by Lottie Bushmann, Interim President

Hello, All,

It has been a busy fall so far with lots of activities. Mostly it’s been an amazing fall migration and I hope you’ve been able to watch some of these traveling birds around your home—the hummers have really been amping up their eating around my feeder, with much less time spent defending. The young ones will be leaving us soon as they head on their journey south. I’ll miss mine. Their activity has been a high source of entertainment. The birding hotspots have been full of migrant warblers. Tiny passerines making their way to their wintering grounds. Many were enjoyed this past weekend during the fall Missouri Birding Society (MBS) meeting held in Columbia. Thanks to all the many CAS volunteers who helped lead field trips and put on meals for the 75 birders who made their way to Columbia. It was a wonderful weather weekend full of birds and camaraderie. MBS is a state-wide organization that welcomes all level of nature lovers. The twice-a-year meetings are held throughout the state. It is a lovely way to meet new friends who share a common passion and discover our beautiful state.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our Welcome Back picnic and bird hike this past month. It was a little warm (thank goodness that seems to have passed) but a good time was had by all.

First Friday field trip is this week and Oct. 10^th is Migratory Bird Day. Consider submitting a bird list to ebird from your yard or a hike. It’s a great way to participate in citizen science at its finest.

We need to welcome our new social chairman, Brittany McDonald Null to our board. We appreciate her stepping in to fill this role and keep us organized. We hope to see you at the general meeting at Boone Electric Cooperative on Wednesday, Oct. 28^th to hear Matt Longabough of the Missouri River Bird Observatory speak. Matt is the Science Coordinator at MRBO and will present on Birds of the World. More details are in this newsletter.

Hoping to see you soon—either in the field or at a meeting!