29th Annual Natural Landscapes Conference
Saturday, February 14th, 2009Last Saturday was the 29th Annual Natural Landscapes Conference, held at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. This was sponsored by the Milwaukee Audubon Society and it was an excellent conference with wonderful presenters.
The keynote speaker was Noel Cutright, Ph.D., Senior Terrestrial Ecologist, Scientist, Emeritus, WE Energies; Past President, Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Dr. Cutright talked about “Bird Migration: Following the Flyways - Facts, Fiction and the Future”. It was refreshingly fun to listen to Dr. Cutright talk about some of the false ideas that have been around concerning birds and their migration.
There were three break-out sessions called Natural Landscapes, Avian Connection and Cultural Landscape Heritage. I chose Avian Connection and I wasn’t disappointed!
The first presentation was “How to Help Birds in Your Backyard and on Your Land” by Vicki Piaskowski, International Coordinator, Birds Without Borders. Vicki talked about her work at three Wisconsin study sites and the connection those birds have with a study site in Belize. It was awesome to learn that the birds we see in the summer take up in Belize for the winter.
After lunch, I attended “Creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat” by Dan Panetti, owner, Wild Birds Unlimited in Mequon, WI. Dan has a very comfortable style and is very knowledgeable. I enjoyed the talk very much.
Lastly, Jill Hapner, Ph.D. Washington County Conservationist, gave a presentation called “Avian Response to Restored Wetland Plant Communities”. Dr. Hapner was cataloging restored wetlands and the effects it has on birds.
This was a wonderful conference and I will not miss next year’s. It woke me up enough to finally join The Audubon Society.
