First Winter Field Trip - Saturday, January 25th

 Clues in the Snow: Bird and Mammal Tracking Trip (Snowshoe/XC Ski Outing) 

Clark's Nutcracker observed during previous Laramie Audubon Trip (near Centennial, WY).

Dr. Gary Beauvais, Director of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, will lead a snowshoe/cross-country ski trek through forest and riparian areas of the Medicine Bow National Forest on Saturday, January 25.  This trip, sponsored by the Laramie Audubon Society, will focus on identification of animal tracks and other signs written into the winter snow. The group will also discuss the natural history of the winter environment.  This is a favorite annual trip and we learn something new each year!  

Attendees must provide their own equipment* and be prepared for cold winter conditions.  Please dress in layers and bring plenty of snacks, water, and sun protection.  *Please coordinate with us if you need snowshoes - one of our members has a few extra pair and has offered to lend them to trip participants.  UW students can check with the UW Outdoor Program for equipment.  Local outdoor stores also have daily rentals available.

The group will meet at 8:30 a.m. at TBD. 
Attendees will return to Laramie by approximately 1 p.m.; those with their own transportation are free to leave at any time.  Some participants may elect to stop in Centennial for a no-host lunch (depending on group interest).  Backup date (in case of bad weather) - Saturday, February 1.

Congratulations to Our Fall 2024 Small Grant Recipients!

Conservation Grants - Fall 2024

Laramie Audubon thanks the numerous applicants to our Fall 2024 grant cycle.  We award grants to a variety of conservation-related projects each Spring and Fall.  This season we awarded grants of $500 to two outstanding projects: 

• Enhancing Wyoming toad recovery through disease mitigation: bolstering individual disease resistance mechanisms through immunization and probiotics
• Bug Day: Fostering Laramie’s Aquatic Biodiversity Awareness and Conservation of Sensitive Aquatic Ecosystems

See our Grants page to learn more about these projects.  Applications for our next funding cycle are due on March 31, 2025.    

Annual Albany County Christmas Bird Count

Interested in participating in the 2024 Christmas Bird Count?  This year's Albany County count will take place on Sunday, December 15.  The event begins at 8 a.m., however, teams can count in the morning and/or afternoon.  Feeder-watchers are also welcome.  Contact Brad for more information: baandres1@yahoo.com.

Birds of Eastern Australia - Evening Program, November 20th

Join us Wednesday, November 20 for our monthly program. We will plan to meet at 7:00 p.m., but we encourage you to come at 6:30 p.m. to socialize and have refreshments. The program will be by retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Heather Johnson on birding Australia -- from the "Top End to Tasmania"! She will share photos and adventures from a recent trip to Australia.

We will be meeting in the new location - 107 S. 7th Street (Trinity Lutheran Church), upstairs in the cafe this month. We hope you can join us!

Spooky Scavenger Hunt held on a perfect Fall morning.

Thanks to the kids and families who joined us at Washington Park Bandshell on Saturday morning, November 2 under a sunny sky with no wind. We learned that spiders are arachnids and how to tell they are not insects, talked about different colors and kinds of owls, and heard about how a local crow gave a scolding for placing a crow plushy in a cottonwood tree for the big hunt. Then we looked up and down and found all 8 spooky items on our list before choosing the materials to bring home to make our own bats, crows or black cats. Boo! The little dino skeleton was the toughest to find! Please join us on Saturday, December 21, at 9am at the Schoolyard Trails (parking by Snowy Range Academy) for a Welcome Winter Walk. We will use all 5 senses to discover nature on the first day of Winter, and by popular request, will bring home a snowy owl token to remember our trek. Keep your fingers crossed for a little snow so we can do some tracking! This will be our last Kids & Families activity for 2024. Stay tuned for 2025!

Are You a Habitat Hero?

We are starting a Habitat Hero Program to help Albany County residents improve their landscape to benefit birds, pollinators, and other wildlife!

