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November Ticket Raffle
At our "Bluebirds"
program at The Holden Arboretum in November, we will have a
Ticket Raffle to raise funds to purchase Audubon Adventures.
Blackbrook Audubon purchases these nature-themed newsletters
for several classrooms in Lake and Geauga counties and hopes
to add a few classrooms in Ashtabula county. We'll have a
variety of birdfeeders and nature books available as well as a
few surprise items. The cost will be $1 per ticket or $5 for
six tickets.
Press Releases
Blackbrook Blog
Questions From Readers
Hushwing
Tips
Bird Bios |
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Blackbrook Audubon History
Blackbrook Audubon
Society Mission:
Blackbrook Audubon Society promotes conservation and
restoration of ecosystems with emphasis on birds and habitat
through education and advocacy within Ohio's Ashtabula, Lake
and Geauga counties and adjacent communities.
Join Blackbrook Audubon Society
Join National Audubon Society
Toner Cartridge
Recycle Program
Blackbrook Audubon
continues to collect used inkjet and laser
toner cartridges to recycle. The
cartridges we need have a manufacturer’s
name on them and have not been previously
recycled. Anything that says
“compatible with” or “not OEM” are not
acceptable.
Please bring your used cartridges to any
Blackbrook program, bird walk or field trip.
We collect these until we have a minimum of
25 to ship to Collect, Inc. We
appreciate the opportunity to turn “trash
into cash” to benefit Blackbrook’s mission
of conservation and education.
If you have any
questions, please contact Mary Ann Wagner at
maryannelizebeth@aol.com.
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Meetings/Field
Trips/Member Sightings
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Try out the new
Blackbrook Audubon Society Blog!
It's a great place
to share your experiences and photos with other enthusiasts!
Blackbrook Blog

Audubon Ohio invites you to a
special presentation:
Birds and Climate Change: On
the Move
Please join us for this rare
opportunity featuring National Audubon Society’s Director
of Bird Conservation, Gregory S. Butcher, PhD.
Birds are among the most adaptable of
wildlife - as long as they can find suitable habitat, they
are able to travel substantial distances north, inland, or
to higher latitudes. That is one of the things that make
them sensitive environmental indicators - alerting us to
ecological disruption, often before it directly affects
us.
Gregory S. Butcher, Ph.D, National
Audubon Society’s Director of Bird Conservation, presents
findings that show nearly 60% of the 305 bird species
found in North America in winter are on the move, shifting
their ranges northward by an average of 35 miles.
Audubon's analysis reveals that many species that winter
in the U.S. are moving significantly north - strong
evidence that global warming is already altering their -
and our - environment. The birds' northward movement
is another signal that climate change is here and action
is needed now.
3 Events In Ohio:
Wednesday, November 18th 2009
Cleveland Museum of Natural
History 1
Wade Oval Drive University Circle
Cleveland, OH
44106 7:30
pm *Free
with Museum Admission
Thursday, November 19th 2009
Grange Insurance Audubon Center
505 W. Whittier Street
Columbus, OH 43215
7:30 pm
Free*Donations are appreciated
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm
1000 Aullwood Rd.
Dayton, OH 45414
7:30 pm
Free*Donations are appreciated
RSVP Online Now
Dr. Butcher's Bio:
Gregory S. Butcher, Ph.D., is Director
of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society. In
this role he oversees Audubon's State of the Birds
analyses and other research related to bird conservation.
He also works closely with Audubon's partner organizations
including Bird Conservation Alliance, BirdLife
International, the North American Bird Conservation
Initiative, and Partners in Flight.
Greg began working for Audubon as
Director of Citizen Science in December of 2002 and
switched less than a year later to Director of Bird
Conservation. He has had a long association with Audubon's
Christmas Bird Count: as a participant since 1965, as a
count compiler and database manager from 1984-92, and as a
researcher since 1984.
From 1992 to 1998, Greg served as
Executive Director of the American Birding Association
(ABA) where he spearheaded the addition of education and
conservation initiatives to the organization's program
agenda. Under his leadership, ABA's membership grew from
11,500 to 20,000 in five years.
Previously, Greg was the Midwest
Coordinator for Partners In Flight where he served on the
species assessment technical committee, which determined
many of the scores that underlie Audubon's State of the
Birds: WatchList methodology today. He also has served as
editor of Birder's World magazine.
Greg started his career at Cornell
University's Laboratory of Ornithology as the Director of
Bird Population Studies. His key accomplishments included
helping to launch Project FeederWatch, an annual survey of
birds that visit feeders in winter, and the National
Science Experiments, where citizen scientists collected
data to answer research questions about breeding habitat
requirements of tanagers, birdseed preferences, and pigeon
behavior and coloration.
Greg is an elective member of the
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and past president of
the Association of Field Ornithologists. and has field
experience in Costa Rica, where he completed the Tropical
Ecology course of the Organization for Tropical Studies,
organized a symposium and field workshop on monitoring
bird populations at the First International Wildlife
Management Congress, and organized a joint meeting of the
American Birding Association, Association of Field
Ornithologists, and Costa Rican Ornithologists'
Association that attracted more than 400 participants.
Greg earned his B.A. in Zoology from
Connecticut College and his Ph.D. in Zoology from the
University of Washington. He has been an active field
birder since the age of 11, birding in 47 of the 50
states, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru,
Chile, Europe, and South Africa. His number one birding
goal is to see male birds of paradise displaying at a
breeding lek.
RSVP Online Now
For more
information contact Marnie Urso at
murso@audubon.org or
216-246-7150
Blackbrook Audubon
Society
Meeting Schedule - 2009-2010
Upcoming Meetings/Fieldtrips/Activities
Click Here for printable Meeting Flyer
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Field Trip: - 8:30 a.m.
Perry Township Park / Arcola Creek
For more information, call
440-257-2507
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Program Meeting: – 7:00 p.m.
The Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, OH
Mike Watson—”Bluebirds”
December 2009
Christmas Bird Count
Check website or call Anders at
440-257-7611 for more information
IBA Monitoring Continues

