News

Pawpaws at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary

– by Eric & Joanna Reuter If you’ve taken a walk at the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary this year, you may have noticed an abundance of pawpaw (Asimina triloba) trees in some locations. These like to grow in colonies, generally within an existing understory, meaning that once they get established they can crowd out other

Letter from the new CAS President – September 2018

-by John Besser Well, it’s time for me to take on the slightly prestigious but mostly thankless job of chapter president. Past President Laura Hillman was able to convince Bill Mees to take over as Vice President and program chair (a job I didn’t want), while I take over as president (a job Bill didn’t

CAS News & Notes for September 2018

August board meeting unofficial summary Official meeting minutes will be posted to the website after approval at each subsequent board meeting, meaning they are delayed from immediate publication. Below is an unofficial summary of business discussed on August 29, 2018. Please contact a board member with any questions. Budget: Approved offering an annual donation to

Ruddy Turnstone at Charlie's Pasture in Port Aransas, TX. Photo by Shelby Thomas.

How I Became a Young Birder

– by Shelby Thomas   I am sixteen years old, a junior at Hickman High School, and have been birding since 2015. After watching the movie The Big Year, about a year-long birding competition, I decided to look in our backyard to see what birds were outside. I saw a bird that wasn’t like our

Fall Audubon Society of Missouri meeting in Columbia

The statewide Audubon Society of Missouri will be hosting its annual fall meeting in Columbia this year, a rare change from its usual location at Lake of the Ozarks. This is a great chance for Columbia-area birders to take part in this major event so close to home. The meeting features field trips, speakers, a

CAS News & Notes for May 2018

From the President – by Laura Hillman, CAS President I’ve done it again. I will miss both the May picnic and the Migratory Bird Count just to go to China. So I’d better say goodbye now, as my two years as president ends at the picnic. John Besser, the current Vice President, will take over

Left to right: Laura Hillman, Allison Vaughn, Bill Mees, and John Besser accepted the 2018 Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement Award on behalf of Columbia Audubon Society at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 25. The awards were designed by Columbia glass artist Susan Taylor Glasgow. Photo by Nancy Bedan

Columbia Audubon Honored for Environmental Stewardship

– by Nancy Bedan At a ceremony on April 25, the City of Columbia recognized the Columbia Audubon Society (CAS) for its work in habitat restoration at the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS) and for its community outreach and education programs. Eight organizations and businesses received the 2018 Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement Award, an honor

Listen Up: Seven Superb Bird Sound Resources

– by Joanna Reuter Spring migration is a great season to brush up on bird song as a tool for identification, but vocalizations are fascinating for more than just ID. Scientific study of bird vocalizations is leading to better understanding of bird behavior and evolution. Also, paying attention to bird sounds in the back yard

Geocache Placed at CANS

– by Jim Gast In order to increase awareness of the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS) by the public, I placed a geocache near the trail.  Geocaching is a popular outdoor activity in which people use various navigational skills to find hidden containers of various sizes. Participants find the latitude/longitude coordinates at geocaching.com, then use

CAS News & Notes for April 2018

From the President – CAS Board Elections for 2018-2019 – by Laura Hillman, CAS President It’s April and time to get out and bird, plant the garden, and kill the exotics. But it’s also time to get new officers for Columbia Audubon. The bylaws (PDF link) say that the nominating committee will work to create

2018 Young Explorers’ Club

– by Paige Witek, Certified Interpretive Guide  & Education Coordinator, Missouri River Bird Observatory Not too far from Marshall, in a town called Arrow Rock, a summer day camp for kids is starting up again! The Young Explorers’ Club is run through the Missouri River Bird Observatory, an organization dedicated to the conservation of Missouri’s

Liatrus during drought- Becky Erickson

Including Native Plants in Your Yard

– by Becky Erickson, Missouri Native Plant Society (Hawthorn Chapter) The environment we now live in developed over the last 20,000 years, evolving a fabulous crazy-quilt of massive ecosystems and small microhabitats. The diverse fauna and flora that stimulate our eyes, ears, and heart found their niches and flourished in their own spaces as part

CAS News & Notes for March 2018

From the President – by Laura Hillman, CAS President At four o’clock on the Friday before the February book discussion, we got the email: a copy of The Genius of Birds had returned to the library! Although it was raining, we jumped in the car and headed off to get it. The e-book had only given

