ONEONTA - The Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society will welcome the public to its annual open house on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the DOAS Sanctuary and Hawkwatch on Grange Hall Road Spur, known locally as Bird Road. The event, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is free.
The day’s schedule includes a raptor identification workshop at 10 a.m., a guided trail walk at 11, an introduction to ravens at 12:30, and at 1 p.m., a live birds of prey program with Deb and John Saltis of Falcon Heart Rescue, a Herkimer-based nonprofit that rehabilitates injured hawks, owls and eagles.
Throughout the morning, visitors may take part in conservation activities, including measuring window glass to create “bird savers” that prevent collisions, part of the Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene art project. Children can try “The Great Bird Migration Challenge,” a large-scale outdoor board game simulating the hazards of migration.
Coffee certified as bird-friendly, along with snacks, will be served. Raffle items for the society’s Oct. 17 charter dinner will also be on display.
The Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society, operates the Franklin Mountain Hawkwatch, hiking trails, and educational programs at the sanctuary south of Oneonta. Its free public events include bird-watching trips, lectures and seasonal festivals.
