2020 SPOTLIGHT PRESENTATIONS
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Spotlight Presentations are open to the public. Preregistration is strongly recommended.
Festival registrants and the public may pay fee at the door.
Festival registrants and the public may pay fee at the door.
The Beauty of Banding Data: It Gets Better with Age
Presented by Annie Lindsay with Powdermill Nature Reserve, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Date: Saturday, May 9
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Each spring and fall, billions of migratory songbirds make the journey between their breeding grounds and where they’ll spend the winter. Although birds have been migrating for many millennia, they are now facing increased threats from humans, including invasive species, habitat loss, and a steadily warming global climate. When an animal’s ability to forage or breed is disrupted (either positively or negatively), the consequences carry over into subsequent seasons and can affect an individual’s survival. These threats can have significant effects on a species’ population.
Annie will share her research about how songbirds populations, behavior, and morphology are changing over time, and what has remained the same. She will discuss what factors might be affecting birds and how birds might be coping with or adapting to these changes. Annie's research is based on data collected at Black Swamp Bird Observatory which has been banding birds during migration in northwest Ohio since 1992 and Powdermill Nature Reserve which has run a year-round banding station in southwest Pennsylvania since 1961. These represent two of the most complete, meticulous, and precise datasets in North America, and their value for studying songbird populations is priceless.
Date: Saturday, May 9
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Each spring and fall, billions of migratory songbirds make the journey between their breeding grounds and where they’ll spend the winter. Although birds have been migrating for many millennia, they are now facing increased threats from humans, including invasive species, habitat loss, and a steadily warming global climate. When an animal’s ability to forage or breed is disrupted (either positively or negatively), the consequences carry over into subsequent seasons and can affect an individual’s survival. These threats can have significant effects on a species’ population.
Annie will share her research about how songbirds populations, behavior, and morphology are changing over time, and what has remained the same. She will discuss what factors might be affecting birds and how birds might be coping with or adapting to these changes. Annie's research is based on data collected at Black Swamp Bird Observatory which has been banding birds during migration in northwest Ohio since 1992 and Powdermill Nature Reserve which has run a year-round banding station in southwest Pennsylvania since 1961. These represent two of the most complete, meticulous, and precise datasets in North America, and their value for studying songbird populations is priceless.
NW Ohio Birding Hotspots
Presented by Rob Ripma, Biggest Week In American Birding Field Trip Coordinator
Date: Sunday, May 10
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Join Biggest Week field trip coordinator Rob Ripma to learn all about the best birding hotspots at the Biggest Week in American Birding. From Point Mouillee in southeast Michigan to Pipe Creek in Sandusky and everywhere in between, Rob will show you the spots you should be sure to visit during your time at the festival.
Date: Sunday, May 10
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Join Biggest Week field trip coordinator Rob Ripma to learn all about the best birding hotspots at the Biggest Week in American Birding. From Point Mouillee in southeast Michigan to Pipe Creek in Sandusky and everywhere in between, Rob will show you the spots you should be sure to visit during your time at the festival.
Using Citizen Science to Inform Blanding’s Turtle Conservation Efforts
Presented by Matt Cross and Terry Breymaier
Date: Monday, May 11
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Reservation Required: Recommended
Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are threatened or endangered throughout most of their range, and have experienced widespread declines in Ohio. A critical step in determining appropriate conservation actions for this species is assessing the status of remnant populations. The long-term surveys required to adequately document population trends are lacking as they are generally labor-intensive and time-consuming. We used four years of citizen science-collected data and free pattern-recognition software to conduct a mark-recapture study on female Blanding’s Turtles in a northwest Ohio wetland. Over a five year period, citizen scientists gathered 115 images of 51 individual female Blanding’s Turtles, documented nesting activity, and observed hatchlings emerging from nests. Our preliminary population estimates suggest the citizen scientists in our study encountered 85% of the adult female Blanding’s Turtles in this population at least once. Deriving preliminary population estimates from photographic recapture data is an example of how the efforts of citizen scientists can benefit ongoing research projects and conservation efforts.
Date: Monday, May 11
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Reservation Required: Recommended
Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are threatened or endangered throughout most of their range, and have experienced widespread declines in Ohio. A critical step in determining appropriate conservation actions for this species is assessing the status of remnant populations. The long-term surveys required to adequately document population trends are lacking as they are generally labor-intensive and time-consuming. We used four years of citizen science-collected data and free pattern-recognition software to conduct a mark-recapture study on female Blanding’s Turtles in a northwest Ohio wetland. Over a five year period, citizen scientists gathered 115 images of 51 individual female Blanding’s Turtles, documented nesting activity, and observed hatchlings emerging from nests. Our preliminary population estimates suggest the citizen scientists in our study encountered 85% of the adult female Blanding’s Turtles in this population at least once. Deriving preliminary population estimates from photographic recapture data is an example of how the efforts of citizen scientists can benefit ongoing research projects and conservation efforts.
Wind Power
Presented by Mark Shieldcastle of Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Date: Tuesday, May 12
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Date: Tuesday, May 12
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Neotropic Waves of Spring Migration
Presented by Ashli Gorbet with Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Date: Wednesday, May 13
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Ashli Gorbet is the Banding Projects Manager at Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and has spent an enviable number of hours immersed in spring songbird migration along Ohio's north coast. In their presentation, Ashli will delve into the science that makes bird migration so intriguing, and explore the seemingly magical way that these feathered marvels move through our universe.
BSBO's research team pioneered the “wave theory” that has become a way of thinking among birders visiting Ohio’s north coast. The three “waves” of Neotropic migrants will be brought to life through vibrant imagery, and the timing of their passage through this area mapped out with surprising precision. If you have a nemesis, or just one species that is special to you, come find out when and where it’s best to look for “your” bird.
Date: Wednesday, May 13
Time: 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: Maumee Bay Lodge
Fee: $10
Registration Required: Recommended
Ashli Gorbet is the Banding Projects Manager at Black Swamp Bird Observatory, and has spent an enviable number of hours immersed in spring songbird migration along Ohio's north coast. In their presentation, Ashli will delve into the science that makes bird migration so intriguing, and explore the seemingly magical way that these feathered marvels move through our universe.
BSBO's research team pioneered the “wave theory” that has become a way of thinking among birders visiting Ohio’s north coast. The three “waves” of Neotropic migrants will be brought to life through vibrant imagery, and the timing of their passage through this area mapped out with surprising precision. If you have a nemesis, or just one species that is special to you, come find out when and where it’s best to look for “your” bird.