"The Christmas Bird Count Marathon" - Building Better Birders Series

Clayton County Conservation is excited to host Kelly McKay and his Building Better Birders Series. A wide variety of birding programs will be offered over the next several months to give participants a chance to learn many new skills with world class birder Kelly McKay. Join us for his first presentation “The Christmas Bird Count Marathon” on November 14th at 6:30 PM at the Osborne Nature Center.

Wildlife Biologist Kelly McKay, of the BioEco Research and Monitoring Center, with assistance from Mark Roberts (Clinton County Conservation) and Brian Ritter (Nahant Marsh Education Center), developed the Building Better Birders Series in an effort to advance public skills identifying birds and to promote more involvement in Citizen Science programs. Last year their pilot program in Clinton County was honored with the “Ding Darling Environmental Education Award” from the Iowa Association of Naturalists and the Iowa Conservation Education Coalition. This year McKay is expanding this program to other counties throughout Iowa. These workshops are funded through a grant from the Resource Enhancement and Protection-Conservation Education Program (Reap-CEP).

Clayton County Conservation will offer four workshops with McKay over the next 10 months. Future programs will include owl prowls, bird walks, and more in-depth looks at bird groups like raptors, thrushes, and warblers as we brush up on our birding skills.

Class size is limited to allow for social distancing, so please register or call 563-245-1516. Participants are encouraged to wear masks and practice social distancing while attending. The Osborne Center is located on Highway 13, five miles south of Elkader.