The following article was originally posted on our blog in 2015.  Now that we are starting a Laramie-based Habitat Hero program, we thought our readers might be interested in revisiting the 2015 post!

Habitat Heroes are people who practice a form of landscape stewardship, called ‘wildscaping’ - landscaping designed to attract and benefit birds, pollinators and other wildlife. Whether the landscape you tend is a residential yard, a few pots on a balcony, a public park, or schoolyard garden, Habitat Heroes believe in growing a healthy community. By combating the loss of open spaces and creating green corridors that link your wildscape to larger natural areas by providing habitat for wildlife we can feel good about doing something positive for ourselves, the environment and our wild friends.

Take part in the Audubon Rockies Habitat Hero program to provide resources for birds and other wildlife!  [2024 note: stay tuned to learn more about the Laramie-based program!]

Spooky Kids and Families Event - Saturday, November 2

American Goldfinch, Photo courtesy of
Laramie Audubon Society Member Heather Johnson

Let’s make spooky season last longer! 

For our final scavenger hunt** of 2024, think of what we see at Halloween - bats, black cats, owls, witches, skeletons, spiders and more. All of these will be on our scavenger hunt list. 

We will meet at the Bandshell in the SW corner of Washington Park at 9 a.m. to learn about the items on our list, and then will go hunting for them! All kids and families will pick a craft to assemble at home or, if weather is good, at the Park if preferred. 

This year we will make crows, bats or black cats!  

** Although November 2nd is our final scavenger hunt, there are two additional Kids and Families events scheduled in 2024 - November 16th and December 21st.  See our Events page for more information.

(THIS IS A DIFFERENT DATE THAN ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED - THIS EVENT IS NOW ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd)

Fall 2024 Events Schedule (and New Location for Evening Programs)

 We've updated the Events page with our Fall schedule.  We hope to see you at one of our upcoming field trips, Kids and Families programs, or monthly evening programs.  

Evening Programs are Moving!

After much discussion and a thorough search, LAS has decided to move our monthly programs to a new location. We are thankful to the Berry Center for allowing us to use the auditorium for several years, but since the University of Wyoming installed a pedestrian plaza on Lewis Street around the entrance of the building, attendance at LAS programs has decreased dramatically, with some members stating that lack of available parking in the vicinity is their reason for no longer coming to programs. 

Our new location, effective with Fall 2024 programs beginning in September, will be at Trinity Lutheran Church, 107 S 7th Street (near Ace Hardware and across 7th Street from the Ivinson Museum and Alice Hardie Stevens Center.) The space is café style, with round tables seating up to 39 people, and with a kitchen attached. During programs requiring more space, we will move downstairs to an auditorium-classroom style set up. Both spaces are accessible, and while the church does not charge for our use of space, the Board has voted to make a money contribution for each time we hold a meeting there. There is ample on-street parking around the church, as well as a parking lot in the rear (access is from University Ave.). The location is close to downtown and campus.  If you have questions about this move, or about the space or how to get there, please let us know at laramie.audubon@gmail.com.

Hutton Lake Field Trip Yields Shorebirds and a Surprise Gull

A small group of us birded Hutton National Wildlife Refuge on September 7, 2024. There was only water in Hoge and George Lake, and the shallow levels at Hoge created great shorebird habitat. We were rewarded with 12 shorebird species feeding in the lake, including rather large numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs (72) and Stilt Sandpipers (48). We were treated to four other "peep" species (Pectoral, Least, Western, and Semipalmated Sandpipers) and three Semipalmated Plovers. The highlight at Hoge Lake was the observation of a first-cycle Sabine's Gull. We got great looks at the young bird feeding on the shoreline and got to see the diagnostic tri-colored wing pattern when it took to fly and was being chased by an immature Bald Eagle. Luckily this beautiful little gull escaped being the eagle's brunch. Sabine's Gulls breed in the arctic regions of Alaska and Canada, as do many of the shorebirds we observed, and spend their winter in subtropical and tropical upwelling zones off the coast of western South America. Small numbers can be found on lakes and reservoirs in Wyoming during fall migration. Good numbers of Brewer's and Vesper Sparrows were present in the uplands and a smattering of ducks, mostly still in eclipse plumage, were observed on George Lake. For the trip, we recorded 37 species of birds.

