30/11/2022
The field trip committee, the scientific committee, and the overall planning committee are working hard on the final details for the World Owl Conference. Here's how things are shaping up:
-The call for papers and posters will likely go out by the beginning of January
-There will be a special Short-eared Owl session
-The International Snowy Owl Working Group will have a meeting the day prior to the conference
-Based on survey feedback, field trips will likely include Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge/Elmaro Vineyard, International Owl Center, and Luther College's hawk banding station/Hoslett Museum of Natural History
-Workshops will include acoustic monitoring of owls by Wildlife Acoustics and a comparative owl anatomy dissection
-Denver Holt will be the banquet speaker.
-Registration will likely open in early January
-Registration will include morning and afternoon snacks and lunch on Monday - Thursday as well as heavy appetizers during the poster session
-The banquet, workshops and field trips will have additional fees
-There will be an option to attend virtually
-Weather permitting, we should be able to call for owls some evenings on the trail behind the hotel. Acoustic monitoring this fall revealed a Great Horned Owl family, distant Barred Owls, and a Barn Owl (rare in this area)
-Conference sponsors so far include the International Owl Center, Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center, Audubon Minnesota, AG Eulen, Wildlife Acoustics, the Owl Research Institute, Discover Owls, and the Raptor Resource Project.
Details as they unfold can be found on the conference website: https://www.worldowlconference.com/
