The Report from Kirtland Bird Club

It was my great honor to do a program in Cleveland for  The Kirtland Bird Club last night.

The Kirtland Bird Club is one of Ohio's oldest and most prestigious bird/ science groups.  It was named after the Dr. Jared Kirtland who in 1852 collected and identified the very first specimen of Kirtland's Warbler on his farm near Cleveland, Ohio. It was many years before biologists found the birds nesting in 1903 in northern lower Michigan.  This is a bird of concern which has been long studied, and recently, conservation efforts have possibly prevented its pending extinction. You can read about the bird, here.

The bird club was named in honor of Dr. Kirtland and their website gives the following history:

The Kirtland Bird Club (KBC) was formed on September 28, 1940 and has a long tradition of quality contributions to the Northeast Ohio Birding community. In its early years the club conducted monthly meetings, field trips, breeding bird population studies, Christmas bird counts, and wintering duck population studies. The objectives of the KBC are serious study of ornithology with a view to increase the knowledge of individual members, the exchange of ornithological experiences and records, the compilation and publication of important information on birds, and the promotion of good fellowship among its members. 

Out-going Kirtland Bird Club President Lukas Padegimas 

 It was Lukas Padegimas' last night as President.  This fine young man is busy attending school at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, but I am certain he will remain active in the birding community as well.

A nice crowd filtered in...

 As always, a nice crowd of 30 or so filtered in and we discussed upcoming meetings, bird trips and  membership (I renewed my membership, you should join too!)

The Talking Head

 Since The Kirtland Bird Club meets at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, you never know who is going to stop by to make an announcement or two.  Fortunately, I spoke after this guy, so my program was a little more lively than his.

Cheryl Harner and Lukas Padegimas ( Flora-Quest Scholar 2015)
photo by Paula Lozano

It is also my great honor to announce that Lukas has received a scholarship to the 2015 Flora-Quest!  This is super exciting, because Lukas is interested in land conservation and practising law for conservation easements.  We can't wait to have him meet and greet all our botanical and birding friends when we gather at Mohican State Park in August.

Sign up for Flora-Quest and take part in eco-tourism.  This is educational-entertainment!  We hope to see you there; I'll introduce you to Lukas!