(c) Bill Stripling

Volume 3, Number 16

Friday, September 16, 2005

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.
It will never fail you.
-- Frank Lloyd Wright


In this issue:


Hurricane Katrina Update

Audubon Adventures and the mail house that distributes the magazine have arranged for free distribution of Audubon Adventures back issues to children and teachers who have been disrupted or displaced from their schools or homes by Hurricane Katrina. Ken Smith and Mary Smith of Audubon Arkansas came up with this wonderful idea. Audubon Adventures will be directly distributed by staff and volunteers who are in close proximity to evacuees in schools and temporary housing. To date, 3,000 copies have been distributed to our state office in Arkansas and to Audubon Chapters.

We've started in Arkansas, and we will be making materials available to other states that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, including Louisiana and Mississippi, when they are ready to take advantage of this opportunity.

For more information about participating in this outreach, please contact Elaine O'Sullivan at eosullivan@audubon.org.


Strawberry Plains Audubon Center's Hummingbird Migration Celebration Provides Respite from Hurricane Katrina

Holly Springs, MS, September 16, 2005 - Providing people with the chance to see the beautiful side of nature in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation, the sixth annual Hummingbird Migration Celebration was held September 9-11 at the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

The event, one of the largest Audubon-sponsored nature festivals in the country, coincides with the peak of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird's southward migration, and this year the birds were at their best. Guests to the event were greeted with hummingbirds buzzing around the myriad of native flowers and feeders found on the 2,500-acre preserve.

Approximately 4,000 festival-goers, including 700 schoolchildren from northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee who attended the Kids Day event on September 8, turned out for the celebration.

"This year's Hummingbird Migration Celebration provided a respite from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, and I am thrilled that so many people were able to attend the event," said Madge Lindsay, executive director of Audubon Mississippi. "Through festivals such as this one, we are able to achieve our very important goals of connecting people with nature and explaining how nature works."

For more information about Audubon Mississippi's programs, visit http://www.msaudubon.org/.


HawkWatch Weekend Festival at Audubon Greenwich September 17 and 18

Greenwich, CT, September 16, 2005 -- Come watch the hawks soar over the Audubon Center at Greenwich at the HawkWatch Weekend Festival Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Audubon Greenwich is located at 613 Riversville Road in Greenwich, Connecticut.

On Sunday, September 18 at 3 pm the Center is pleased to present Bruce Babbitt, former United State Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of Arizona who will bring fresh thought and fresh air to questions of how we can build a future we want to live in. He will discuss a way of thinking about open space that retains local control while acknowledging national interests. Mr. Babbitt's talk and presentation will be followed by a book signing of his new book, Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America.

The main event is the unparalleled opportunity to observe birds of prey, eagles, hawks, and falcons soar overhead on their southward migration flights. It can be a spectacular sight. Migration flights are dependent on weather conditions, and mid-September is the peak time to see this natural phenomenon, which continues into fall. The Audubon Center has been recognized as an Important Bird Area in Connecticut and their Quaker Ridge Hawk Watch site is the perfect high location to view this amazing migration. Throughout the weekend, Audubon's experienced hawk watchers will help you spot and identify the magnificent birds.

For more information about the festival, visit http://greenwich.center.audubon.org/.


Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon Launch New Version of eBird

Ithaca, NY, September 16, 2005 - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon announce the release of eBird 2.0, an updated version of the powerful Internet-based program currently used by thousands of birders. eBird is a free, user-friendly way for birders across North America to record, archive, and share their observations at any hour of the day. It is also an important tool for conservation, providing researchers with a comprehensive picture of the abundance and distribution of birds. The data come to life via eBird's colorful new interactive maps.

In addition to a completely new look and feel, eBird 2.0 has a streamlined data entry process and a suite of new output tools geared toward the interests of today's birders. On customized "My eBird" pages users can now view their life, state and county lists - all generated automatically as individual reports are entered.

Begun in 2002, eBird is growing and changing as it builds a strong base of dedicated observers. eBird already supplies data to researchers across the country, and new ways to extract and interpret information will increase its value as a tool for bird conservation. In the coming years, eBird may have a role to play farther south in gathering information in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

To view eBird 2.0, go to www.ebird.org.


Audubon Pennsylvania Joins 65 Other Organizations to Offer Seminars on 'Deer in Your Backyard'

State College, PA, September 16, 2005 - Audubon Pennsylvania, in collaboration with over 65 other organizations, is presenting a series of seminars entitled: "Deer in Your Backyard - How to Deal with the Challenges of Overabundant Deer in Your Community."

The program is open to the public with no fee or pre-registration required. Speakers include Dr. Gary Alt, former Supervisor of the Pennsylvania Game Commission Deer Management Section; Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff; Barry Bessler, Chief of Staff Fairmount Park Commission and Gregg E. Robertson, President, Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association. Introductory comments by Representative Charles McIIhinney, Representative Carole Rubley and Senator Bob Regola are also scheduled.

The seminars are designed for communities, homeowners, farmers, forest landowners and others experiencing challenges from overabundant deer. Issues, concerns and ideas raised during these seminars will be presented to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which has requested public input on deer management. Topics will include Lyme disease, methods for managing deer populations within your community, examples of local deer management practices, and what you and your community can do to address deer management challenges.

