Ohio Young Birders Club

Visit to OSU Museum

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:34:09 -0500

On January 21, 2012, the OYBC, led by the Central Ohio Chapter, visited the Ohio State University Museum of Biological Diversity. Student member Alexander Martin wrote a report about the visit. Field trip participants observed numerous species in the museum’s collection, and they watched a recentlydeceased local Snowy Owl get prepared as a bird specimen for future study. A video about the field trip exists on the OYBC Facebook page.

BSBO to be awarded

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:09:10 -0500

The League of Ohio Sportsmen named the Black Swamp Bird Observatory the Conservation Organization of the Year. The award will be presented at the League’s 2012 convention in Perrysburg on February 18th. A big “Thank You” goes to all the BSBO partners, sponsors, supporters, and volunteers. The League is Ohio’s oldest conservation organization. From the League’s website: “The League was organized in 1908 by a group of far-seeing sportsmen to save the remnants of the fast disappearing natural resources of the state.” The BSBO founded the Ohio Young Birders Club in May 2006.

Sponsorship Renewal

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:08:38 -0500

The Canton Audubon Society renewed its sponsorship of the OYBC. Thank you very much. We’re extremely grateful for the support from all of our sponsors. From the CAS’s website: “The Canton Audubon Society (CAS) was founded in 1962 and has been a local chapter of the National Audubon Society in Stark, Tuscarawas, Coshocton and Wayne counties since 1981.”

Ethan Kistler joins the BSBO

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:08:09 -0500

Ethan is our new Education and Outreach Specialist, so you’ll definitely hear more from him in the future. This important position at BSBO was made possible by a grant from Stranahan Supporting Organization, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative monies through a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grant and our partners at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and the support of private donors. For some of you, Ethan’s name will be familiar. Ethan was one of the founding members of our Ohio Young Birders Club back in 2006. Ethan’s blog isnomadicbirder.blogspot.com. Ethan maintains the Winter Bird Movement Maps for Ohio.

Deceased Snowy Owl will 'live' on in museum

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:31:58 -0500

Over the past few weeks, you may have followed the bird sightings and the news reports about the Snowy Owl, located in Hardin County. Maybe you were lucky enough to see it in person.

Unfortunately, as you may have heard, this bird did not survive, and it appears to have ultimately died of starvation. Very sad, but it’s not an unusual fate for a Snowy Owl that dips this far south.

Article in Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

But here’s the part where something positive comes from tragedy …

One of the activities already planned for the Sat, Jan 21, 2012 OYBC field trip to the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity is a demonstration on how to prepare a bird study skin. The expert who will lead this activity is Dr. Jackie Augustine of OSU-Lima.

As it turns out, Dr. Augustine was called in when the Snowy Owl was found dead, and the bird was turned over to her. During our Jan 21 field trip, we will have the incredible opportunity to watch Dr. Augustine prepare this Snowy Owl as a study skin, prior to adding it to the museum’s permanent collection!

2012 Wildlife Conservation Youth Engagement Grants

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:22:03 -0500

** Applications due February 1, 2012 **

Applications can be completed online at http://planetconnect.org/2012wcgrants

Also, visit the above website for details about this grant process.

Environmental solutions for the future can begin with you!

Whether you’re in a city, rural area or a suburb, wildlife is all around you. In many places, wildlife faces challenges. Are you a high school student with a creative idea for conserving and protecting wildlife and its habitat in your community? Planet Connect is offering high school students grants of $1,000 to implement their problem-solving projects and participate in a local internship focused on wildlife conservation.

Wildlife conservation issues exist all around us—and so do opportunities to address these issues. Start paying attention to changes happening in your community and think outside the box. Wildlife and their habitats are not just located in the woods or forested areas—they are in the trees in your backyard, the shrubs around your school building and everywhere else. Ask yourself, what local wildlife habitats or natural resources are being threatened and by what? What problem is this creating in your community? What can you do to help?

Once you have focused in on a specific issue occurring in your community, think about specific goals for your project, and the steps you will need to take in order to address the problem. Do you see any opportunities to protect or preserve wildlife habitat? In some cases, it may require creating a new habitat or perhaps conserving certain areas alongside development. Think about what kind of project could be developed to address the issue. Can you think of something that could get your whole community involved? What will the positive impacts be for the community? Perhaps you could add support and fresh ideas to efforts that are already in place.

In the application you will be asked to create a timeline for implementing your project, as well as a detailed budget, describing how you will tackle the problem, what tools you will use, who you will work with, and what positive outcomes you foresee. If chosen as a winner, you will be provided $500.00 to turn your project into a reality. After completing your project in June, you will participate in an 80-hour wildlife conservation or natural resource internship in your local community during the summer of 2012. At the end of the internship you will be awarded a $500.00 stipend.

Here’s your chance to make a difference!

Applicant must:

Be 14-19 years old;
Be enrolled in a U.S. high school program (public, private, charter or home school);
Propose a project that is focused on wildlife conservation;
Be a member of Planet Connect (become a free member);
Be available during the summer of 2012 for participation in a wildlife conservation or natural resources internship;

Consider entering the ABA Young Birder of the Year Contest

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:19:55 -0500

For details, visit the ABA website at http://aba.org/yby

Or call the OYBC at 419-898-4070 or e-mail us at info@ohioyoungbirders.org.

If you are age 10-18 years old and enjoy all aspects of birding, then the ABA Young Birder of the Year Contest is for you!

