Subject: [Tweeters] Oregon Field Ornithologists Annual Meeting
Date: Feb 20 10:29:54 2011
From: David Irons - davidirons20 at yahoo.com


Oregon Field Ornithologists is pleased to announce that the 2011 annual meeting will be held in Pendleton, Oregon 17-19 June.

Come join us as our annual gathering makes its first visit to this bird-rich area. Expect to visit habitats that range from the lowland riparian corridors along the Umatilla River, to the dry uplands of the Columbia Plateau, to the montane habitats in the nearby Blue Mountains. And, the birding doesn?t end at sundown, as this region is home to a diverse array of owls and other nocturnal species.

Owls will be prominently featured at this year?s meeting. Dr. David H. Johnson, Director of the Global Owl Project in Alexandria, VA, is slated to keynote the meeting with his Saturday evening presentation of ?Science of the Owls of the Pacific Northwest.? In recent years, Dr. Johnson has been conducting a study of Burrowing Owls on the Umatilla Chemical Depot property. The always engaging Mike Denny will give the Friday evening program.

Field trip destinations include, the Umatilla Depot, Ukiah Burn, Umatilla River riparian areas, Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and other local hotspots. Dr. Johnson, Mike and Merry Lynn Denny, members of the Pendleton Bird Club, and OFO volunteers will lead these trips. This region is home has recorded no fewer than 13 species of owls, at least 11 of which could be detected on various field trips. Burrowing and Flammulated owls, Veery, Gray Catbird, and Long-billed Curlew highlight the list of birds one can expect to see/hear on these trips and the weekend should produce sightings of well over 100 species. Additional owls that may be encountered include: Barn, Western Screech, Great Horned, Northern Pygmy, Barred, Great Gray, Long-eared, Short-eared, and Northern Saw-whet.

All meetings will be held at the Pendleton Center for the Arts. Evening activities include social hours each night followed by a banquet, etc. ?Participants are responsible for securing their own lodging. Registration information for this conference will be inside the spring edition of Oregon Birds and will soon be available online at the OFO website (oregonbirds.org).?

For further information, please contact meeting coordinator David Smith at smithdwd at hotmail.com after March 18, 2011.

We hope to see you there.

Best Regards,

Dave Irons and Shawneen Finnegan