<![CDATA[Western Cuyahoga Audubon - 2023-2024 Member Meetings]]>

Western Cuyahoga Audubon's meetings are held at the Fairview Park Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library on the first Tuesday of each month. Presentations are often streamed via Zoom; sign up for our e-blasts to receive the links.

February Program: “Insects: The Good, the Bad, and the Declining”
Presenter: Dr Andrew Merwin, Assistant Professor of Biology at Baldwin-Wallace University
Date & Time: Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Library, 21255 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park
Description: Insects may be small in stature, but collectively they play an outsized role in our terrestrial ecosystems. For this reason, recently observed declines in insect abundance raise important concerns about the stability of the services they provide and the populations (e.g., birds) they support. In this presentation, I’ll review some of the recent research on insect declines, provide an overview of some of my own projects on imperiled, invasive, and singing insects, and briefly describe ways we can better support our six-legged friends.

March Program: “More Birds, Please: Birds of Conservation Concern in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park”
Presenter: Doug Marcum and Ryan Trimbath, Biologists for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Date & Time: Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Library, 21255 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park
Description: Utilizing a wide variety of datasets from various sources across decades, biologists at Cuyahoga Valley National Park have begun an effort to better understand population trends and breeding status of thirty species of conservation concern within the park. Goals and outcomes of this “focused condition assessment” have included: understanding trends over time, identifying important habitat areas within the park, how to harness local eBird data, and how to encourage citizen scientists to help us collect better data for future monitoring.

April Program: “Bumblebees: Essential Pollinators”
Presenter: Dr. Chris Pappas, DVM
Date & Time: April 2, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Library, 21255 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park
Description: We often hear about honeybees as important pollinators, but Dr. Pappas’ presentation will cover information about our native bumblebees including identification, their life cycles, plants that they favor, their use of a unique method of pollination, as well as the essential niches native bumblebees fill. Lastly, she will share current and future risks to native bumblebees, and show us how to adapt our gardens and woods to help them thrive … which happen to be the very same things that help our native birds and the insects that they eat thrive!!!

Western Cuyahoga Audubon is back in person for 2023 and 2024, with the exception of November 2023. Meetings will be held at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at the Fairview Park Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

November Program: “Wild Turkey Management and Monitoring in Ohio”
Presenter: Mark Wiley, ODNR Wildlife Biologist
Date & Time: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom Only, NO in person meeting at the Library
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89936595434?pwd=ZzdubEhqdUJvT0dUY01MaTFYSjhVUT09

Description: The restoration of wild turkey in Ohio and across the species’ range is a shining example of wildlife management success in North America. Once extirpated, wild turkeys are now considered common in the Buckeye State and can be found in all 88 counties. The Ohio Division of Wildlife intensively monitors the state’s wild turkey population and frequently conducts in-depth research to ensure wild turkeys and their habitats remain available for sustainable use and appreciation by all. Wildlife biologist Mark Wiley will discuss the history of wild turkey restoration as well as ongoing efforts to learn more about Ohio’s wild turkeys through monitoring and research. Such efforts include an annual citizen science survey reliant on public participation.

December Program: “Christmas Bird Count 2023 … it’s Almost Here!”
Presenter: Nancy Howell, Christmas Bird Count Compiler
Date & Time: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Library, 21255 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park; also via Zoom
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87302637202?pwd=RnFOVEUxTzZTYStiamloWm52YlFwdz09
Description: Our annual Christmas Bird Count, being held on Saturday, December 30, is a great way to do some birding, enjoy the winter season with family and friends, and have information you’ve collected used for research by National Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. No matter if you have participated in the Christmas Bird Count before or if this will be your first one, this program is for YOU! The Christmas Bird Count has some specific ways to collect the bird data for the day. In this presentation, Nancy Howell, CBC Compiler will review how to get involved, what areas are to be covered, how to collect your bird sightings, as well as sending in your bird lists and photos. We’ll also have a short session on winter bird identification of some of the more challenging birds. Join us!

January Program: “Using MOTUS Technology to Track Rehabilitated Birds”
Presenter: Tim Krynak, Cleveland Metroparks Natural Resources Manager and Tim Jasinski, Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Fairview Park Library, 21555 Lorain Rd, Fairview Park; also via Zoom
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87588379229?pwd=TzMzZm14ZnBBNHN4cEpJOUg2TEp0dz09
Description: This presentation will introduce the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, an international collaborative network of researchers that use automated radio telemetry to simultaneously track hundreds of individuals of numerous species of birds, bats, and insects. The system enables a community of researchers, educators, organizations, and citizens to undertake impactful research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. We will discuss Cleveland Metroparks and Lake Erie Nature and Science Center involvement in this collaborative project and share some interesting results.