by Jim Gast, President

 There’s a lot happening in April. There are field trips, an in-person program and our election of board members.  Be sure to visit our website, https://www.columbia-audubon.org/, for all the details.  While you’re there, you can read a Missourian article about the Columbia Motus station.

April Program

I hope you’ll attend our April membership meeting. We will meet IN-PERSON at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20^th, at the Twin Lakes Recreation Area shelter, 2500 Chapel Hill Rd. After a brief business meeting to elect our Columbia Audubon officers for 2022-24, Dr. Pete Monacell will present a program on “Shorebird Identification.” Pete, who is regional reviewer for eBird and a member of the Missouri Bird Records Committee, will help us understand how to approach shorebird identification and provide information about some of the most common, and most unique, birds we’re likely to see in mid-Missouri. This program is co-sponsored by the Missouri Birding Society, and we look forward to having MBS members join us. (Note: The Twin Lakes Recreation Area Shelter is located on Chapel Hill Road between Forum Boulevard and Fairview Road in southwest Columbia. This is a large, 200-capacity facility, so we will have plenty of room. There will be picnic tables for seating, but feel free to bring your own chair.)

March Program

If you missed the March program on warbler identification or if you want to view it again, email me at jgast@socket.net and I’ll send you the link.

CoMoGives Coordinator

We still need someone to serve as CoMoGives Coordinator.  The coordinator attends planning meetings, develops fundraising techniques, encourages donations, and provides feedback.  This is not a year-round position. Most activity occurs from July to January.  If you are interested, contact me at jgast@socket.net.

Ebird Can Help You with Your Bird Lists

Going somewhere on vacation and want to see what birds you need on your life list? eBird can help. Log into your eBird account and go to the Explore page. Click on Target species.  Select a Region such as county, state, country and choose a time of year.  Choose World under the For Your field and don’t change Life List to see what birds you need on your life list.  For example if I choose Lucas County, Ohio (home to Magee Marsh), there are 11 species that are present in May that aren’t on my life list.

You can also use it to see what birds you need for a particular area.  For example, select a county instead of world. In my case, there are 46 species that have been reported on eBird in Boone County that I haven’t seen in Boone County.

Finally

I strongly encourage you to attend the April meeting.  Not only are we having an election (and need a quorum of 20 members), but the shorebird program should be excellent.  Other than the picnic at Wild Haven last September and the book discussion in October, this is the first in-person program in over two years.  The board purposely decided to hold it outdoors.  I hope to see you there.