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

Minimizing Impact of Fireworks on Birds
Fireworks displays, as fun as they are for people, can be terrifying to animals. The sudden flashes of light filling the sky accompanied by deafening blasts of noise cause anxiety, confusion, and fear even in household pets; wild animals disoriented by fireworks often panic and flee, resulting in injury or death. Although the effect on native birds has been more catastrophic during New Year's Eve fireworks displays (in 2011, over 4,000 blackbirds in Arkansas died from blunt-force trauma after being scared by fireworks and flying blindly into buildings and other obstacles), 4th of July displays take their toll on birds as well.

National Audubon recommends, "if you want to see your fireworks and protect birds, the best thing to do is attend a commercial display rather than setting off your own pyrotechnic devices. Commercial fireworks are concentrated in one location rather than in several locations at once, which is what often happens in neighborhoods. Centralized displays allow birds to take off and land again in 'safer' locations rather than continuing to flee noises coming at them from all directions."

If you must light off personal fireworks displays, here are some tips to ensure the least impact on birds:
• Remove or cover bird-feeders and bird-baths early in the day: Eliminating food and water will discourage birds from being in the area.
• Avoid known and likely bird roosts: Fewer birds = lesser impact. Stay far from tree-lines and wetland areas, places birds often roost.
• Wait until well after dark: Twilight is prime feeding time for birds; wait until you don't hear chimney swifts nor see birds on the wing.
• Turn off inside house lights: Birds don't recognize glass in backlit windows and may injure themselves trying to fly to the safety of the illuminated room beyond, especially if there are indoor plants visible.
• Minimize the noise: Choose quieter fireworks options. Dazzlers, spinners, and sparklers are still fun for the kids yet cause little racket.
• Choose fireworks with minimal waste: If you can’t clean up after it, maybe you shouldn’t shoot it off. The chemical-laced debris from airborne fireworks pollutes long after Independence Day celebrations.
 'Two Crows Spark Up a Firecracker' by B. Wear & K. Moore. Available on Etsy.

Steering Committee Meeting: July 13th
Do you have suggestions for bird walks or activities? Want to help direct the CKAS future? Here's your opportunity. The next Steering Committee meeting will be 7:00pm on Friday, July 13th, at Rock House Brewing. We'll plan the next several months of upcoming events. What do you want CKAS to do? We could use your input. Please join us.

