Upcoming talk by Beth Fitzpatrick

Our next fall speaker is Beth Fitzpatrick, a PhD candidate at the University of Wyoming who studies the effect of development on Greater Sage-Grouse. Please join us for her talk entitled "Using Science to Solve Problems: Planning Future Restoration for Long-term Persistence of a Species" this coming Wednesday, 29 October. The talk will begin at 7 pm at the Berry Center auditorium, but refreshments and mingling will start at 6:30 pm.

For a sneak peek, here is Beth's description of her work:
"This research focuses on the effect of development on genetic connectivity of Great Sage-Grouse leks. Leks are found at specific locations within sagebrush habitat and many habitat or landscape characteristics may influence those locations. Development is known to increase the likelihood of lek abandonment and has been associated with sage-grouse population declines. One process that helps breeding sites persist is dispersal of offspring to different lek sites. This can be assessed by measuring gene flow or connectivity between pairs of breeding sites. Certain habitat and landscape characteristics may also be associated with successful dispersal. Habitat and landscape characteristics found to influence connectivity of leks can then be used to predict how connectivity of leks might change with development or restoration of sagebrush habitat. This will allow both land managers and developers to make decisions on where to prioritize restoration efforts."

Beth's blog has more info on the project and great documentation of her adventures with sage-grouse.

Upcoming field trip: Plains Lakes and Hutton NWR

Tim Banks will lead a second Hutton Lake NWR and Plains Lakes trip this Saturday, October 18th. There are tons of waterfowl on the lakes this time of year! There could be rare gulls, or jaegers! Meet at 8:00 am at Night Heron Books to caffeinate and carpool. This trip usually lasts until 1 or 2 pm, but feel free to join us for only part of the time--though you may need to drive your own vehicle.

All Laramie Audubon field trips are free and open to the public; families are welcome. Bring water and snacks, binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, and dress for the worst weather.

Upcoming Field Trip: Laramie Hotspots!

Clay-colored Sparrow © Shawn Billerman

Join us this Saturday, October 4th for a morning outing to some of Laramie's birding hotspots, including the Greenbelt Trail, Optimist Park, and Greenhill Cemetery. If we have time, we will also stop to scan the pond at LaBonte Park for migrant waterbirds. Join field trip leader Shawn Billerman as we search for migrant songbirds, with a strong focus on sparrows and lingering warblers. Other potential birds we could find include sapsuckers, finches, kinglets, and nuthatches.

Meet downtown at Night Heron Books and Coffeehouse at 8AM where we will caffeinate and carpool to our local birding destinations. We expect to be done no later than 12PM; if you can only join us for part of the time, be prepared to drive your own vehicle.

All Laramie Audubon field trips are free and open to the public; families are welcome. Bring water and snacks, binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, and dress for the worst weather.

Upcoming talk by Charlotte Gabrielsen

 Laramie Audubon Society will initiate its fall speaker program this Wednesday, September 24, with a talk by Charlotte Gabrielsen, entitled “Climate change effects on amphibian persistence in the Plains and Prairie Pothole Region".

Charlotte is a University of Wyoming doctoral student and Laramie Audubon small-grant recipient. She will share her findings regarding wetland drying under various climate change scenarios and tell us how such changes might affect the amphibians that depend on these ephemeral water bodies.

The talk begins at 7 pm at the Berry Center auditorium, but refreshments and mingling will start at 6:30 pm. Laramie Audubon will be hosting this program jointly with the Travelle Chapter of the Izaac Walton League.

Field trip report: Hereford Ranch

This past Saturday six intrepid Auduboners awoke extra early for a pilgrimage to one of the best migrant traps in southeastern Wyoming: the Hereford Ranch.

True to form, the cottonwoods and willows of the riparian areas at the Ranch were hopping with migrants. The vast majority were Wilson's Warblers, but we did turn up an American Redstart and a Cassin's Vireo in company with Plumbeous Vireos. The Eastern Screech-Owl continues to cooperate--he or she is still occupying the willow cavity near the corral next to the parking lot.

We saw 48 species total--plus several Empidonax flycatchers, likely comprising two species. Below is the link to the eBird checklist and the complete trip list.

Wyoming Hereford Ranch

Species List

Canada Goose Gadwall Mallard Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Swainson's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Killdeer Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Eastern Screech-Owl Red-naped Sapsucker Northern Flicker Western Wood-Pewee Empidonax sp. Say's Phoebe Plumbeous Vireo

Cassin's Vireo Warbling Vireo Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet Townsend's Solitaire Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling Northern Waterthrush

Orange-crowned Warbler MacGillivray's Warbler American Redstart Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Wilson's Warbler Green-tailed Towhee Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Western Tanager Common Grackle House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow

Photos by Libby Megna.

