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Keeping you informed about cool bird stuff in & near Central Kentucky.

News of Note
By now you may have heard that two reports came out this last Tuesday: the Smithsonian Institution 2014 State of the Birds and the much-anticipated National Audubon Birds and Climate Change study. Neither brims with good news: State of the Birds indicates bird populations are down in several key habitats and Birds and Climate Change lists 314 North American birds that will be threatened or endangered by 2080 if climate change isn't held in check. But there is hope: the reports indicate that conservation efforts do work when applied and that it's not too late to take steps to curb greenhouse emissions. We encourage all bird lovers to review both reports, and maybe even share them with your non-birder peeps.

Barn Owl Update #1
If you've been watching our Facebook page, you've notice that we helped arrange a Barn Owl release at one of our recently-erected owl boxes. There's even video of the release, with a good shot of our owl box at about :20. We were asked to keep the event small so as to not spook the owl; those of you who helped build and put up the box -- sorry for keeping you in the dark. But with luck, we'll all get to see him in person at one of our future walks! Thanks to Rebecca Brown for serving as our liaison and videographer and for delivering frozen mice (just in case) for several days after!

Barn Owl Update #2
The Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Barn Owl tagging project which we've helped support has had mixed success.  They first put the transmitter on an adult female Barn Owl, but she proved very quickly that she was adept at chewing it off and leaving it in the field. The transmitter was then recycled for use with a young female owl, hoping she'd not notice it as much. That worked!  For several weeks it sent data back about her whereabouts. When she fledged from her nest near Murray, Kentucky, almost immediately she traveled all the way to Nashville--over 100 miles--in just a week. No one knew freshly fledged Barn Owls would travel so far or so fast!  The data we got back was very informative. Unfortunately, this last week our Barn Owl was hit by a car near Springfield, Tennessee. Luckily, she was found in the front yard of someone who called KDFW. Kate Heyden, KDFW's non-game bird specialist, says she has picked up four young owls that were hit by cars in the last week; dispersal time tends to lead to a lot of vehicle collisions. The transmitter was not damaged and can be redeployed on another Barn Owl.  
Upcoming CKAS (& Other) Events    
Sept 13th, 5:30-9:30pm (Sat.): A Swift Night Out We'll gather for dinner at Alfalfa Restaurant, 141 E. Main St. in Lexington, to discuss the year ahead and the recent State of the Birds and NAS Birds & Climate Change reports. Then, at about 7:15 pm (45 minutes +/- before sunset), we'll head over to a good chimney (location TBD) to observe the swift roost and count/estimate the number of swifts that enter. 
Sept. 14th, 7:30am-4:00pm (Sun.): Bird Walk (w/ASK) Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. To carpool, meet at 7:30am in the parking lot of Palomar Center (near Great Harvest Bread Co). DO NOT BE LATE!! Or meet at 8:00am at Shaker Village in the area by the pond left of the entrance.
Sept. 19th-21st (Fri.-Sun.): Ky Ornithological Soc. Fall Meeting KOS is hosting its Fall Meeting with talks, walks, and other activities all weekend at Lake Barkley State Resort Park. Several field trips and talks/presentations are planned.
Sept. 20th, 8:00am-1:00pm (Sat.): Bird Walk (w/ASK) Lexington Cemetery. Meet/park around the first right turn after coming in the gate. Do NOT park in the gatehouse spaces!
Sept. 28th, 7:30am-3:00pm (Sun.): Bird Walk (w/ASK) Berea Woods. To carpool, meet at 7:30am in the Lakeside Golf Course outer parking lot. DO NOT BE LATE!!  Bring lunch.
Oct. 4th, 8:00am-2:00pm (Sat.): Bird Walk (w/ASK) Maine Chance Farm (Spindletop). Meet at 8:00am at the McDonald's on Newton Pike & I-64 in the overflow parking area on the far side of the building. BE PROMPT!!
This November 3rd kicks off Central Kentucky Audubon Society's first appearance in the BGCF GoodGiving Guide Challenge! CKAS has been picked as one of 155 great non-profits that will be listed in the Challenge, vying for your donations! If you regularly contribute to our CKAS Annual Fund, please hold off until the Challenge since there will be several chances to have your donations matched! We'll have more info on this as the Challenge nears.
 
Upcoming Projects:



We have several bird house construction projects on the docket in our near future!  We plan to build ten to fifteen Barn Owl houses to donate to the Ky Fish & Wildlife for them to hang this winter.  We aim to finally erect the Chimney Swift Tower at The UK Arboretum before next Spring's migration.  We hope to build and donate several more bird houses to the Cincinnati Zoo's wetland restoration. And we intend to put together a dozen or so Bluebird Houses for sale as a fundraiser for next year's Bluegrass Birding Festival.  Both Congleton Lumber and Home Depot have been quite generous with discounts on wood, but these projects still aren't cheap. If you want to support our efforts, please donate to CKAS online from November 3rd to December 12th during the GoodGiving Guide Challenge. The birds could sure use your support!  If you want to help build boxes, keep an eye on our Upcoming Events for details!
Want to keep up with
what CKAS is doing?
These and other events can be found on our
CKAS Events Calendar.



WALK ETIQUETTE
It's very important
to be prompt when attending an ASK/CKAS Bird Walk. These trips are led by volunteer guides who have timed the departures to get you to the location at the optimum time for birdwatching. Please respect your guide's departure schedule!  Be at the meeting point and ready to go before the posted time!
www.centralkentuckyaudubon.org
524 Rosemont Garden | Lexington KY 40503
You have received this e-mail because you are a member of the National Audubon Society (and its local chapter, the Central Kentucky Audubon Society, formerly the Buckley Hills Audubon Society) or because at some point in the past you have expressed interest in keeping informed about the goings-on of our chapter. If you have received this post in error and/or no longer wish to receive information about the Central Kentucky Audubon Society, please let us know and we'll strike you from the list; conversely, if you know anyone who would appreciate getting these updates, feel free to forward this to them and have them let us know as we'd be glad to add them!  
 
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