Ready, Set, Bird !
The Illinois Audubon Society 2021 Spring Gathering has been redesigned for 2021 and rescheduled for Saturday, May 1. Everyone is invited to take part in a Chapter Big Day Competition and a Zoom program that evening.
Saturday Evening Zoom Program:
Scott K. Robinson, Ordway Professor of Ecosystem Conservation, will present Balancing Science and Birdwatching: A Personal Journey during a Zoom program from 6-7:00 pm on Saturday, May 1, 2021. Scott’s career in avian ecology has spanned many disciplines, including community ecology, landscape ecology, demography, and behavior. Much of his work has occurred in temperate forests of New England and the Midwest and tropical rainforests in Peru.
As director of the Ordway Lab of Ecosystem Conservation he oversees a large group of graduate students pursuing research in tropical landscapes throughout the world. Scott is an avid birder and has held the ABA North American Big Year record (1976), and was twice a part of a team that set the World Big Day record (1982 and 2018).
Chapter Big Day Competition:
Chapter Big Day is a competition between participating chapters of the Illinois Audubon Society for the most species observed in a 16-hour period (12:00 am to 4:00 pm). Registration is open to members and non-members and both a Chapter and an Individual Big Day Champion will be awarded. Competitors may bird alone or with others anywhere within the boundaries of the State of Illinois.
All participants must register online and choose their Chapter “team.” Each Chapter will have a coordinator who will receive, tally and report their final numbers no later than May 4. Winners will be announced shortly after.