Upcoming field trip: Hereford Ranch

Orange-crowned Warbler, Albany Co, WY. Photo © Shawn Billerman.

Our next field trip is this Saturday, September 13th. Note that we'll be leaving from Night Heron Books at 7 am (one hour earlier than usual) because we are heading to the Hereford Ranch on the east side of Cheyenne. Libby Megna will lead the search for songbird migrants; in particular, we should find good sparrows, vireos, and warblers.

Again, meet downtown at Night Heron Books at 7 am to caffeinate and carpool. We will be back to Laramie by noon--if you can only join us for part of the time, be prepared to drive your own vehicle.

All Laramie Audubon field trips are free and open to the public; families are welcome. Bring water and snacks, binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, and dress for the worst weather.

Ed Scholes at UW this week

Ed Scholes, evolutionary biologist and Curator of Video at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library, will be visiting the University of Wyoming this week. Scholes, with National Geographic photographer Tim Laman, recently finished a project documenting all species in the birds-of-paradise family. Check out the Birds-of-Paradise Project for more info and great video of gorgeous birds.

Scholes will give two talks:

Video analysis, specimen imaging and 3D modeling: New perspectives on courtship displays in a bird-of-paradise
     Friday, Sept. 12, 12:10 pm, Berry Center 138
     Part of the weekly Zoology/Physiology Departmental seminar, co-hosted by Biodiversity Institute

Birds of Paradise: Revealing the World's Most Extraordinary Birds

     Friday, Sept. 12, 7:00 pm, Berry Center 138

     Booksigning to follow

     Hosted by the Biodiversity Institute

Additionally, the Biodiversity Institute will show the National Geographic film "Winged Seduction: Birds of Paradise" on Wednesday, September 10 at 5 pm and on Sunday, September 14 at 2 pm.

All events are free and open to the public. 

Click on the image below to download a poster that you can share with interested parties.

Field trip report: Plains Lakes & Hutton NWR

Yesterday's inaugural field trip of the fall did not disappoint: the birds were great, the weather flat-out exceeded expectations, and the company was convivial. The major avian highlight of the trip was a juvenile Sabine's Gull at Lake Hattie. A juvenile Sanderling in fresh, crisp plumage at Meeboer was another group favorite.

Waterfowl are increasing in number on Hutton and Hoge Lakes. Lake Hattie is still relatively devoid of waterfowl but that will change over the next few weeks--and as evidenced on the trip, rare gull season is in session! Several raptor species were conspicuous, especially the Swainson's Hawks, which are amassing before their southward migration.

We saw 73 species total; below are links to the eBird checklists for each hotspot and the complete trip list.

Blake's Pond
Meeboer Lake
Twin Buttes Reservoir
Lake Hattie Reservoir
Hutton Lake NWR

Species List

Canada Goose Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Blue-winged Teal Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Eared Grebe Western Grebe Double-crested Cormorant American White Pelican Great Blue Heron Golden Eagle Northern Harrier Bald Eagle Swainson's Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk Virginia Rail Sora American Coot Black-necked Stilt American Avocet Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Willet Lesser Yellowlegs Sanderling Baird's Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Wilson's Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope Sabine's Gull Franklin's Gull Ring-billed Gull California Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove

Common Nighthawk Northern Flicker Prairie Falcon Loggerhead Shrike Common Raven Violet-green Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Marsh Wren American Robin Sage Thrasher European Starling Chestnut-collared Longspur McCown's Longspur Common Yellowthroat Yellow Warbler Brewer's Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Yellow-headed Blackbird Brewer's Blackbird Great-tailed Grackle American Goldfinch

 

Photos of Auduboners at Lake Hattie by Libby Megna.

Upcoming Field Trip: Hutton and Plains Lakes

Lake Hattie. Photo by Libby Megna.

Join us this Saturday, September 6th as we kick off the fall season with a trip to Hutton Lake NWR and the Plains Lakes. Shawn Billerman will lead us on the search for migrant waterfowl and shorebirds. September 6th is also World Shorebird Day! We'll do our part by submitting data on the shorebirds we observe to eBird.

Meet downtown at Night Heron Books at 8 am to caffeinate and carpool. We expect to be back to Laramie around 1 pm; if you can only join us for part of the time, be prepared to drive your own vehicle.