Blackbrook will hold monthly important bird monitoring
walks at Holden’s Strong Acres (8859 Kirtland-Chardon
Rd.) the second and fourth Sunday at 8:00am and the
third Wednesday at 7:00pm of every month. The drive is
the first left after Booth Rd. Park at the Red Barn. All
skill levels welcome.
Please Note:
Strong Acres Bird Walk Checklist
Strong Acres Trail
Map
All programs are free and open to the public.
Everyone is welcomed!
Check out the
Photo Gallery


Photos by Sally Iascco
These Sandhill Cranes were found October 27th one mile
east of Mesopotamia on Rt 87 by Sally Isacco of
Chardon, Ohio.

photo by Gary Ault
This unusual Leucistic
Tufted Titmouse (above) has been hanging out at my feeder
for the better part of a month says Mrs. Jennifer
Ault. It was first spotted in August and has
returned 3 times in the last month with a larger group of
tufted titmice. Mr. Gary Ault waited patiently to snap
this photo.

Sally Isacco snapped this photo of a Lark Sparrow at
Headlands Park in Mentor, Ohio on September 4th, 2009.


Roger Beuck photographed the above
Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly during our IBA walk at Strong Acres
on Sunday, July 26.
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Blackbrook Audubon Society
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FROM
the DESK of the PRESIDENT
by
Becky Thompson
btkingfisher@yahoo.com
Blackbrook relies on community support
financially through membership and donations. I would
like to personally thank everyone who donated to this
past year’s Bird-a-thon and other raffles. This
September, money donated will go to distributing Audubon
Adventures into local classrooms. AUDUBON ADVENTURES is
an environmental education curriculum for children in
grades 3 to 5. It helps students form positive attitudes
about nature and covers topics and themes that are
important to Blackbrook’s mission in a way that helps
teachers meet their teaching needs. Each classroom will
receive a curriculum which contains four sets of
newsletters and a teacher workbook containing hands-on
classroom activities.
It’s not too late! If you are interested
in donating or want to support a specific classroom
please contact Julie Dougherty, Blackbrook’s Education
Chair. The cost for an entire class (30 students) is
only $38.50 plus $7.15 for shipping and handling. The
more money we raise each year, the more Audubon
Adventures we can place in classrooms. For donations see
Blackbrook contact information on the back of this
newsletter.
Not only are monetary donations
important to keep Blackbrook running but equally
important is the time individuals give through
volunteering. I would also like to personally thank
everyone, including boards member, who have dedicated
his or her time and energy to make Blackbrook a
successful non-profit organization. Without dedicated
volunteers, Blackbrook would not be able to survive and
grow. If you are interested in volunteering please
contact myself or another board member for more
information.
Currently there is a volunteer position
open, Hospitality Chair. The hospitality chair is
responsible for arriving a bit early for each meeting
and starting the hot water and/or coffee. This person
also coordinates people offering to bring refreshments
and if there are not enough volunteers, buys (at
Blackbrook’s cost) something to serve. This does not
take a great deal of time, as the other board members
stand ready to help deliver the materials. If anyone
would be interested, please let me know.
Blackbrook holds monthly board meeting
the first Tuesday of the month at 7:15 p.m. at The
Mentor Marsh House. Any member / friends are welcome to
attend the meetings. We welcome new faces and ideas!
Please check first with a board member as occasionally
we change the date to accommodate the board member’s
schedules.
We have an exciting year ahead of us
including many new trips and programs.
I look forward to seeing everyone at our
fall events.
Thank you for your continued support,
Becky
Blackbrook Audubon
Society
Fund Raiser
Help support the
Blackbrook Audubon
Society with your
NEW subscription to
Bird Watcher’s Digest!
Each NEW subscription
sold at just $19.99 (1 year/6 issues) earns $10 for the
Blackbrook Audubon Society.
Click here for form or click the link below to subscribe
online.
Bird Watcher Digest Subscription
Fairport Harbor - Port Burwell Truck
Ferry Project
The Burwell Truck Ferry
project is a way of moving cargo across Lake Erie instead of
trucking the cargo around the lake to and from Ontario, CA.
The issue that rises from this project is that it will effect
areas that migrating birds need to cross the lake.
More
info on the project can be found at
http://www.savetheheadlands.com/ and at the
DOT.STATE.OH.US site.
Blackbrook members Anders and
Sue interviewed by WKYC of Cleveland.
The article can
be found
here.GRAND
RIVER -- It's a popular spot for swimmers boaters, anglers and
bird watchers, but a plan is in the works, that could turn it
into a "popular truck stop."
...
Blackbrook Audubon Society members Sue Kaufman and Anders
Fjeldstad are frequent bird watchers in the nature preserve at
Headlands Beach.
"You can stand in the spring on the state nature preserve
and watch the warblers fly right by," Fjeldstad said.
The protected land is a flyway for migrating birds some of
them endangered species.
"A lot of them are going up to the Arctic to breed. It's a
very dangerous time for them without this property here it can
impact them a whole lot," Kaufman said.
The property abuts prime real estate now being considered
the site for a massive dock. The US end of a truck ferry
