UPCOMING EVENTS, PROGRAMS, and OUTINGS

LET'S GO BIRDING

Come join the Kalmiopsis Audubon Society on our monthly "Let's Go Birding" bird-watching outings and see some of the amazing variety of birds in our local area.

Next outing:

March 13, Pala Road, Smith River

Meet in Brookings at 8am/ in Gold Beach at 7:15am

For more information, check out the Let's Go Birding page.

Mark your calendars for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) on February 12- 15, 2010. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks, or wildlife refuges.

Each checklist submitted by these "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.

Everyone can take part in the GBBC, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.

Anyone with Internet access can see the real-time results in maps and charts as the sightings pour in. Some bird watchers even send digital photos to back up their reports. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

For more than a decade, the GBBC has kept tabs on the ever-changing patterns of birds in winter. "This project has become a major source of scientific information about North American bird populations," said Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. "It is a classic example of the vital role citizens and the Internet now play in understanding our planet." Let’s put the birds of Curry County on the GBBC map!

To participate, here’s what you do:

1) Count the birds in your backyard (or local park or public lands) for 20 to 30 minutes, on any or all of the four count days (Feb. 12-15). For each species, record the highest number of individuals that you see at any one time during your count. (In other words, don’t count the same bird twice.)

2) Then each day, enter your count online at the Great Backyard Bird Count site: www.birdcount.org. You’ll see a button marked “Enter your Checklists!”

After you enter your results, press the “Explore the Results” button to view real-time listings pouring in from all across the continent.

KAS ANNUAL MEETING, 30th ANNIVERSARY PARTY, MARCH 26, 5:30

At this year’s annual meeting, we will celebrate KAS 30th anniversary. Please join us for the festivities on March 26 at 5:30pm. We’ll start with a brief business meeting at which we’d like to honor KAS founders. Then we’ll enjoy a potluck dinner so bring a favorite dish to share. In continuing the fun tradition we started last year, we invite members to bring 5-10 bird or nature slides to share after dinner. (Both traditional and digital slides are AOK.) The meeting/anniversary party will be held at the home of Ann Vileisis and Tim Palmer at 608 Oregon Street, in downtown Port Orford, located one half block west of Highway 101, just up the hill from the Savoy Movie theatre. Please RSVP by phone (541-332-0261) or by email to annvil@earthlink.net. We’ll be sending out an email reminder in March, so if you want to be reminded, send me your email address, and I’ll put you on the list.