International Migratory Bird Day 2009

On Sunday May 3rd The Friends of Volo Bog Volunteers teamed up with a dozen other organizations and businesses with the help of the Moraine Hills State Park staff held the second day of the weekend celebration.

The day started off with a 7 am bird walk led by Joel Orlinsky & Randy Schietzelt, representing The Illinois Audubon, McHenry County Chapter. Some forty-eight species were observed. At 11 am Deb Chapman & Kim Caldwell of the McHenry County Conservation District began bird banding our visitors and measuring their wing spans. From there our participants were invited to sign a bird action pledge, take the Great Migration Challenge, and play Bird Bingo, Jeop-Birdy, Fill the Bill, and Just Ducky. Participants could also make a sound map, go on a Bird Behavior Scavenger Hunt, look through a spotting Scope, learn how to use binoculars. Most of the same activities wee conducted at both sites. While McHenry Dam featured stories & river demos, Volo Bog featured guest speakers. Kristian Gustavson shared the full story of his research into not-for-profit river clean-up efforts. The Annette Prince discussed the amazing work done by volunteers with the Chicago Bird Collision Monitoring teams to rescue birds that crash into windows. CBCM also works with building owners and managers to implement practices that help minimize the impacts.

All participants were given a passport to take to each of the activities to be stamped, earning prizes on the number of stamps received. The coveted Plush Birds – that sang accurate bird songs when squeezed – inspired many participates to complete the 14 required activities. A Grand Prize Drawing was held at 3:00 .m. based upon the Bird Band numbers. Two Prize recipients each received wooden duck decoys donated by Ducks Unlimited of northeastern Illinois. The winners were…Dorothy Bedell of Island Lake and

savannah Eisenmann of Cary..

Conscious Cup of Crystal Lake provided free rain-forest (i.e. bird habitat) friendly coffee to participants for both days The Friends of Volo Bog sold cookies and sodas on Sunday.

Layout of the various stations					Migration Challenge
Bird Banding		Bird Behavior Scavenger Hunt
Prize selection	Learning how to use Binoculars and Spotting Scope
Play “Just Ducky”	Play “Bird Bingo”				“Fill the Bill”
Play “Jeop-Birdy”	Hard at work			Refreshments			Winner!
Photos by Stacy Iwanicki

International Migratory Bird Day 2010

Because of staff cuts excreta we were not as big as last year but weather was good, and those that attended had a good time..

Get banded and win a prize	Outside Activities	The Great Migration Challenge
‘Oh Bird Feathers”	Bird Bingo & Jeop-Birdy	Children Crafts

International Migratory Bird Day 2011

May 1^st was a beautiful day, so it appeared as if many of our expected visitors that day may have

decided to work in their yards. Those that did attend, however, enjoyed the fun and games provided.

The day started off with a 8 am bird walk led by Randy Schietzelt, representing The Illinois Audubon,

McHenry County. Visitors were invited to sign a bird action pledge, take the Great Migration

Challenge, play Bird Bingo & Just Ducky, and make many interesting crafts. At the same time the

Hack-ma-tack presentation which was very educational as well as thought provoking, was going on

in the Center's class room. At the end of the day, some very nice prizes where handed out

Refreshments		Prize Table	Bird Banding	Passport
Just Ducky	Story Telling		Birding Organization	Charting
Gift Shop Specials		The Great Migratory Bird Challenge

Bird Bingo		Crafts		Hack-ma-tack presentation			Winners
Photos by Bob Vetter

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