NEWS BRIEFS
Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative
2011 Statewide Meeting
Agenda
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Thursday, Sept 29 – Saturday Oct 1
Co-hosted by WBCI, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory, UW – Green Bay Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, and Bird City Wisconsin.
Links to: GENERAL DESCRIPTION | REGISTRATION FORM | SPEAKERS | RECAP
Location Details:
Thursday – Friday: Comfort Suites in Green Bay (http://www.comfortsuitesgb.com/). The room block expired on September 8. Rooms are now available only on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Saturday: UW-Green Bay campus – Instructional Services building (#6 at http://www.uwgb.edu/maps/files/pdfs/MainMapColor.pdf), with free parking in the Laboratory Sciences Lot.
THURSDAY, Sept. 29
Science in the Service of Management
Comfort Suites
9:00 AM – Registration.
10:00 AM – Evaluating our work: Moving beyond surveillance monitoring
- Introduction (10:00): Closing the loop on adaptive management – moving from surveillance to monitoring in service of management (R. Brady)
- Example 1 (10:30): WBCI Grassland Evaluation Plan (A. Paulios)
- Example 2 (11:00): Monitoring, adaptive management and partnership on the Leopold-Pine IBA (M. Mossman, Y. Steele, and S. Swenson)
- Discussion (11:30): How do we make this work at multiple scales? What is WBCI’s role? How do we build the capacity to handle priority monitoring needs? How do we generate questions that need to be tested?
12:30 PM – Lunch (catered).
1:30 PM – Moving forward: how do we build quality monitoring programs?
- Getting started (1:30): Ten steps to successful bird conservation through improved monitoring (K. Koch)
- Doing it better (2:00): Detection probability, modern point count methods, and forthcoming advances in Wisconsin (J. Riddle, J. Dittrich)
- A good model (2:30): Evolution of a successful volunteer monitoring program – the Nicolet National Forest Bird Survey (B. Howe)
- Monitoring World Café (3:00): Engage with discussion leaders across the ten steps discussed above and start developing a monitoring program that will work for your situation.
4:30 PM – Adjourn.
Dinner – on your own.
Evening Social (time TBD, ~7pm?) – WSO will host a special get-together (location TBD, but likely at Comfort Suites) following dinner that will explore the future of the Society as well as the future for ornithology and bird conservation in Wisconsin. Everyone will have opportunity to share their views and help shape the future for birds and birding in the state.
FRIDAY, Sept. 30
Ornithological Symposium: What’s up with bird science in WI?
Comfort Suites
8:00 AM – Registration.
8:45 – Welcome and introduction (A. Paulios, R. Brady)
9:00 – A new era of secretive marshbird monitoring in Wisconsin and beyond (R. Brady)
9:30 – Offshore Lake Michigan Waterfowl Survey, 2010-2011 (W. Mueller)
10:00 – Nicolet National Forest Bird Survey: What we’ve learned (B. Howe)
10:30 – BREAK
11:00 – Patterns of tree-species use by neotropical songbirds during spring migration stopover in the Driftless Area (E. Wood)
11:30 – Avian associations with old-growth forest characteristics in even-aged northern hardwoods (M. Worland)
12:00 PM – LUNCH (catered)
1:00 – Spruce Grouse ecology in Wisconsin (N. Anich)
1:30 – Golden-winged Warblers in the Upper Midwest: Productivity, habitat associations, and management implications (H. Streby, S. Peterson, and D. Andersen)
2:00 – Using new technology to track Wisconsin Common Loon migrations (M. Meyer)
2:30 – BREAK
3:00 – Impacts of climate change on birds (B. Zuckerberg)
3:30 – Monitoring for Midwest bird conservation: Highlighting Wisconsin's role and successes (K. Koch)
4:00 PM – ADJOURN
4:00 – 5:00:R. Brady will be available to meet with current and potential volunteers for WBCI’s various bird monitoring programs.
Dinner (time TBD) – catered on-site.
Evening (time TBD, ~7pm?) – Western Great Lakes Bird & Bat Observatory will host two fun and educational events at the Comfort Suites following dinner. Details are still being worked out but it could develop into somewhat of a raucous affair!
SATURDAY, Oct. 1
Birding Workshops: Becoming a better birder and citizen scientist
UW-Green Bay campus – Meet at the Instructional Services building (#6 at http://www.uwgb.edu/maps/files/pdfs/MainMapColor.pdf), with free parking in the Laboratory Sciences Lot.
8:00 AM – Welcome and introduction (R. Brady/A. Paulios)
8:15 – 10:15 AM: Concurrent 1-hour hands-on workshops back-to-back
- Birder certification and online learning tools (B. Howe)
- eBird: Updates – How to use – Advanced skills – Documenting your sightings – Open Q & A (WI eBird team)
BREAK
10:30 – 12:30 PM: Large group session – Advancing fall birding skills
- Identification of hawks in flight: An overview (V. Berardi)
- Migrant waterbirds of the Great Lakes (T. Prestby)
Lunch – on your own
12:30 PM (optional): Afternoon Birding Field Trip to Lake Michigan (T. Prestby, A. Paulios; pick up lunch on the way)