7th Annual Amish Bird Symposium

Image © Lucy Miller. Used here with permission.

Last Saturday, March 6th, I attended the 7th Annual Amish Bird Symposium in beautiful, rural Adams County, Ohio. I have to say that this is one of my favorite birding events to attend, as it is just the right size and doesn't have too much going on all at once. This event always seems to get better every year, and this year was no exception.

This year, the event was held at a new location, the Wheat Ridge Amish Community Building. With this new location brought for the first time indoor plumbing, an insulated building and plenty of room to enjoy your Amish made lunch. The only thing that reminded me that I was still in an Amish building was the gas powered mantle lighting.

Every year, the symposium starts off with a speech from a member of the Amish birding community. I enjoy listening to them as they have different perspectives on birding than most of us. I listen closely, hoping to get a little hint or secret as to how they attract all the rarities ;-)

Susan from Raptor Inc. was there with her rehab birds (always a very popular draw!), as were several birding related vendors which had items on sale.

Storm the Barn Owl was adding wild sound effects to many of the speakers' presentations!

The speaker list for this event is always impressive, and this year was no exception! Thane Maynard , Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden , gave an optimistic talk about the work and the progress that is being made with endangered species conservation.

Susan Gets Native, Lucy (Peregrine Falcon), and Thane Maynard.

Donald Kroodsma , author of The Singing Life of Birds, opened up a whole new world to me that I have never really paid that much attention to. Very interesting and informative talk. Wildlife photographer Ron Austing showed off some of his stellar bird photography and volunteer naturalist Chuck Jakubchak gave an informative talk about bird nests.

After the presentations, some symposium attendees took a trip to the close-by Adams Lake State Park for some local birding.

Ring-necked Ducks on Adams Lake.

I had a wonderful time. Met many old friends and some new ones too! Looking forward to this event again next year!

5th Annual Adams County Amish Bird Symposium

Jaime and I attended the Adams County Amish Bird Symposium Saturday, March 1st after missing it last year. We had a good time overall. Wonderful speakers and good food.

Chris Bedel from the Cincinnati Museum Center's Edge of Appalachia gave the introduction. Robert Schlabach, a member of the Holmes Co. Amish Community, was the first speaker. It is always interesting listening to the stories of the Amish birders. The one thing from his speech that stuck out in my mind was his comment that "If you stay out long enough, all the birds will come to you" or something like that. I got to thinking about that statement. We, as in most birders, aren't as connected to nature as we would like to be. With the Internet, fancy birding gadgets, etc., our birding time is usually minimal. When we do go out, we usually hit all of the proven spots looking for good birds. Makes me wonder what good birds are going unnoticed right under our noses?

Other speakers included:

Dr. Geoffrey E. Hill, Scharnagel Professor of Biology at Auburn University of Alabama. His presentation was based on his book Ivorybill Hunters - The Search for Proof in a Flooded Wilderness, which recounts a recent POSSIBLE encounter with an Ivory-billed in the panhandle of Florida while doing other ornithological work in the area. Dr. Hill showed video that while not 100% conclusive, was none the less intriguing. I am of one that still believes .

Hummingbird enthusiast/researcher and author of Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America - (Peterson Field Guide Series) Sheri L. Williamson from the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory. Always nice to see the diversity of hummer species.

Ohio Bird Photographer Brian Zwiebel , whose work is outstanding and who also shined an interesting light on some little known shorebird behaviors.

Last and certainly not least, Jenifer Brumfield - Young Ohio Artist/illustrator, Author, Naturalist, Bird Tour Guide, Educator, etc., etc. I remember seeing her posts on the Ohio-birds listserv when I started birding. I was surprised at the time to learn that there were other "kids" involved in birding. Nice to know there are more people around my age that thinks exactly like I do. She is doing great things with the inner city youth of Cleveland.