Upcoming trip: Snow tracking

Gary Beauvais, Director of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database and interim director of the Biodiversity Institute, will lead us on a snowshoe/cross-country ski trek through forest and riparian  areas at Chimney Park this Saturday, 17 February. During this 10th anniversary of Gary’s field trip we’ll learn how to identify winter animal tracks and unravel the many mysterious signs that are written into the winter snow.

We will gather at Coal Creek Coffee at 8 am before leaving for the field trip. Chimney Park is a $5 per carload National Forest fee area. Bring your own skis or snowshoes. Alternate/backup date in case of bad weather is Feb 28.

This is Happy Jack and not Chimney Park, but let's hope for this kind of snow!!

Upcoming talk: Raptor identification

Can you identify this species? Photo by Tim Banks.

Intrigued by that hawk perched on the power pole, mesmerized by that eagle soaring in the distance, but not quite sure how to identify it? Our January program by LAS President Tim Banks will provide some basic tips and guidelines to help sharpen your skills for identifying our local birds of prey.

Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, January 31 in the Berry Center auditorium. We will begin with bird chat and refreshments at 6:30 pm and the program will start at 7:00 pm. Parking is free in the lot on Lewis St after 5 pm.

Conservation Alert: Public Meetings for LaVA Project on January 30th and 21st

This is an update on the proposed Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) project, a conservation issue of local importance outlined in the forthcoming January 2018 newsletter (available here). Following pressure from concerned locals and conservation groups, the Forest Service recently announced two public engagement sessions in Laramie scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, January 30th and 31st, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm in the Lincoln Community Center, 365 W. Grand Ave. Representatives from the Forest Service, along with project partners, will be in attendance to answer questions and receive comments from the public. Laramie Audubon would like to encourage its members to join us in attending one of these sessions, to demonstrate our interest in the future of the Medicine Bow NR and to express support for limiting the scope and environmental impacts of this proposal. For additional information on the LaVA project proposal, read the article on page 4 of the January newsletter, consult the Forest Service website or call Don Jones at (307) 460-8114.

Submit your work to our first art show!

The Laramie Audubon Society will sponsor their first art show from February 3 - March 15, 2018 at the University of Wyoming Berry Center.

LAS would like to extend an invitation to artists to submit 1-3 works based on your own experiences and interactions with the natural world—all natural history subjects are welcome. All media accepted. LAS anticipates this show to be a celebration of natural history interpreted by new as well as veteran artists.

There will be a reception at the Berry Center on Wednesday, February 7 from 5:30-7:00 pm. Come and enjoy refreshments and meet many of the exhibiting artists.

Please have your work ready to hang, including a reliable wire or hook on the back of your two-dimensional piece. LAS will hang two-dimensional work and install three-dimensional work. Artists are responsible for any technology needed to show work. There may be limits on what is feasible so if you have needs including electricity, please contact Samantha Weatherston at samantha.weatherston@gmail.com. Artists will drop off works on Saturday, February 3 from 10:00 am-1:00 pm.

Artists may sell their work through direct contact by buyer to artist. The University of Wyoming does not conduct any sale of art shown at the Berry Center. Artists are responsible for any state and federal taxes. A suggested donation of 10% of a sale will go to the Laramie Audubon Society.

LAS welcomes both novice and experienced artists to participate. Please share this announcement to other artists and art lovers!

Laramie Christmas Bird Count

Christmas Bird Count season is upon us! A CBC is a great way to get out and socialize with other birders while collecting valuable data, and is fun for both veteran and novice birders. Check out Audubon's CBC site to learn more about how the CBC works and to explore data from past counts.

The 40th annual Laramie CBC will be held on Saturday, December 16. Shay Howlin is the compiler for the Laramie count; if you have any questions, please direct them to her at wolfhowlin@gmail.com.

Meet at Coal Creek Coffee downtown at 7:30 am to get your area and birding buddy assignments. Alternatively, call Shay ahead of time at 307-286-1972 for details. If you are new to CBCs, Shay can pair you with a more experienced birder--just let her know that you're interested the count but would like some help! We will meet up again at The Grounds Internet Cafe at noon to compile morning reports and regroup those who want to keep birding in the afternoon.

