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 likely 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 seven speakers are: 1.) Jessie Barry from Cornell Lab of Ornithology will present "The Secret Life of Ducks" 2.) Dr. Gwen Myers from The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will share her research on Spectacled Eiders 3.) Paul Baicich will talk about Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps 4.) Chris Wood from Cornell Lab of Ornithology will talk about the role eBird plays in tracking duck populations 5.) Keith Lott from the Ohio Division of Wildlife will share recent data from Lake Erie aerial waterfowl surveys and how the information relates to future wind turbine placement/development 6.) Doreen Whitley from GIAC will talk about Hooded Merganser habitat restoration and Ohio's Important Bird Areas 7.) Dr. Azzam Alwash, our keynote speaker on Saturday evening, will address Iraqi marsh restoration and Nature Iraq: Alwash, CEO of NI, 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 12. 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 available on the OOS website (www.ohiobirds.org). Hope to see you there! In Appreciation, Ann Oliver, Cincinnati 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]