I want to thank everyone who joined us for the Black Swamp Bird Observatory's 15th annual banquet, in Columbus last weekend. More than 100 people came together to celebrate a mutual commitment to birds, research, education, and conservation. It was a particular treat to see a number of our partnering organizations represented at our event. We are proud to work alongside organizations like Audubon Ohio, Columbus Audubon, Greater Mohican Audubon Society, Kirtland Bird Club, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Ohio Ornithological Society, Toledo Metroparks, Toledo Naturalists Association, Ohio Lepidopterists, and Earth Share of Ohio, and we thank them for supporting BSBO and attending our celebration. Thank you to our guest speaker Miyoko Chu, of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, for her stirring insight into songbird migration, and for autographing copies of her recently published book, Songbird Journeys. Special thanks to Jerry Tinianow, Executive Director of Audubon Ohio, for giving us a tour of the Whittier Peninsula, future site of the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, and sharing the vision for all that the center can accomplish. Thanks to Darlene Sillick, President of Columbus Audubon, for helping to organize our event and arranging our field trip to Green Lawn Cemetery. For many in the group it was our first visit to this Audubon Important Bird Area (this IBA also includes Whittier Peninsula) and it certainly didn't disappoint! A glimpse of the Merlin and fabulous looks at the Pine Warbler that's been hanging out there since January were highlights of the trip. And, finally, thanks to Phil Chaon, Ethan Kistler, Bret McCarty, and Auriel VanDerLaar, for representing the Ohio Young Birders Club at the banquet, helping to leading our Sunday morning field trip, and for helping us all to believe in a bright future for birds and birding! Sincerely, Kim Kaufman Black Swamp Bird Observatory 419-898-4070 _www.bsbobord.org_ (http://www.bsbobord.org) ____________________________________ It's Tax Time! _Get tips, forms and advice on AOL Money & Finance._ (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]