At the Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO), we are a proud partner of the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON), which collaborates with the community and partners within the Klamath Siskiyou Bioregion to promote the restoration and conservation of oak habitats. This week, we have two exciting announcements: a new website (https://oakalliance.org/partnerships/kson/) and The Prairie, Oaks, and People Investment Strategy is now LIVE!
Join Dr. Sarah Rockwell for her presentation at the Redwood Region Audubon Society January 16 at 7:00 p.m. The program is entitled “To Southern California, Brazil, and Back: First GPS Tracking of Oregon Vesper Sparrow and Western Purple Martin Migration”. This presentation will be hosted on Zoom and in person. Zoom link can be found in this article
The year is almost over and soon it will be 2025. To get ready for the new year KBO is searching for its 2025 field technician crew for its point count program. The avian point count surveys will take place from April 28th through July 18th, throughout the ecologically diverse and beautiful regions of southern Oregon, eastern Oregon, and/or northern California. Technicians will conduct work related to multiple projects including monitoring effects of oak and conifer forest restoration on species distributions and long-term monitoring on both private and public lands.
Plus check out how the 2024 season went! We are very thankful for our excellent point count crew this year, who put in an amazing effort to collect high-quality data throughout the region, while also navigating life in the field. In 2024 they recorded over 29,000 individuals of over 200 different species on surveys. At Klamath Bird Observatory, we are happy to have another successful season on the books and are looking forward to learning more from the data we have collected.
LEAD BANDER – Martin started as an intern in KBO’s banding program in 2017. Now he trains the next generation of bird banders and manages five banding stations in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion. Martin studied Natural Resources and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico).
Biologist—Informatics and Data Science Program The biologist will contribute to KBO’s growing Informatics and Avian Data Science Program. Biologists support the Avian Knowledge Network, work with partners to scope and […]
The Patty Buettner Memorial Hawk Watch will be on Saturday, September 28, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the Modoc Rim stationary viewing area, above nearby Hagelstein Park, north of Klamath Falls. This event has been a tradition for many years, observing the migrating raptors moving southward using the updraft caused by daily eastward blowing wind currents along the escarpment seen adjacent to Hwy 97 and Upper Klamath Lake.
On February 23rd, Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network was featured in the Rogue Valley Times. A $13-million effort to restore health to oak tree habitat in the Lake Creek area east of White City and near the Table Rocks north of Medford is in its second year.
So far, the thinning of conifers that were competing with oaks has taken place on about 200 acres near Lake Creek and on 100 acres near the Table Rocks. The community of Lake Creek is located about 12 miles east of White City, near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
The work, known as the Upper Rogue Oak Initiative, is due to take place on 3,650 acres — nearly 6 square miles — of private and public land, all but 250 acres of it near Lake Creek. Partners include state and federal agencies, along with conservation organizations, functioning under an umbrella group known as the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Initiative.
The project is slated to take six years to complete.
As the seasons shift and daylight wanes, we are excited to share with you some of the extraordinary work Klamath Bird Observatory has been involved in this past year throughout the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion and beyond! We also write to ask for your continued support — birds link us together across borders as we all share delight in their beauty and concern for their decline. With help from our supporters, KBO will continue building unique partnerships that strengthen our ability to advance bird and habitat conservation and address our collective concerns.
November can be a great time of year to enjoy raptor viewing in the picturesque Klamath Basin! Please join KBO board members Amanda Alford and Dick Ashford on Nov 4th for a fun, day-long hawk-watching outing to Butte Valley and the lower Klamath Basin. We’ll look for resident and early-wintering hawks, falcons, eagles, and harriers (and there are possibilities for an owl or two 😊). We’ll depart Ashland at 8 AM and return around 5ish. Limited to 12 attendees, $40 per person. This will allow us to carpool (a must!) in 4 vehicles. We’re looking forward to seeing you in the Field Of Wonder!
Each spring, KBO conducts a large-scale point count surveying effort to collect data on abundance, habitat use, and bird communities. Many species can only be surveyed during their breeding season when they establish territories and are easily detected by their unique songs. To take advantage of this, our point count surveys take place within a narrow window during the spring breeding season. With the help of a fantastic team of seasonal point count technicians, KBO completed another successful season of surveys this year.