Monday, February 18, 2008

MassWildlife and MassAudubon co-sponsor 16th Annual Bird Conference


Saturday, March 15, 2008
Bentley College, Waltham, MA

The theme is "Massachusetts Birds: Our Common Wealth and Natural Heritage." Here's a brief description:

"Whether you feed birds at home, seek birds with binoculars, spotting scopes or hunting gear, you are sure to find topics that appeal to your interest in Massachusetts birds including: research findings, waterfowl identification, youth bird clubs, conservation stamps, bird calls, habitat management techniques for birds in decline and many other bird related topics."

I'm seriously considering going to learn more about birding and get some ideas for the blog and things I'd like to start doing.

Here are the prices (they go up $10 after March 10):

$48 Mass Audubon members
$58 Non-members
The prices may seem steep, but all proceeds go toward Mass Audubon’s Important Bird Area (IBA) program and Mass Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

There are 3 morning lectures by representatives from both MassWildlife and Mass Audubon.

Speakers include:

Lang Elliott: a renowned bird photographer and author of audio guides to wildlife sounds
Hector Galbraith: global climate change expert (I'd like to his own site but it's down)
John O'Leary: Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
John O'Keefe: Harvard Forest (HFR) Forest Ecologist

There are also three afternoon workshops scheduled (with 4 topic choices for each timeslot).
Some interesting titles include:

To Feed or Not to Feed: That is the Question?
Identifying Water Fowl
Massachusetts Coastal Birds: What Are We Learning?

and this one that seemed particularly interesting:

Habitat Management Opportunities for Birds and Birders

To register click on the link at the top of this post. Already registered? Let me know!

3 comments:

Larry said...

that seems a bit steep-The COA has an all day birding program with guests that costs about 15 04 20 dollars I believe and the Eagle Fest was free except for boat rides.-If it is a really good program though I guess it's worth it.

Birdinggirl said...

That's a good point Larry. I'm willing to bite the bullet though because it's conveniently located for me and it's a nice structured event for me to learn in. Plus, all proceeds go toward Mass Audubon’s Important Bird Area (IBA) program and Mass Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. I'll update my post with this information- thanks for pointing it out!

Larry said...

I'm sure I would go too if I were in your shoes.-Just be aware that there can be a lot to offer out there.-I'll look forward to your posts on the bird conference!