| MURIE AUDUBON SOCIETY CASPER, WYOMING |
| VOLUME 38 - ISSUE 8 MONTHLY PUBLICATION NOVEMBER 2004 |
CALENDAR
Oct. 23-Field Trip—Buffalo area. Meet at the eastside Safeway parking lot at 7:30 - Contact Chris Michelson
Oct. 30-BOSS sale
Nov. 5-Gen. Mtg.
Nov. 6-Soda Lake Field trip. Meet at the BP Amoco property gate on Eastend Road at 9:00 to carpool in to the east end of Soda Lake, Amoco Puddle, Yant's Pond (What are we going to call this body of water?) to tour the area and hear about what has been done, what is being done and what will be done until the lake water level is up to normal.
Nov. 9-Bd. Mtg. - 7:00 - ARLC
Nov. 12-Dec./Jan deadline for newsletter articles
Nov. 13-Gull Field Trip. Contact Stacey Scott
Nov. 25-Thanksgiving Bird Count
Dec. 18-Casper CBC
Jan. 1, 2005-Bates Hole CBC
Feb. 5-Annual Banquet
Click HERE to return to Index page
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Click on title to go directly to article. Click on Sage-Grouse at end of article to come back HERE)
October Board of Directors Meeting Notes
Wolves from a Law Enforcement PerspectiveDominic Domenici, Senior Resident Agent of Law Enforcement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, will be our guest speaker at our November meeting. Whenever you see something in the newspaper or on television about the death of a wolf or grizzly bear, Dominic or one of his agents investigates on the ground. For that matter, any incident that involves a wildlife species that is protected under federal laws gets attention from the USFWS office. Dominic will be sharing his knowledge and experiences of the interactions and problems of wolves and grizzly bears under his jurisdiction.
Join
us on Friday, November 5th at 7 pm; and remember that we are now meeting at the
new Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. As always,
the program is free and open to the public, so bring a friend and join us.
Bruce Walgren - Program Chair
A goal of mine for my presidency is to energize Murie by increasing membership (both adult & youth), determining the direction the membership wants Murie to go, focusing on community programs the membership is interested in and will support, and dropping, reinstating or beginning new activities that are important to the membership and supported by the membership.
To this end, Murie will be developing a mission statement, which will lead to objectives, goals, actions, and a future vision. Your input is vital and necessary. Murie's success and vibrancy depends on the support, energy and willingness of its members.
Over the next couple months, think about where you want Murie to go and for what you want Murie to mean to you as well as to the community, birds, habitat, and wildlife.
I have repeatedly said "Murie" because it will not just be the board, but will be Murie members who wish to have a say in our future and are willing to support our objectives, goals, actions and visions. This is your chance to be heard and make a difference.
Murie will start this process with two meetings in February on the 12th from 1-4pm and on the 16th from 7-7pm. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend. More information will follow as to the location of the meetings. Rose-Mary—President
The
Natrona County Public Library has named Gloria Lawrence a “Hero of the Month”
for September. For 15 years Gloria has given presentations at the library about
raptors, discussing the everyday habits and biology of these birds and
illustrating her talks with the “education birds” from the Bird Hospital.
Needless to say, her talks are well received by young and old alike, and
everyone comes away with more knowledge and understanding of Wyoming’s hawks and
owls (and of course, birds in general).
For those of you not familiar with Gloria’s work, she has been an active volunteer with Murie’s Bird Hospital and Rehab Center for many years (working with Lois and Frank Layton). Plus, she has been giving educational presentations with live birds to schools, service organizations, the Game & Fish Expo, garden clubs, and a variety of other audiences. Murie congratulates Gloria on receiving this honor and expresses thanks for all the additional conservation work she and Jim have done over the years!!! Donna Walgren
During these troubled times when our streams and air are being polluted and our Wyoming wildlife is being treated with displacement by industries creeping in on their territory, it is ever more important that our children learn more about animals and our environment. We feel that Audubon Adventures is a powerful messenger to our students. The packets have been mailed to the 67 teachers who have enrolled for the 2004-05 school year. Forty-two of these classes have been sponsored.
Thanks to Don and Hallie Harris and Gloria and Jim Lawrence who have sponsored more than one classroom.
Thanks, also, to Bobbie Roberts, James Brown, Sandi and Miguel Leotta, Rose-Mary King and Ann and Wilmer Hines have sponsored one classroom.
