Chad Williams and his son Ceth, along with Rob Ripma recently attended the 3^rd Annual Ohio Young Birder's Conference in Oak Harbor, Ohio.  Chad and Rob are two of the eager IAS members laying the foundation for the Indiana Young Birders Club.  The conference was at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, on Lake Erie not far from Toledo.  Both Kenn and Kim Kaufman were among the attendees at the event.  Kim Kaufman is the founder of the very successful OYBC (www.ohioyoungbirders.org) .  All key presenters were actual Ohio Young Birders!   Chad says, “The event was absolutely amazing!  Each of the presenters did a phenomenal job and represented the organization with class.  Kim, Kenn, and their amazing group of volunteers and members are totally awesome!”

You can read more about the meeting in

Kaufmans's blog, Birding with Kenn and Kimberly

Chad's blog, Birding! A Growing Obsession

Rob and Eric Ripma's blog, Nutty Birder 

• By 1900 Trumpeter Swans were extirpated from their nesting and wintering areas in Central and Eastern North America. Their historic migrations to southerly wintering sites were totally destroyed.
• In recent decades wild nesting populations of Trumpeters have been successfully restored in several northerly states and Ontario. Most swans now winter near their northern breeding areas, but an unknown number are pioneering southward where they are beginning to establish use of more southerly wintering sites.
• Little is known regarding the numbers and groupings of southward migrants, the location and characteristics of the sites they are pioneering, the duration of use, or problems they may be encountering.
• By providing information through Trumpeter Watch, observers can help document the changing distribution of wintering Trumpeter Swans and help identify potential new southerly wintering sites.

Read more on the website of the Trumpeter Swan Society

OK…some birds have great appeal…and some birds…uggghhhh…don’t. We ended 2009 with what I considered to be a very appealing bird (Short-eared Owl), and in a somewhat strange twist we’re going to start out this brand new decade with what is quite possibly the most hated bird in America.

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