We are For the Birds!
The Beckham Bird Club, Inc., in existence since 1935, is a nonprofit organization of men, women, and children who are interested in birds, ecology, and nature. It is named for Charles Wickliffe Beckham, the first native Kentuckian to achieve a national reputation as an ornithologist.
Beckham Bird Club members are people who like birds, enjoy watching them, and want to keep in touch with others who also enjoy the sport. Birding can be as relaxing or strenuous as desired. Some prefer backyard birding – others prefer field trips. Either way, birding provides the enthusiast with excitement, the chance to learn, and fun. The Beckham Bird Club welcomes both individuals and families as members.
Duck Stamps
Do you know about the Duck Stamp? It used to be called the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. The stamp is sold for $15 beginning in July each year. Funds support the National Wildlife Refuge System and 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to purchasing bird habitat.
Many birders are understandably hesitant to buy a Duck Stamp because they don't want to be seen as supporting waterfowl hunting and because there has been no way to separate contributions by birders from those of hunters -- UNTIL NOW. The American Birding Association (ABA) just started selling Duck Stamps on their website. By purchasing a Duck Stamp through the ABA you will be counted as a birder, not a hunter AND you will be supporting the most effective conservation initiative in the U.S.
OK it's a little more trouble to buy your Duck Stamp through the ABA and it's a little more expensive because you have to pay to have it mailed to you, but isn't it worth it to be counted as a birder and to help the ABA demonstrate birders' support for habitat and bird conservation?
This is not a fund-raiser for the ABA; they are not seeking to make any money doing this. What they want from this effort is an accounting of birders, not just in numbers but in dollars and cents.
Please consider purchasing a Duck Stamp this year, and doing via the ABA's website here.
Meeting Time and Place
Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month (except March and June) at 7:00 p.m. at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street off of Frankfort Avenue, in Louisville, KY. (click the link for a Google map) Occasionally our meetings are held at other locations, the newsletter indicates any such changes. Programs are varied and include lectures, discussions, panels, slides, movies and the many phases of ornithological study.
Join us for our meeting at the Clifton Center, 2117 Payne Street, in the Community Room on Tuesday, February 10, 2015.
Last summer two young birders from Kentucky were awarded the Wendell and Virginia Kingsolver Scholarship given by the Kentucky Ornithological Society to attend the American Birding Association's Camp Avocet in Delaware. Both have had an interest in birds from an early age and wanted to further their knowledge of the avian world. Caitlyn Roberts from Goshen and Tanner Shepard of Waddy were given the opportunity to learn from experts, meet other young people who share the same passion for birds, and add many new birds to their life list. Caitlyn is a young naturalist at Creasy Mahon Nature Preserve and Tanner has started a club called Young Birders of the Bluegrass. Tanner and Caitlyn both want to pursue careers in ornithology because of their experience at the ABA camp.
Hope you will join us to find out more about their experiences as young birders. If you know a young person who is interested in birds this would be a good time to bring them to the joint meeting of Beckham Bird Club and the Louisville Audubon Society. Scholarships for 2015 are available for young birders. For more information go to the KOS web site at birdky.org. Our meeting will be on Tuesday, February 10 at the Clifton Center at 7:00 p.m.