Last Saturday, three Laramie Audubon Society members traveled to Curt Gowdy State Park, where we were joined by two Nebraskans visiting southeastern Wyoming for the weekend. The Visitors' Center parking lot was teeming with Cub Scouts and other visitors taking advantage of National Public Lands Day (free park admission), but after we had ventured a few yards onto Kate's Trail the crowds of people gave way to mixed grasslands and pines teeming with birds -- Mountain Bluebirds, Mountain Chickadees, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Clark's Nutcrackers, Ravens, Chipping Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and more, with Red Crossbills, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Pygmy Nuthatches calling from deeper in the trees. Such fun to be joined by visitors and to see everyone out enjoying the state park!
Information about birds, birding, and how to protect birds in the Laramie, Wyoming area, including our local Habitat Heroes program.
Monday, September 29, 2025
Friday, September 26, 2025
Thanks to WYOBIRD for Hosting LAS at Their Banding Station!
This was an opportunity to see a variety of species up close and to learn about the importance of this patch of habitat to passerines migrating through the area. We watched while the WYOBIRD students and staff carefully extracted the birds from the nets within the cottonwood/willow riparian habitat and learned about the series of measurements that they make on each bird: sex, wing length, body condition (fat), age, weight, etc.
Seeing each bird fly away to continue the journey south is a reminder of how amazing these tiny creatures are and how important each stopover point is to their journey!
To learn more about WYOBIRD's activities and opportunities for students to become involved in this organization, visit their website: https://www.tarwaterlab.com/staff-positions
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Wednesday Evening Program - "Notes from a Naturalist" (September 24th)
Seth Rankins, current PhD student in University of Wyoming's Department of Zoology and Physiology (Monteith Shop), will be sharing natural history-related stories regarding the species and ecosystems he has studied in the past decade as a wildlife professional. Come learn about which mammal exhibits female dispersal, which is common in birds but rare in mammals, the nesting ecology of Stellar’s eiders, the social dynamics of Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, and much more.
Our monthly evening programs convene at 6:30 p.m. for light refreshments and BirdChat, followed by the speaker at 7 p.m. We now meet downstairs in the Trinity Lutheran Church (107 S. 7th Street), which is located 1.5 blocks west of campus. There is plentiful, well-lit on-street parking and ADA access to the lower level.
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Big Horn Sheep in the Sierra Nevada (photo curtesy of Laramie Audubon Society member S. Rankins) |
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Sunday Morning Field Trip - Bird Banding Station (Sept. 21st)
UPDATE - As of Thursday morning (9/18), the trip is full. WYOBIRD has invited the Laramie Audubon Society to visit their migration monitoring bird banding station on the outskirts of Laramie this Sunday morning (September 21) at 7 a.m. This approximately 2-hour trip will be a chance to see birds in the hand and to learn about the group's research into how songbirds utilize the riparian habitat along the Laramie River. Attendees should be comfortable walking approximately a quarter-mile on a flat but somewhat uneven trail.
Due to the nature of the event, we are limiting attendance to 10 people. Please register by sending an email to laramie.audubon@gmail.com - we will follow up to the first 10 registrants with instructions on how to reach the meeting place.
Erik Schoenborn - master bander, Laramie Audubon Society board member, WYOBIRD member, and current University of Wyoming graduate student in the Chalfoun Lab - will be leading this trip! |
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Wyoming Hereford Ranch Birding Trip Report – 13 September 2025
Trip Report - Rock Creek Canyon
Dark-eyed JuncoAmerican Dipper, Rock Creek Canyon, 9/6/2025
Photo courtesy of LAS member S. Rankins- Mountain Chickadee
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- American Robin
- Stellar's Jay
- Clark's Nutcracker
- MacGillivray's Warbler
- Swainson's Thrush
- Northern Flicker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Belted Kingfisher
- Townsend's Solitaire
- Bald Eagle
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Cooper's Hawk
- Northern Pygmy-owl
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Audubon at the Eppsom Center: Friday, September 19th
"This is a birdwatching walk, if it’s not too muddy or windy. Bring binoculars if you want to study the wildlife up close. This is a repeat of our April bird watching trek, which yielded several species of interest! There will also be an opportunity to learn about the new Wyoming Toad Conservation Area, which is adjacent. The terrain is flat to gently rollin
g, and distance is about 3.5 miles, but time depends greatly on wildlife and weather conditions. There is limited parking, so carpooling is recommended."
