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PRESS RELEASE: April 04, 2008
Contact: Teresa Mitchell or Peggy Morgia, 315-646-1000
“Mr. New York State Bluebird” John Rogers Sparks Start of Great Lakes Seaway Trail Birding Series April 5
Sackets Harbor, NY – His friends respectfully and affectionately refer to John Rogers as “Mr. New York State Bluebird.” On Saturday, April 5, Rogers, who co-founded the New York State Bluebird Society and has fledged more than 11,000 bluebirds, will lead off the 2008 Birds of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Exhibit and Program Series with a 1:00 pm presentation at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY.
Rogers is an in-demand authority on the conservation of the Eastern Bluebird, the officially recognized New York State Bird. He has maintained a trail of hundreds of bluebird nest boxes for decades. He currently monitors 250 bluebird boxes along a 50-mile stretch in Central New York.
On April 5 with a presentation that includes beautiful photographs and creative graphics, Rogers will discuss the life history of the bluebird, its nesting cycles, habitat needs, and predators. He will also talk about proper nest box placement and management.
“I am pleased to share my passion for the natural world with Seaway Trail residents and visitors in the hope that listeners will deepen their own appreciation and activity in conservation efforts,” Rogers said.
Rogers has received several honors for his work, including two conservation awards from the North American Bluebird Society and the Bluebird Conservation Award from the Audubon Society of New York State.
A biology degree graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego and a resident of Brewerton, NY, Rogers has spoken on bluebirds at nature and environmental centers and to natural history societies and bird clubs across the US and in Canada.
Rogers has donated nestboxes that are being painted by Seaway Trail regional artists and will be auctioned on E-bay to benefit the educational programming of the Seaway Trail Foundation. The participating artists from New York and Pennsylvania include Robert McNamara, Lawrence Barone, Christine Tisa, Barbara D. Crone, Meg Ringer, and Mary Tobash. Bidding on the boxes begins in mid-April and will run through mid-September.
The one-of-a-kind artist-designed bluebird houses will be on display at the Gift Shop at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center. Bluebird box kits and assembled but unfinished bluebird houses will be sold at the shop to benefit the Seaway Trail Foundation.
Other birding theme activities by Seaway Trail, Inc. in 2008 include the addition of 12 bird theme interpretive panels currently in development by wildlife artist Robert McNamara. McNamara and ornithologist Gerry Smith are developing a Seaway Trail Birding Guidebook. The now-available Seaway Trail Wildguide to Natural History by Dr. Donald D. Cox, a retired SUNY Oswego biology professor, lists 127 sites of interest along the 518-mile freshwater shoreline byway in New York and Pennsylvania.
The $5 program admission includes exhibits throughout the three-story Seaway Trail Discovery Center and the bluebird presentation by John Rogers and benefits the Seaway Trail Foundation. Watch www.seawaytrail.com for details on other programs in the 2008 Birds of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Exhibit and Program Series. # # #
