Yaquina Birders & Naturalists

• Introduction and History
• Activities and Projects
• Informational Web Pages
  • Lincoln County (Oregon) Bird Information
  • Semimonthly Bird Checklists Project for Lincoln County, Oregon. A Project for Individuals, School Classes, or Groups
  • Lincoln County (Oregon) Natural History Information
• Membership
• Officers and Volunteers
• Constitution and Bylaws

Introduction and History

Yaquina Birders & Naturalists (YB&N) is a group interested in the natural history of Lincoln County. Our interests include observing and learning about animals, plants, and skywatching. Our focus has been on birdwatching because birds are easy to observe and there are many good field guides to help in identifying them. YB&N is not affiliated with any other organization.

Some of the history of Yaquina Birders & Naturalists is included in "History of 1968-1994 Lincoln County Bird Groups," starting on p. 354 in Background of the Birds of Lincoln County Project, and Recommendations for Others Planning Similar Projects by R. D. Bayer. 1995. Journal of Oregon Ornithology 4:353-394.

Activities and Projects

From September through June, we usually have a meeting at the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center in South Beach on the 3rd Thursday of the month and usually a field trip in Lincoln County on the Saturday following the meeting. In December, we may not have a field trip, but urge members to participate in the Yaquina Bay Christmas Bird Count (which is independent of YB&N).

YB&N has emphasized not only observing birds and nature, but also the reporting and sharing of natural history observations. For example, YB&N activities have included:

• Starting in October 1980, we have published a newsletter (the Sandpiper). Although there were some years in which the Sandpiper was published each month, in recent years it has been published at the end of the month from August through May. Besides announcements pertinent to Lincoln County, the Sandpiper has published columns with bird observations for Lincoln County and often with other observational notes about natural history in Lincoln County.

  We have shared our bird notes columns from the Sandpiper with nonmembers by emailing them to the Oregon Birders OnLine (OBOL) email discussion group, starting in March 1995. These field notes and some other Lincoln County bird information was also made available on the Internet. Nonmember Lucy Biggs of Eugene graciously HTML coded field note columns from March 1995 through February 1997 and posted them on her OBOL web site from March 1997 through October 2001. Since then, Range Bayer has put these field note columns as well as other Lincoln County natural history information, some of which had been published in the Sandpiper on web pages at his Internet Service Provider (ISP), Oregon EdNet (DialOregon), until July 2009, when that ISP went out of business. He transferred the notes to his new web site at http://yaquina.info in early August 2009.
  See Informational web pages for YB&N.

• Starting in the August 1984 Sandpiper, we requested observations of mass flights of dragonflies flying in one direction (migration ?), usually south. Some of the results are available at nature.htm#dragonflies and also at "September 1997 Directed Flights of Dragonflies, A Preliminary Report" on the Pacific Northwest Dragonfly Migration Project web page.
• In June 1992, the Semimonthly Bird Checklists Project was introduced in the Sandpiper, with forms for people to fill out with bird sightings at sites of their choice, if they wished.
• In December 1995, YB&N contributed to the purchase of Wetland Conservancy's Happ Wetland at Beaver Creek.
• Starting in 2003, members have helped elementary school students during USFWS's Shorebirds: Migratory Superheroes! Program (formerly known as Shorebird Sister Schools) spring field trips at Yaquina Bay.
• In 2006, YB&N was a sponsor of the Oregon Coast Birding Trail through monetary contributions and researching of Lincoln County site guides.
• In 2007, YB&N became a project partner for the International Brant Monitoring Project by sharing our observations of Brant in Lincoln County.
• In December 2007, YB&N purchased, mostly with donations, Cornell Lab of Ornithology's BirdSleuth curriculum and two pair of binoculars for P. J. Collson's 7th Grade class in Newport.
• In January 2008, YB&N began emailing PDF copies of the Sandpiper to members who requested PDF copies. This could save paper as well as allow color photos and reduce photocopying and postage costs. Also YB&N then also began emailing free PDF copies of the Sandpiper to Lincoln County teachers who requested them; the bird and nature notes could be used in the classroom. One teacher used a digital project to show the newsletter to the class, so that the whole class could read it at the same time. Providing paper copies to students or classrooms was not feasible prior to PDF. In May 2009, PDF copies were emailed to five teachers.

Membership

From Article I in our Bylaws, any person interested in the recreational, educational, historical, or scientific aspects of natural history in Lincoln County, Oregon may become a YB&N member upon payment of dues. Dues are for the calendar year and are currently $10/individual or $15/"family." Dues are prorated if someone joins for only part of the current calendar year. In December 2006, we had 131 members.

Officers and Volunteers

Last updated: 7/26/2009

The Yaquina Bay Christmas Bird Count is not part of Yaquina Birders & Naturalists. Compiler is Rebecca Cheek, 541-867-4699, email

See Constitution and Bylaws

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