Dear CTBirds and CTDaily Subscribers,   Current COA members have received the following letter via the US Postal Service. Many of you that subscribe to CTBirds and/or the CTDaily  are not COA members so I am reaching  out to you via this list serve.    The COA is an all-volunteer organization that aims to promote interest in birds and to publish accurate information about them. We provide bird sightings through our CTBirds list-serve and we offer nine in-depth workshops each year for the new, as well as the experienced, birder. We publish The Connecticut Warbler, which is devoted to the study of birds and their conservation and which is published quarterly. All past issues were scanned and indexed and are now available online on the COA website.  The Avian Records Committee of Connecticut (ARCC), which is a part of COA, updates and maintains the list of bird species seen and documented in Connecticut. The scanning of all rare records was completed last fall and the records are now in safe keeping for future generations.  COA provided volunteers for Audubon Alliance efforts to conserve Piping Plovers and Least Terns and we also opened a dialogue with DEEP regarding management of state parks and their impact to birds and birding habitats at our state parks. Six recipients benefited from our Mini-Grant Program last year and the new Long Island Sound Project is up and running.  The COA website provides useful information such as a birding events calendar,the COA Bulletin, and links to resources to the birding community.  We have another outstanding lineup planned for our March 22nd Annual Meeting and we hope you will attend. Chris Rimmer, from Vermont Center for Ecostudies, will update us on his ongoing studies of the Bicknell's Thrush. Kevin Karlson, tour guide, photographer, and author will present his new interactive program "Birding by Impression". And Pete Dunne, author and birder extraordinaire, will present "Twenty-five Things that Changed Birding".  These are just some of the services that your membership and support help to provide. Please help us to continue to offer these quality services and programming by joining or renewing your membership today. Click on this link to join: http://www.ctbirding.org/supportCOA.htm.   Good birding in the New Year and thank you!   Sincerely,Tina Green COA President