Habitat Garden Tour - Monday, Sept. 8th, 5:30 pm
Bird Hike -- Saturday, Sept. 6th
We'll gather downtown** at 8 a.m. this Saturday (9/6) to discuss the trip and informally arrange rideshares. The group will then caravan to Rock Creek Canyon, located approximately 45 miles west of Laramie near Arlington. The trail has a steep uphill and then downhill section immediately after the parking area, but then levels out along the creek, where we may see dippers. Our pace will be participant- and bird-driven. If it is a small group, we will walk along slowly to accommodate both birding and all participants. If we have a large enough group, we'll consider breaking into a faster "hiking" group and a more leisurely "birding" group.
Please be prepared for a variety of weather conditions, with sturdy shoes, warm layers, rain and sun protection, snacks, and water. We anticipate being back to Laramie by approximately 12:30 p.m., but participants with their own transportation are welcome to leave earlier or stay longer -- we do ask that you let the trip leader know if you decide to turn back or to forge ahead (leaving the group).
** Meeting Location - 1st Street Plaza in downtown Laramie (corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue). All day parking is available along 1st Street.
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Kids & Families get batty
A small group of kids and their families, including some new folks in town- welcome!- came out for our back-to-school Kids & Families event on Saturday, August 30.
After a ramble around the block using 5 senses to see, hear, smell, touch and even taste our natural surroundings, the group came inside to enjoy snacks while learning about bats, with live cam footage and a video of a "batnado" at the world's largest bat cave, and finished up with a lively game of bird bingo, learning about some really colorful species and some with very long and funny names. Everyone left with prizes and information about upcoming LAS field trips, evening programs, and our annual Spooky Halloween Scavenger Hunt.
Check out our Events page to see what's coming up this fall!
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Waterbird Field Trip - 16 August 2025
Five of us met on Saturday, 16 August, to search for waterbirds on the Laramie Plains. Because all the basins on Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge were dry, we checked Blake’s Pond, Meeboer Lake, and Twin Buttes Lake. Starting at Blake’s Pond, we had a smattering of shorebirds including Killdeer, American Avocet, Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Western Wood-Pewees were still singing from nearby cottonwoods, which also produced a Yellow Warbler and American Goldfich and several Bullock’s Orioles. A Prairie Falcon and Northern Harriers winged by the pond. The road into Meeboer Lake had lots of Yellow-headed and Brewer’s Blackbirds and Vesper and Savannah Sparrows. The lake was pretty quiet, although we were treated to a small group of Forster’s Terns, a Ruddy Duck pair, a winter-plumaged Eared Grebe, and great looks at winter-plumaged Spotted Sandpipers. We finally found some Baird’s Sandpipers at Twin Buttes Lake and were able to get some good looks at California and Ring-billed Gulls. Great light and calm winds were a highlight of the morning! Overall, we tallied 51 species in two and one-half hours of birding.
Brad Andres
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Kids and Families Fly on the Prairie
Eight kids and families gathered on the edge of the prairie on Saturday morning, June 28. There was not a cloud in the sky, but we learned how clouds form, and where to look for them, as well as the precipitation they drop on the earth. The sun was already quite hot, and we explored how that heat helps birds that may be found on the prairie, providing thermals they can glide on, and how the winds can come up with the heat of sunrise and calm with the cooling at sunset. We learned about how wings work and why birds can fly and people cannot.
Kids and their parents shared stories of the birds they have seen in their backyards, including nesting robins and a mourning dove. We talked about baby crows and how their parents act when someone gets too close to a baby learning to fly.
Although we did not see clouds or hawks when we looked up this morning, some pledged to go out earlier in the morning and look again, and to look for clouds forming over the mountains. Kids took home a tropical bird glider to put together, and took a guess answering the question, "Why do tropical birds come in such bright colors?" The winner took home a copy of the Audubon Rockies book Voice of the Grasslands.
Our next Kids & Families event will take place on Saturday, August 23. The theme is Back to School, and we will go a little batty playing some bird games. Keep your eyes peeled for location. We will list the event on our website Events page, post on social media, and send a reminder email to Laramie Audubon Society members.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Global Big Day Birding
The Global Big Day is an annual celebration of birds in your community. To celebrate, 13 birders met at Greenhill Cemetery on 10 May. Although we had great weather, migrant birds were still a bit scarce. We were treated to numerous singing Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a few migrant Swainson’s Thrushes and Orange-crowned Warblers, and a small flock of Chipping Sparrows. After our Greenhill visit, we headed over to LaBonte Park, where 150 Wilson’s Phalaropes were feeding busily on emerging insects. A number Cinnamon Teal pairs provided a visual delight. Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles appeared to be establishing territories in the lake’s cattails. For the morning, we tallied 33 species in celebration of the return of our migratory birds.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Wilson's Phalarope (Heather Johnson)