For more information, contact Timothy D. Schaeffer, Executive Director of Audubon Pennsylvania at (717) 213-6880, ext. 20, E-Mail: tschaeffer@audubon.org or visit http://www.ecosysmp.com/.


Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Named as Gateway Site in South Florida Birding Trail

Naples, FL, September 16, 2005 - Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has just been named the site for the groundbreaking ceremony of the South Florida section of the Great Florida Birding Trail by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This program identifies interesting sites for birdwatchers and will publish the sites in a Birding Trail guide. The new free Trail Guide to the South Florida Section of the trail will be available on January 14, 2006 at the Great Florida Birding Trail Expo at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

The Great Florida Birding Trail is a 2,000 mile highway trail designed to conserve and enhance Florida's bird habitat by promoting birdwatching activities, conservation education and economic opportunity. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary was selected as a premier or "gateway" site because of its extensive services for visitors, from a 2.25 mile boardwalk, to state-of-the-art Blair Audubon Center, and a variety of educational activities, as well as more than 200 species of birds including the largest nesting colony of endangered Wood Storks.

In addition, the Great Birding Trail seeks to promote economic development in rural areas through birdwatching and other eco-tourism activities. As a gateway site, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary will offer more complete resources and information about the entire Great Florida Birding Trail than other sites along the Trail.

For more information about Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, go to www.corkscrew.audubon.org.


New Birding Trail Loop Beckons Nature Lovers to Southwest Washington

Vancouver, WA, September 16, 2005 - The third route of the Great Washington State Birding Trail, the Southwest Loop, recently rolled off the presses - to be followed closely, local civic leaders hope, by flocks of bird-watching tourists. Over the last decade, bird watching has become the fastest growing outdoor recreation in the U.S., with more than 71 million Americans describing themselves as interested in birding.

"Experienced birders, novice bird-watchers, and nature lovers in general are just beginning to discover this marvelous corner of our state," said Nina Carter, executive director of Audubon Washington. "The Southwest Loop features 270 of Washington's 365 bird species."

Birding Trails, now found in more than 20 states, are actually self-guided driving tours with stops at the best places to see birds. Audubon Washington published the first route of the Great Washington State Birding Trail, the Cascade Loop, in 2002, and the second, the Coulee Corridor, in 2003, in partnership with local Audubon chapters and other public and private organizations.

To get your free copy of the Southwest Loop of the Washington State Birding Trail, call 1-866-WA-BIRDS or go to http://wa.audubon.org.


Audubon Adventures Now Meshes With the Ohio State Academic Achievement Standards

Columbus, OH, September 16, 2005 - Audubon Adventures, Audubon's premier education program for students in grades three through five, just got even easier to sell. Audubon has released its first analysis of the current year's Audubon Adventures publications that ties those publications directly to the Ohio state academic achievement standards.

Audubon Adventures is a program through which elementary school teachers receive a kit of materials that can be used for ongoing nature-based education programs during the school year. In recent years, placement of Audubon Adventures kits has become more difficult because of increasing pressure on teachers to conform classroom content to the Ohio state academic achievement standards. Teachers tell chapters that they just don't have time to teach materials unless they are directly related to the achievement standards.

To solve this problem, Audubon has just released a new guidance document that specifically ties each item in the Audubon Adventures kit to specific sections of the academic achievement standards. This will allow chapters to demonstrate to teachers that use of the Audubon Adventures kits will be consistent with their efforts to meet state achievement standards.

Other states that are incorporating the new guidance document include: California, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, New York, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

For more information about Audubon Adventures, visit www.audubon.org/educate.


Audubon Chapters Invited to Participate in National Public Lands Day

New York, NY, September 16, 2005 - On Saturday, September 24, thousands of volunteers will gather around the country to care for one of America's most valuable resources - our public lands. Toyota invites Audubon Chapters and members to support National Public Lands Day by volunteering at one of more than 550 sites throughout the country. Public lands are for everyone: to find out where you can volunteer, visit http://www.npld.com/.

To learn more about Toyota's involvement with National Public Lands Day and their partnership with the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation, visit http://www.toyota.com/community.


There's Still Time to Bid with Your Lid!

New York, NY, September 16, 2005 - Audubon is participating in Stonyfield Farm's "Bid With Your Lid" program, which asks consumers to support one of three environmental groups by mailing specially-marked yogurt lids to Stonyfield Farm or by casting votes online. Stonyfield Farm, the world's largest organic yogurt maker, will donate a total of $100,000 to the groups.

Each year through its Profits for the Planet (PFP) Program, Stonyfield Farm donates 10 percent of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the Earth. This year, Stonyfield Farm will give a guaranteed minimum $20,000 donation to each of the three organizations participating in the "Bid With Your Lids" program. At the end of the promotion, a $40,000 donation from Stonyfield Farm will be split among the groups. The exact amount donated to Audubon and the two other organizations is determined by the public, who will cast votes online or by mail via the specially marked yogurt lids. As an incentive to collect lids and cast multiple votes, consumers receive a gift based on the number of lids sent in.

Consumers can learn how to vote for their favorite group, including Audubon, by visiting http://www.stonyfield.com. Deadline for the special promotion is October 31, 2005. To read the full press release visit http://www.audubon.org/news/press_releases/july2005.html.