Fellow Birders, This Thursday at 7:00 p.m., Ames Big Bluestem Audubon Society will be holding its first meeting of the season. This will also be the inaugural meeting at our new location of Northcrest, located just north of Ames High School. See the map on our clubs home page for details. http://bigbluestemaudubon.org/meet.htm
Shane Patterson will be giving a presentation on the Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas, which was a five-year project (2008-2012) that mapped the distribution of all nesting-bird species across Iowa. Below, Ive included a preview of this talk from the Big Bluestem Audubon newsletter. With comprehensive data collected from 1985 to 1990, Iowa's first Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA1) provided conservationists with a wealth of information about Iowa's nesting birds. As a follow-up to BBA1, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Ornithologists' Union, and groups of volunteers set out to conduct the state's second atlas (BBA2) from 2008 to 2012. Through the combined efforts of professionals and recreational birders alike, BBA2 was clearly a success. Participants logged well over 10,000 field hours and gathered extensive bird data from 791 sites statewide, covering every landform and bird habitat Iowa has to offer. Detailed information from BBA2 is now being summarized for publication in an upcoming book. This Thursday, Shane Patterson, who serves as Big Bluestem Audubon President and current coordinator of the Breeding Bird Atlas, will be discussing the project's findings, which include numerous interesting nesting-bird comparisons from the first atlas to the most recent time frame. I look forward to seeing you there on Thursday! Rachel Simmons Vice President, Big Bluestem Audubon Society --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
