I'd like to encourage everyone to join us for the 2nd annual Ohio Young Birders Club BIG SIT Fundraiser for Habitat Conservation, this Saturday, October 15th, from 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Port Clinton Lakefront Preserve in Port Clinton, Ohio. A bit of background... The Lakefront Preserve project is a wonderful success story. In addition to the scenic value, it's important to note that less than 16% of Ohio's lakeshore is accessible to the public. The mile-long protected stretch of the Lakefront Preserve adds considerably to the public's opportunity to enjoy Lake Erie. Plans are to continue removing invasive phragmites and improving the habitat, and to construct a boardwalk to allow better access to this wonderful coastal wetland. Linda Hartlaub, President of the Port Clinton City Council says, "The City has worked for more than twenty years to obtain the property now known as the Lakefront Preserve. Now that we have succeeded, we can boast that we have one of the longest stretches of public access shoreline on Lake Erie. We are honored that the young people in the Ohio Young Birders Club appreciate our vision of the property enough to work hard to raise money to support it." OYBC students have adopted the Port Clinton Lakefront Preserve as their 2011 habitat restoration project. In addition to raising money through the BIG SIT, the kids also conducted a BioBlitz on the property this summer to establish a baseline inventory of all the species on the area. This will be a big help in evaluating the success of the restoration of the habitat of the Preserve. Not only did they tally nearly 200 species, they found TWO state endangered species of mussels! The mission of the Ohio Young Birders Club is to encourage, educate, and empower our youth conservation leaders. We provide monthly outdoor experiences that help develop a deeper awareness and appreciation of our natural world. We also recognize that it takes more than the ability to identify birds to be good stewards of our natural resources. We strive to give young people the tools to empower their ability to be strong conservation leaders. Financial support is critical for conservation efforts, and teaching the students about fundraising and charitable giving is an important part of their leadership development. We're really proud of the City of Port Clinton for seeing the value in preserving a natural area and we want to help them make the Preserve a great place for birders and anyone who enjoys nature! We're very close to our $5,000 goal, and if a bunch of great birders join us to help spot birds, we're sure to reach it! Visit the OYBC website for all the details: http://ohioyoungbirders.org/2011_big_sit_fundraiser.htm Thanks, and good birding! Kim Kimberly Kaufman Executive Director Black Swamp Bird Observatory 13551 West State Route 2 Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449 419-898-4070 www.bsbobird.org <http://www.bsbobird.org/> www.ohioyoungbirders.org <http://www.ohioyoungbirders.org/> www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com <http://www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com/> www.birdingwithkennandkim.blogspot.com Become a fan of BSBO and Ohio Young Birders Club on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BSBOBIRD www.facebook.com/OHIOYOUNGBIRDERS <http://www.faceboo.com/OHIOYOUNGBIRDERS> Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BSBOBIRD ______________________________________________________________________ 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]