NEWSLETTERS

The Cape Cod Bird Club publishes a quarterly newsletter, the Kingfisher.  Selected past issues are now available on the Newsletters page.

2012 Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens Scholarship

The Cape Cod Bird Club (CCBC) is sponsoring a scholarship for a Cape Cod teen (between the ages of 14 and 18, inclusive) to attend a bird-watching and natural history camp operated by the National Audubon Society in the Summer of 2012 in Maine. Tuition is $995.

We ask your assistance in helping us find worthy candidates for a full-tuition scholarship to the Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens camp, which will be run during the week of 24 – 29 June 2012 at the Hog Island Audubon Camp, Bremen, Maine—about 50 miles north of Portland along the coast. See the following link for more details and for a map of the location of the camp: 

http://www.projectpuffin.org/OrnithCamps.html

Scholarship applicants, who MUST BE RESIDENTS OF CAPE COD, must return the application with a 250- to 500-word essay by January 6, 2012, to: 

CCBC Bird Camp Scholarship
Attn: Charlie Martin
PO Box 704, Harwich, MA 02645

Top applicants might be interviewed by a Scholarship Committee members during the selection process. The award decision will be made in February, 2012. The recipient is expected to register with the camp; the CCBC will arrange payment of the full camp tuition. Note that the recipient is responsible for ALL OTHER COSTS, including transportation to and from the camp, as well as any other incidental costs associated with attending the camp.

The recipient will be expected to attend one of the fall meetings of the CCBC at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in the early evening (7:30-8:00pm) and be available to answer member questions about the camp experience. The recipient will also be expected to write a brief report (approx. 250 words) for the Fall 2012 edition of the CCBC newsletter (article due about August 20).

Please help us communicate this opportunity to qualified students.

If you have any questions, please contact Peter Bono, chair of the CCBC Scholarship Committee, at pbono@prba.com or 508-375-9421.

Sincerely yours,

 

Mark Faherty, President Cape Cod Bird Club

Peter R. Bono, Vice President Chair, CCBC Scholarship Committee

Other Programs of Interest

There are some great bird and other nature programs coming up soon.  Check out the Other Programs of Interest for more information!

DO YOU HAVE OWLS?

To help locate owls for the state's Breeding Bird Atlas, Mass Audubon's website has a new "Owl Reporter." http://www.massaudubon.org/owls/

Help Us Find Massachusetts' Owls

Join our state-wide effort to document owl populations in Massachusetts! 

Owls are everywhere. Some species can be found in dense forests or small wood lots. Others may prefer swamps, or open marshes, grasslands, or even residential neighborhoods. 

Do you have owls in your neighborhood? It is very possible, but because they are nocturnal they often go unnoticed. Usually the best indication that there is an owl in the area is its call. 

Have you heard or seen an owl but need some assistance identifying it? We have provided photos and recordings of the seven species of owls that nest in Massachusetts.

Once you have identified your owl, please use our Owl Reporter to plot the location and date of the sighting. http://www.massaudubon.org/owls/report/sign_in.php

As always, please take care not to disturb any owl you find. 

Your owl location information will be included as a valuable subset of a larger database for Mass Audubon's five-year, statewide Breeding Bird Atlas project, a volunteer-based effort designed to map the distribution of all the breeding birds in the Commonwealth. 

HAVE YOU ANY SPARE USED OPTICS/GUIDES?

If so, please bring them to one of the upcoming meetings, starting in December.

To successfully address Neotropical migratory bird issues, good science and public awareness are essential. However, in the Neotropics, many researchers, educators, and conservationists work without the most basic equipment. The ABA addresses this need for equipment and educational tools and contributes to bird conservation through its Birders' Exchange program (http://www.americanbirding.org/bex/). Birders' Exchange takes new and used birding equipment and educational materials and matches it with local scientists, conservationists, and educators in  Latin America and the Caribbean.

Starting with the CCBC December meeting, there will be a labeled box near the Members Area where you can put any used binoculars, telescopes, and North American field guides (Sibley and National Geographic only, please).  These will be routed to Betty Petersen, who directs the Birders' Exchange program. If you have any questions, email Peter Bono at pbono@prba.com or phone him at 508-375-9421. Thank you.

Birding by Computer

Can't get out to go birding?  Do it online!  Enjoy learning more about your favorite birds, ones you saw on your last trip, or find out about the habits of species you would like to see.  Members of the Cape Cod Bird Club have a special opportunity (and a discounted amount) to subscribe to “The Birds of North America Online.”  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and The American Ornithologists’ Union have teamed up to provide a great website that is up-to-date and interactive. Subscribers can see images and video that vividly presents plumage details, behaviors, habitats, nests and eggs, recordings of each bird’s songs and calls, and much more.  You can find in-depth information on more than 700 species.  Check out a demo at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna.

If you would like to subscribe, send a check for $25.00 made out to Cape Cod Bird Club along with the subscription form.  By email, you will receive a code number that will give you a one year subscription to the website.  Happy birding!

Bird Observer