Youth birding at a Missouri River Birdi Observatory event - photo from MRBO

MRBO Encouraging Youth Participation in the Spring ASM Meeting

– by Paige Witek, Certified Interpretive Guide & Education Coordinator, Missouri River Bird Observatory The Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) hopes that YOU will attend this year’s Audubon Society of Missouri (ASM) Spring Meeting! MRBO is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Missouri’s migratory and resident birds through scientific research and monitoring,

Links of Interest for the March Book Discussion

– by Joanna Reuter The Genius of Birds, subject of the upcoming book discussion, covers a lot of fascinating territory but has little in the way of illustrations. Fortunately, the internet can fill that gap, with images, maps, videos, audio, and articles about the research and birds that Jennifer Ackerman describes. Here are a few

CAS News & Notes for February 2018

From the President As most of you know, we are trying to mix up the kinds of monthly programs offered by Columbia Audubon. January’s wonderful research-focused talk by the new State Ornithologist was the first standard lecture format. It was very well attended, as had been expected. In February Eric Reuter will lead a book

CoMoGives Donations Boost CAS Budget for Third Year

by Nancy Bedan, CAS CoMoGives Committee The Columbia Audubon Society received $6,630 in donations during the 2017 CoMoGives online fundraiser for community nonprofit organizations. CoMoGives is conducted during the month of December by the Community Foundation of Central Missouri. A total of $712,569 was raised for the 114 local nonprofit organizations that participated in the

New Technologies for Bird Tracking – Sarah Kendrick Speaks to the January CAS Meeting

by Eric Reuter Editor’s note: this story was updated on 2/8 to reflect several suggestions for clarifications from Sarah Kendrick. Rapid technological advances are allowing us to track bird movements more effectively than ever before, creating new ways to understand and appreciate migration and behavioral patterns. At the January CAS meeting, attendees were treated to

Two adult and two juvenile Trumpeter Swans in corn stubble at Bradford Farm on January 3, 2018. Photo by CAS member Kathleen Anderson; used with permission.

Overwintering Trumpeter Swans Increasing in Missouri

by Joanna Reuter Four years ago this month, Eric & I first saw Trumpeter Swans flying over our northern Boone County property. What seemed an amazing novelty then has become a common occurrence during the winter months, but we still experience a thrill with each passing flock, typically announced by a distinctly nasal honking. Sometimes

CAS News & Notes for January 2018

From the President Well, I just spent two days in a cypress swamp looking for Wood Storks and I found three! They sent up a plane to look for active nests, found six on thousands of acres, and were very happy because maybe all their hard work will help keep the Wood Stork from going

Dickcissel at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, December 2017 - by Paul McKenzie

2017 CAS Christmas Bird Count recap

On December 16, members of the Columbia Audubon Society and other volunteers fanned out across Boone County to participate in the 118th Christmas Bird Count. Weather conditions were mild, with a slight breeze in the morning hours and high temperatures reaching the low 30s. On the day of the count, we collectively detected 96 species

3/4 grooved ax found in the stream at Chert Hollow Farm. Photo by Eric Wood.

Field Trip Recap: Chert Hollow Farm, Dec. 2

On a sunny and mild early December day, we hosted about a dozen attendees on a CAS field trip to the homestead farm in northern Boone County that Eric and I have managed for the past decade or so. The big find of the day turned out to be a rock, not a bird, but

CAS News & Notes for December 2017

Support CAS During CoMoGives Columbia Audubon would appreciate your support during the annual CoMoGives fundraiser Dec. 1–31. To donate, go to comogives.com; for more information, see the following story in this newsletter. From the President On Friday, December 17, 2016, I was sliding off an icy Grindstone Parkway while trying to get home when the

CoMoGives Fund Drive Begins December 1

Mid-Missouri residents can make donations to any of 114 nonprofit organizations through the 2017 CoMoGives fundraiser during the month of December. The Community Foundation of Central Missouri coordinates the fund drive and provides a single website (www.comogives.com) where gifts can be made to any of the participating groups. These organizations, Columbia Audubon Society included, offer

Winter Reading List (Including February Book Discussion)

Winter is a great time for catching up on reading; here are a few books and other reading materials that might be worth CAS members’ time. All three books listed below are available from the Daniel Boone Regional Library – by Eric Reuter The Genius of Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman Years ago, a Common Raven

Missouri State Parks Soliciting Public Comment on Three New Parks

The Missouri State Park system is soliciting public comment about three recently acquired state park properties that have not yet been opened to the public: Ozark Mountain State Park in Taney County, Bryant Creek State Park in Douglas County, and Jay Nixon State Park in Reynolds County. Some members of the Missouri Legislature have espoused

