Welcome / Business Meeting
    COA President Steve Mayo will present a brief overview of the state of COA, followed by elections of officers and board members. Jerry Connolly, Program Chairman will welcome the membership and introduce the first presenter of the day.

THE SHOREBIRD GUIDE:
A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO FIELD IDENTIFICATION
Kevin T. Karlson
Kevin Karlson’s program highlights a new and exciting approach to field identification, Birding by Impression, and how it specifically relates to shorebirds. This approach focuses on impressions of the non-changeable field characters of size, shape, and behavior/body language to form a fast, yet surprisingly effective picture of every bird seen.

Kevin’s The Shorebird Guide (with co-authors Michael O’Brien and Richard Crossley; Houghton Mifflin, 2006) takes this “holistic” approach to shorebird ID. Several difficult species (dowitchers, Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, Willet subspecies) previously thought near impossible to identify with certainty in the field, will be reviewed and separated in photos using basic impressions of shape and structure as well as plumage analysis. Throughout the program, Kevin shares the stunning beauty and incredible migratory journeys of shorebirds using photos that capture the essence of these global travelers.

“Here is a volume that sets a new standard in the literature of field identification”. - Kenn Kaufman’s review of The Shorebird Guide

BIRD CONSERVATION SECRETS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW
Jeff Wells
Jeff Wells, author of the Princeton University Press publication Birder’s Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk, will talk about his views on the state of birds and bird conservation in North America. In a wide-ranging presentation covering everything from global warming to lingerie, Kleenex, donut holes, and the Argentinean economy, Dr. Wells will describe the best-kept secrets of bird conservation and tell about some amazing conservation opportunities that still exist including protection of Boreal Forests - North America’s Great Bird Nursery.

SEARCHING FOR A 'MEGA'
Julian Hough
The Scilly Isles are an archipelago of islands, situated off the southwestern tip of the UK. For British twitchers, they are a birder's mecca, renowned for the number of rarities which are found here, particularly vagrants from America. Tired lost, the Scillies are the first point of landfall for these tired waifs. In October, hundreds of birders descend on the islands for the rare and unusual. Familiar North American birds such as Black and White Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Red-eyed Vireo send the British twitchers into a frenzy when they are sighted. It is not just birds from the west. Siberian strays such as Radde's Warbler and Olive-backed Pipit, as well as exotic species such as Bee-eater and Hoopoe from Europe may all be found on these islands. Nowhere else in the world would you be able to see a Siberian Pallas's Warbler in the same bush as a Scarlet Tanager! For many, this is what the "Scilly Season" is all about.

Julian Hough, originally from England, now resides in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a gifted journalist, photographer and illustrator whose works have graced the pages of Wildbird, Birding, Birders World and Birdwatch, as well as Britain’s top-selling bird magazine Birdwatching. Currently he is a member of the Avian Rare Records Committee and a frequent contributor to The Connecticut Warbler.

CONSERVATION OF BIRDS IN NEW ENGLAND AND JAPAN: DIFFERENT BIRDS, SIMILAR PROBLEMS
Dr. Robert Askins
The deciduous forests of Japan and eastern North America are surprisingly similar. Forests in both regions are dominated by the same types of tree (oaks, beeches, maples, and pines), and the general appearance and structure of these forests are remarkably similar. Both regions have spectacular changes in foliage in autumn and attractive displays of woodland wildflowers in the spring. Even the small plants of the forest floor (violets, trilliums, anemones, and skunk cabbages) are closely related, The forest birds of these two regions are distinctly different, however. Ecologically similar species in the two regions often belong to unrelated families.

Robert Askins, who has done field work on forest birds in both Connecticut and Japan, will describe how some of the same problems affecting birds in New England are important in Japan. Although Japan is a densely populated, highly industrialized country, it has a surprising high diversity of plants and animals, and much of the interior of the country is heavily forested. As in New England, however, two of the major threats to birds are forest fragmentation and loss of open, early successional habitats. The conservation themes are similar, but the cultural responses are distinctly different in the two regions.

Early Registration: $12.50 per person (pre-pay only)
Must be received by March 24
[Registration at the door: $17.00]

Buffet lunch: $12.50 per person (pre-pay only)

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