> > > > Before you read on, I need your help. We forgot to pass around sign up > sheets at the last club meeting for help with the dish to pass dinner. I am > not able to be there this year and Becky Hansen will be hosting the dinner. > We would like to round up about 4 people to help set up for dinner and the > same number to help clean up and stay till that is completed. Please contact > me by return email if you are willing. > > > > In addition, Donna Scott has agreed to take feeder count phone calls but we > have come to realize that this would be done more efficiently as two person > job. Donna will take phone calls and numbers and we need someone to compile > as the time goes along, so that Donna and helper will essentially be done > with this job at 6 or soon after, and free to socialize. This time slot is > from 4-6 at the Lab of O. > > > > With much appreciation to all who help out in this effort......Linda > > > > And now for details as usual. > > > > This year will be Audubon’s 115th Christmas Bird Count. The Cayuga Bird Club > again will organize the Ithaca count on their traditional date of January 1. > This year that falls on a Thursday, which is a holiday for most of us. All > members of the public are encouraged to participate and we are very anxious > to have anyone interested in this feel comfortable about participating. It is > not necessary that you be a member of the Cayuga Bird Club. So please get in > touch. > > If you see an area below that you are familiar with and would like to cover, > let me know. If you would like more information or if you would like > assistance in choosing a count area or if you are a beginner and are > concerned about identifying birds accurately, you may call the Count > Co-Coordinator, Linda Orkin at 279-4253 or email me at wingmagi...@gmail.com. > I will be happy to discuss some options with you. Area leaders will be in > touch with participants from last year, so no need to contact us, unless you > do not hear from someone by the middle of December. > > Within the 15-mile diameter Ithaca count circle, we have nine areas from > which to choose, all with their own hotspots. Here is a link to our bird club > page with more details, including map of the circle and the > areas:http://www.cayugabirdclub.org/Resources/christmas-bird-count. > > Beginners can be paired with more experienced birders if they wish. The more > eyes and ears, the better. Dress warmly, be sure to have some hot beverages > and other provisions with you and get out and enjoy the day. This will be a > great start to your own personal 2015 bird list while contributing to this > monumental data collection. > > You can begin at 12:01 a.m. on January 1 by listening for owls, or you can > head out at dawn to tally resident songbirds. You can drive around in the > afternoon to look for hawks, and/or you can snuggle in at home and count > birds at your feeders. As you can see, there are many options for > participation and your input is invaluable at all levels. We want to thank > all of you in advance for your time and > contribution. > > If you choose to stay home and count birds at your feeders, write down the > total time you spend watching, the species seen, and the maximum number of > birds of each species seen at any one time. This is the same protocol as > Project Feederwatch. Call the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at 254-2473 between > 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (no later, please!) to report your totals to this > year’s club volunteer, still to be determined and we have decided that this > job will be better done by two, one who can compile numbers as the other > takes phone calls. Donna Scott will take phone calls as long as she has an > assistant, so that she can join in the socializing on time. > > We sincerely invite all to join other Christmas Bird Count (CBC) participants > in the auditorium at the Laboratory of Ornithology, starting at 6:00 p.m., > for a potluck supper at 6:30 p.m. This year Becky Hansen has agreed to host > the evening, but will need lots of hands to assist her. Please be prepared to > volunteer. Bring a dish to share, a beverage and your own table service. The > dinner will be followed by the compilation of sightings starting at 7:15 p.m. > Our count compiler this year will be our own club President, Paul Anderson, > who will be a worthy successor to Kevin McGowan and will bring a fount of > knowledge and a wonderful historical perspective to this endeavor. > > Counts are submitted to Audubon, which compiles the data from all the count > circles. Audubon posts all CBC data on the Internet and makes this huge > database is available for anyone to access—high school students doing a > project, newspaper reporters writing about bird population trends, or > scientists doing research. > > > > > > > > Area I Colleen Richards: West Dryden, Hile School Road area. Open fields, > secondary growth fields, > and woodlots. Possible Merlin, White-winged Crossbills, blackbirds, and > sparrows. > > Area II Bob McGuire: Fall Creek area, Mount Pleasant. Woodlands and fields. > Good for turkeys, > hawks, and herons. > > Area III Marie Read: The linear park in Dryden, Beam Hill, and Yellow Barn > Road. Pine and spruce > forests, good for winter finches. > > Area IV Laura Stenzler/Marjolein Schat: Ellis Hollow area, Snyder Hill, > Ringwood. Woodlands and fields. Good for > hawks, turkeys, bluebirds, sparrows, owls, and finches. > > Area V Sandy Podulka: Six Mile Creek gorge, Brooktondale area. Our largest > area, good birding and > hiking. Possible turkey and grouse. > > Area VI Asher Hockett Danby area, Finger Lakes Trail, and Buttermilk Falls. > Noted for wintering bluebirds and robins. > > Area VII Marty Schlabach: West side of Cayuga Lake, Bostwick Road, > Mecklenberg Road. Good for > waterfowl, including all three species of merganser. > > Area VIII Lynn Leopold: Cornell campus, Cayuga Heights, and Stewart Park. > Good for rare birds, Fish > Crows, and gulls. > > Area IX Mark Chao: East side of Cayuga Lake, Lansing area. Fields, woodlots. > Waterfowl and > field birds, including Northern Shrike and Short-eared Owl. > > The Audubon Christmas Bird Count has always been held in the December 14 > through January 5 time span. In addition to count circles throughout the > United States, counts are conducted in Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, > Ecuador, Nicaragua, and the Pacific Islands. You can see results, photos, and > get more detailed information at > http://www.cayugabirdclub.org/Resources/christmas-bird-count . We > urge you to browse this site to evaluate the importance and scope of this > ongoing count. The data that is gathered through this huge and historic > effort is invaluable and we are all fortunate that we get to be a part of > this historic count. > > > > > > > > -- > Veganism is simply the acknowledgment that a replaceable and fleeting > pleasure isn't more valuable than someone's life and liberty. > ~ Unknown > > If you permit > this evil, what is the good > of the good of your life? > > -Stanley Kunitz... >
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