|
|
 |
|---|
|
|
|
Western Nebraska Bluebird Conference/Workshop With growing interest and involvement in the bluebird recovery efforts taking hold in Nebraska's panhandle, Bluebirds Across Nebraska will be hosting its first Western Nebraska Bluebird Conference/ Workshop on Saturday, September 21, 2002 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center, located off Highway 71, south of Gering and Scottsbluff. Sarah Winfrey, Naturalist at the Game & Parks' center has donated the use of the facility for this conference, and Sioux County Coordinators Charles & Jean Snocker are helping to make this happen by handling local publicity, catering, and other necessary "details." The day's events will include a presentation by Sandy Seibert on bluebird basics that will be followed by a question & answer session; Bub Blake of Chambers, Nebraska, a nationally published wildlife photographer, will present his always educational and inspiring slide program; Rodney Johns, a local artist from Alliance whose mountain bluebird print was selected for Nebraska's 2002 Wildlife Habitat Stamp, will have his artwork on display and available to purchase; Park Naturalist Sarah Winfrey will talk about the nature center and the surrounding Wildcat Hills area; local bluebird enthusiasts and Sioux County coordinators Charles & Jean Snocker, will report on the latest bluebird activities in the area; and Ray Boice, project coordinator, will talk about the bluebird educational display planned for the center. In addition, BAN's Executive Director Steve Eno will present a "show & tell" featuring the new mountain bluebird boxes for use by bluebirders in the western portion of the state; Vice President Chuck Finley will explain BAN's county coordinator program; and President Bill Seibert will M.C. the event. Registration fee for the event is $5.00 which will include lunch, drinks, one cedar nesting box and pole, and a booklet on Mountain Bluebird monitoring. As a result of BAN's grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund, boxes will be available for placement and monitoring along Nebraska's TransNebraska Bluebird Trail. BAN will also have additional boxes for sale at cost. And as is the case at any BAN conference, there will be door prizes and raffle items.
Anyone planning to attend is asked to RSVP:
Another bluebird season has come and is almost gone. Many have had a successful season, fledging more bluebirds than ever before on their trails, while others may have experienced some problems. All of this is important information that needs to be recorded, compiled and studied. Enclosed with this newsletter is BAN's Annual Bluebird Report Form, which is the vehicle for you to present your statistics. The information gleaned from the report forms is vital to the success of this organization and, more importantly, the continued growth of our bluebird population. Once compiled, the statistics will be printed and a copy of the Statewide Directory will be mailed to all that have submitted reports. Before putting away your bluebird paraphernalia for the year, get out your notes and complete the form. If you fill out the form while the season is fresh in your memory, it is much easier to complete and will take less time. Remember, everybody's information is important. It doesn't matter if you fledged 500 bluebirds or none; we need your statistics. It is just as important to know the areas where more work needs to be done, as it is to know where we have been successful. If you know someone who has a trail and is not a BAN member, we would like to hear about their bluebirds too. Please give them a copy of your form to fill out or take a minute, give them a call, and fill out the form for them. They will also be sent a copy of the Directory. All of the questions on the form are important. Please complete the entire form as accurately as possible. Many of you have trails that are in two counties. A separate form should be completed for each county. One last request, PLEASE write legibly. Send in your report and let it be recorded that you have been involved in one of the greatest conservation success stories of all times.
Connie Conover has built almost 17,000 bluebird nesting boxes for Bluebirds Across Nebraska, and he's never charged a cent for his labor. For his volunteer efforts, Connie was named the 2002 winner of the Howard L. Wiegers Outstanding Wildlife Conservation Award. The award is sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Wildlife Club and the Lincoln Journal Star and is named in honor of the father of wildlife conservation education at the university. Connie's behind-the-scenes dedication has directly led to BAN's success. Thanks to Connie's donated time and because much of the wood Connie uses is donated or paid for through the NETF grant, BAN is able to give away boxes for placement on the TransNebraska Bluebird Trail or furnish them to members at a reduced fee. BAN is the only state organization that supplies boxes to its members. When receiving the award, Connie shared the credit with co-box producer Sanford Downs and also credited BAN members for doing the hard work of monitoring the trails. A large group of BAN members from across Nebraska attended the awards banquet to recognize Connie's well-deserved honor.
