Upcoming Events

CVAS Meeting | Virtual Zoom Meeting
Break out of pandemic isolation to meet with Audubon friends and make new friends, hear about Audubon news and projects, and learn about local birds. Following our meeting, we will zoom to Australia with Mark Bonta, Ph.D., with his program “Australia’s Firehawks: Arsonists or Land Managers?”

Across Australia’s tropical north, certain raptors have an unusual tool-using ability: they spread fires. Black Kites, Whistling Kites, and Brown Falcons, when in need of food, snatch burning brands from wildfires and campsites and drop them in patches of unburned grass to flush out prey. Dr. Bonta led teams of researchers into remote corners of Australia’s Northern Territory to document this behavior and to learn what it can tell us about the intelligence of birds and the future of Australian tropical ecosystems in a warming world. His research includes interviews with Aboriginal fire fighters whose ancestors have occupied the region for 40,000 years.

Dr. Bonta’s travels have taken him to six continents and more than 40 countries in his pursuit of global citizenship and environmental conservation. He is passionate about all things related to birds, including the wisdom traditions of avifauna among local and indigenous people.

One of 27 chapters statewide, Chemung Valley Audubon’s purpose is to encourage the study, enjoyment, and protection of birds and other wildlife, and to offer educational programs, lectures, and field trips. Events are free and open to all.

Send an email to norwoodgail558@gmail.com to receive your link to the Zoom meeting.

Chemung County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event

Chemung County's Fall 2020 Household Hazardous Waste Collection event is scheduled for Saturday, October 10.

Pre-registration is required for this event by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chemung County at 607-734-4453 between Wednesday, September 16th and Wednesday, October 7th, 9am-noon and 1-4pm, weekdays only.

This event is for Chemung County residents only and is FREE to participate.

Here is information for each collection event.

Remember!

• No electronics.
• No latex paints.
• No pets.
• No smoking.
• No empty containers!
  

Strap that roller coaster seatbelt across your lap – our montane forests are in for a ride over the next century. On October 15 at 7PM EDT, Dr. Jason Hill, an ecologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, will discuss how climate change is forcing our northeastern flora and fauna to rapidly adapt, with a special focus on the responses of montane bird populations.

Hill is currently a quantitative ecologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, where he helps oversee the citizen science project Mountain Birdwatch, and researches montane ecology. He received his PhD from the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State University, where he studied the population ecology of grassland sparrows following experimental landscape manipulation.

His postdoc with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center explored how landscape changes from Marcellus natural gas development impacted interior forest and grassland bird species.

This event is FREE, but registration is required. You can register here.

October Big Day
Mark your calendars for October Big Day—17 October 2020! Big Days are a 24 hour opportunity to celebrate the birds both near you and around the world.

In addition, this year’s October Big Day 2020 is happening during the first Global Bird Weekend. The goal of Global Bird Weekend is to make October 17-18 the biggest ever birding weekend and support BirdLife International’s appeal to end illegal bird trade. One of Global Bird Weekend’s aims is to have more than 25,000 people submit eBird checklists on 17 October—will you be one of them?

We recognize that COVID-19 continues to impact our communities. Even if your local conditions have improved, we always encourage everyone to put safety first, follow local health guidelines, and bird mindfully. You can bird from home and still participate in October Big Day!