Last weekend, 11 very enthusiastic and knowledgeable young birders, aged 13 - 17, attended OFO's Alan Wormington Memorial Camp for Young Birders.
The camp was held at the Wildlife Research Station off Highway 60. The camp ran from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Jeff and Angela Skevington led the camp with Lisa Bildy and myself helping with transportation and logistics. We are grateful to Algonquin Outfitters (http://algonquinoutfitters.com) for sponsoring a canoe trip. They provided canoes, life preservers and paddles and ferried the campers to Hailstone Creek where they could appreciate the true wilderness and view nesting Sandhill Cranes, many other birds and a river otter. The bird tally for the weekend topped out at 98, an excellent total for this time of year. Birds included most of the boreal specialties: Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee and Evening Grosbeak. We unfortunately missed Spruce Grouse, not for lack of trying. As well as birds, most of us got looks at the big three mammals: a wolf, bears and moose. Campers were able to accompany the small mammal researcher as she checked the trap lines, got to learn about turtle research and got up close and personal with Henry the Snapping Turtle. We went herping, learned about mushrooms and botany, insects and general ecology to round out the experience. A huge thank you is due to Jeff and Angela and Lisa who made this possible, as well as the camp advisory committee: David Milsom, Ian Shanahan, Justin Peter, Caroline Biel, Isabel Apkarian, Jody Allair, Mark Peck and Lisa Bildy. I'd also like to thank the Board for their support and OFO members who have donated to support young birder activities. We will be posting pictures on our Facebook page soon! Lynne OFO President -- Lynne Freeman [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
