Birds of Prey: Our Talon-ted Friends – with the Center for Wildlife and their Wildlife Ambassadors – Tuesday, June 20th – at the Wells Reserve, in-person only

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.

Eastern Screech Owl - Center for Wildlife
Photo of Great Horned Owl from CFW

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!

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Annual Election of Officers and Directors

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.

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The 2023 Birding Challenge is coming on May 20th!

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

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Revision of YCA Bylaws

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

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Beach Plum Farm Eco-fest in Ogunquit on Saturday, May 20th

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/

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Our 2023 Birding Challenge — to Support the Maine Young Birders Club

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. 

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Saving Birds With Maine’s Commercial Forest: the 30-Year Bird Project – with Anna Siegel – Tuesday, May 16th – at the Wells Reserve and via Zoom

In 2019, an alarming article from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reported that three billion North American birds have been lost since 1970 (about 30%). Maine’s nearly 10-million-acres of commercial forest form the heart of National Audubon’s largest Important Bird Area of Global Significance in the contiguous U.S.  What role does this enormous area play in national-scale land bird conservation?  This fertile breeding ground still supports a wide range of bird species of conservation concern.

In 2021 and 2022, the “30-Year Bird Project” replicated a groundbreaking 1990s study to understand how bird populations have changed as a result of changes in forest practices. The project has involved three generations of scientists.  Anna Siegel, the Outreach Lead of the project, will describe what the team has learned and how forest practices might change to further support bird conservation while also sustaining rural, forest-based communities.

Anna Siegel is climate justice activist, young birder, and high school student. She is the Advocacy Director of Maine Youth Action, a Core member of Maine Youth for Climate Justice, and serves on her town’s Climate Action Task Force. She is also a member of the Maine Young Birders Club and is an avid hiker.

This program will be presented in-person in the Mather Auditorium of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, and will also be viewable via Zoom.  To view via Zoom, you’ll need to register in advance.

To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DU-HSEE4TZ6BCYKA0NUnrw#/registration

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope you can join us in-person, or, if not, via Zoom!

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A Video of our April program: Native Plants: Good for What Ails Your Garden – with Shawn Jalbert

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.

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The Harlequin – Spring 2023

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

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Native Plants: Good for What Ails Your Garden – with Shawn Jalbert – Tuesday, April 18th – at the Wells Reserve and via Zoom

It’s almost spring and we’ve all got a hankering to get back outside to do some landscaping and gardening. Instead of grabbing the same old plants off the garden center shelves, consider going the native route.

Fritillary Butterfly on Coneflower – Shawn Jalbert photo

Native trees, shrubs, and perennials are the glue that holds our ecosystems together and are directly tied to the health of our environment. All of our backyards could use some extra natives planted in them, but sometimes you don’t have to recreate the wheel; recognizing and preserving the natives we already have growing around us is important too.

We will learn how the food web revolves around native plants; the more we have in our yards the richer the biodiversity of our neighborhoods, from the birds to the bees. These actions have tangible results we can see, smell, hear, and even taste. Join us for an empowering evening on how native plants are the best medicine for what ails our landscapes.

Shawn Jalbert is the owner and operator of Native Haunts, based in Alfred, Maine. He has made it his mission to make native plants, and the knowledge of their critical importance, available to the general public. “Native Haunts” is an “old-timey” term to describe native plants in their natural habitats. For the last 20 years, he’s made it his mission to sustainably propagate and sell native plant materials, but more importantly, to share the vast knowledge he has accumulated through his personal experience and his intense studies as a lecturer and consultant. FMI: https://nativehaunts.com/

This program will be presented in-person at 7 p.m. in the Mather Auditorium of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, and will also be viewable via Zoom.  To view via Zoom, you’ll need to register in advance.

To do so, please click on this link and enter your name and email address:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vALL9WzQRi6z_RvircuAig

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope you can join us in-person, or, if not, via Zoom!

Posted in Program, Zoom