This contest was designed to appeal to the broad range of interests and talents exhibited by young birders today. Do you take detailed field notes on birds? Draw or photograph birds? Write about birds? Then you can choose any or all of four “modules” to customize the contest to fit your own interests. Here are the important details:

The contest runs from April through October. Submitted materials are due at the ABA by October 31, 2011.
There are two age groups, 10-13, and 14-18
There are four modules in the contest:
- Field notebook, which entails taking field notes and making field sketches of birds as you observe them in the field. This is the only required module for the overall Young Birder of the Year.
- Illustration, which involves detailed drawing or painting birds that you see or that interest you most.
- Writing, write about birds, birding, and your experiences with both.
- Photography, which is simply photographing birds either on film or digitally.
There will be one winner selected for each age group in each module.
Young Birder of the Year – The ABA will award a grand prize for the overall Young Birder of the Year. In order to compete in the overall Young Birder of the Year category, you need to participate in at least three of the modules (Field Notebook must be one of these).
In order to make the contest as open to everyone as possible, previous Grand Prize winners for the overall Young Birder of the Year Contest may compete in individual modules but are NOT eligible to win the Overall Young Birder of the Year more than one time.

You are not required to participate in the overall Young Birder of the Year category to participate in the contest - you may choose to participate in one or more modules of your choice.

With the first-time participant registration fee, you will receive an ABA Field Notebook, ABA Field Notebook Manual, the National Geographic 5th ed. field guide, an ABA TripList, and some guidelines on the contest. Repeat participants receive the ABA Field Notebook, ABA TripList and guidelines.

Great Prizes for You to Win

Each module has great birding-related prizes for both age groups.
In addition, the ABA will select an overall Young Birder of the Year.
Winners may also have their work published in one of the ABA publications and/or on the ABA website.

Why is the ABA doing this?

The ABA is committed to educating and developing good field skills in young birders. By providing some strong incentives to develop these skills, we hope that you’ll learn some good habits that will pay dividends for the rest of your birding life.

Our First Visit to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:33:00 -0500

January 28, 2012 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Join us at the CMNH for an in depth tour with Director of Science and Curator of Ornithology Andy Jones including a behind the scenes look at some of the museum collections.

RSVP with Black Swamp Bird Observatory at 419-898-4070 or kenkeffer@bsbo.org

OYBC Member Lukas Padegimas is also a leader on this trip. Lukas has worked with the CMNH in the past, and he will provide a unique perspective for this field trip. Time is also available to explore the museum including the Polar Obsession exhibit.

Return Visit to the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:32:24 -0500

In November 2008, the OYBC visited this excellent museum. We were treated to up-close views of many types of bird skins, including extinct species, and we viewed other species of nature. We learned how to prepare our own bird skins, which is a fundamental aspect of ornithological study.

• Photos of our 2008 visit.

We were long overdue for a return visit to this fantastic place that is not open to the public in a normal way. Thanks to our friends in the Central Ohio Chapter, we have another opportunity to visit this research museum.

The Central Ohio OYBC chapter will be hosting a trip to the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity on
Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

But this is NOT gonna be your typical museum tour, where all you do is look and wonder. This is gonna be a HANDS-ON event, created just for our group by the museum’s curator, Angelika Nelson.

Here’s what’s in store for you:

Our group will have a private tour of the museum’s collection of bird study skins, taxidermy, eggs & nests. Did you fear that you would never have a chance to see an ivory-billed woodpecker in your lifetime? Well, here’s an opportunity to study one up close, if not in the wild! The collection is massive and you will be amazed at what they have!

We will then work in small groups and rotate every half-hour through learning stations, including:

Taxonomy: Work with other young birders to sort birds into groups according to their taxonomy, discuss each group’s traits, compare to AOU taxonomy.
Identification: Using field guides and your own knowledge, see how well you can do at identifying various North American bird study skins. How many can you correctly identify?
Birds of the world: These are NOT your backyard birds! Take on the challenge of trying to identify birds from all over the world.
Anatomy: At this station you will explore dissection, observe feathers under microscopes, and learn about carotenoids vs. melanins.

Dr. Jackie Augustine will join us and will provide us with a bird skinning demonstration. How are those study skins prepared? Watch & understand this amazing process which provides all of us with marvelous study skins that teach us so much!

This will be an incredible learning event for OYBC and we hope you can be there! The museum is located at 1315 Kinnear Road, Columbus 43212 (not far from Lennox Shopping Center). Let us know if you need a ride and we’ll do everything we can to get you there!

For more information about the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity, and for driving directions, go to their website:

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~jfreuden/systematics/museum/webfiles/location.htm

This event is for OYBC members. Parents are welcome, too, but not younger siblings due to the fragility of the collection and the nature of the work we’ll be doing that day.

If you know someone who would like to join OYBC, it’s fast & easy to do so online! Just go to:
www.columbusaudubon.org …click on “Groups”…click on “Ohio Young Birders”…click on “Join Us”

In order for us to prepare for this event, RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED! Please reserve your place for this event by contacting Gerry Brevoort, Central Ohio OYBC Advisor, by email at jbrevoor@columbus.rr.com by January 16.

Fremont Christmas Bird Count Recap

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:31:34 -0500

22 people participated in the Fremont Christmas Bird Count that was held on Saturday, December 31, 2011. The crew tallied 77 species and 50,124 individual birds, while driving 595 miles and walking 32 miles. We also consumed more than two jumbo pizzas at the Green Creek Hunting Club tally rally party. The highlights included great numbers and diversity of waterfowl, including 17 duck and merganser species, over 3,600 American Black Ducks, and over 21,000 Mallards. Other notable sightings for this year’s count included 4 Snow Geese, 5 Cackling Geese, 11 Eastern Screech Owls, 54 Northern Flickers, 5 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Rusty Blackbirds, 3 Pine Siskins, and 2 Northern Mockingbirds, which is a new but long expected species for this count circle. This year’s total of 77 species tied the Fremont count record.
• Count Data