News

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

Coexisting with Great Blue Herons

Sometimes we can work together to provide for the preservation of birds and mitigate the effect of expanding human encroachment on their territory. I recently had a positive experience working with Parks and Rec Dept.in Columbia on their plan for a mountain bike trail at Gans Creek Recreation Area (GCRA). When the City acquired the

Annual Picnic at Wild Haven: September 17

Columbia Audubon Society Open House Picnic will be held Sunday September 17th at Wild Haven Nature Area, 6900 E. O’Rear Road, 3-6:30 p.m. Columbia Audubon members, friends and neighbors are invited to stop by, starting at 3 p.m., to learn about chimney Swift roosting improvements recently completed at Wild Haven Nature Area as well as

Birds in Big Numbers: Migratory Chimney Swift Roosts

Part four in an occasional series, Birds in Big Numbers Chimney Swifts are master flyers that spend virtually all daylight hours on the wing, fueling their flight with a diet of insects. As long-distance migrants, they spend the summer breeding season in North America and the winter in South America. Commonly described as “cigars with

Thank You CAS, from Missouri Conservation Corps

Missouri Conservation Corps would like to thank the members of the Columbia Audubon Society for helping to coordinate and lead an educational bird hike in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park this spring. In May 2023, CAS president Lori Turner and members Eric and Joanna Reuter, Jim Gast, and John Besser organized and facilitated a bird hike and

CAS participates in 19th Annual Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative Conference

On August 24-25, the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative hosted its 19th annual conference at the Columbia Country Club. This year’s theme centered around conservation efforts in urban and suburban areas of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s One Health Initiative, a focus on expanding conservation into underserved or otherwise compromised areas. Nature Areas Committee

Eagle Bluffs Update from MDC and Area Manager

Hi all! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer – or at least finding some ways to survive the drought! I know our folks have already felt like they have had a long hot (and dry) summer and we are only half way through it. But, with it turning into July we thought it would

Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative Conference in Columbia August 24-25

Registration is now live for the 2023 MoBCI Conference to be held Thursday-Friday August 24-25 at the Columbia Country Club. The theme this year is One Health: Community Conservation in Missouri, centered around MDC’s recent initiative to expand their conservation funding to urban and suburban areas. Registration can be found here. Along that theme, this

First Friday Bird Hikes in the News

The First Friday Bird Hikes at 3M continue to be very popular and in the news. On Friday, June 2, birders were joined by a KRCG reporter who wrote the following article with a lot of great photos. See here

Boone County Migratory Bird Count Results

Boone County, Missouri, birders have maintained the tradition of a spring migration count, although no state or national migration count currently exists. This countywide effort, which takes place on the traditional Big Day (second-Saturday in May), is an opportunity for many birders in the area to team up to find and count birds in their

Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area Updates

In a recent meeting with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia Audubon learned that Eagle Bluffs CA will be providing regular updates on the status of the pumps. MDC has provided CAS and MBS with a lot of information that can be found in the link. See here

Note from the President

I’m sorry if you had to miss our April presentation, Forest Park Owls: Hiding in Plain Site. Those in attendance listened as Mark H.X. Glenshaw told stories from his 18 years of studying the pair of Great Horned Owls in Forest Park that he lovingly named Charlie and Sarah. I don’t want to give any

Nature Areas Notes

Lots of activity at the two primary nature sanctuaries, CANS and Wild Haven. If you haven’t been out lately, wildflowers and migration are in full swing! At Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS): We have been watching the emergence of various seedlings on the west side of the creek, which was seeded in winter

Details for the Migratory Bird Count May 13

Columbia Audubon Society will continue its tradition of doing a Boone County-wide Bird Count on the second Saturday of May). Our count will be held on the same day the ‘Global Big Day’ promoted by eBird, and all the data from the Boone County count will be entered into eBird, so participants will be able

Council House construction continues at Nature School

The March issue of The CHAT informed you that construction had begun on the Boone County Nature School’s Council House. At that time, the ground had been leveled and concrete forms identified the outline of the yet-to-be poured concrete floor. Today, there is more progress to report. Photos taken April 26 show the structure nearing

April Meeting Minutes-April 19

Columbia Audubon Society Board of Directors Meeting April 19, 2023 Meeting conducted at Unitarian Universalist Church Present: Lori Turner, Louise Flenner, Judy Lincoln, Eric Seaman, Lottie Bushmann, Jim Gast, John Besser, Shelby Thomas, Bill Mees Time called to order: 6:05 pm Treasurer’s Report Eric Seaman reports the Community foundation is one month behind in releasing

Notice of Election

Notice of Election Pursuant to Article IV D section 2 of the by-laws, notice is given of an election for candidates for the board of directors to be held at the general meeting on Wednesday, April 19th, 2023. The meeting starts at 7:00 PM and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia.

Note from the President

Happy Spring! I hope everyone is getting out to see their first of the season birds. Frank and I have been busy moving into our forever home on just over 18 acres in Harrisburg. Our property has 2 creeks running through it and we have American Woodcocks in our backyard!! I plan on having field

New Walking Tour at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary

I recently became aware of the app PocketSights Tour Guide which allows universities, community organizations and individuals to create tour routes. The app uses GPS allow the user to follow a path while providing content and images about various points of interest. Since individuals can use the app for free, I designed a tour through

Spring Field Trips and More

Spring is here, and migration is getting underway! A variety of CAS field trips and other community birding opportunities are coming up, so check out the offerings and mark your calendar. As always, reminder notifications of CAS events go out by email; if you’re not already on the email list, be sure to sign up.

