June 6: POTLUCK!
Enjoy good conversation, food and a science-oriented video.

NOTE: Potluck begins at 10:00 a.m. - 12Noon.
Please let someone know that you will be coming so enough tables and chairs are set up.
If you don't know Joyce Churchill or Doris Wimber, please write to me:
EMAIL: priscilla@blog.priscillanhk.com

Dave Stone's video "BIRDS IN ACTION" - which we saw and greatly enjoyed in black & white recently, will be shown (in color this time) during the potluck.
(Don Laufer and Dave Stone have successfully tested using a laptop to play the video in color instead of playing the video from a DVD)

Thursday June 13, 2019:
SUMMER BIRDING BEGINS
Led by Priscilla Sokolowski

NOTE: While our first bird walk is June 13, I am giving a presentation on Thursday June 20 (see below) and Summer Birding will resume (on a weekly basis) on June 27.

Destinations: Destinations will be often be chosen collectively by those present before 8am each Thursday morning. If there has been some particularly "hot" birding action in the days before we meet, I will suggest that location as our destination.
(See further down this page for more general information about Summer Birding)
We will meet before 8am in the Campbell Center parking lot.
We generally will plan to be back between 11am and Noon, but this varies according to the preference of those present. If you have a need to be back by a certain time, it's a good idea to car-pool with others with similar intentions.

Thursday June 20: Presentation: Priscilla Sokolowski
"Data Mining" with Cornell's eBird.org website.

eBird is an international world-wide data-base of bird sightings created by Cornell. eBird is a (free to use without registering) web site where one can access the most recent sightings reported, including the current day, and recent hours.
There are also birding apps which make use of eBird data to provide you with recent sightings information even while you are out in the field birding.

In the workshop on June 20, I will focus entirely on using eBird data to plan birding trips whether local or distant - by exploring locations and/or researching sightings of specific species. If there is sufficient interest, I will do a second presentation at a later date - perhaps in a computer lab where attendees can set up their eBird accounts and practice submitting a checklist.

In the June 20 presentation, I will demonstrate

• How to find out what birds are being seen at various places
  *** by using "EXPLORE REGIONS" *** and *** "OVERVIEW" tab *** to see what's being seen today and for the last few weeks in any county, province, state-wide, country or "Important Birding Area" with the option to view the complete and most recent checklist having your species of interest, including any photos or audio files the birder/observer may have included.
  
  *** by using "RECENT VISITS" *** to see the locations other birders have been birding in your region of interest lately; how many species they reported; and view their complete checklists, (along with any photos they've included).
• How to choose what part of a country, state/province to travel to
  *** by using the "HOTSPOTS" tab *** to see where the most species are seen on an annual basis; (for example Fern Ridge has the most species of any hotspot in Lane County).
• How to find out what months various species are found, and their relative presence, at a particular region or location.
  *** by using "BAR CHARTS" *** to find all the species seen in your region or location of choice (virtually anywhere) and how much each species is being reported.
• How to find out WHEN (months of year) to look for particular species
  *** by using "SPECIES MAPS" *** to research any particular species.
  Choose the years and months of interest (can use current month by itself). Find out where your bird is seen in the state or county (etc) and which months it is present in these areas. (For example; Rough-legged Hawks begin to show up in some numbers in Linn County in November (December in Lane County); and they are nearly all gone by the end of March.)

Examples of each of the above will be demonstrated.

IN ADDITION:
I hope to have time to do quick demonstrations of two birding apps; the "BirdsEye" app (free and subscription versions available); and the free "Audubon Birds" app, both of which make use of eBird data to give you as up-to-date information available. (Remember when we had to call people on a telephone tree to get news out about a special bird?)

BOGS PRESENTATIONS:
From September through May, We have presentations by speakers on 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, (and bird walks on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Thursdays of the months from Sept - May). The presentations during the academic year cover a wide range of science-related topics. Presentations and bird walks during those months run from 9-11am
*(The exception to the 9am starting time for presentations is the end-of-term Potluck, which begins at 10am and runs until Noon)

Bird Walks
From September through May, our bird walks are led by Steve Barron. We meet inside the Campbell Center before 9am to arrange car-pooling and drive to our destinations. Once there, we usually walk for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and get back to Campbell Center around 11:30. Some destinations are further away, such as Finley Refuge and Elijah Bristow Park, so our return might be Noon or even as late as 1:00pm. Usually at least some people want to get back earlier so they arrange to ride together in one (or two) car(s). Trips with later return times are always announced as such ahead of time.

