SAVE THE DATE: Warblers & Wildflowers: April 26-28 2024

SAVE THE DATE: Warblers & Wildflowers: April 26-28 2024

by | Dec 20, 2023 | OOS Events, Past News and Events | 0 comments

Mark your calendars and reserve a room for Warblers and Wildflowers at Shawnee State Park: April 26-28, 2024

It’s time again to plan for next Spring’s Warblers & Wildflowers at Shawnee State Park. Get a jump on spring migration along with the opportunity to see and hear nesting species that don’t migrate further north. And for the botanists in the group, there’s lots of native flora not seen many other places in Ohio.

You can reserve your room or cabin now at discounted prices. Call Shawnee Lodge & Conference Center at 740-858-6621 and tell them you’re reserving a room/cabin for the event with Ohio Ornithological Society on the dates indicated for the discount.

Tentative Schedule

The tentative schedule will start Friday evening with happy hour, a buffet dinner, a short introduction to the Shawnee area, an evening speaker (TBD) and off in search seeking to hear the Chuck-will’s-widows.

Saturday morning will feature a wide variety of bird/botany walks with experienced leaders. Saturday evening, after a buffet dinner, will feature a keynote speaker (TBD) and again go in search seeking to hear Chuck-will-widows. In addition, we will be setting up mothing sheets near the cabins for both nights! It looks to be a great event that you won’t want to miss.

Watch the OOS website, Facebook, your email and see the Chip Notes in mid-January for more information and a link to register for the event. We are looking forward to having a full event this year and hope you will join us for a great weekend!

2024 Winter Raptor Extravaganza at The Wilds!

2024 Winter Raptor Extravaganza at The Wilds!

by | Dec 15, 2023 | OOS Events, Past News and Events | 0 comments

2024 Winter Raptor Extravaganza at The Wilds: January 20, 2024

We’re looking forward to birding with members again at The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio, in 2024! Don’t miss a fun day of birding, seeing old friends and learning about the Common Mudpuppy!  

The OOS will return to The Wilds on January 20, 2024, for our annual trip to find wintering raptors and wintering waterfowl! This event is a big THANK YOU to all of the OOS members that help support our great organization. Because of you, we were able to sponsor many conservation programs/projects to organizations in Ohio for the protection of our birds and their habitat.

And the Youth Education Committee is always working on providing Ohio’s youth with opportunities through scholarships, educational opportunities, etc. in order to further their interest/passion to help Ohio’s bird conservation for them and future generations.

Register Here

YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE! REGISTRATION IS LIMITED!

Once you’re a member, register for the 2024 OOS Winter Raptor Extravaganza by sending an email to Jason Larson at bairdstrogon@yahoo.com and join us for a fun day of birding.

Include the names and emails of all the members of your group. Once you’re on the list, you will receive an email prior to the event with final instructions. If you register for your entire group, you will be the primary contact person and you are responsible for forwarding all information to those participants, if we are not provided with an email address for them.

If you know someone who is not a member and they would like to attend the event, simply have them sign-up for an OOS membership! Members may also invite non-members to attend the event, but an OOS member must make the reservation.

American Pipit

The Wilds is a large reclaimed surface mine grassland area that has abundant wintering raptors and grassland nesting birds. While most of the region is rolling grassland, there are also areas of ponds, lakes, wetlands, spoils forest and remnant hardwood forests. Wide-open vistas make this a great raptor-watching spot. Special species that we may find are: Golden and Bald Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk (light & dark morphs), Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl, Northern Shrike and Eastern Meadowlark. Open water areas can also attract a large variety of waterfowl. In the past we have seen such rarities as Long-tailed Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose and Green-winged Teal. If we are very fortunate, we might get to see something like the Prairie Falcon that spent the winter in 2003-2004.