WESTERN FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS 34TH ANNUAL MEETING

Boise, Idaho, 10–13 September 2009

Join us for WFO’s 34th annual meeting at the Oxford Suites of Boise, phone 208-322-8000, website www.oxfordsuitesboise.com. Hotel reservations are by phone only for the rooms discounted for WFO. Rooms are limited, so make your reservation quickly. Information on presenting a paper submission, registration, and the hotel are at www.westernfieldornithologists.org. If you are without a computer, request a registration form and details from Ed Pandolfino, 55350 Del Rose Court, Carmichael, CA 95608.

Located along a major pathway of fall migration of both raptors and songbirds, the Boise area is rich in observable bird life. Do not pass up this opportunity to see this unique region and to meet the scientists of our hosting organization, the Idaho Bird Observatory of Boise State University. Western Field Ornithologists’ meetings are noted for their science programs, hospitality, field trips, identification panels, and lively social activities, and this year we can add special location to this list.

This year’s agenda includes science sessions, expert identification panels, workshops, field trips, exhibitors, social activities, featured speakers, and banquet. Dr. Craig Benkman (www.uwyo.edu/benkman/) of the University of Wyoming will give the keynote address on the South Hills Crossbill, Loxia sinesciuris, which he and others recently described (http://birding.typepad.com/peeps/2009/03/south-hillscrossbill-idaho.html). The ever affable and knowledgeable Terry Rich, Partners in Flight national coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be a featured speaker on the birds of Idaho. For the adventurous, this meeting also affords the opportunity to see North America’s newest and Idaho’s first endemic bird, the South Hills Crossbill.

Our science sessions and identification panels are coordinated this year by Debbie Van Dooremolen, Jay Withgott, Ed Harper, and Nathan Pieplow. To submit and present a paper, contact WFO through our website, www.westernfieldornithologists.org.To express an interest in participating in the panels on sound and/or visual identification(don’t be shy), send a message to contact@westernfieldornithologists.org.

Workshops will be offered on both Friday and Saturday mornings of the meeting. Preparation of bird skins, how to write and submit a scientific paper to a journal, the art of listening for bird sounds, and techniques for digiscoping are this year’s topics, presented by Daniel Gibson and Robert Dickerman, David Krueper and Philip Unitt, Jay Withgott and Catherine Waters, and Jim Danzenbaker and friends.

This year’s diverse field trips will visit the Lucky Peak banding station, staging areas for shorebirds and waterfowl, and the amazing Boise River Walk, as well as others. This year’s pelagic trip will be by raft down the Snake River! Other sites of interest in the area include the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey (www.peregrinefund.org), the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center (www.fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/education/mknc), the Idaho Botanical Garden (www.idahobotanicalgarden.org), and the Boise State University campus (www.boisestate.edu), to name a few.

Logistics for reaching and staying in Boise are excellent. Multiple national air carriers from multiple cities serve the city daily. Besides fine hotels and motels, the area number of nearby RV parks and campgrounds. The Boise Visitors Bureau (phone800-635-5240, website www.boise.org) has complete information and maps (state and local), flight schedules, transportation alternatives to flying and driving, nearby camping/RV locations, etc.

We look forward to seeing you in Boise!