Audubon Society of Ohio

03/21/2026

03/01/2026

UPDATES for Cedar Bog

As a young visitor informed us yesterday, there are over 400 maroon and lime green skunk cabbage spathes emerging around the boardwalk! She counted them! I would bet there are even more today! The spathes are opening and we are seeing bees feed on the flowers within the spathe! AND, the chorus frogs were heard singing today! Glorious signs of SPRING!

DATA CENTER update: we want to thank you all for responding to our call for action. The response from the citizens of our nearest city, Urbana, has been overwhelming- they grew up next to the Bog and cherish it. People from all over Ohio and beyond have shared our post, emailed city administrators, state officials, and offered their support. Many, Many thanks!
The next Urbana City Council meeting will be Tuesday, March 3rd, at 6:00 pm and will be held in the community room at 1512 S. Highway 68, Urbana, Ohio. If you want to speak you will need to sign up before 6:00. We have 2 expert folks speaking that night. Our goal for this meeting is to ask city council to bring back the moratorium so that we can demand environmental impact studies and gain more information. As you know, we MUST be pro-active. We appreciate your presence at these meetings! The link to the petition is in a prior post. There will be a paper petition at the meeting. There are over 4,000 signatures at this point. You do NOT have to be a resident of Champaign County to sign or to speak at the council meeting! The citizens group from Urbana has created a website to keep people informed at www.urbanadatacenter.info.
Thank you!

02/06/2026

Your reminder that Fernald's Winter Bird Fest starts tomorrow! Come on out and enjoy the birds with the local birding community. If the cold worries you, fear not! Audubon Society of Ohio has provided a snack table with coffee, tea and cocoa to keep you birding through the cold! For a full detail of the events you can go to:
https://www.energy.gov/lm/events/fernald-winter-bird-fest-2026

02/05/2026

Love is in the air at the Caridnal Land Conservancy.

01/22/2026

Audubon SO is spreading the word about an upcoming event that many members may find interesting happening at Fernald Preserve. In support we are providing refreshments for the Fest.

Fernald Preserve Winter Bird Fest 2026

Join fellow bird-lovers and nature fans at the 2nd Annual Winter Bird Fest held at the
Fernald Preserve, February 7-14. This free week-long event features a menu of events geared for bird-lovers of all ages, from Family Day(february 8), nature walks and birdwatching activities to hands-on educational opportunities, special guest performances and presentations, and even bird identification and banding. Winter Bird Fest is your chance to see and learn more about our feathered friends and bring the family for a host of fun activities! For registration, email Fernald at: [email protected]

11/24/2025

Insect populations are in steep decline, which could endanger the food supply. But there are things we can do to reverse the trend.

11/17/2025

Cincinnati Bird Window Collisions: A Study in Bird Mortality and Building Mitigation
November 20 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Free
Theme: Cincinnati Bird Window Collisions: A Study in Bird Mortality and Building Mitigation

Presenter: Dr. Ron Canterbury

Date: Thursday November 20, 2025

Time: 7PM

Location: Sharon Center at Sharon Woods or on Zoom



Every year an estimated ONE BILLION birds collide with windows in the United States alone! Due to their inability to detect glass facades on our many homes, buildings, and other glass structures, they often do not survive these encounters with these man-made barriers. In the midst of a loss of 3 billion North American birds since 1970, collisions with human structures figure to be a large contributor to the loss of our avian friends.

Locally, many birds perish as they pass over the glass-crowned hilltops of Clifton, as well as other heavily built-up corridors, such as downtown and the riverfront. Dr. Ron Canterbury, an ornithologist at the University of Cincinnati, has taken action to document and address this problem locally. Dr. Canterbury has been documenting window collision mortality on the UC campus for well over a decade, and has also been monitoring local bird populations through other means, such as leg banding. Please join us at 7pm the evening of Thursday, November 20th at the Sharon Centre to hear Dr. Canterbury discuss window collisions and methods that can be taken to reduce the threats of glass on your property. He will also give us updates of the progress he has made in making the UC campus bird safe and any ways you may be able to contribute to making Cincinnati more bird-friendly!

This meeting is in person at Sharon Centre and on zoom as well.

The Meeting Place can be found here: Sharon Centre

The zoom invite for those who want to attend from home is: https://zoom.us/j/99976125788

Please wait until 6:50 before clicking the link. You will be admitted when the program is ready to begin.

10/15/2025

A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds With Sophie A. H. Osborn
October 16 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Date: Thursday, October 16, 2025

Time: 7 pm

Location: Sharon Centre and Zoom

Speaker: Sophie A. H. Osborn

This Meeting is in person and Zoom. Sophie is not local so she will present via Zoom which we can watch together on the big screen at Sharon Centre or you can watch from home.