                                            Stilt Sandpipers (Heather Johnson)

 

                                            Lesser Yellowlegs (Heather Johnson)

 

Kids & Families Adventure at Undine Park

A small but curious group met on Saturday morning, August, 17, at Undine Park for our monthly Kids & Families program. We took our BINGO cards with some new items on them, and crayons, and put on our eyes and ears to find most of the items on the cards to win a prize! This month our young explorers learned about lichen and turkey vultures, both of which we found in the park. We looked up to see flying insects, clouds, nests and a spider web, and we looked down to find mushrooms, feathers, sticks, and water- in the form of dew on the grass and in a small pool in a tree trunk! Keep your eyes peeled for our last few events of 2024: September 14 at WyoBird Day, October 26 in Washington Park for a Spooky Spectacular final scavenger hunt of the season, an indoor extravaganza in November with Wyoming State Parks, and we will return outside to the Schoolyard Trails on December 21 to welcome Winter! Laramie Audubon Society is working on next year's programs already, and we need your help! In order to bring even better programs to help Kids & Families have fun outside and with nature, we will be posting a short survey soon on our Facebook page. We hope you will take a couple minutes to tell us what you would like to see on the menu!

Trip Report - Hutton Lake NWR Tree Swallows

On Saturday, 6 July, a small group of Laramie Audubon members met students from the University of Wyoming's WYOBIRD project at Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge for a demonstration on Tree Swallow banding. WYOBIRD grad student members and undergrad interns are monitoring the nest boxes at Hutton and banding nestlings, and some adults, to learn more about their biology and ecology on the Laramie Plains. We were given an overview of banding techniques and shown the various measurement data students are collecting. By the end of the season, >200 nestlings will carry a unique silver anklet.

After the banding demonstration, we hiked up the ridge beyond Rush Lake to have a look at the newly acquired parcel within the designated Wyoming Toad Conservation Area. Originally acquired by the Conservation Fund, the parcel was transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in the fall of 2023. Additional lands along the Laramie River were also acquired by the City of Laramie.

Marsh Wrens were still signing in the rushes and American Avocets were busy protecting their young. Although we saw foraging White-faced Ibises, we did not confirm their nesting or find the previously observed White Ibis.

Thanks to Auna, Kim and Chloe for giving us a great overview of the Tree Swallow project.

Trip Report - Thorne/Williams WHMA

For our trip on 4th of May (May the 4th be with you) we had eleven observers and we saw a total of 32 species. European Starlings represented the largest total, but the Spotted Towhees also put in a strong showing.  We saw two wrens (Rock Wren and House Wren) and two Towhees (Spotted and Green-tailed Towhees). 

 A favorite moment was when a Golden Eagle flew over, then a Prairie Falcon came to join, then a Red-tailed Hawk, and then we spotted a high Accipiter (Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk) in the kettle at the end. 

The Turkey Vultures also had a lot of fun sunning on the rocks and showing off for everyone. The weather and company - including three birders from Cheyenne - was lovely, and we had a great time at a really unique area of Albany County, WY.

Trip Report - Red Buttes

We had a cold and intrepid group of Audubon people attend the Red Buttes field trip on Saturday the 20th of April 2024.

A total of 7 people attended, and the wind howled at us the entire time. We met at 0800, and lasted about 40 minutes outside, ending at around 1000 after also doing a tour of the Red Buttes Facilities. The weather report said that with wind chill the temperature was ~14F, so it was a pretty cold time.