between Ontario and Ohio.
© 2009 WKYC-TV
Dear Friends,
When we founded this
organization thirteen years ago we vowed we would
never print T-shirts, and we promised we would
stay out of politics. Well.....we haven't printed
any T-shirts yet............but
today our topic is urgent, and so we must trespass
our own boundaries. The topic today involves the
fate of our state's nature preserves.
Please take a moment to
ponder all that has been accomplished by the Arc
of Appalachia...
Since our inception thirteen
years ago, we have purchased over 65 properties,
and 3200 acres of life-drenched bio-diverse native
landscapes - primarily with private philanthropic
dollars. Yet such work is
only
supplemental
to what can and should be
accomplished with state tax dollars.
The Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves
currently oversees an astounding
134 public
nature preserves in our state, stewarding
30,000 acres, run by some of the finest
conservation professionals we could ever have the
pleasure to work with. Most of these preserves are
open to the public, free of charge, with well
maintained systems of hiking trails.
Can you imagine a scenario in which an entire
Division disappears? It's hard, but it's
important to try. Due to state money shortages,
The Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has
been forced to swallow many budget cuts over the
last few years. When the last round of news
concerning financial deficits hit ODNR this week,
here was their reluctant response.
Fiscal Year 2010 (beginning next week) a
30% cut in in the Division's budget
Fiscal Year 2011 (beginning July 1,
2010) ZERO FUNDING for the Division of
Natural Areas and Preserves
The proposed budget figures can
be found by clicking
Here.
DNAP's
figures are in the PDF-link at the bottom of the page:
"Balance Sheet by Line Item" and near the top of page
7 of that PDF.
It is a
large document but the message for DNAP is clear: for
less than 2 million dollars a year, the Ohio natural
areas program could be saved: 134 public nature
preserves, 30,000 acres. Back in the seventies the
founders of the ARC worked at ODNR when the Division
of Natural Areas was born in the cradle of the
environmental movement. The founders were proud to
bear witness to Ohio's new bold conception. Shall we
now bear the shared burden of watching its demise?
If you care
about wilderness, about biodiversity, about the native
landscape that once covered Ohio, please act by
contacting your legislators and governor. The Division
only has one chance to survive. In addition,
please email or call the budget conference committee
members directly. If the public doesn't respond
with a loud and collective outcry, the Division of
Natural Areas and Preserves will soon be gone.
Over thirty years in the making, an entire division of
trained botanists, preserve stewards, maintenance
staff, and information line people. All of them gone.
Here are the conference committee members who are
working on the budge for 2010 and 2011.
The conference committee members
are:
Senator Mark Wagoner, Senate
Building, Room #129, First Floor, Columbus, Ohio
43215, Telephone: 614/466-8060
Email:
SD02@senate.state.oh.us
Senator Dale Miller, Senate
Building, Room #048, Ground Floor, Columbus, Ohio
43215. Telephone: 614/466-5123
Email:
SD23@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Senator John Carey, Senate
Building, Room #127, First Floor, Columbus, Ohio
43215, Telephone: 614/466-8156
Email:
SD17@senate.state.oh.us
Representative Vernon Sykes, 77
S. High St, 13th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6111.
Phone: (614) 466-3100. Fax: (614) 719-6944
Email:
district44@ohr.state.oh.us
Representative Ron Amstutz, 77
S. High St, 10th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6111,
Phone: (614) 466-1474. Fax: (614) 719-0003
Email:
district03@ohr.state.oh.us
Representative Jay P. Goyal, 77
S. High St, 14th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6111,
Phone: (614) 466-5802, Fax: (614) 719-3973
Email:
district73@ohr.state.oh.us
We end this letter by giving credit where credit is
due. Although donors have been the Arc's primary
source of land acquisition money, the Division of
Natural Areas has often assisted the Arc by
supplying 25% of our acquisitions money through the
purchase of a conservation easements on exceptionally
botanically-significant sites. In addition, the Arc
has benefitted greatly from tax supported Clean Ohio
funding. Non-profits don't thrive in a vacuum. They
thrive in partnership.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Interested in Birding?
Looking to volunteer?
We are a local chapter of the National Audubon Society.
Program meetings are the the third Tuesday of the month. Field
trips are usually held on the third weekend.
Blackbrook
Audubon depends on volunteers to help us carry out our
mission.
To Volunteer contact:
BLACKBROOK AUDUBON SOCIETY
PO Box 1306
Mentor, OH
44061-1306
Email:
blackbrookaud@aol.com
or call
Becky Thompson
President of Blackbrook Audubon Society
440-488-1162
Project FeederWatch
Project
FeederWatch Benefits Birds and People Connection with nature
promotes wellness
Ithaca, NY-More than 100 studies have shown that getting
closer to nature reduces stress and promotes a feeling of
well-being in children and adults. So , filling feeders and
counting the birds that visit may be just what the doctor
ordered! For more than 20 years, that’s what participants in
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch have
been doing-benefitting themselves and the birds.
Continued here...


