Happy Spring! Spring is an invigorating time with an abundance of new life, color, and song with the return of our migratory birds! We are sure you’ve stopped to take in these familiar songs in the past few weeks (even if you don’t quite remember which bird, it is…after all, it has been a year!)
KBO collaborates with many organizations locally and throughout the Americas to help keep these birds coming “home” like our yellow-breasted chat. But what is home to a bird? Many of the birds we consider “our birds” are only here for a few months to breed, and then they travel south following their food, connecting humanity through a shared experience of enjoying these special creatures. KBO works intensively with organizations in countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Brazil to learn more about the full migratory cycle of these amazing, complicated creatures to help ensure their survival in this age of declining bird populations.
The fall has arrived and with it the southbound migration of many of our beautiful birds. As they journey to their wintering grounds we transition our attention from field to office; this is the time of year for review. As we reflect on the passage of our birds and interns, we look to their future as well. Our seasonal employees and interns scatter to new projects, new prospects, and vast distances to further the advancement, not only of themselves, but of the future of our natural world. With this parting the natural world around us becomes quieter; the birdsong of the spring and summer beginning a decrescendo. This modulation brings responsibility. A duty to safeguard the return of our birds, to ensure the robustness of our programs, to protect and scrutinize our data, and to deliver our science to ensure the decisions being made are informed and sustainable.
We continue to develop and enrich our research with programs in long-term monitoring and applied ecology in the ruggedly beautiful Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion and beyond. Though many of the birds we study summer and breed in our region, they winter in Mexico and Central America. We need to ensure these birds are not only protected here, but on their wintering grounds as well. To protect their full life-cycle we continue to invest in international interns each year. These interns, and the network of international migratory caretakers they create, are part of our legacy. Our relationship with these caretakers is further nurtured as we maintain our crucial partnerships abroad.
When you contribute to KBO, you also become a caretaker. Your private dollars contribute to the science and outreach programs which support our migratory birds both here and abroad.
You, our loyal members and donors, play a vital part in this change of seasons too; a role in the responsibility as stewards of our natural world. We look to you to contribute at this significant time of transition as the year winds to an end. For with this ending comes a bright beginning as we prepare for the year to come. In the coming year our programs, our science and our organization need your generosity. Your donation is crucial in helping the Klamath Bird Observatory advance bird and habitat conservation. We hope you will answer this call as we ask you to build on your role this year as caretakers of our shared birds; we are eternally thankful for it..
Happy Spring! Spring is an invigorating time with an abundance of new life, color, and song with the return of our migratory birds! We are sure you’ve stopped to take in these familiar songs in the past few weeks (even if you don’t quite remember which bird, it is…after all, it has been a year!)