News

Tell New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Ways and Means Chair Helene E. Weinstein you want critical habitat for NY’s endangered and threatened grassland birds protected NOW! Tell them to pass Bill #A-6759 so that Short-eared owls and other imperiled grassland birds do not disappear from New York State. We have only four weeks left to get this bill passed! […]

Give Back to the Places You Love on May 5, 2018 I Love My Park Day is an annual event that brings together thousands of volunteers to celebrate and enhance New York’s parks, historic sites, and public lands. DEC has events at a variety of locations – from trails in the Forest Preserve to popular […]

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) announced $2.29 million in Conservation Partnership Program grants at the New York State Land Symposium in Albany on Tuesday. Fifty-one nonprofit land trusts across the state will receive a total of seventy grants. Friends of the IBA (FIBA) received a […]

This little Short-eared owl was found starving to death in late December. He’s pictured here with wildlife rehabilitators Dave Larrow and Cathy Lehman at the moment of his release during FIBA’s March field trip.  (photo courtesy Gordon Ellmers) WASHINGTON COUNTY GRASSLANDS IBA, FORT EDWARD “Ready? I’m going to open the box.” The Short-eared owl erupted […]

Grassland birds prey on insects and rodents that damage crops or carry diseases such as Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. They share their habitat with bees and butterflies that pollinate fruits, vegetables, hay and other crops. Farmers and gardeners would see their crop yields decrease without the FREE ecological services these birds provide. Losing these […]

Snowy owls and Short-eared owls journey south from breeding grounds in the Arctic every year to spend the winter in the Washington County Grasslands Important Bird Area (IBA).  They come seeking abundant populations of the mice, voles and other small prey they depend on for survival. Thousands of bird watchers and photographers flock to the […]

Help FIBA Raise $60,000 to Purchase & Protect 64 Acres of critical habitat for Short-eared owls and other at-risk grassland birds!  Friends of the IBA is the only nonprofit acquiring and conserving critical habitat in the Washington County Grasslands for NY’s endangered and at-risk grassland birds.  Short-eared owls, Northern harriers, American kestrels, Eastern meadowlarks, Upland […]

Flocks of 40 – 50 or more Short-eared owls were once a common sight across New York State. Now, less than 100 remain. Join Friends of the IBA (FIBA) at Saratoga Library on November 1st to learn about the hidden life of these mysterious owls and the habitat in our own back yard that’s critical to their survival! Presented […]

Fall Bird Migration Kicks Off with New Signage Added to 38 Bird Conservation Areas   I Bird NY Challenge Engages Young People in Beginning Birding   New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today announced the progress of I BIRD NY, launched in May to build on the State’s efforts to […]

Friends of the Washington County Grasslands IBA had an exciting announcement to coincide with the public launch of a fundraising campaign to purchase a 64-acre parcel of land in Washington County. The purchase will preserve critical habitat for New York’s endangered and threatened grassland birds. “Thanks to a generous grant of $50,000 from the Open […]