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Last updated: 02/28/2010

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

  

 

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Welcome to the
The Montgomery Bird Club
A Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society

|Introduction| |Meeting Location| |Meeting Dates & Speakers|
|Officers| |Membership Application|

The Montgomery Bird Club (MBC) is one of 16 local chapters of the Maryland Ornithological Society.  Its 300-plus members come from Montgomery and neighboring Maryland counties as well as the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. We hold monthly meetings, September through May, at 7:30 pm on the third Wednesday of each month. The March meeting is replaced by our Annual Social usually held on Friday.

 

Meetings are held at the Potomac Presbyterian Church, 10301 River Road (1/4 mile past Falls Road in Potomac. From the Beltway take Exit 39 West (River Road/Rte 190) toward Potomac. After crossing Falls Road (Rte 189), continue 1/4 mile to Gary Road on the right. Turn right on Gary Road, then take an immediate left into the church parking lot. Ample parking is usually available in the church's parking lot or in the adjacent elementary school's lot. Meetings are held in Fellowship Hall on the ground level. In addition to a business session, the monthly meetings feature a presentation (usually with slides) on a bird or nature-related subject.  Doors open at 7:00 pm, refreshments at  7:30 pm, meeting begins at 8:00 pm.

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The "Chair Men" are in charge of setting up and putting away chairs at the meeting. Give them a hand!

Meeting Dates and Speakers

Our 2010 Calendar:

With our proximity to Washington DC, and fantastic experts in the field of ornithology, our  meetings for the calendar year include:

 

 January 20 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m. "Birding in a Changing China." Don Messersmith. Don has pioneered and led tours to China since 1982—a total of 14 tours in all. The period brought great advances in travel facilities, field guides, local participation, and bird clubs. Birders from all over the world discovered the great diversity of the Chinese avifauna. Don will talk about these changes and illustrate them with slides from his tours.

February 12 to 15 (Friday to Monday), Great Backyard Bird Count.  

February 24 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m. "Important Bird Areas: Making the Connection between Birders and Bird Conservation." David Yeany. IBAs guide the bird conservation efforts of Audubon Maryland-DC, and establishing new sites relies heavily on volunteer-based breeding bird surveys known as Bird Blitzes. From the Program Coordinator, hear the results of Bird Blitzes across Maryland and learn about recently identified IBAs.

March 6 (Saturday), MOS Board Meeting. Contact Janet Shields, MOS Secretary, at janetbill@prodigy.net for more info.

March 12 (Friday), 6:30 p.m. Annual Montgomery Bird Club Social, Woodend, Chevy Chase.

April 21 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m. “Wildlife and History of Five Remote Tropical Island Refuges. Doug Forsell. Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Island National Wildlife Refuges are our most remote refuges, lying within 100 miles of the equator in the Central Pacific Ocean. Doug was manager of these refuges, and those on Johnston and Rose Atolls, for 4 years and is especially interested in the population changes of the two million nesting seabirds since the 1920s. These birds have managed to survive many hazards from man including guano mining, rats, cats, invasive plants, and contaminants.

May 19 (Wednesday), 7:30p.m. “East Pacific Odyssey or ... If It’s Tuesday It Must Be Ecuador. Gail Mackiernan. In autumn 2009 Gail, her husband, and two friends took a cruise from California to Chile. Their primary targets were seabirds, but the cruise’s 12 port stops in Mexico, Central and South America also yielded a wonderful array of landbirds. Gail’s presentation follows their “odyssey” from the California deserts to the mist-filled beech forests of Chile and everything in between.

June 11-13 (Friday–Sunday), MOS Annual Conference. This year’s conference will be held in Kent County, with accommodations at Washington College in Chestertown.  Check The Maryland Yellowthroat for registration information as the date approaches.

 

 

 

   

 

 

NOTE: Since program changes are sometimes necessary, it is wise for those traveling any great distance to call one of the officers in advance to make sure there are no changes in the schedule.  Refreshments and socializing starts at 7:30 pm at each meeting.

Meetings take place at the Potomac Presbyterian Church, 10301 River Road. Potomac. From the Beltway, take Exit 39 (River Rd/Rte 190) toward Potomac. After crossing Falls Rd (Rte 189), continue 1/4 mile to Gary Rd on the right. Turn right on Gary Rd, then take an immediate left into the church parking area. (OK to park in the adjacent elementary school lot as well.) Meetings take place in the Fellowship Hall, ground level. Doors open at 7 p.m. Cancellation policy: Chapter meetings are canceled if Montgomery County schools have been closed. If you have questions, contact Jim Nelson at 301-588-5418 or kingfishers2@verizon.net.

The “Chair Men” are in charge of setting up and putting away chairs at the meetings. Give them a hand!

For additional information, you may contact our Officers for the current Season.

 

                          Become a Member ... 

Whether you simply like to look out your window at your bird feeder or put on hip waders for a trek through the swamp, membership in MBC will enrich your birding experiences. No matter what your birding ability, you will meet new friends, grow in your knowledge, and have fun...

Your membership in the Society provides many tangible benefits such as support for the sanctuary program, scholarships and research grants, and subscriptions to publications of the Society. More important, however, your membership means you become a partner with those who care about wise stewardship of our natural resources.

Membership in the Montgomery Bird Club includes membership in the state Society and subscriptions to 7the bimonthly newsletter, the Maryland Yellowthroat, and the quarterly, Maryland Birdlife. You will also receive The Chat, our monthly chapter newsletter, which is published five times a year and contains information about local (MBC) activities.

 Various Membership Levels exist for the 2008 year beginning in September:

bulletIndividual $30.00 ($10.00 Chapter, $20.00 State)
bulletHousehold $40.00 ($15.00 Chapter, $25.00 State)
bulletJunior $6.00 ($1.00 Chapter, $5.00 State)
bulletSustaining $70.00 ($20.00 Chapter, $50.00 State)
bulletLife $1200.00 ($200.00 Chapter, $1000.00 State)
bulletAssociate $8.00 ($8.00 Chapter) - MOS member thru another chapter

 

Download the Membership Application & Renewal Form

This is an Acrobat PDF File.

PDF Formatted File Download the Adobe Acrobat Version

 

 


 
 
 

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