York County Audubon

What is the difference between a hawk and a falcon?  Do we have vultures in Maine?  What is our smallest owl?  What is our largest hawk?  Where do they live?  Using our amazing live non-releasable bird ambassadors, posters, and hands-on materials, we will discuss the kinds of birds of prey found in Maine, their habitats, habits, place in the food chain, and why we need to protect them.  This program will connect the audience with these beautiful ambassadors of their species as well as provide their natural and personal histories and empower audience members to help to steward the environment we all share.

Nestled at the base of Mount Agamenticus in Cape Neddick for 33 years, CFW has treated over 50,000 injured and orphaned wild animals and presented programming to thousands of community members annually. CFW’s vision is to instill a sense of understanding, responsibility, and compassion for our natural world leading to a society connected to nature and empowered to take action, and we do this through conservation medicine, environmental education, community empowerment, and advocacy. FMI: www.thecenterforwildlife.org

We are proud to host CFW for this program, as we have long supported their work. The program will be presented in-person in the Mather Auditorium of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, and will be preceded by a short YCA annual meeting starting at 7 pm. It will be in-person only without Zoom streaming. We hope you can join us!

The Nominating Committee has presented a slate of Officers and Directors to the YCA Board, and that slate has been approved by the Directors:  Bill Grabin, President, Laurie Pocher, Vice President, Kathy Donahue, Treasurer, and Monica Grabin, Secretary, as well as the following slate of Directors: Britney Fox, Dan Gardoqui, David Doubleday, Doug Hitchcox, Heather Rutledge, Joyce Toth, Marian Zimmerman, Marion Sprague, Mary Bateman, Rebekah Lowell, Seth Davis. This slate will be presented and proposed to our members for their approval at our June 20th annual meeting, which will precede our June 20th program.

For complete details, please click on this link: http://www.yorkcountyaudubon.org/events/ycas-2023-birding-challenge-to-support-the-maines-young-birders-club

Over the last six months, YCA’s Board of Directors took on the task of reviewing our current Bylaws which had been drafted in 2004 (with a minor amendment in 2013) . Many changes were required to enable them to accurately reflect our current operations and our thoughts for the organization’s future. On April 18th, the Board unanimously approved the new version.

Our June 20th annual meeting will precede our program that evening. At that time, we’ll be seeking our members approval of these revised Bylaws. You can use the links below to review both the 2004 Bylaws and the proposed 2023 Bylaws.

http://www.yorkcountyaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/YCAS-Bylaws-June-2004-amended-June-2013.pdf

http://www.yorkcountyaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/YCA-Bylaws-approved-by-Board-4.18.23.pdf

Please join York County Audubon and many other great organizations at the Beach Plum Farm Eco-fest from 10 – 2 on Saturday, May 20th. Beach Plum Farm is a wonderful spot right on Route 1 in Ogunquit. It’s the last remaining salt water farm in Ogunquit, home to community gardens, and the office of Great Works Regional Land Trust, who acquired and permanently protected it. FMI: https://gwrlt.org/beach-plum-farm-preserve/

York County Audubon needs your support! YCA was founded in 1968, and for the past 55 years, has promoted a wide variety of conservation activities and initiatives to benefit thousands of people. A few years back, we realized that there was an unmet need: a program that specifically focused on young birders.  So, in 2016, we launched the Maine Young Birders Club (MYBC).

Since then, many young birders aged 11 to 18 have actively participated and gained a greater understanding of the natural world, while connecting with and being inspired by like-minded young people. While MYBC members do pay a small annual fee to participate, we’re looking to raise funds to support the club’s efforts and expand our membership to reach under-served communities.

Starting in 2001 and continuing for fifteen years, YCA hosted an annual Birding Challenge, and it was our most prominent fundraiser. Now, after a few years’ hiatus, our Birding Challenge is back!  This year, our goal is to establish solid funding for the MYBC, something the young participants and the dedicated club coordinators really deserve.

The Birding Challenge is a twenty-four hour event in which teams of participants attempt to identify as many bird species as possible, asking friends, family and businesses to sponsor them at whatever level they wish.  Every donation will help, large or small! 

For the first time this year, we’ll be making use of an online portal dedicated to the Challenge, where you can pledge a donation, either a fixed amount or on a ‘per-species’ basis.  You can access our fundraiser page and make a pledge or donation at https://tinyurl.com/yca-bc-2023. There’s also information there describing how you can participate if you’d like.  Just scroll down that page and click on “About” and “FAQ’s.”

We would be very grateful for your support in any way.   Thank you so much! 

As a Chapter of Maine Audubon, a recognized 501(c)(3) organization, all contributions to York County Audubon are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. 

This program was presented on April 18, 2023 in-person at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm and via Zoom. To watch it, please click on the image below to watch it on this page, or you can click on “Watch on Youtube” at the bottom of that image. (We also recommend clicking on the little white square in the bottom right corner of that viewing screen to convert the image to “full screen”). For a description of the program, you can scroll down to the original post for the program.

Please click on the link below to view the Spring 2023 issue of our Harlequin newsletter:

http://www.yorkcountyaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Harlequin-Spring-2023.pdf