Published: June 26, 2009 11:12 pm      

Families can become birds of a feather

Business, arts council, libraries forge partnership, encourage residents to learn species

CUMBERLAND — When was the last time you sat outside and watched birds? But even more, did you know what birds you were seeing? Rick and Terry Michels, owners of Queen City Creamery, are trying to change that and, in the process, help out scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., gather data about the birds in urban areas.

In January, Rick read about mini-grants being given to help fund neighborhood events across North America by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the Celebrate Urban Birds project.

“When I found this in January, all I had been hearing about was talk of the recession,” Rick said. “So I wanted to do something that people could do locally, at no cost and as a family and this just seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

He quickly contacted Connie Wilson, children’s coordinator for the Allegany County Library System, and Andy Vick of the Allegany Arts Council. Together, the three created a program to incorporate the arts and birdwatching and submitted their proposal to Cornell.

In March, the Creamery was awarded a $250 grant to help fund the project. And, to make sure the Arts Bus could make it to all six libraries, the Allegany Arts Council gave $250 to the county libraries.

Starting Tuesday, the Arts Bus will begin making its way to all six Allegany County libraries to conduct a two-hour program, incorporating birds into the summer reading program’s themes, Be Creative @ Your Library, for ages 5 to 12, and Express Yourself @ Your Library for ages 12 and up.

“For us, what was most appealing is being able to partner with the libraries and get out to various corners of the community with the Arts Bus, work with the children in the summer reading programs and support the Urban Bird Project,” Vick said. “And what’s really exciting is this will be the first time the Arts Bus will be visiting Lonaconing and Westernport, so it’s just another great opportunity to bring the bus to part of the county we’ve not visited before.”

Vick said there will be various arts projects all tied to the bird theme, including making bird masks and paper-bag bird puppets.

During this program, children will also receive the bird-watching packet from Cornell that includes information about the university’s Celebrate Urban Birds project, colorful posters of urban birds and bird facts, a packet of seeds to plant and the data collection sheet.

“Our goal is to get the children and their families to fill out the bird surveys and submit them either online or bring them in to the Creamery for us to submit,” Rick said. “It’s very easy to do, too, and only takes 10 minutes, so we hope to see a good turnout.”

And, as an added bonus, each person who submits a completed data collection form will receive a free ice cream cone from the Creamery.

“I remember when I was young I could go out and identify different birds and I don’t think many kids know how to do that today; I think they just take birds for granted,” Terry said. “So we wanted to be part of this project hoping to help people realize the need for birds and how they are an intricate part of our environment. And (bird watching) is just a wonderful thing you can do no matter what age you are.”

Wilson agreed and, with the Arts Council also being involved, thought it was a “fantastic way” for kids to learn about nature and be introduced to the arts.

“Unless your parents are bird lovers, you’re not really going to be a birdwatcher,” Wilson said. “I think this is a great way for kids to get involved in something different.”

Packets will be available for anyone interested in completing a survey at the Queen City Creamery and all libraries.

The data submitted to Cornell will help scientists learn more about how birds occupy and use patches of green in the urban landscapes.

For more information, visit the program’s Web site at www.celebrateurbanbirds.org.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.