During the first week of November, Western Cuyahoga Audubon and David Lindo engaged with not only our valued Audubon chapter members, but also with youth birders and naturalists, including the children of the Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland, East Clark Middle School Bird Nerds, and Ohio Young Birders Club.
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It’s Beginning to The Gift of Helping Birds this Holiday Season - Christmas Bird Count Participation11/1/2019 What is the culprit of plummeting bird populations? The usual suspects: habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. However, a few other offenders are now in the spotlight: outdoor cats, light pollution, and building/window collisions. It seems bird population decline is a complex problem that will require more than one solution. Fortunately, there are many ways in which we can help. Sagan Brosius observing a pair of Common Yellowthroats at Bath Nature Preserve on June 22, 2019. “Western Cuyahoga Audubon needs your help to assist in protecting the species we enjoy. What is being asked is that anyone reading this become a Western Cuyahoga chapter member. Membership dues go directly to the chapter in support of conservation, education, and advocacy activities.” It is imperative that Audubon chapters, like Western Cuyahoga Audubon, affiliated organizations, and individuals - “speak in a common voice” and continue to lead the way - as the founders of COAC envisioned. WCAS Conservation Lab Generates Collaborative Projects by Kurt Miske, Chair, Conservation Committee1/21/2019 What is exciting is that we’re making progress by creating a system to explore and sanctify projects on an ongoing basis. With the rapid growth of the human population comes the demand for more land and resources. According to Wildlife Biologist Kevin Kenow of the U.S Geological Survey’s Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, the ideal habitat for migrating birds is disappearing. WCAS Conservation Stories S... by on Scribd WCAS hosted the program, “Conservation Stories of Western Cuyahoga Audubon” on November 6, 2018 that featured personal reports by WCAS members who participated in three conservation projects: Donald Gray Gardens (1985-1996), Dike 14/Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve (circa 2000-2012), and Rocky River Important Bird Area Surveys (2006-2012). This is the accompanying slide show. Nature has to confront things, they have enemies who work together to solve a specific problem. What biomimicry does is it teaches collaboration, it teaches systems thinking. And that is different than what we think of as humans most of the time. And once we get our brains together on a cumulative basis, it’s amazing what we can go ahead and solve. It’s not any less than that, it has to be these like-minds coming together to make change, and to flex our muscles, and to speak so that we can become better informed about the issues, so that we can vote better, so that we can send the message out to the world about what we believe in and - that’s what we can do together to be viable going into the future. ~ Wendy Weirich, Cleveland Metroparks The Rocky River IBA and the initial data collected over those five or seven year period, provided a point in time, a really good average over some years to give us a really good handle on what birds use that area in those periods when you were surveying. ~ Terry Robison, Cleveland Metroparks No matter what mode of transportation, it is great to get as much of our Count Circle covered as possible and tally the number of species present. Everyone’s participation will be appreciated; from tallying numbers at feeders, to birding through whatever weather comes that day. By simply drinking the right coffee, coffee lovers can help preserve over 250,000 acres of prime tropical habitat and biodiversity, save birds, family farms, workers jobs and the Earth we all share. On Saturday, November 17th, Western Cuyahoga Audubon will be doing a Hotspot Birding Field Trip at Sandy Ridge Reservation in Lorain County. We’ll be focusing on waterfowl and water birds primarily. It will be the heart of the waterfowl migration, particularly for dabbling ducks. Birds like Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Green-wing Teal, and Mallards, should all be in good number here in mid-November. Visiting Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve with Lukas Padegimas, Traveler, Birder and Photographer8/12/2018 Lukas Padegimas takes us on a tour of Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve and some of it's unique areas. In addition, Lukas talks about how he got started as a young birder and future conservationist. The Glacier Bird of the Andes by Doug Hardy, Founder, Norwich Vermont Birds & Beans Coffee Club8/3/2018 Doug Hardy founded and runs the Norwich Vermont Birds & Beans Coffee Club. Since November 2012 the Club has purchased nearly 6,000 pounds of our Smithsonian certified shade grown, Organic and Fair Trade ‘Bird Friendly®’ supporting migratory birds and family coffee farms. “Organizations grow with a diversity of volunteers and the abilities, skills and ideas brought by those volunteers. In planning and preparing for the 2018-2019 Western Cuyahoga year, we would like to have additional volunteers come forward and participate.” An enterprising teacher at the Cambridge, Ohio school who runs the ‘Bobcat Coffee Company’ uses Birds and Beans coffee for a project that gives special needs students the opportunity to learn how to run a small business. Projects like this make a difference for birds, habitat, farming families and all youth throughout the Americas. Now more than ever, it is imperative Ohio conservation interests connect, communicate, and collaborate as a united front for nature and the environment. In 2018 Year of the Bird, the Bald Eagle, Kirtland's Warbler, Least Tern, Piping Plover, Rufa Red Knot and the Whooping Crane have been Federally-listed as threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species' by the USFWS in 8 midwest states. Here are some simple ways to help protect birds in our area, perhaps your yard, neighborhood, and beyond. WCAS’s Carbon Offset Project, begun several years ago and modeled after an effort launched at the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium, is a way for members to make contributions that offset their use of carbon while participating in birding activities (or any other activities) that requires travel. "Look, See the Farm!" with Bill Wilson (Author and Birds & Beans Founder) and Katie Fallon (Author)4/26/2018 A conversation about the new children's book, "Look, See the Farm!" with Bill Wilson (Author and Birds & Beans Founder) and Katie Fallon (Author). Learn about two girls who visit their grandparents' organic farm and discover the wild birds that live there too—meadowlark, wood thrush, barn swallow, screech-owl, and many more. An early morning Spring visit to watch Rocky River Eagles and Eaglets feeding and parental nest-building activities. What it's all about: Bringing the community out to see nesting bobolinks and other natural phenomena at Byers Woods, which is designated an Important Birding Area. Photo by Irv Oslin. |
Story BlogThe Feathered Flyer blog publishes human interest stories about birding and habitat conservation. Quarterly NewsletterWCAS is a proud member of The Council of Ohio Audubon Chapters (COAC) and promotes chapter development by sharing the best practices, brainstorming solutions to common problems, and building relationships in workshops and retreats. Subscribe
ConversationsTerry Robison, Dir Natural Resources, Cleveland Metroparks, and Tom Romito, WCAS, talk about the value WCAS members have brought to advance NEO conservation at the Cleveland Metroparks.
Wendy Weirich, Dir Outdoor Experiences, Cleveland Metroparks, Tom Romito, WCAS, and Tim Colborn, Ohio Ornithological Society, talk about the value conservation groups bring to regional conservation efforts and how we can all work together for a better world.
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