You should wear warm, layered clothing and boots, and bring water, snacks and binoculars if you have them. Feeder watchers are also welcome.  Volunteers are invited to a chili supper where results will be compiled beginning at 4 pm the home of Shay Howlin. Potluck items welcome, but not required.  Please contact Shay Howlin if you would like to be assigned a route early, would like forms for feeder watching, or have any questions!

Board meeting

Sorry for the short notice, but we will hold a board meeting today at 5 pm in the second floor conference room of the Berry Center. Our board meetings are open to the public; if you would like to see the inner workings of LAS, feel free to attend!

Board member elections, Fall 2017

The 2017 Laramie Audubon elections are here!  We will be voting for new board members during our monthly meeting this Wednesday, November 29, at 7pm in the Berry Center auditorium on the UW campus (our normal meeting spot).  Only current LAS members can vote in these elections.

We have six members running to fill openings on our Board.  Candidates are not running against each other--please vote for each candidate based on their individual merit.

2017 Laramie Audubon prospective board members:

Laurel Armstrong started birding with her daughter in May 2016. It has been an awesome experience and LAS has played a large part in developing her love of birds. The field trips have been a great source of knowledge as well as a whole lot of fun. Her academic background is in engineering, but most of her life has been devoted to being a parent. She is excited to contribute to Laramie Audubon and the birds of Wyoming in a small way by joining the board.

Art Denison has had a lifelong interest in birds and has been an Audubon member for over 50 years.  He is a retired professor of Physics at the University of Wyoming, and was manager of a physics group at the Idaho National Laboratory and Livermore National Laboratory for 30 years.  He is a lifelong student, still auditing classes in ornithology and neurology at UW.  He regularly attends LAS field trips and meetings, and enjoys participating in the organization.  He is excited at the prospect of contributing more to the Laramie Audubon Society as a member of the board.

Paul Dougherty started birding while attending summer camp at his local Massachusetts Audubon sanctuary as a kid.  Over the years, participating in Christmas Bird Counts and Bird-a-thons helped to transform his interest in birds into an aspiration for a career in ornithology.  He is currently a PhD student at the University of Wyoming studying avian speciation.  He has enjoyed attending field trips since moving to Laramie this past fall, and is excited to continue birding with Laramie Audubon members, and expand his participation in the organization.

Sue Favret started birding while hiking, and quickly realized how much help others can be in bird identification. She joined Illinois Audubon and with them monitored bluebird boxes, worked on habitat improvement, and participated in various other Audubon activities. She can recount with joy the first personal sightings of a number of species. She’s running for the board of Laramie Audubon to give back to the birding community from which she has gained so much.

Zoe Gustafson recently moved to Rock River to work for WEST Inc as a data analyst.  She hopes to combine her passions of ornithology and statistics into a career as a Biometrician.  Since moving to Laramie, she has come on some recent fall field trips and has enjoyed learning about all the bird species in the area.  She is excited to be a part of a group in the community that promotes something that she loves—avian conservation!  She says that if elected to the board, members can count on her to work hard to make Laramie Audubon even better.

Kathy Rittle first became interested in the natural world as a child exploring her local woods and on family excursions to a Massachusetts Audubon property. She has an M.S. in Geology from University of Wyoming, and works at Trihydro assisting with assessment and remediation of former industrial sites.  She has previously served on the board of the Wyoming Children’s Museum & Nature Center and has lead youth gardening programs at both the Children’s Museum and Slade Elementary School.  Since discovering the MAPS banding station during the summer of 2016, she’s volunteered there at every opportunity.  That experience has fueled her desire to become more involved with the Laramie birding community.

Upcoming talk: Science Cafe with the Chalfoun Lab

Join the Laramie Audubon Society and the Biodiversity Institute next week, Wednesday November 29, for a Science Café featuring work by Dr. Anna Chalfoun and her lab. Chalfoun studies the effects of human disturbance on wildlife.

Brewer's sparrow nestlings begging on the Jonah Field
Photo by L. Sanders

The Science Cafe will focus on recent research by the Chalfoun Lab centered around sagebrush-obligate songbirds living on natural gas fields in western Wyoming.  It will delve into why songbirds aren't doing well near energy development, whether they are able to adjust their behaviors based on habitat quality, and what effect climate change may be playing in conjunction with energy development.  The Science Cafe will feature talks by Dr. Anna Chalfoun and two of her students: Lindsey Sanders and Tayler Scherr.