CAS Members Share Photos and Stories at November Meeting

Many folks contributed a wide variety of amateur and professional photography (local, national and international) along with birding tales to our crowd-sourced November Meeting. The subjects included Black Swifts in Colorado, an Ohio birding festival, Three Creeks Conservation Area and other local natural areas, and a Kenyan safari. Many thanks to all our contributors, including

CAS News & Notes for November 2017

Welcome to the new CAS Website The new CAS website that we’ve been discussing since last winter is finally live. The website will continue to provide the same basic content (including essential information about the organization, such as board members and natural areas), but some helpful new features have been added. We encourage you to

Columbia Audubon’s “Big Sit” – A New Tradition?

Even casual birdwatchers are familiar with traditional 24-hour birding events like the Christmas Bird Count and the May Big Day, but some may not be familiar with the birding event known as a “Big Sit”.  Basically, a Big Sit is a bird count that is anchored in a single location, from which one or many

6th Annual Band With Nature Field Trip A BIG Success

As every Missouri resident knows, our weather is unpredictable. As a way of coping with the uncertainty, the 2017 Band With Nature 2nd grade field trip was scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday (October 9, 11, & 13) with the interim days reserved for weather cancellations. Not only were there NO weather cancellations, but when

Dean_Ravenscraft on "Big Red"; photo by Bill Mees

Happy Trails to You, Thanks to Dean Ravenscraft

In 2001, Columbia Audubon Society (CAS) received a donation of 22 acres now known as the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS). Originally donated as an inducement for the National Audubon Society to select Columbia as the location for a nature center, the future CANS property sat idle while National deliberated. Eventually National Audubon selected Joplin,

CAS to Participate in 2017 CoMoGives Fundraiser

CAS is participating in the annual CoMoGives fund drive for area nonprofit organizations again this year. The online giving campaign, which runs the month of December, is coordinated by the Community Foundation of Central Missouri with support from several local businesses. Important things to know about CoMoGives: The giving window is December 1-31. Gifts can

Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary - Joanna Reuter

News & Notes

From the president: working to increase member involvement. We had a great turnout on September 17 for our bird walk and discussion session at which we asked members for suggestions on making Columbia Audubon more useful for them. Several people were relatively new to birding and were hesitant to come to meetings and field trips.

Backyard Birding: Goldfinches & Cup Plants

Goldfinches descended on our cup plants this year, and for good reason. A Missouri native plant, Silphium perfoliatum looks roughly like a sunflower but with a twist: its paired leaves wrap around the thick, square-ish stalk to form twin basins that collect and hold moisture from dew or rainfall (hence the species name). This distinct

CANS September 2017 - Joanna Reuter

Photos from the September Meeting & Bird Walk

The September meeting featured lovely weather and good attendance for a walk through the prairie restoration area at CANS, where the increased biodiversity supported interesting insect and bird life for us to enjoy.

CAS News & Notes, September 2017

FROM THE PRESIDENT: PROGRAM CHANGES FOR 2017-2018 Welcome to the 2017-2018 Columbia Audubon Society. Not that we really stopped for the summer; we’ve been doing bird counts for programs, going to meetings, organizing for COMO Gives, and working on our properties. But mainly the board has been thinking and meeting to figure out this coming

Back row: Brenden, Jordan, Aron, and Caven. Front row: Kameron, Kylie, and Hannah. Photo by Bill Mees.

Adopt-a-trail comes to CANS over summer vacation

If you are in school, then summer is vacation time, but if you are a member of Columbia Audubon Society, summer is growing season for invasive species. And so a decision was made at the April board meeting that CAS will participate in the new Adopt-A-Trail project sponsored by Columbia’s Parks and Recreation Department. The

Prairie at CANS - Allison Vaughn

Thanks for CANS

Many people are responsible for the existence of the wonderful Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary, from the donation of the land by the Russell family to the dream and the plan for its development. There are too many people responsible for those early accomplishments to name them all, but they include the 13 Boy Scouts who

Upcoming changes to the Chat and website

Throughout 2017, the CAS board has been discussing the potential to upgrade our web presence and methods of communication with members and the rest of the world. Our goals included making this volunteer-driven work more efficient, enhancing collaboration within the group, improving online access to information, upgrading our web presence to a more mobile-friendly design,