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May Meeting and Picnic: Great Food, Camaraderie, Beautiful Setting

On Sunday, May 19, Audubon members enjoyed lovely potluck food, incredible weather, a nice nature hike and all of the improvements that have been made to Wild Haven Nature Area in recent months. The May meeting was President Lori Turner’s last meeting as president, and incoming president Lottie Bushmann had some words to share after

Dolores Pearl Clark, 87

Republished from the Columbia Tribune, May 16, 2024 Dolores was one of two daughters born to Carl and Berthenia Denny on a farm A dozen miles southeast of Clinton, Mo. She attended a one-room school and graduated from Clinton High School in 1955. She married Bill Clark on August 11, 1955, and the marriage produced

Note from the President

First and foremost, I’d like to say thank you for entrusting me as your president. It was a joy serving you all and helping where I could. My tenure as President ends on May 31. Here’s a list of accomplishments we’ve made through the year to help achieve our mission: Nature areas Columbia Audubon Nature

May 1: Bird For Brad Jacobs Day

Editor: Brad Jacobs was a longtime Columbia Audubon Society member and incredible person and ornithologist who truly left a legacy for bird conservation not only in Missouri, but worldwide. Former State Ornithologist Sarah Kendrick penned this call to action for all of us as a way to commemorate his unfortunate passing four years ago on

Contact Your State Representative: Invasive Species Plant Sales in Missouri

Contact your MO Representative to support HB 2412, which bans the sale of disruptive and invasive plant species in Missouri. HB 2412, the Invasive Plant Bill, aims to prohibit future sales and intentional distribution in Missouri of five invasive plant Species: Burning bush, Callery pear, Climbing euonymus (also known as wintercreeper), Japanese honeysuckle, and Sericea

Book Review: Making Bird-Friendly Birdhouses: Instructions and Plans for 15 Specific Birds

If you’ve been wanting a book on how to build bird boxes, then Bird Man Mel Toellner’s new book, Making Bird-friendly Birdhouses (2024), is the book for you! I’ve been wanting to build some nest boxes for different species and this book has plans for 15 species of birds and even a few bat houses.

Errata: Photos from Hannah Vonder Haar’s Hog Island Audubon Camp CAS Scholarship

In error, submitted photos from Hannah Vonder Haar’s Hog Island Audubon Camp as part of her 2024 scholarship from CAS were missing from her article in the April Chat. The following photos highlight some of her experiences while at Hog Island Audubon Camp. Vonder Haar spent some  time exploring Hog Island and practiced her photography

Draft April CAS Board Meeting Minutes

Columbia Audubon Society Board of Directors Meeting April 17, 2024 Meeting conducted at Boone Electric Cooperative Present: Lori Turner, Eric Wood, Judy Lincoln, Shelby Thomas, Greg Leonard, Jim Gast, John Besser, Reed Gerdes, Eric Seaman, Louise Flenner, Lottie Bushmann Time called to order: 6:04 p.m. Previous minutes: Judy Lincoln moves to accept the March 2024

Note from the President

Notice of Election   Pursuant to Article IV D section 2 of the bylaws, notice is given of an election for candidates for the board of directors to be held at the general meeting on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.  The meeting starts at 7:00 PM and will be held in the Amp room of the

Meet the CAS Board Candidates!

At the April 17th membership meeting, members will vote on our new slate of candidates. Here’s a little information about the three new officers! President, Lottie Bushmann: “I came to birding later in life. My spark bird was a Cedar Waxwing. A flock flew into my yard and in that moment when I first laid

Spring Birding and Other Events

Spring brings lots of opportunities for birding and other outdoors fun. Check the CAS events listing for details of upcoming field trips; additional trips will likely be added for peak migration season in late April and early May. If you’d like to lead a trip, or if you have an idea for one, let us

2023 Hog Island Scholarship Recipient reflects on her Experience

Hannah Vonder Haar was a 2023 Columbia Audubon Society scholarship winner and attended Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine last summer. She has worked as an educator in different capacities for 15 years. She has served as an art integration specialist, an adjunct professor, a faculty supervisor for pre service teachers, an elementary classroom teacher

