(WNY News Now) – Jamestown, NY – The Audubon Community Nature Center (ACNC) 2024 Birdathon is a great reason to spend time outdoors looking for birds, especially during the spring migration season.
Each year, teams of birders raise money to fund the $500 Ryan Exline Memorial Scholarship. This year’s goal is to raise $3,000 to fund the scholarship and to go toward a new onsite medical room so Audubon’s animal ambassadors can get more of the care they need onsite.
Find a birding buddy or two and sign up as a team to spend up to 24 hours birding from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, May 5. Then spread the word to get friends and family to pledge your team by sharing the link to the Birdathon website, Go.RallyUp.com/ACNCBirdathon24.
Birders with limited experience can visit the website or contact Audubon Public Engagement Specialist Jeff Tome at jtome@auduboncnc.org to join or form a Birding Team. New birders are always welcome, and you can be added to a team with “seasoned” birders who are happy to bring you up to speed.
This year’s Top Birders will receive special recognition through ACNC’s e-newsletter. There is no fee to participate.
If you aren’t a birder, you can visit the website and support your favorite team and/or the cause. Donors can contribute based on the number of birds seen or by making a flat contribution.
The Ryan Exline Memorial fund is a long-time beneficiary of the Birdathon. Exline was an integral part of the Audubon family for many years until he was tragically killed in an auto accident during his junior year at Duke University. Each year this fund, created in his memory, provides a $500 scholarship to a college-bound high school student or a college student who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in an environmental field.
If you are a high school or Jamestown Community College student from Chautauqua, Cattaraugus or Warren counties who plans to pursue a degree in the natural sciences, you can find a scholarship application at AudubonCNC.org/Scholarships. The application deadline is June 22, 2024.
Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, N.Y., and Warren, Pa. You can visit the nearly 600-acre nature preserve, check in on the live birds of prey, enjoy the native tree arboretum, gardens, picnic area, and hike more than five miles of trails dawn until dusk daily for free.
The three-story Nature Center building houses interactive displays, a collection of live animals including the Hellbender exhibit, the 2022 Nature Photography Contest winners, and the Blue Heron Gift Shop. Visitors are welcome Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., and Sundays, 1 – 4:30 p.m. Nature Center members and SNAP/EBT cardholders have free building admission daily. Building admission is also free every Sunday for non-Nature Center members.
To learn more about Audubon and its many programs, call (716) 569-2345, find Audubon Community Nature Center on Facebook, or visit AudubonCNC.org. Check out AudubonCNC.org/about for a quick fly-by visit. Sunday, July 7 is the deadline for submitting or voting on entries in the 2024 Nature Photography Contest at GoGoPhotoContest.com/ACNCPhotoContest2024.
Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature by providing positive outdoor experiences, opportunities to learn about and understand the natural world, and knowledge to act in environmentally responsible ways.
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