On February 27, the Ohio Bluebird Society held its educational conference at The Arden Shisler Conference Center on the OSU campus in Wooster. This was the perfect place for the conference and the attendance was the largest for any previous OBS conference. The snow
was a threat but did not keep us from having a successful event.
The speakers included: (1) Mel Bolt on Bluebird boxes – specifications and installation; (2) Ken Cochran – Program Director, Secrest Arboretum (OARDC) – Plants that attract birds searching for food; (3) Dick Tuttle – Managing nest jars over water for Prothonotary Warblers; (4) Sue Evanoff, President of the Wilderness Center Bird Club; (5) Steve Endres, on wildlife photography; and (6) Lynda Price – of the Wilderness Center – historical role of bird banding and what is learned from the science. The process of banding from permits, traps, band size, aging and sexing the birds and record keeping.
The Medina Raptor Center brought three birds of prey for everyone to observe. We enjoyed seeing a leucistic red-tailed hawk; a barred owl and a barn owl.
Our raffle items helped immensely in paying for the conference expenses. We had approximately 75 items donated by area businesses, exhibitors and members.