Katchemak Bay Shorebird Festival Award

[a...@hologrambirds.com]

Iowa Birders -

For those who have been around awhile, you will remember that Tim Schantz was a staple in Iowa birding and the IOU. He attended Simpson College and eventually became the park ranger at Marion County’s Cordova Park on Lake Red Rock. Tim became one of Iowa’s top birders, finding many rarities and serving on the IOU Records Committee, before moving to Alaska to lead birding trips to remote islands. He passed away suddenly in 2001 at the age of 36 while leading one of these trips. His family formed a foundation to award a scholarship each year to spend a week in Homer, Alaska at the Katchemak Bay Shorebird Festival. See the Schantz Brothers Foundation site for details. I have had the honor of being part of the selection committee for all these years.

I am pleased to announce that, twenty-five years after we lost Tim, another passionate young Iowa birder has been selected as this year's recipient. He is Seth Breeding from Winterset (where the Schantz parents still live). Seth is a student at ISU. You can read more about him on the web site.

Congratulations Seth!

 

Ann Johnson

Norwalk

 

 

[Paul Hertzel]

To add to the information shared about the tagged Whooping Crane, it is a 1-year old male, named Petrie, released last fall at Horicon NWR in Wisconsin. The International Crane Foundation knows him as "32-25". He made it to Taylor County, Florida, by December, spent the winter there, and has now returned. Nicki Gordon, biologist with the Foundation says, "As a reminder, Whooping Cranes are sensitive to disturbance and we recommend giving them their space and staying at least 100 yards from Whooping Cranes if you're in a car, and 200 yards if you are outside of your car".

Paul Hertzel, Secretary
IOU Bird Records Committee