI, who was recently featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday news program.
But wait, there's more! You also have two bonus reasons to attend: the
early pre-symposium birding on Saturday morning on the grounds of GIAC at 8
am and Sunday morning at Central Ohio's local reservoirs, ponds, and rivers!
So, don't forget your mittens and long-johns.
The special rate on the Hampton Inn South (I-71 at the Stringtown Exit)
has been extended through February 11. Please mention the Waterfowl
Symposium when making your reservation to get the discount rate: 1-614-539-
1177.
You can register online with PayPal on the Columbus Audubon website
(www.columbusaudubon.org/) or mail in a registration form (attached to this
email) or available on the OOS website (www.ohiobirds.org).
Hope to see you there!
In Appreciation,
Ann Oliver,
Waterfowl Symposium Planning Committee
Editor, The Cerulean Newsletter (quarterly publication of OOS)
______________________________________________________________________
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]
|