Thank you. Ann Hines
On
a near-perfect October afternoon, we received a phone call from Gloria Lawrence
that there was a Wood Thrush in their backyard. Always interested in seeing a
new bird (and this would indeed be a very new bird for us), we drove out to Jim
and Gloria’s place southwest of town. Several other birders were already
there: Chris Michelson, Betty Rickman, and Ann, Wilmer and Craig Hines. The
bird in question was not in sight at the moment; but shortly it appeared on the
ground several feet from the Lawrence’s back deck – a beautiful plumaged Wood
Thrush!! It’s the first one I’ve ever seen, and it certainly lived up to any
expectations I had of this species. It differs from the other thrushes by the
strong black spotting on white chest, belly and flanks, the rufous upperparts,
and the streaks on its cheeks. For a few minutes we watched it poke around in
the fallen leaves, then our attention was diverted by two Eurasian
Collared-Doves that flew into the cottonwoods near the deck. A minute later, a
Mountain Chickadee came into the feeder on the deck, politely took a sunflower
seed, and flew off to munch it in private.
Meanwhile, we had lost sight of our main target – the thrush. We’ve driven out here, we’ve seen the Wood Thrush, we can add it to our life list, state list, county list or whatever – so we can now leave and be on our way. But like most birders, we aren’t just listers (or tickers or twitchers, as the Brits say), the main enjoyment of watching birds is their beauty and behavior and the opportunity to learn as much as we can about them. So, we hung around for at least one more sighting of this beautiful thrush, watching as it forages in the dry leaves. This is a rare bird to see in Wyoming; the Wood Thrush’s range is primarily east of the Missouri River, but there are a few previous records of sightings – all during migration. Dr. Oliver Scott notes in his book that most sightings have been during fall migration and all are in the eastern half of the state. The Dorns note that this bird has been seen in 3 latilongs: latilong #5 (Sheridan/Buffalo), #19 (Casper), and #28 (Cheyenne).
We were very lucky to have been able to enjoy this bird, even if for only a short time – and of course, it’s always great to see a species we have not seen before (a lifer!!). And one of the joys of birding, as with any activity, is being able to enjoy it in the company of fellow birders. Thanks to Jim and Gloria for sharing the experience with us!!!
Donna Walgren
Murie
Audubon Chapter and Fort Collins Audubon Chapter will be putting the binoculars
on the waters around Fort Collins to ID the species present.
We will meet at 8:00am on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Harmony Transportation Center in Fort Collins. Take I-25 south to the Harmony exit—it is the next exit south of the Prospect Road exit. Proceed west for about .25 mile and enter the Transportation Center on the right at the light.
Doug Faulkner of the RMBO will be our leader. He says, "November is a good time and we should have Thayer's, Lesser Black-backed, Mew, Ring-billed, California, Herring, and possibly Bonaparte's and Black-legged Kittiwake. It also isn't too late for a Jaeger, so hopefully we can find one of them too! We should also not exclude the possibility of scoters, loons, and red-necked grebe as possible species on this field trip. Since we are looking at water anyway, we might as well make the most of it.”
If the weather will
cooperate a little, this should be a tremendous trip. It isn't often that Murie
can run a field trip with a life bird for me listed as probable. Bring a lunch,
be prepared for changes in weather and bring your “waders”.
Many thanks to Gary Lefko for the original invitation to join FCAS in this field trip outing.
Murie would like to invite any interested birders around Wyoming and Colorado to join us. The more the merrier!! Stacey Scott—Field Trip Coordinator.
Here in Casper we have been having a pleasant Indian summer – our winds have even been relatively mild (my fences are still intact!!). The autumn foliage has been striking – a profusion of yellows with splashes of red. Indications of fall migration continue - large flocks of blackbirds have been moving through, White-crowned Sparrows are still making scattered appearances here and there, mountain species (like Steller’s Jays, Mountain Chickadees, and juncos) are making their way to lower elevations, and a few migrant warblers are still working their way through Wyoming to their wintering grounds. The most exciting bird seen in the Casper area is the Wood Thrush that spent the afternoon in the back yard of Jim and Gloria Lawrence - definitely one of the most unusual species to make an appearance in Wyoming.