All Laramie Audubon field trips are free and open to the public; families are welcome. Bring water and snacks, binoculars, a spotting scope if you have one, and dress for the worst weather.

Cheyenne Audubon's 40th Anniversary

The Cheyenne-High Plains Audubon Society will be celebrating its 40th anniversary September 26-28. Laramie Auduboners and all other interested persons are invited; mark your calendars and plan to celebrate with our neighboring Audubon Society!

The weekend lineup includes

• A variety of bird-related talks--including a talk by John Fitzpatrick of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at the Saturday banquet
• A field trip to the Hereford Ranch with Ted Floyd from the American Birding Association
• Activities for kids grades K-8

The complete schedule of events is available here along with info on registration fees and location.
Most events require registration by Sept. 17. You can register online or mail in the form found at the previous link.

For more information, please contact Barb Gorges.

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Survey

by Sophie Osborn

Black-capped Rosy-Finch. Photo © Shawn Billerman.

Hello Auduboners!

Please join Laramie Audubon for a day of hiking and bird surveying in the beautiful Snowy Mountains! We will be conducting the Laramie Audubon Society’s annual Brown-capped Rosy-Finch survey on Saturday, July 12, 2014 this year.

The Brown-capped Rosy-Finch is a species of concern because it breeds only in the Snowy Mountains and on mountain peaks in Colorado and northern New Mexico. If the current global warming trend continues, its mountain habitat islands are likely to shrink and to be invaded by other avian species that are currently excluded by the harsh conditions. Documenting how many Brown-capped Rosy-Finches are in the area and where they are feeding and nesting can help us to monitor this population and determine how the birds are faring.

Last year, the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database helped Laramie Audubon develop additional survey routes so we can get a more complete picture of where rosy-finches occur and are nesting in the Snowies. So we have lots of routes to cover! Some of these routes are off-trail and involve rigorous hiking. We hope to GPS our observation points and any nest locations that we find to make our surveys more useful, so if you have a GPS and are willing to use it, please bring it.

Please let Sophie know if you plan to join us on the survey and if you can supply your own GPS unit at sophie_osborn@hotmail.com. 

We will meet on July 12, 2014 at 7:30am at the Forest Service Visitor Center, on WY 130, approximately 1-2 miles west of Centennial WY. After an orientation session, we will divide the group into teams and will divide up the survey routes (orientation and route assignments may take as long as an hour).

What to expect:  Be prepared to spend the day hiking and looking for rosy-finches. The birds are difficult to find and are not in predictable locations so considerable hiking may be required. Some of the trails have fairly steep portions and the elevation can be challenging for some people. You may also spend time sitting in certain areas to search for or observe birds. Some survey routes are along established trails; some routes are off-trail and may be challenging.

What to look for: In spring and summer, Brown-capped Rosy-Finches often feed at the edge of snowdrifts, where seeds that were blown onto the snowpack during winter emerge from the melting snow cover. Spring winds also blow insects from lower elevations that settle onto the snow where they can be found by birds that are gathering food for their nestlings. Nests are well hidden in talus and in shallow crevices in rock faces. When seen feeding on bright snow, rosy-finches may appear to be a solid dark color. In better light, their light-pink flanks and rumps are visible and they show a flash of pink in their wings when in flight. 

What to bring:  Binoculars and/or spotting scope, a field guide, a GPS unit if you have one, warm clothes and rain gear, good hiking shoes, lunch and snacks, water, and sunblock. We will provide route maps.

Field Trip Report: Sagebrush Songbird Nesting Research

Big thanks to Jason for taking us out to his PhD study area in the sagebrush sea and to him and his crew for being such wonderful tour guides! We saw Brewer's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Horned Lark, and Sage Thrasher nests and young at a variety of stages - eggs, nestlings, and fledgings.

It was a beautiful day with larkspur, lupine, bitterroot, and Sego lilies all in bloom. We enjoyed wide-open vistas while being serenaded by cicadas.


 Jason and his eagle-eyed crew showed us how they find sagebrush songbird nests, including the impressive feat of relocating them with just UTMs and a sketch of the area. We successfully tracked down a radio-tagged Brewer’s Sparrow fledgling. They appear to depend heavily on camouflage to keep them safe during this life phase, as the one we tracked sat quietly in a sagebrush shrub while we all got a good look at close range.

We ended the day with Jason banding and placing radio-backpacks on Brewer’s Sparrow nestlings. Despite their tiny size, they were only a few days away from leaving the nest. We all got to take part, with members of the group selecting the bands, preparing them to be placed on the nestlings’ legs, and recording data.