by Lottie Bushmann, President

Hi all

I hope you’ve been able to get outside and enjoy some of this spring weather that we’ve been experiencing. It has been a bit crazy with some wild temperature swings, but this week has felt more normal and there is even a promise of rain.

Dark Sky week happens this month. Read Allison’s article to find out ways you can be proactive and help birds on their migration journey.

We’ve got lots planned for April and May, so check out the calendar and plan to join us. If field trips interest you, we’ve got shore birds in mid-April and Chimney Swifts at the end of the month. Sarah Kendrick will speak to us about her research with Wood Thrushes, their migration and the MOTUS towers. All this to inform conservation action.

A big shout out to our nominating committee this year. Lisa Schenker, Bill Mees and Nancy Bedan have been hard at work recruiting members to serve on the board and in officer positions. We are lucky to have lots of participation in our many events. We will vote on the slate of officers at our April general meeting. Hoping you’ll consider how you might contribute to help this all-volunteer organization. I am still looking to recruit someone to be social chairman. Pretty easy gig really and comes with full instructions. Great way to get involved. We are also looking to form a program committee that will help and advise the vice-president as they work to lock in the speakers for next year’s schedule. If you have good ideas or connections within this birding/nature world, consider serving on this committee that will largely work by email with perhaps one meeting a year. For now, I’ll be serving as chair, but happy to have someone else step into this position. Again, fairly easy gig. Please contact me at lottie.bushmann@gmail.com if you’d be interested in helping in one of these two positions.

Last week, CAS sponsored a walk to the Alspaugh property on Mexico Gravel Rd. north of town. We had 23 participants and we saw almost 28 species of birds. Pretty good for a Saturday afternoon in March. Two hotspots have been created for this property since the city is planning to develop it as naturally as possible. Bird counts now will help inform those decisions and give a nice baseline of data with which to compare the after results.

Get out and enjoy the birds! Had a very cooperative Louisiana Waterthrush at Forum Nature Area this morning. Spring must be almost here!

Lottie Bushmann

CAS president