As of June 15, 2021 Dear RBA members: It is good news that rates of COVID-19 in Monroe County and the surrounding area have come down substantially and restrictions have been eased! As a result, the Board of Directors and the Field Trip Committee, have updated RBA COVID-19 guidelines, specifically in the Social Distancing and… Read more

Grassland birds show some of the most dramatic population declines in North America as a result of habitat loss and intensive agricultural management. Allan Strong has studied Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows in the dairy country of Vermont’s Champlain Valley since 2002. He will present some of his research results that have led to innovative conservation… Read more

With the continuing high rates of COVID-19 in Monroe County and the surrounding area, the Board of Directors, the Field Trip Committee, and the field trip leaders will be making decisions on our upcoming field trips on a monthly basis.  The decision to cancel a field trip or to curtail attendance are not made lightly, but rather reflect the NYS guidelines at the time of the trip and also an abundance of caution for our trip leaders and attendees.

Dear Members, As the new year approaches, hopes for our traditional January pot luck dinner with the opportunity to socialize and have fun with member presentations and quizzes, has, unfortunately, faded with the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases (as of this writing). This is disappointing, to be sure.  However, besides having fun, our January meeting… Read more

With migration largely behind us and breeding season in full swing, it’s time to think about the use of birdsong recordings (commonly called playback) to attract birds in the field. This controversial practice has become more and more commonplace as phone apps put these recordings in the hands of many more birders. Why does anyone… Read more

Hello RBA members,   It’s almost that time of year!  It sure feels like we’re finished with heat waves this fall, meaning wintering raptors will soon be showing up in local fields and wetlands.  Every year, NYSDEC regions across the state monitor wintering raptor presence to record where and how these birds are spending their time… Read more

by Amy Kahn, RBA President   Doing bird surveys last November and then again in early February I found Blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) upon doing my now mandatory nightly tick checks.  But the only time I got bitten was last fall gardening in my own backyard when I wasn’t checking nightly.  Now I wear repellent… Read more

This spring at Braddock Bay Raptor Research’s Bird of Prey Days I gave a talk that covered, among many other things, my love of the region and how lucky Rochester area birders in general are. To follow up on that I wanted to jot a few thoughts down on that very issue.

Mike Allen was a Wildlife Technician with New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation for 34 years out of the Region 8 Avon office. During his career he worked with Peter Nye, a Wildlife Biologist in charge of the DEC’s Endangered Species Unit