Upcoming CKAS (& Other) Events    
These and other events can be found on our new CKAS Web Page Calendar and in our CKAS Facebook Calendar. Know of any bird-themed events we missed?  Our new Web Page Calendar has a submit events link.
July 7th (Sat) 9:00pm-10:30pm: Creatures of the Night Hike Raven Run Nature Sanctuary 3990 Raven Run Way, Lexington. Join Raven Run naturalists to learn about the habits and folklore of animals active at night (like owls!). Please preregister: (859) 272-6105.
July 11th (Wed) 6:00pm-8:45pm: Forests of the Future Fayette Co. Extension, 1140 Harry Sykes Way, Lexington. Join the Urban Forest Initiative for Forests of the Future, a panel discussion about scientist's attempts to bring back tree diversity lost to invasive insects and diseases.
July 13th (Fri) 7:00pm-9:30pm: Steering Committee Rock House Brewing 119 Luigart Court, Lexington. Join us to help plan the next several months of CKAS walks, events, and activities.
July 14th (Sat) 9:30am-10:45am: 2nd Saturday Seminar: The Wild & Wacky World of Birds (Part 3) Wild Birds Unlimited 152 N. Locust Hill, Lexington. Join WBU to for the next episode of crazy bird facts.
July 27th (Fri) 8:00pm-10:00pm: Nighthawk Watch McConnell Springs 416 Rebmann Lane, Lexington. Meet at McConnell Springs at 8:00pm (park outside the gate where we'll meet then walk to the pond) then caravan to the distillery district for ice cream &/or drinks.
Aug 4th (Sat) All Day: International Owl Awareness Day Everywhere. What makes owls so quietly deadly? Deep look here.
Aug 8th (Wed) 7:00pm-9:00pm: General Meeting Lexington Public Library, Central Branch 140 E. Main Street, Lexington. Conference Room B (as in Bird). Join CKAS for the first meeting of the 2018-19 fiscal year. On the docket: nest box projects (prothonotary warbler tubes, owl boxes), MOTUS station update, budget review, possible special guest speaker. All members welcome! We usually go to dinner someplace vegan-friendly after the meeting.
Aug 12th (Sun) 6:30pm-9:00pm: Swift Night Out Kentucky Native Cafe, 417 E. Maxwell St., Lexington (parking at 446 East High Street next to Poage Engineers). Join us for dinner followed by the first of two A Swift Night Out Chimney Swift counts. Please RSVP to president@CKAS.org by Thursday (August 9th) so we can let the restaurant know our head count.
Aug 16th (Wed) All Day: Anniversary of the Signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act  Everywhere. The MBTA was one of the National Audubon Society’s first major victories in wildlife protection, signed 101 years ago today. In honor of this important legislature, please take a moment to call your representatives and encourage them to continue to support our native birds.
Aug 18th (Sat) 8:00pm-9:30pm: Purple Martin Roost Watch Location TBD. Join us for our second ever official Purple Martin Watch. Note: if we can't locate the roost, this event might cancel or reschedule for another day. RSVP to president@CKAS.org to be kept in the loop.
Aug 30th (Thu) TBA: Wild & Scenic Film Festival Join the Kentucky Conservation Committee for the 2018 Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Details TBA—keep the evening free!
         

"If you take care of the birds,
you will take care of most of the problems of the world."
- Dr. Thomas Lovejoy
Birds, Words & Wine
Returns in August

There's still time to get and read Freedom before Birds, Words, & Wine meets in August to discuss the book. The author, Jonathan Franzen, has been both a staunch advocate for birds (see Why Birds Matter) and a sharp critic of The National Audubon Society (see Carbon Capture). Date & time TBD at the Steering Committee meeting on July 13th.

CKAS gets a small kickback from purchases via AmazonSmile, so if you plan to buy the book online then please shop here for your copy. Watch for more details in next month's news or on our Facebook & web calendars. Plan to bring beverages or snacks to share "with a bird on them."

 
Nighthawk Watch
& Ice Cream / Drinks
July 27th, 8:00 pm+
What peents loudly and flies low over the city at early twilight? Nighthawks! Come count some with us at McConnell Springs on July 27th. We'll meet at the gate at 8:00pm, then walk to the pond where hopefully the nighthawks will be sweeping for bugs. Then we'll move to the distillery district for either ice cream or drinks.
If you have a Kroger Plus card, you can help CKAS raise funds through the Kroger Community Rewards program every time you shop. Simply select Central Kentucky Audubon Society (Org. #65224) as your Reward Charity of choice. Doing so will NOT affect your fuel point savings, but will help CKAS increase its share of Kroger's donations. We currently earn about $200 a year with this program; more families linking their Kroger Plus cards to our cause would greatly help us help birds. Check the bottom of your next Kroger receipt to make sure it says: "At your request we are donating to Central Kentucky Audubon Society."
 
Need to buy anything online? CKAS is supported by Amazon Smile. If you #StartWithaSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of your purchase price to the Central Kentucky Audubon Society, at no cost to you! Please bookmark this link to support CKAS every time you shop the net.
What if you don't receive Audubon Magazine? Then you're probably not an official member of the National Audubon Society. You don't have to be to get our newsletter or attend events, but you can join NAS for only $20 annually (& help support CKAS in the process) by following his link.  Be sure to choose "KY | Central Kentucky Audubon (J51)" under the Chapter Donation Designation menu to automatically return your first year's dues directly to our chapter so we can do that much more to help local birds.
www.centralkentuckyaudubon.org
524 Rosemont Garden | Lexington KY 40503
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