WHERE WE MEET:
The Campbell Center is located at 2nd and High Street, Eugene, OR, right near Skinner Butte Park, very near to the Willamette River. Presentations are inside the bldg. For Bird Walks, during Sept-May, meet inside before 9am. During SUMMER MONTHS meet in the PARKING LOT in front of the bldg to plan the location and car-pooling. Click here for a map showing location of Celeste Campbell Center

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
BOGS PRACTICES & PROTOCOLS
HISTORY OF BOGS
BIRDING RESOURCES - other group bird walks, Oregon online Birding site guides etc

General Information about Summer Birding 2019

Our Summer birding program is informal and less structured.
Last Summer we found that even if I was not available on Thursday morning, others did show up and decided amongst themselves where to go birding.
We will operate this Summer on that same basis.
While it is my intention to be there most (or all) Thursdays, there may be some occasions where I will be not available.
Steve Barron has indicated he is planning to go with us most Thursday as well.

Destinations:
Destinations will be often be chosen collectively by those present before 8am each Thursday morning. If there has been some particularly "hot" birding action in the days before we meet, I will suggest that location as our destination.
Anyone interested in birding should meet 10 minutes before 8am in the Campbell Center parking lot.
... and the group members will then decide amongst themselves where to go birding that day and arrange car-pooling. I will usually have up-to-date information as to what birds have been recently reported at various local sites. We can use that information to help us make a decision where to go.

Below I have included a list compiled by both Doris and myself, of all the places Steve Barron has taken us, as well as a few additional places we have gone only during previous Summers.

Here is a list of places BOGS has gone birding in the past

1. Delta Ponds at the Valley River Center Bike Bridge
2. North Delta Ponds area - with parking on Goodpasture Island Road.
3. Fern Ridge Reservoir at the end of Royal Ave. (park on road unless you have a permit from Fish and Wildlife),
4. Perkins Peninsula off West 11th, with the Cantrell Rd. addition
5. Kirk Pond, at the base of Fern Ridge Dam and nearby park area.
6. Mt. Pisgah arboretum, note parking permits very important here, day passes can be purchased at the parking area.
7. Golden Gardens, take Barger Dr. off 99, then right at Golden Gardens St., (just past Beltline) to end of road.
8. EWEB Wetlands, west side of EWEB building off Roosevelt, between Beltline and Bertelson.
9. Millrace bicycle path in Springfield.
10. Dorris Ranch
11. Clearwater Landing
12. Alton Baker Park - walking from Campbell Center.
13. East Alton Baker Park, access by walking south on utility road east of Auzen Stadium and east of BMX track
14. Skinner’s Butte - walking from Campbell Center.
15. Heron Park, at Aspen and D street in Springfield
16. Checkermallow Access to Meadowlark Prairie: (on Royal Ave, east of Greenhill Rd).
17. Halsey Raptor run, a car tour through areas northeast of Eugene.
18. Stewart Pond, off Bertelson on Stewart Rd.
19. Hileman County Park, 2.5 miles north of Beltline turn right on E Beacon. At junction turn left on Hileman Ln
20. Elijah Bristow State Park, off Hywy 58, between Trent and Dexter
21. Zumwalt County Park, Vista Dr., Veneta
22. Riverbend Hospital. The south end of the building has trails in a shady, very nice area for hot weather.

BIRD SONGS: Online Resources - listen to any bird's songs or calls

If you have a smartphone, there are numerous apps for birding which can play the songs and calls of birds, but if you don't have one, you can go online and explore the songs and calls of any bird. Here are two exceptionally good websites for this:
XENO-CANTO Bird recordings
Here is an example recording from xeno-canto.org. This is a recording of several Short-eared Owls harassing a Northern Harrier. The owls are doing a lot of their "barking" calls. The Harrier can be heard at 0.55 seconds and there-after.

The McCaulay library includes not only recordings of songs and calls, but also has photographs and videos of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians! Here is the "How to" page with instructions for using this website:
McCaulay Library