Each year at its annual conference BAN recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to bluebird conservation. On April 20th, at its 8th Annual Bluebird Conference, BAN was honored to recognize York County Coordinator Vera Rauscher of Fairmont as 2001 Bluebirder of the Year. Vera is a retired school teacher who has always loved the outdoors and animals. Her enthusiastic dedication to bringing back the bluebirds is contagious and she has a way of transferring that enthusiasm to others. Vera has given countless seminars and manned many bluebird booths for a variety of audiences, including schools, garden clubs, fairs, churches, nursing homes, and other area events and her bluebird ambassadorship has not stopped at her own county line. "It doesn't matter where she is...she's talking to somebody about bluebirds." She always has a trunk full of nestboxes and is never without her cordless drill. While others her age have slowed down, Vera amazes many of her peers (and younger people as well) when they see her climbing over and under fences with her cordless drill in tow - ready to put up, repair, or monitor a bluebird box. Dedicated and tireless in her bluebird activities -- Vera Rauscher is a very deserving recipient of BAN's Bluebirder of the Year award.
Jim is a founding and lifetime member of Bluebirds Across Nebraska, was elected to the Board of Directors of the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) at the 2002 Annual Convention held in Penticton, British Columbia in June. In addition to his active participation in the monitoring of Omaha Audubon's bluebird trails, Jim is involved with Bluebird-L and maintains several bluebird related websites, including his own "The Bluebird Box" at www.audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/. In addition to BAN's representation on the NABS Board, Marty Raiser-VanErt, lifetime BAN member and County Coordinator for Pottawattamie County, Iowa, is now serving as NABS Historian. Iowa is well represented in BAN's active membership. Derry & Phyllis Wolford, County Coordinators for Page & Fremont Counties in Iowa have agreed to serve as the NABS liaisons for BAN. We wish them all success in their new positions.
As BAN moves full steam ahead in its preparations for the NABS/BAN 2003 convention, we want to thank everyone that attended this year's conference in Nebraska City on April 20th. We hope you left feeling energized, entertained, and enlightened. Special thanks go out to Connie & Chuck Finley who did another great job of putting the event together and to all the volunteers who helped throughout the day. Whether a veteran or newcomer to BAN, the annual conference is a day you don't want to miss. Toni Lynn Merchen, Knox County Coordinator, has been an active bluebirder for 9 years and has enjoyed each conference she has attended: "The new members of BAN are so fun to spend time with. I enjoyed taking two friends down to the state conference. Lori Lammers is new to bluebirding and it is thrilling to see her excitement! It's like watching your children lean something new.... I am so proud and happy to be part of this organization. I am just as excited today as I was nine years ago when I purchased my first 7 boxes from John Holm."
FOUND: The following items were found at the Memorial Building after the conference: If either of these items belongs to you, please contact Connie Finley at 402-873-7550 to claim it.
Sandy and I finally attended our first North American Bluebird Society Convention. I now know what all the excitement has been about. It's more than meetings, field trips, vendors, educational displays, the silent auction and banquet, or even the a slate of top notch speakers - when you get three to four hundred bluebirders together from all over North America you just can't have a bad time. We talked Bluebirds, boxes, sparrows, wrens, conventions and just talked. I thought our BAN conferences would be hard to beat -- and don't get me wrong I still think we can't be beat when it comes to state conferences -- but gathering people from across the country in one place certainly adds something. You talk to people that monitor trails just like we do, but many have notably different trail experiences -- some don't have raccoons at all and can safely mount their boxes directly on fence posts, some monitor only Mountain Bluebirds, some have magpies (and must deal with them as a "problem"), etc. I found the exchange of stories and ideas with bluebirders from other parts of the continent to be an enlightening experience. And it is in this respect that I see the North American Bluebird Society's annual convention as a very necessary function. Without it, the ever-growing number of state organizations and their members would not have the ability to personally network with others with the same interests and goals; ideas would not be exchanged as freely; bonds with people from across the country would be much harder to form. The pulling together of all these people each year certainly enhances the direction of the conservation efforts for Bluebirds. My hat is off to everyone involved in putting on the convention in Penticton, British Columbia. Thanks to their many willing, helpful and cheerful volunteers, the three-day event ran flawlessly smooth. It will be a hard act to follow, but I am confident Bluebirds Across Nebraska can do it! It's our turn next year and I hope everyone in Bluebirds Across Nebraska is as anxious as I am to show the people of North America what Nebraska and Iowa bluebirding is all about -- sharing an interest and working together to achieve our stated goal "to increase the population of bluebirds and other native cavity-nesting birds through the promotion of bluebird awareness" and having fun doing it. I want them to see what we see every year when we meet for our annual conference. The people of Nebraska and Western Iowa have a wonderful organization because of the people in it. Help us show everyone that comes to Kearney what Midwest hospitality is really like.
|