For the birding, we stuck to the fish ponds and riparian areas immediately around the facility, and used my scope to also look at Leazenby Lake. Even with the horrid weather we still managed 15 species. Highlights were several Franklin's Gulls, a Say's Phoebe who actually came to hang out with us in the wing, and the local breeding Swainson's Hawk came by.

The group agreed that the field trip was in a really cool place, but that mid-April might be too early to come to Red Buttes. A couple weeks later might give a better chance at less volatile weather.

Three cheers to our amazing birding group who braved some true Wyoming weather to see early spring migrants.

Saturday (4/20) BirdingTrip - Red Buttes

Meet at 8 a.m. at the University of Wyoming Red Buttes Lab (on the east side of US 287, 8.3 miles south of WYDOT). We will survey for migrant songbirds in both riparian corridors and short-grass prairie wetlands. Serving as a migratory stop over point for spring migrants, the Red Buttes research site (which is not typically open to the public) provides habitat for grassland, wetland, and riparian corridor birds. Hiking boots or shoes with good traction are a must. We will probably get a little muddy, but it will all be for the birds!

We need bird photos!  This Clark's Nutcracker was photographed
on a LAS trip to Centennial (photo credit: LAS member Lisa Cox).

Greater Sage-Grouse Lek Trip - NEW EARLIER TIME: 5:15 a.m. Saturday 4/13

Meet at the Laramie Eppson Center for Seniors (the corner of North 3^rd and Curtis Street) at 5:15 am. We will leave promptly at 5:25 am. 

Our trip leader drove up to the lek this morning (Friday) to check out access for tomorrow's field trip.  She reports that the road is free of snow and dry and that she observed 35 male sage grouse displaying to 5 female sage grouse on the lek.

We will carpool/caravan to the lek located approximately 35 minutes from Laramie. The 3 mile access road off the paved highway is dirt so vehicles with low clearance are not recommended. Carpooling is encouraged to reduce the number of vehicles that will park and to minimize disturbance to the birds.  We will walk approximately ½ to ¾ of a mile to a location to view the lek. Walking to the lek will be in the dark on relatively flat but uneven prairie. No flashlights can be used to minimize spooking the birds off the lek.

Please bring binoculars and spotting scopes if you have them.

We expect to return to Laramie between 7:30am and 8 am.

What is a Lek?

Depending on elevation, groups of male greater sage-grouse gather at specific locations, called leks,  from late February to early May to strut and to attract females in order to mate..   The leks are generally small open areas located among the sagebrush steppe, such as hilltops, dry playas, and hill sides, and are visited by the grouse year after year.  The lek we are visiting is located on private land . Based of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department data , this lek was first recorded in 1959.  The activity on a lek begins sometime after sunset and continues for an hour or so after sunrise when the birds disperse from the lek.

The male strutting, involves the inflation and deflation of two yellow air sacs located on the male sage-grouse’s breast that, when released, produces a popping or gurgling sound. In addition to producing sound, the white ruff surrounding the air sacs produces a striking contrasting feature along with the male’s fanned tail feathers, and with a dance, in an effort to attract a female.  The females are silent and are often difficult to see within the sagebrush surrounding the leks.  After mating the females will fly off to nest, lay eggs, and raise the young in the surrounding sagebrush ecosystem.

Laramie Audubon thanks the landowner for allowing us to access this lek.

Greater Sage-grouse Trip - Weather Dependent

Interested in visiting the Greater Sage-grouse lek this year?  Stay tuned to this website!  We're planning a trip for Saturday morning (April 13th - 5:30 a.m. departure from MEET AT 5:15 a.m. at the Eppsom Center), but it is dependent on range conditions.  The lek closest to Laramie is on private land, which we access with permission from the land owner.  In order to maintain that relationship, we are careful to avoid damaging the two-track access road and the surrounding land.  We'll do reconnaisance on Friday to make sure that the area is dry enough -- check this website on Friday evening for the final decision.  Fingers crossed!!  