Hog Island Audubon Camp Award Winners Announced

The Columbia Audubon Society is happy to announce the recipients of our summer scholarship for educators! The winners will attend a week long summer ecology or ornithology workshop at the National Audubon Society Camp on Hog Island in Maine. Each award covers tuition, room, and board for an intensive multi-day course of field study and

Wild Haven’s New Amenities

Wild Haven Nature Area is 103 acres located at 6900 O’Rear Road.  This impressive property includes a nearly mile long stretch of Perche Creek enjoyed by visitors who hike the Yellow trail.  The four well marked trails branch across the property’s different habitats, each offering different hiking experiences. The work of Columbia Audubon’s volunteers continues

Invitation from Burroughs Audubon Society to join Webinars

Columbia Audubon members were recently invited to tune into Burroughs Audubon Society’s monthly meetings and presentations. These are free webinars that may be of interest! You need to register in advance to get the link to the webinar, which you can do here: General Meetings < Burroughs Audubon Society of Greater Kansas City Prothonotary Warblers:

Draft Meeting Minutes: Board meeting March 20

Columbia Audubon Society Board of Directors Meeting March 20, 2024  Meeting conducted at Boone Electric Cooperative Community Room Present: Lori Turner, John Besser, Judy Lincoln, Eric Seaman, Eric Wood, Shelby Thomas, Reed Gerdes, Greg Leonard, Louise Flenner Time called to order: 6:04 pm. Previous Minutes One Correction was made in the spelling of Dave Neely’s

Sunday, May 19, 2024

May Membership Picnic and Potluck

3:00-7:00 PM

CAS Membership Potluck Picnic Sunday May 19th at Wild Haven  Nature Area from 3-7pm.    Lovely New Outhouse is operational. Nature Walk starts at 3:15. CAS will provide drinks, utensils, napkins, and table cloths. We will introduce our new officers and give a recap of the past year.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

April Membership Meeting: Hummingbird Banding, HumGroup and Related Projects

7:00pm

Hummingbird Banding , HumGroup, and Related Hummingbird Banding Projects. We will learn about the delicate process of banding Missouri’s smallest birds, how and why Veronica got started; other banding groups, and what we can learn from this scientific activity. This will be presented in a powerpoint, there will not be live bird banding at this

March 20th Membership Meeting: Kiwanis Park Restoration by Stephen Bybee

Join us on Wednesday, March 20th as we welcome Stephen Bybee to talk about his work in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park. Stephen serves as the Project Director for Missouri Conserva&on Corps, a local nonpro’t dedicated to engaging the community on invasive species, na&ve plants, and climate resilience. Since 2021, Missouri Conserva&on Corps has organized more than 45

Note from the President

I would like everyone to know that we have a Nominating Committee that is taking nominations for: President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer and Director. These are the positions that will be expiring on May 31st. Bill Mees and Lisa Schenker comprise the committee and they have a slate of candidates: President (2 yr. term): Lottie Bushmann

Wild Haven Pit Latrine Construction

The new pit latrine at Wild Haven is almost complete! Nature Areas Committee Members David Neely and Bill Mees have been hard at work getting this structure ready for use. We’ll have an update when it is completed, but meanwhile, know that the construction is very solid, and a lot of work has gone into

Draft Meeting Minutes Board of Directors Feb 21 Meeting

Columbia Audubon Society Board of Directors Meeting February 21, 2024  Meeting conducted at Boone Electric Cooperative Present: Eric Wood, Lori Turner, Louise Flenner, Shelby Thomas, Eric Seaman Greg Leonard, Jim Gast, Bill Mees Time called to order: 6:00 pm  Previous minutes: Jim corrected last month’s minutes to reflect that the meeting started at 6:03, not

Note from the President

Our January Membership meeting was on the 17th. We had 15 members attend the presentation put on by local Biologist, Ben West, who works for USGS here in Columbia. His research focuses on the effects of oil spills on migratory birds and he gave a great presentation on which birds were most affected by the

February Meeting with Mark Glenshaw on How to Find an Owl in your Neighborhood

Mark Glenshaw is widely known for his work on owls in Forest Park in St. Louis. He will be speaking at the February membership meeting Feb. 21, 7pm at Boone Electric Cooperative (1413 Rangeline) in the Amp Room. See the full lising in the Events calendar. Do you ever see or hear an owl in