Here is the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/92439072826?pwd=SQxNEaqfy2NghfzrbNqlRs46XVuBlE.1 Participants will be admitted to the program starting around 6:50 pm

Birds are visible, vocal sentinels that alert us to environmental harms through their declining numbers or their failure to thrive. In her book Feather Trails—A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds, Sophie Osborn shares her personal experiences reintroducing endangered Peregrine Falcons, Hawaiian Crows, and California Condors to the wild. While immersing readers in the triumphs and tribulations of being a wildlife biologist, Sophie explores the threats that imperiled these birds, and reveals that what harmed them threatens us, too. She will discuss what led to the endangerment of these three captivating species, recount the efforts of biologists to recover their populations, and read a few excerpts from her book that describe what it was like to work with these magnificent birds.

Sophie A. H. Osborn is an award-winning environmental writer and wildlife biologist whose work has included the study and conservation of more than a dozen bird species in the Americas. She contributed to reintroduction efforts for several endangered birds and served as the field manager for the California Condor Recovery Program in Arizona for four years. Her first book, Condors in Canyon Country, won the 2007 National Outdoor Book Award for Nature and the Environment. Reviewers for the American Birding Association (ABA) chose her second book, Feather Trails, as their favorite bird book of 2024. Sophie has written articles for BirdWatching, Wyoming Wildlife, and Sojourns magazines. Her writings are also available on her website (https://www.wordsforbirds.net/) and her “Words for Birds” Substack blog.

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10/09/2025

2025 Audubon Society of Ohio Bird Course
October 19 @ 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
2025 A*O Bird Course

Three Sunday Mornings, 19th, 26th & November 2nd, 2025

Hone your birding and identification skills by registering for the 36th annual Audubon Birding Course. Our local Cincinnati Audubon Society Chapter (A*O) has been sponsoring this class since 1987. The three-week course will be held on three consecutive Sunday mornings. This year’s dates are; October 19th, October 26th and November 2nd. Father-son team Jay Stenger and Jack Stenger will again be this year’s instructors. Both Jay and Jack are well known and exceptionally knowledgeable birders. Jay has been an instructor for this course since its inception in 1987 and Jack for over 18 years. The course will be held at the Fernald Preserve Visitor Center. Fernald Preserve is located in northwestern Hamilton County. The entrance is located at 7400 Wiley Road, about ¼ of a mile west of State Route 128. Follow the entrance road to the Visitor Center.

Each class will begin at 8 AM with a casual class-room session that includes a continental breakfast. The classroom sessions will be followed by a field trip on the Preserves grounds or to a nearby local hot spot, usually wrapping up about 1 PM. The field trip locations will be determined by current birding conditions and the interests of the participants.

Through discussions, visual and audio presentations and field observations, the course will particularly focus on sharpening identification skills. But the course will offer much more than that. When, where and how to find birds in our area is also prioritized. Other course topics will include migration, bird abundance and distribution, habitat, conservation, local hotspots, birding equipment and resources. The setting is informal and questions are encouraged. Jay and Jack also infuse a lot of fun, levity and enthusiasm throughout.

This course is geared towards all birding levels. While mid-level birders may gain the most from this course, most birders, beginners and experienced alike, will find that this course will help hone their ID skills and add to their knowledge of local birds. Over 700 area birders have taken this course over the years and have found it entertaining and informative. The course is open to everyone, including older kids if accompanied by an adult. Binoculars are required and a field guide will be useful to refer to in class and in the field. If you do not have a pair of binoculars, the A*O can lend you a pair during the course.

Course fees are $20 for A*O members and $35 for non-members which include a $15 annual membership in A*O. The course will be limited to a maximum of 30 participants. To register and pay online use the following link:

https://cincinnatiaudubon.regfox.com/audubon-bird-class-2025

Registration is limited to 30 participants. If the event is full, email Jay Stenger at [email protected] to be placed on a waiting list. If you have any questions contact Jay.

Get tickets online for Audubon Bird Class 2025 here.

09/28/2025

Make Buildings Safe for Migrating Birds on the University of Cincinnati's Campus

09/11/2025

https://act.audubon.org/a/save-roadless-areas-2025?ms=digital-adv-web-website-nas-x-20250900-roadless_rule-engagement_card&_gl=1*142qhry*_gcl_au*MjQ1MDQ3NTg3LjE3NTczNTg2OTQ.*_ga*MTc2ODM1Mjk2Mi4xNzU3MzU4Njk0*_ga_X2XNL2MWTT*czE3NTc2MDUxNzAkbzIkZzEkdDE3NTc2MDUyMDAkajMwJGwwJGgw

The Roadless Rule protects much of our last remaining wild national forests. Urge the U.S. Forest Service not to repeal the rule.