Kids and Families brave cold and snow to see what's up (and down and all around)!

Ten brave kids and families joined Laramie Audubon Society on the Greenbelt Saturday, April 6, despite snow and bitter cold. We get it, we are all ready for spring! Conditions were not perfect for seeing migratory birds, but the group had a great time observing crows building nests, a camouflaged bunny, deer tracks, a chickadee and a gull with our eyes, and red-winged blackbirds and robins with our ears! Discussion included birds we have seen and heard in our own backyards, migrating waterfowl and shorebirds seen on the Greenbelt, at LaBonte Park, and out on the Plains Lakes, as well as recent and upcoming family road trips for the birds- sandhill cranes and northern cardinals, respectively. Everyone got to take home their choice of bird glider, too! Please come see us at the Laramie River Conservation District Expo on May 4 and join us in warmer weather for our next Kids and Families event- our first scavenger hunt of the summer at LaPrele Park on Saturday, May 25 at 9am!

April Kids and Families Event - Migration Station! Saturday, April 6th

Our Kids and Families program returns to the Laramie Greenbelt for our April program.  We will learn about migration and look for migrating birds. Take home a bird craft that you can put together and make soar! Meet at the shelter by the parking lot off Garfield Street at 9 a.m. 

Accessibility information:  The Greenbelt's West Garfield Street parking lot includes accessible (paved) parking and restroom (porta-potty).  The shelter area is accessible and participants may utilize the flat, paved Greenbelt trail while participating in this event.  

Kids and Families Enjoy a Party for the Birds!

A great big thank you to the 29 kids and families who joined Laramie Audubon Society and Wyoming State Parks Saturday afternoon for our Spring Gardening for Wildlife party at Albany County Public Library! We enjoyed making nests, planting seeds, and coloring wildlife pages while snacking and talking about birds we've seen around town and how to make gardens that are good for wildlife. Thank you to Sheila Bird Farms for donating snap dragon and marigold seedlings for participants to take home. We will be back outside and on the Greenbelt at 9am Saturday, April 6, to look for migrating birds and observe changes on the Greenbelt since we visited in January!

Monthly Kids and Families Programs!

 Fly on over to the "events" page to see our list of monthly Kids and Families programs.  Next up: Early Spring Gardening for Wildlife, this Saturday (May 9th) at 3 pm at the Albany County Library.  Co-hosted by the Wyoming Parks Department!  

Bird Hop sees a bumper year for Rosy Finches!

A small group of 7 gathered in Centennial on Saturday morning, March 2, for the Laramie Audubon Society annual Bird Hop. The weather was unseasonably warm, with weak sunshine and a growing wind. The event, now a tradition, began several years ago as an opportunity for LAS members and friends to trek to Centennial to look for rosy finches. This year was the year to see the birds en masse around the streets and yards of the little town, and at the feeders in the backyard of the Bear Bottom Grill, where the group concluded their trip with lunch and conversation while keeping their eyes on the feeders at the windows. Birds observed this year, in addition to Grey-capped Rosy Finches, were Black-capped and Mountain Chickadee, Stellar's Jay, Red-winged Blackbird, Clark's Nutcracker, Hairy and Downy Woodpecker, House Sparrow, Magpie, Raven and Junco. Special thanks to Centennial resident Tony Hoch, who opened his home for observing rosy finches, and the Bear Bottom for keeping the feeders full and providing a relaxing atmosphere for bird watching over lunch.

Kids and families enjoy winter stories on a cold Saturday morning.