Field Trip News & Notes

Updates from the field trip co-coordinators: Seeking a ride-share coordinator It’s come to our attention that evening field trips and meetings may pose a barrier for those uncomfortable with driving at night. With board approval, we’re looking to set up a way for people in this situation to arrange a ride to field trips or

Missouri River Bird Observatory’s Winter Webinar February Series

The Missouri River Bird Observatory (https://mrbo.org) (MRBO) Winter Learning Series Webinars continue with topics of conservation concern in Missouri. Join MRBO for the webinars every Monday in February at 6:30 p.m. CST. February 5 – Rare Insects of Missouri and Their Conservation with Steve Buback, Missouri Department of Conservation Insects are the most diverse and

Former CAS President Dick Luecke dies at 93

Dick Luecke served as a Board Member on CAS between 1977-1980, and served as President in 1976-1977. He was remembered by longtime CAS members as being “a kind man and a good birder.” The following is the obituary that ran in the Missourian in January.   Richard H. Luecke, age 93 of Columbia, Missouri, passed

Save the Date: 2024 Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative Conference: A 20 Year Retrospective

In 2004, CAS was a founding member of the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative, an organization dedicated to all wild bird conservation. As a step-down organization from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, MoBCI plays an important role in habitat improvement in Missouri, as well as larger role working to protect birds throughout their life cycle.

Grasslands Summit 2024: April 9-11 in Jefferson City

CAS is an affiliate organization with the Conservation Federation of Missouri and also with the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative. CAS pledged a 200$ to MoBCI who offered a challenge grant to other MoBCI affiliates to serve as an official sponsor of the Grasslands Summit. MoBCI, with the help of CAS, will be listed as a

Note from the President

Happy New Year! I hope you are able to get out and do some first of the year birding today. We want to first thank you all for your generous donations to CoMoGives this year! We reached and even exceeded our goal of $10,000, ending the campaign with $10,470.00 all with loving donations from our

Summary of 2023 Christmas Bird Count

The 2023 Columbia Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday December 16. Early birders faced light rain, but temperatures were mild and we persevered to generate a species list of 99 species. This list exceeded totals of 86 and 88 for the previous ‘covid years’ and was the highest tally since 102 species were seen

January Membership Meeting: Oil Spill Impacts to Birds

The Effects of Oil Spills on Birds Parts of talk: • Two major oil spills that affected birds (Exxon-Valdez and Deepwater Horizon) • What kinds of birds are affected by oil spills? • How does oil affect birds? • Who is involved after an oil spill occurs and how do they help birds? • Initial

It was a Hot Time at the CANS Prescribed Burn

When last we spoke (December 1st CHAT), we were waiting for the final step before the CANS prescribed burn, waiting for the weather conditions to coincide with the carefully designed “Burn Plan.” John Timmermann’s call came late afternoon December 13th: “Tomorrow is looking good for a burn.” The following morning, Bill Mees and John Besser

Note from the President

Last year at this time, I wrote about a Columbia resident that had 2 Rufous Hummingbirds at their feeder. As far as I know, that didn’t happen again this year. But, we do have a Limpkin, and as of November 29th it’s still present at Twin Lakes Recreation Area off of off Chapel Hill! It

Light My Fire: Prescribed Burn at CANS Prairie

The weather is colder. Grasses, wildflowers and forbs are turning brown and drying out. A small dusting of the “white stuff” confirms it. It might be time to conduct a prescribed fire. That is the future for the prairie at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary. Columbia Audubon Society has contracted with John Timmermann who specializes in

CoMoGives Underway!

CoMoGives officially began on Giving Tuesday – November 28th and runs through December 31st. We are excited to be part of this annual online fundraising drive once again that helps local nonprofits raise money to help our community. In 2022, 117 donors contributed over $11,000 to CAS through CoMoGives. Our goal during this year’s campaign

CAS Participating in CoMoGives Nov. 28-Dec. 31

Columbia Audubon Society is excited to announce our participation in the 2023 CoMoGives fundraising campaign for the 9th year running! This annual online fundraising drive for Mid-Missouri nonprofit organizations begins on the National Day of Giving – Tuesday, November 28th and runs through December 31st. 174 nonprofits are participating in CoMoGives this year and we

