EDITOR’S NOTE
“Salem Ornithological Foundation (SOF) made a significant contribution to several online workshops and educational outreach programs during the first half of 2022. Notable outreach initiatives included SOF’s coordination of six webinars for school teachers around Tamil Nadu that focused on biodiversity, with assistance from DIET, Salem, and presentations on the role of citizen science. The foundation further demonstrated its commitment to raising awareness and educating people locally and globally by participating in International Nature Journaling Week and celebrating Endemic Bird Day. By emphasizing subjects like bird identification, biodiversity conservation, and the advantages of nature-based learning, these initiatives help develop a more comprehensive understanding of environmental stewardship.” – Ganeshwar S V
ONLINE SESSIONS
On 16 & 17 April 2022, the Coastal Karnataka Birdwatchers Network conducted two online sessions. The first-day session was on the Pelagic Birds movement and distribution by Ashwin Vishwanathan. To listen to the talk, click here. The second-day session was on Identification of Skuas by Dipu K. For the recording of the session, click here.
THE 17TH BIRD SANCTUARY OF TAMIL NADU
On 28 April 2022, Salem Ornithological Foundation in association with Bird Count India invited Ravindran Kamatchi, President of the Nature Society of Tiruppur to deliver a talk on how Nanjarayan Tank became a bird sanctuary. To see the recorded session, click here.
BIRD MONITORING SYMPOSIUM 2022
This year’s Bird Monitoring Symposium was held online on 29 – 30 April 2022, including two mini-symposia and other keynotes. The symposium was organized by Bird Count India, Nature Conservation Foundation, Long Term Ecological Observatories (India), and Azim Premji University. To view the playlists of talks and discussions, click here.
OUTREACH (1)
On 6 May 2022, SOF’s Nature Educator Angeline Mano M was invited as a resource person to give a talk on the Role of Citizen Science in Conservation for the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of North Bangalore. Salem Ornithological Foundation thanks the Rotarians and Ravindran Kamatchi for the opportunity.
OUTREACH (2)
On 05 June 2022, Ganeshwar SV, Director of Salem Ornithological Foundation was invited to talk on “Only One Earth”. The webinar was organized by NSS Unit 1 of Government Arts College, Ariyalur.
ENDEMIC BIRD DAY
For the 8th Indian edition of Endemic Bird Day on 14 May 2022, the Salem Ornithological Foundation organized bird walks at various hotspots in Salem. The birdwatchers were split into groups and documented different endemic birds. SOF bird watchers Angeline Mano M, Devarajan Narayanan, Ganeshwar SV, Rajendran BE, Sankar V, Senthil Kumar S, Vadivukkarasi A documented birds at various birding hotspots in Salem. The Endemic Bird Day also coincided with Global Big Day. To view the complete checklists, click here.
RECENT RECORDS
On 14 May 2022, Rajendran BE sighted and photographed Slaty-legged Crake Rallina eurizonoides at Yercaud. To see the complete checklist, click here.
INTERNATIONAL NATURE JOURNALING WEEK 2022
A global celebration was hosted by International Nature Journaling Week. The theme for this year is ‘Back to Basics’ with themes for each day. This event was held worldwide from June 1-7, 2022. Nature journalists across the state and country took part in these celebrations and shared their works. Click here, to see the nature journals.
BIODIVERSITY WITHIN THE SCHOOL CAMPUS
District Institute of Education and Training, Salem (DIET) organized six introductory webinars for school teachers in Tamil Nadu from 14 June to 19 June 2022. The sessions were coordinated by Salem Ornithological Foundation in partnership with Bird Count India. The titles of the talks with the resource persons are listed below.
| S.No | Date | Title of the Talk | Resource Person |
| 1 | 14 June 2022 | Nature for Brain Development | Ganeshwar SV |
| 2 | 15 June 2022 | Importance of Nature Journaling | Jeganathan P |
| 3 | 16 June 2022 | Life of Butterflies | Elavarasan M |
| 4 | 17 June 2022 | Trees and Climate Change | Suhirtha Muhil M |
| 5 | 18 June 2022 | From students to Citizen Scientists | Selvaganesh K |
| 6 | 19 June 2022 | Learning through Nature Games | Angeline Mano M |