Laramie Audubon Society's February Kids and Families Program, "Hibernation and Winter Stories" was well attended on Saturday morning the 17th at Albany County Public Library. Kids enjoyed coloring pages while talking about how animals, including people, handle the winter weather by hibernating, heading south in migration, or "storing up food before winter" and "putting on our boots and mittens." During the hourlong event, families listened to four winter stories, including how Raven stole Crow's potlatch (DYK Crow had a beautiful voice until he sang it away to just a caw?), how Owl got wisdom- and a short neck and big eyes and ears- and how Coyote tricked a horrible Monster and helped Buffalo escape captivity and return to the Plains. After story time, all kids got a dream catcher and beads to put together and take home. Special thanks to returning kids and families, and a warm welcome to all the new faces! Our next Kids and Families event will be held again at the ACPL Multipurpose Room on Saturday, March 9, at 10am. Wyoming State Parks will join us for garden planning to benefit wildlife and crafts. All kids and families will bring home a pollinator plant seedling and barrel garden seeds to plant on their own.

Evening Program: eBird - Leverage Your Birding Observations for Science

 Wedneday, February 28, 7 p.m.

Have you heard the buzz about eBird, but aren't sure how to get started?  Or are you a long-time eBirder looking to maximize your use of the app?  Or are you curious how scientists use the crowd-sourced data collected via eBird to further the goals of bird conservation and research?  Don Jones - long-time Laramie birder, eBird rare bird reviewer, and current University of Wyoming graduate student - will join us to explain how to get the most out of eBird and how your observations contribute to answering bird-related research questions!

Laramie Audubon Society evening programs are currently held in the University of Wyoming's Berry Biodiversity Center's auditorium, located on the street level of the building (corner of 10th and Lewis Streets).  Arrive early to find parking and partake in light refreshments (6:30 - 7 pm) in the lobby. 

Kids and Families Event on Saturday

 

February 17 - Hibernation and Winter Stories

10-11 am at Albany County Public Library Multipurpose Room

Do you know what 3 ways animals - including humans - deal with Winter? We will find out, with a focus on hibernation and storytelling. Which animals in Wyoming are true hibernators, and what does everyone else do when it gets cold? Feel free to bring a story handed down in your family, and bring home a dreamcatcher of your own!

Craft from a prior Laramie Audubon Society
"Kids and Families" event
(photo courtesy of LAS board member Lisa Cox)

Complete Christmas Bird Count Tables for Albany County 2023

Kids and Families Bundle Up and Use Their Senses!

Eleven kids and 11 adults bundled up and braved near-zero temps on Saturday morning, January 6, at Optimist Park, for a 5 Senses Winter Walk along the Laramie Greenbelt, beginning at Optimist Park. One family drove in from Curt Gowdy area, and another all the way from Casper! The day began with an easy find with both ears and eyes: Crows! After meeting at the picnic shelter, where we reviewed our 5 senses and talked about why winter is a cold time of year here, the group departed on a tracking adventure, with a light dusting of fresh snow and no wind making conditions perfect, and stopped along the way to taste spruce needles- which were discovered to taste like they smell! The first tracks encountered were tiny hoofprints. A few minutes later from the bridge an observant participant pointed out two deer in a field across the river, in the vicinity the tracks had been spotted. The group also saw rabbits and squirrels, along with their tracks, and learned how to tell the two apart. Other animals the kids thought would be fun to see included raccoon, beaver, otter, chickadee, monkey and panda bear. The last two were dropped from the list of possibilities- until we remembered sometimes raccoons are called trash pandas, which made the yound boy who sought pandas very happy! Questions raised during and after the walk included, "Is it OK to touch bird feathers and bones if you find them in the wild?"- prompting a brief talk about migration and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act- "Why are there no magpies in Laramie?"-and discussion of the differences in bird species found around the Curt Gowdy and Cheyenne areas vs. Laramie- and "Is that a wasp nest- or what kind of bird?" (It looked like a Bullock's Oriole nest in a cottonwood tree along the path to this trip leader.) All kids left with a link to a cool YouTube video called Seasons in the Sun, which they can watch at home to learn more about the tilt of the earth and how seasons come about. Our next Kids and Families event will be indoors in February. Please check the Events calendar here on our website and on our social feeds for future events, and remember that Laramie Audubon Society members receive email notice of upcoming events!