Note from the President

We had our first meeting at our new location on October 19th. I received some feedback from those who could attend. Sounds like we need to invest in a microphone and some speakers. I’ll be working on that so that we have it set up for November’s meeting which is on THURSDAY the 16th. You’ve

November CAS Meeting-Thursday Nov. 16 by Bill Palmer on Trap Cameras

CAS November meeting November 16, 7pm Boone Electric Community Bldg – Amp Room 1413 Rangeline St. TRAIL AND TRAP CAMERAS. Presented by Bill Palmer. Bill will explain how he uses remote cameras to capture otherwise impossible to get photographs of birds including hawks, eagles and warblers as well as mammals such as deer, coyotes, and

Application Now Available for Hog Island Teacher Scholarships

The Columbia Audubon Society is accepting applications from mid-Missouri educators to attend a week long summer ecology or ornithology workshop at the National Audubon Society Camp on Hog Island in Maine. Scholarship recipients must be a teacher or nature educator working in Audrain, Boone, Cooper, Howard, Monroe, or Randolph counties. Each award covers tuition, room,

Boone County Nature School Council House Dedication Address

The following is Bill Mees’ address at the dedication of the Council House at the Boone Count Nature School. The creation of the Council House was made possible by a generous donation from CAS. Several CAS members attended the dedication: Dave and Nancy Bedan, Lisa schenker, Lottie Bushmann and her husband, Jean Leonatti, June and

New Benches at CANS

Students from Fairview Elementary School visit Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary on occasion. Students often run to secure a seat on single benches scattered along the trails. This year, Ilia Dimov, working to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, has helped alleviate the scramble for seats. Ilia, with the help of scouts from Troop 708, has

Honeybees Pollinate and….

A previous issue of the CHAT presented the new trail-side interpretive pollinator sign. The first photos on the sign depict the European Honeybee as well as a typical white box bee hive. The honey bee was included for several reasons. Did you know, it is not a native insect. Early European colonists introduced the honeybee

Note from the President

With our new season we are pleased to announce all of our accomplishments for the fiscal year of 2022 to 2023. We hope to see you at our October meeting with Edge Wade presenting on her beginning at birding and at some of our fieldtrips! Check the Events listing for all the great events we

Band With Nature 2023: Call for Volunteers

Time really does fly. It was the fall of 2012 that Columbia Audubon Society sponsored the first field trip to Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary for second grade students. Since then, the field trip has grown each year until every Columbia Public Schools’ elementary school now participates. For those of you contemplating the numbers, that translates

Save the Date! Grasslands Summit

The Columbia Audubon Society, a founding member of the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative, will be donating 100$ after a CAS Board approval as a sponsorship match to MoBCI for the Conservation Federation of Missouri’s upcoming Grasslands Summit. CFM is partnering with MDC and NRCS to bring you the Missouri Grasslands Summit, a three day event

Workdays at CANS to get ready for Prescribed Fire

October Workdays at CANS Prairie We need volunteers on two workdays in Early October to help prepare for a prescribed burn on the CANS prairie: Saturday October 7 — Seed Collection. We will collect native grass seed from the established prairie planting. This seed will be used to over- seed portions of the existing prairie

Draft Minutes from Sept. 26 CAS Board Meeting

CAS Board Meeting Minutes for Sept 26, 2023 Attending: Lori Turner, Judy Lincoln Eric Seamon, Lottie Bushmann, Lisa Schenker, Shelby Thomas, Greg Leonard, Eric Wood, John Besser, Bill Mees, Allison Vaughn, Jim Gast, Reed Gerdes Meeting called to order 6:03pm April minutes were approved after a spelling correction of MoBCI. Jim Gast moved, Eric Wood

Note from the President

It’s the end of an era for Columbia Audubon Society. We have been holding our monthly meetings for decades at the Universalist Unitarian Church in their sanctuary. Earlier this year, they asked us to move our meetings to the basement meeting room. This got us thinking – should we consider moving to a more modern

Summer at the Nature Areas

Summer means school is out, and there’s no homework. But for Columbia Audubon’s nature areas, summer is the growing season, the time when the work really begins at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and Wild Haven Nature Area.. Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary The deer exclosures erected in the late spring are already demonstrating the damage associated