Newsletter of the Columbia Audubon Society | January 2023 | Volume 65, Number 5

In this issue:

Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

Christmas Bird Count Results: December 17, 2022

by Data collected by John Besser

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
Canada Goose 2521
Northern Shoveler 95
Gadwall 236
American Wigeon 16
Mallard 1896
Northern Pintail 45
Green-winged Teal 965
Redhead 1
Lesser Scaup 2
Ruddy Duck 2
Wild Turkey 20
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 706
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Mourning Dove 369
American Coot 59
Killdeer 16
Wilson’s Snipe 2
Ring-billed Gull 35
Great Blue Heron 6
Black Vulture 10
Turkey Vulture 112
Northern Harrier 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper’s Hawk 5
Bald Eagle 52
Red-shouldered Hawk 28
Red-tailed Hawk 46
Buteo sp. 4
hawk sp 1
eagle sp. 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 4
Great Horned Owl 3
Barred Owl 8
Belted Kingfisher 7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9
Red-headed Woodpecker 33
Red-bellied Woodpecker 214
Downy Woodpecker 160
Hairy Woodpecker 16
Pileated Woodpecker 38
Northern Flicker 98
American Kestrel 17
Merlin 3
Blue Jay 387
American Crow 339
Black-capped Chickadee 311
Tufted Titmouse 276
Horned Lark 39
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 118
Brown Creeper 5
Winter Wren 7
Marsh Wren 2
Carolina Wren 58
European Starling 1995
Northern Mockingbird 12
Eastern Bluebird 224
Hermit Thrush 3
American Robin 127
Cedar Waxwing 220
House Sparrow 277
House Finch 194
Purple Finch 51
American Goldfinch 390
Lapland Longspur 5
Field Sparrow 1
American Tree Sparrow 76
Fox Sparrow 9
Dark-eyed Junco 1203
White-crowned Sparrow 59
Harris’s Sparrow 0
White-throated Sparrow 660
Savannah Sparrow 22
Song Sparrow 88
Swamp Sparrow 35
Eastern Towhee 2
Western Meadowlark 2
Eastern Meadowlark 51
Western/Eastern Meadowlark 20
Red-winged Blackbird 2215
Common Grackle 23
blackbird sp. 610
Yellow-rumped Warbler 14
Northern Cardinal 650
0
Area Total: 19602
Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

Note from the President

by Lori Turner, 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 CBC and Chili Supper a success and I want to give a shout out to a few. Lottie Bushmann and Allison Vaughn are the co-chairs for our CBC on top of all the other things they do to help CAS – thank you! Judy Lincoln was in charge of the Chili Supper and I want to thank her for organizing the pot luck that we haven’t been able to partake in since 2019 – it was nice to have a warm dinner after spending a day outside in the frigid 20 + MPH winds. I have to admit, I wasn’t able to bird during the CBC so I wasn’t a person out there working hard to identify every bird that they could see in the name of science.

Here’s the stats from the CBC:

Total Species seen: 85

Count week species: 3

Total birds seen: 19,602

Top 5 total species counted:

2,521 – Canada Goose

2,215 – Red-winged Blackbird

1,995—European Starling

1,896 – Mallard

1,203 – Dark-eyed Junco

The Christmas Bird Count couldn’t happen without the over 40 birders that went afield during a cold, wintery day to count as many birds as they could and for that we thank you! Thanks for making Columbia Missouri’s 60th annual CBC a successful count!

Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

A Hearty Thank You to All Who Donated During CoMoGives!

by Lori Turner, President

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 of the year to donate. Thank you to the over 100 people that donated to help support our mission of, “Preserving the natural world and its ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife, and the earth’s biological diversity through education, environmental study and habitat restoration and protection.”

We raised $11,712 through our CoMoGives page. We also had over $3,700 worth of donations that was either in check form or donations made through our website.

153 community nonprofit organizations participated in CoMoGives in 2022 and CAS ranked 53rd overall for donations! 2022 was the 8th year CAS has participated in CoMoGives.

We’d like to give a big thank you to Songbird Station and their store manager, Becky Toellner, for allowing CAS to display its CoMoGives poster and postcards at the store. We’d also like to thank Peace Nook for allowing us to display our postcards there too.

Thank you to the 2022 CoMoGives committee: Lori Turner, Allison Vaughn, Kevin Wehner – with special assistance from John Besser, Lottie Bushmann, Bill Mees, Doug Miller and Lisa Schenker.

Please consider volunteering to chair the 2023 CoMoGives Committee. This is the one and only fundraiser for CAS and is critical to our continued success. It is one of the most rewarding committees you can chair on the CAS board.

Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

Missouri River Bird Observatory’s Winter Learning Series

by Allison Vaughn

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

Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

Field Trips

by Eric and Joanna Reuter

We’re excited to take on the role of field trip co-coordinators for CAS and have a lot of ideas for fun and diverse events. Here’s a brief update on what’s happened recently, what’s upcoming, and how CAS members can get involved.

Past trip report

  • First Friday walks at 3M Wetlands from September to December attracted 15–24 attendees each with a range of 25–34 species.
  • November’s Birding Without Binoculars trip at CANS attracted 13 attendees (including several young people and beginning birders) with 14 species. We had fun studying visual and aural ways to distinguish common birds, especially woodpeckers.
  • December’s Boone County Blackbird Roost trip attracted 18 attendees with 8 species, including, of course, the mass descent of ~2 million mixed blackbirds into the roost field as dusk fell.

Upcoming trips

Future trips (see CAS website for full details) include a heron rookery count at Gans Creek, the annual Twilight Timberdoodle Trek at Rocky Fork Lakes, a migrants and wildflowers walk at Wild Haven, and a Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows walk at Rocky Fork Lakes.

Trip planning

We have many more ideas for future trips, but our planning would benefit from knowing what is of interest to you. Beginner-focused, and/or advanced? Targeted at certain species, or certain habitats (woodland, grassland, wetland, etc.)? Skills-focused (such as birding by ear)? Local vs. further afield? Weekday vs. weekend? Morning vs. afternoon? Full day vs. an hour or two? Planned well in advance vs. announced ~6 days out when weather forecasts are more reliable?

One specific idea we have is to host a series of “Little Listens” (a play on the more traditional Big Sits) to encourage new (or seasoned) birders to really focus on practicing listening skills and to learn to identify birds by sound during the arc of spring migration. Tell us if this is something you’d like to see happen, because we’re most likely to pursue this if it seems that there is in fact interest.

We also need volunteers to lead field trips. This does not require any level of birding experience, simply a commitment to take the lead in making sure a trip happens in an organized and safe manner. You can review the guidelines for field trip leaders we published on the CAS site when we last coordinated field trips back in 2019. Please contact us if you’d like to help out by leading a trip, whether you have a specific one in mind or are open to suggestions.

To get in touch regarding field trips, email literatehobo@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sun. Jan. 1, 2023

January 18th 7 PM Zoom Program: “Slow Birding”-Registration Required

by Judy Lincoln, Vice President

After the busy holiday season and Christmas Bird Count, we can slow down and pay attention to individual birds in their environment and their place in it. More than numbers on a list, we can come away with memorable insights and more understanding. Here’s a note from our hostess:

“Hey there, I’m Bridget Butler. I’ve been a naturalist for more than 20 years, playing match maker for the wildscape & the wonderful people who call Vermont their home.

MY Approach

My approach to birding is to tap into each person’s innate passion for nature through exploration and deep listening. I strive then to encourage folks to take that passion and turn it into action, paying it forward for the landscape they love & enjoy. Here’s a note from one of my students:

‘Your welcoming manner is the reason I have felt like I can “be a birder”. You have made me feel like it is okay to talk about what I am noticing about birds and not be perfect about it. It’s not about the answers, it’s about the questions. Just noticing and wondering is enough – and that freedom makes the topic accessible for me.’

— Sally K., Vermont

Participants must register in advance for the meeting in order to get an emailed link to join the meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlduCtqTwiH9EOpN1Y7MGvdt4ReEpB4rCk

Hope you will join us from the comfort of your home to discover or expand on the delights of SLOW BIRDING.”

 

 

Columbia Audubon Society is supported in part by a generous contribution from


2010 Chapel Plaza Court, Suite C • Columbia, MO 65203 • 573-446-5941

Upcoming Events

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

February 3, 2023 | 8:00 AM

February Meeting and Program: Falconry in Missouri by Steve Heying

February 15, 2023 | 7:00 pm

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

March 3, 2023 | 8:00 AM

March Membership Meeting and Program: Australian and New Guinea Birds by Carl Gerhardt

March 15, 2023 | 7:00 pm

Heron Rookery Count at Gans Creek Recreation Area

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 | 8:00 a.m.

Twilight Timberdoodle Trek at Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area

Tuesday, March 28, 2023 | 6:45 p.m.

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

April 7, 2023 | 8:00 AM

Migrants and Wildflowers at Wild Haven

Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 8:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

May 5, 2023 | 8:00 AM

Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows at Rocky Fork Lakes CA

Thursday, May 18, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.