From the desk of Katherine Emery, Executive Director
Through our Education Committee and our Conservation/Science Committee, Santa Barbara Audubon Society (SBAS) is actively working on many projects. This update provides an overview of selected current projects, goals, and opportunities for member engagement (project list is not all-inclusive).
SBAS protects area birdlife and habitat and connects people with birds through education, conservation and science. SBAS’s Eyes in the Sky (EITS) program, the key wildlife education program of SBAS since 2000 and the only federally licensed raptor education program in the county, connects people to birds and nature through presentations at schools, afterschool programs, and the Audubon Aviary at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The new American Kestrel, “Mouse,” is now meeting the public, and we are welcoming a new Peregrine Falcon (stay tuned for name). SBAS is providing Meet Your Wild Neighbor school lessons to 14 classrooms in 2022-23. We continue to schedule offsite educational programs and raptor visits at camps, classrooms, retirement homes, and other venues. (For details, contact Hannah Atkinson: email hidden; JavaScript is required)
In other news and appreciation:
Congratulations to Michael Love and Sage Hill Films for having their short film “Why are Birds Important?” selected for the prestigious Bird and Nature Festival in Abbeville, France. (View the film at santabarbaraaudubon.org/learning-resources)
We thank Don Schroeder and Steve Senesac for their diligent leadership running the Nest Box Project at Lake Los Carneros and for their gifts of time, skills, knowledge and passion. Watch for an exciting report on data and research findings to be posted on SBAS’s website in the near future.
Kudos to the Christmas Bird Count leaders and Winter Bird Count for Kids volunteers for organizing these important endeavors, building awareness about bird conservation, and counting 196 and 54 species, respectively, at the fun community events. Thank you to Hugh Ranson for continuing to share Santa Barbara birding stories, including CBC news, in his monthly column in the Santa Barbara Independent. (independent.com/2023/01/15/santa-barbara-birding-a-tale-of-two-counts)
SBAS is delighted to partner for the second year with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for May Bird Month. Watch for details this spring.