Self-guided Moss Walk Popular with Wild Haven Visitors

If your best guess for the definition of “acrocarp” involves something about a gymnastically talented fish, then you should consider taking part in the recently developed self-guided moss walk at Wild Haven Nature Area. You’ll learn what an acrocarp actually is, but the walk isn’t about memorizing scientific jargon. Instead, it’s an opportunity to become

Forest Park Owls: Hiding in Plain Sight by Mark H.X. Glenshaw-April Membership Meeting

The April membership meeting will be held April 19, 7pm at the Universalist Unitarian Church. Our presentation will be by Mark H.X. Glenshaw who is an award-winning naturalist who has closely observed and documented the lives of Great Horned Owls in Forest Park, a large urban park in St. Louis, Missouri, since December 2005. Mark’s

Columbia Audubon Society Young Birder Makes the News!

Local birder and Columbia Audubon Society friend Chelsea Mosteller made the CoMoKIDS section of the Columbia Missourian! See here for a link to an article about her recent project that will help young birders learn their birds!

Construction begins on Nature School Council House

Boone County Nature School Council House Several years ago, Columbia Audubon Society made a donation of $30,000 for the construction of a Council House at the Boone County Nature School. Members’ excitement about the project was exceeded only by the pride of having been one of the original supporters of the first-of-its-kind Nature School. Then

Note from the President

Wow, it’s already March?! This year is already passing by faster than ever. Back in November the board approved the purchase of a new interpretive sign that will be mounted at CANS, close to the parking lot. The sign will be designed to help educate visitors on pollinators and how they use our prairie for

March 15th 7:00 pm Membership Meeting: Birds of Australia

Birds in Australia: Australia and the continental USA have about the same land area and number of bird species – 900 more or less – even though most of Australia consists of deserts and other arid landscapes. I will show a video that consists of photographs and video collected over about three years of periodic

First Prescribed Fire at Bonnie View NS Grassland Restoration Project

Time really does seem to fly. After two years of preparation work Columbia Audubon Society seeded 15 acres with native Missouri grasses and forbs on January 21, 2016. This process converted what was a fescue dominated pasture to a facsimile of a prairie. The summer of 2022 was the seventh growing season for the prairie

Kiwanis Park Restoration Efforts with Missouri Conservation Corps

Missouri Conservation Corps began as a volunteer effort to simply cut and remove the honeysuckle growing in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park. Before our group was formed, now-MCC board member Steve Johnson lived across the street from Kiwanis Park and had been working with some neighbors to clear the honeysuckle. I became involved in this effort in

CAS Board Meeting Highlights for January, 2023

Upon review and board approval, final meeting minutes are posted to the Minutes page. Following are highlights of the unapproved minutes from the January 2023 CAS board meeting: Committee Reports Nature Areas John Besser reports that Bill Mees got information from the city of Columbia on the deer hunt at Bonnie View near CANS. The

Note from the President

Happy February! I hope everyone got some good New Year birding in. I’ve been quite content watching birds from the comfort of a chair inside my house. It can be difficult finding time to go birding and I find myself putting it on the bottom of the list. For our January Membership meeting we had

Birds in Big Numbers: Snow Geese in Spring Migration

Part three in an occasional series, Birds in Big Numbers If you want to see as much biomass of a single bird species as possible, at one place and time in the state of Missouri, what should you be looking for? A blackbird roost hosting millions of birds? Nope. A high-density commercial poultry house? Nope.

February 15, 2023 Program on Falconry

Come enjoy the experiences and expertise of long-time Master falconer, Steve Heying, as he gives a presentation on “Falconry” Wednesday, Feb 15th, at 7pm at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, 2615 Shepard Blvd. Steve’s history in falconry began in 1964 with a Passage Goshawk. Steve has had a hawk in his care everyday since 1968. Steve is

MDC Hires New Missouri State Ornithologist!

MDC welcomes the new state ornithologist, Kristen Heath-Acre. Kristen has worked in a variety of ecological settings from Panama to the Texas plains, demonstrating a passion for learning and developing new skills. She is currently employed by the University of Missouri – Columbia as an MDC and Mark Twain National Forest collaborator in a lead

Prescribed Burning Sign Erected at Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary

Columbia Parks and Recreation Department posted a flyer at CANS that notifies people that there will be a prescribed fire at the Bonnie View NS prairie. This is the first prescribed burn at this prairie that was seeded January 2016. With much planning and with a good outcome, this will be the first burn with

Christmas Bird Count Results: December 17, 2022

The final tally for the 2022 Christmas Bird Count is published below. Special thanks to John Besser for working through all the eBird reports to pull this information together! COLUMBIA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT — DECEMBER 17 2022 TALLY SHEET — ALL BIRDS SPECIES Taxon Total: Snow Goose 751 Ross’s Goose 20 Greater White-fronted Goose 151

Note from the President

Another year has passed and we can now celebrate the new year. We have so many things to be thankful for – one is being able to assemble for the Chili Supper after a very cold, windy Christmas Bird Count. This year’s CBC fell on December 17th. There are so many people that make the

A Hearty Thank You to All Who Donated During CoMoGives!

It is hard to put into words what it means to the CAS board that so many members, neighbors, friends and family members donated during this holiday season to help us reach our goal of raising $10,000. THANK YOU, THANK YOU for taking the time out of your busy schedule during the most hectic time

Missouri River Bird Observatory’s Winter Learning Series

Join the Missouri River Bird Observatory this winter for a free webinar series about birds. The flyer below lists the full schedule. Registration and events in January can be found here

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