Take Your
Birding to the Next Level
with “Inside Birding”
It’s May, perhaps bird watching’s
biggest month, as millions of birds return from the tropics,
filling the Northern Hemisphere with summer’s full array of
birds. It’s a great time to go bird watching, and Chris Wood
and Jessie Barry from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are
inviting you to go out with them—in a new free series of web
videos, “Inside
Birding.”
Jessie and
Chris share their tips, tools, and techniques for
identifying birds with confidence—whether you’re new to
birding or seeking to hone your skills. In the first four
episodes, learn the secrets of the “four keys” to bird
identification. Join Chris and Jessie in the field as they
practice using size and shape to identify common
birds. Learn how to use color pattern and
behavior for critical clues about a bird’s identity.
And travel with Chris and Jessie to the swam ng. Enhance
your bird knowledge by visiting our popular Bird Guide, with
more than 500 species profiles, new photo ID tools, cool
facts, sounds, and video. Peruse the Living Bird section for
articles about travel, science, and conservation. Practice
using the four keys to identification or sharpen your
knowledge about Songs and Calls in the Building Skills
section. Check out the Multimedia theater to watch videos
about birds from the Arctic, coasts, and grasslands—or learn
more about attracting birds right to your own yard.
We hope
you’ll bookmark your favorite pages and visit often. Enjoy
the birds!
Your friends at the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Hawk Count is
a site dedicated to tracking and reporting of raptor
migrations.
Check it out!
http://www.hawkcount.org/
Members of Blackbrook Audubon visited the Heritage Garden at
the Ohio Governor's Residence in Bexley, Ohio, with renowned
naturalist Guy Denny



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