Birders in Ithaca can expect flocks of fellow bird enthusiasts to swarm alongside the Cayuga Bird Club for the New York State Ornithological Association conference this September.
Taking place from September 19-21 at the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center, the conference will host birders from across the state and beyond. Attendees can participate in birding field trips, vendor auctions, trivia, speeches and more. The full schedule can be found online.
What to Expect
On the first two days, attendees can choose to participate in field trips, vendor auctions or extra activities hosted by the conference throughout the day.
The Welcome Reception will be held on Sept. 19, where attendees can enjoy appetizers and paid refreshments. Adriaan Dokter, a research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Center for Avian Population Studies, will discuss bird migration to kick off the conference.
On Sept. 20, Julie Hart, the Atlas project coordinator, will host the New York Breeding Bird Atlas Celebration and Lunch. Hart will discuss breeding birds and hand out awards.
Peter Kaestner, the first person to see a lifetime count of 10,000 bird species, will end the day with a lecture titled “In Search of the Orange-tufted Spiderhunter” as keynote speaker. In his speech, Kaestner will detail his yearslong birding journey, touching on his time in the Peace Corps where he was an honorary field affiliate of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, his travels around the world and how he began birding.
Registration
Regular registration begins on Monday until Aug. 31. An adult can register for $85 per person.
Youth can register at any time until Aug. 31 for $5 per person.
The Welcome Reception, NY Breeding Bird Atlas Celebration and lunch are add-on events, which means they require additional payment to attend.
Registration can be completed online.
Varsha Bhargava is a reporter at the Ithaca Times and a news editor at The Cornell Daily Sun working on The Sun’s summer fellowship. This article was originally published in the Ithaca Times.
Varsha Bhargava is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