From left to right: Dr. Anna Chalfoun, Tayler Scherr,
and Lindsey Sanders.

As usual, we will meet in the Berry Center auditorium. Parking adjacent to the building is free after 5 pm. Bird chat and refreshments begin at 6:30 pm, and the talks will begin at 7:00 pm.

We will also hold our annual board member elections at this meeting. Members who cannot attend this meeting will be able to vote via an online survey, coming soon to your email.

Upcoming trip: Laramie Valley

This Saturday, November 11, we will take a tour of the Laramie Valley for whatever birds we can find. There should be lingering waterfowl, and raptor diversity is usually good in the valley. Join us for the adventure--never know what we might find!

We will meet at 8 am at Night Heron Books & Coffeehouse to carpool. Bring binoculars, a scope if you have one, and field guides. Dress for the weather and bring water and snacks. We should be back to Laramie around noon; if you can only join us for part of the time, be prepared to drive your own vehicle or coordinate with carpool buddies.

Birders of all levels are welcome! Our trips are free and open to the public.

UW Beast Feast

The University of Wyoming student chapters of The Wildlife Society and American Fisheries Society are hosting their annual Beast Feast on Saturday, November 11th from 5:30 - 9 pm at the Train Depot. See the flyer below for details. This is a great, family-friendly event that supports student involvement in wildlife science and conservation in Wyoming!

Upcoming talk: Small grants updates

Please join us this coming Wednesday, October 25 for three talks by our most recent Small Grants recipients. Jesse, Courtney and Rebecca received LAS funds to help with their research and outreach efforts. See below for descriptions of their projects.

As usual, we will meet in the Berry Center auditorium. Parking adjacent to the building is free after 5 pm. Bird chat and refreshments begin at 6:30 pm, and the talks will begin at 7:00 pm.



Communicating Science: Lessons from the Field Surveys Podcast by Jesse Alston

Jesse will tell us about the new podcast he started with the help of an LAS outreach grant--Field Surveys.  Field Surveys is an ecology and conservation podcast that takes listeners behind the scenes of how ecology and conservation really get done.



Living on the edge: Bird diversity on a grassland/sagebrush ecotone in Thunder Basin National Grassland by Courtney Duchardt



The Thunder Basin National Grassland, situated along the transitional zone ('ecotone') between the Great Plains and sagebrush steppe, is an extremely diverse place. Shaped by disturbances including fire and black-tailed prairie dog grazing, it is home to a surprisingly diverse community of birds including greater sage-grouse, mountain plovers, burrowing owls, and lark buntings (and about 90 more!). Courtney will present a little about the natural history and species diversity of the region, as well as her own research in this amazing landscape.




State of Emergency: Reducing the impacts of natural disasters through restoration by Rebecca Upjohn

Natural events, like hurricanes and wildfires, are essential parts of most ecosystems.  As ecosystems are altered through climate change, invasive species and human intervention, the frequency and intensity of these events increases, causing exceedingly more damage to human infrastructure and vital ecosystem services and functions.  Restoration ecology plays an important role in developing methods to address these underlying issues, reverse damage to critical habitats, and reduce the impacts of future events.

Photos courtesy of Jesse, Courtney, and Rebecca.

Upcoming trip: Nest box cleanup

Grass, feathers, and poop left behind in a tree swallow box.
Photo by L Sanders

All of the birds using our nest boxes at Hutton and the Territorial Prison have fledged their nests, and the boxes need to be cleaned out for next year.  We have a couple of boxes to install at Hutton as well to replace boxes destroyed by cows this summer.  After we finished cleaning out boxes at Hutton, feel free to stick around to bird the lakes!

A tree swallow box in use at Hutton NWR.
Photo by L Sanders

We will meet at 8 am at Night Heron Books & Coffeehouse to carpool. Bring clothes to get dirty, close toed shoes (for cactus!), something to scrape out the boxes with if you have it (like a putty knife), and binoculars. Dress for the weather and bring water and snacks. We plan to be back in Laramie by 11:45 am; if you can only join us for part of the time, be prepared to drive your own vehicle or coordinate with carpool buddies.