As October slides into November, our winter resident bird numbers will increase – watch for American Tree Sparrows, Rough-legged Hawks and various waterfowl species to become more plentiful. And there is always the possibility of an unusual migrant “getting off-course” – so keep those binocs handy!!!
Wyoming Yard Birds – We received 177 yard bird selections from 22 states and France for the month of September. There was an interesting variety of species sent in – lots of warblers and woodpeckers, as usual, but except for White-crowns, not many sparrows yet. The top pick was the Steller’s Jay, White-crowned Sparrow was second, and another corvid, Blue Jay, was third.
Casper: Joanne Odasz – SPTO, Frank Odasz – imm. GOEA, Jim Herold – WCSP, Doris/Dick Von Holdt – WEWP, Jim/Gloria Lawrence – BTBW, Chris Michelson – RBNU; Pat Classen – RSFL, Bruce Walgren – BLJA, Donna Walgren – BCCH; Cheyenne: Barb Gorges – ECDO; Douglas: Billie Snell – TOSO; Evanston: Patti Gorman – MERL, Tim Gorman – WESO; Lovell: Terry Peters – NOGO; Midwest: Cecil Foote – WEME; Rawlins: Karen Lambertsen – WCSP; Riverton: Suzanne Hargis – RBNU, Bob Hargis – MERL.
Thanks to all who helped with the Yard Bird Project in September!! To take part, pick the species you most enjoyed seeing in, over, or from your yard during the month of October, and send your choice to Donna Walgren (ph. 234-7455), 4311 S. Center St., Casper 82601, or email to bwalgren_AT_coffeyDOTcom. Donna Walgren
Project
FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards,
nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America.
FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see
at their feeders from
November
through early April. FeederWatch helps scientists track broadscale movements of
winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.
Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in partnership with the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and Canadian Nature Federation.
The answers to the
following questions can be found by clicking on the first question which
will take you to the Project FeederWatch website.
What will I do?
Does it cost money?
What will I get?
Where do I count the birds?
When does the season start?
How much time does it take?
Why should I participate?
The Board voted to participate in the “Evening of Giving” to be held at Eastridge Mall in December; we will have tickets for sale ($5 each) as soon as they are available.
The Annual Sunflower Seed Sale will be held Oct. 30 at Noland’s Feeds, from 8 am til 1 pm.
Stacey Scott noted that at the Sage Grouse Local Working Group Meeting, the suggestion was made to change the state bird from the Western Meadowlark to the Greater Sage-Grouse.
Dennis Sun spoke to the Board about developing a mission statement, strategic plan, and goals for Murie; he would be available to serve as facilitator.
The Board is looking for people to serve on the Conservation Committee to replace Stan Harter and Chris Saunders; both have moved from the Casper area.
The Board received a letter from the City Planning Committee (re: the proposed westside Super Wal-Mart); the Board’s primary concern is mitigating the trash issue.
Merlyn Herold asked for financial assistance for Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc.; it was decided to provide funding at a level to be determined when the budget is finalized.
Don't forget to bring your used printer cartridges to the next General Meeting on November 5th to recycle.
If you have any greeting cards or calendars with birds on them - I can use them for the bird box raffle at the banquet in February. After Christmas and at the end of the year, please save your cards and calendars that have birds on them. A note about the cards - I need the front and the back, but will take only the front if you want to save a personal inside message.
I am asking for donations of candy for the bird boxes. The pieces must be individually wrapped and not any bigger than 3/4"x3/4"x1/2". Go shopping the day after Halloween and get some at 1/2 price or less for yourself and some to donate to Murie!
Please call Peg Cullen or Rose-Mary King to offer to help in the planning of the banquet. Your help is greatly needed and appreciated!
Rose-Mary King - President
Once again this year, proceeds from this year’s seed sale will help defray the costs to operate Murie’s Bird Hospital and Rehabilitation project. We will be offering 50# bags of black oil sunflower seed for $15 per bag. You need not pre-order your seeds unless you wish. If you wish to purchase seeds but will be out of town on the day of distribution, let us know and we can make arrangements for later pickup. Also, if you are unable to handle the 50# bags, let us know and we can make arrangements for delivery. Seed distribution will take place from 8 AM until 1 PM on October 30. We will be at the same location as last year. Noland Feed has once again ordered seed for us and allowed us to sell seeds out of their storage facility. Look for a large overhead door at the south side of the Arrowhead Meat Processing building (see map below).
