NON-PROFIT Peoria ORGANIZATION U.S.POSTAGE SAT.,Birding March Field 5, 2011trip Society PAID PEORIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE PERMIT NUMBER875 677 E HIGH PT TERRACE PEORIA IL 61614 PEORIA IL ck the Che ck theyyourour FEB. 2011 111th Annual Christmas Count Resultsdate on 80 Inside: When does your annual membership expire?mailing label Peoria Audubon . Chapter of National Audubon since 1981 Board Dennis Endicott - President / Web Development Chapter of The Peoria Academy of Science since 1930 Vice President/Program Chair Mike Miller - www.peoriaaudubon.org Contact the Peoria Audubon Society at [email protected] Greet Princen - Treasurer Holli Cook - Secretary Maury Brucker - Conservation Chair Joe Van Wassenhove - Membership Chair / Board Member Peoria Audubon meets at 7:00 PM on the second Wednesday of each month, September Carol Borders - Education Chair through May at the Forest Park Nature Center (FPNC). It's a relaxed, friendly evening with Reflections on the history of Pete Fenner - Board Member an interesting presentation followed by refreshments. Free and open to the public. Deb Roe - Board Member / Newsletter Editor Peoria Audubon Society These are just a few of the upcoming Wed., Apr. 13, 2011, 7PM by Dennis Endicott Jim Miller - Board Member events listed at Adam Wallenfang - Board Member www.peoriaaudubon.org/calendar Monthly Membership Meeting at FPNC Starting off a new year provided me Susie Grana - Board Member Native Prairie Management with the Prairie with an opportunity to pause and reflect Wed., Feb. 9th, 2011 7 PM Dawgs. Doug Franks of the local volunteer group on the history and purpose of the Monthly Membership Meeting at FPNC known as The Jubilee Prairie Dawgs will talk about Peoria Audubon Society. At a recent Michael Reuter, Executive Director of the Great prairie restoration in Central Illinois. He will board meeting, Greet Princen, our Rivers Partnership for The Nature Conservancy, describe controlled burns, reseeding, and other long-time Treasurer of more than 35 will present “Thinking Like A Great River: From years, provided me with a stack of aspects of prairie restoration. One of the Peoria Audubon newsletters – some Sites to Systems on the Mississippi River”. properties that Doug and the Prairie Dawgs going back as far as 1993. Michael will discuss developing a systems manage is owned by the Peoria Audubon Society. approach to sustainable management of the Anyone with an interest in what it takes to manage With a stack of our rich history in my Mississippi River, and sharing expertise a native prairie. hands, I couldn’t resist the urge to (1) globally to support sustainable management of scan the old documents; (2) create a other great rivers. Sat., Apr. 23, 2011, 7:30 AM - 3 PM single, downloadable file for each Birding Field Trip - MSWRD Wetlands newsletter; and (3) upload the entire Feb. 18-21, 2011 Thad Edmonds will lead a spring birding trip to the stack of 40 or so newsletters to our The Great Backyard Bird Count 15,000-acre Chicago MSWRD wetlands, just website. Now anyone can go to Participants count birds anywhere for as little "http://www.peoriaaudubon.org", click southwest of Canton, IL. Goal is to gather some the button for “About PAS” and peruse or as long as they wish during the four-day data and assist in the effort to determine the effect through an archive of old newsletters. period. They tally the highest number of birds of the oil spill on wintering grounds of waterfowl by of each species seen together at any one time. assessing the impact on this very important Even with a few missing newsletters, the Biodiversity of Birds and Habitat To report their counts, they fill out an online migration flyway stop. Bring your lunch. documents stand as reminders of our checklist at the Great Backyard Bird Count historic purpose: “Our mission is to A few words om our recently elected Conservation chair: Advanced reservations are required preferably prior promote birding through education, web site. A link to the GBBC site is on the to April 2. Contact Thad Edmonds at calender page our website. nature appreciation, habitat preservation As your new Peoria Audubon Conservation Chairperson, I want to share with you my perspective of our conservation role. 309-243-1854 to make your reservation. and fellowship.” With last year’s Over the last 50 years, I have seen continuing loss of bird habitat and fewer native species in our area. In our bird counts Sat., May 7, 2011 acquisition and ownership of a small plot Sat., Mar. 5, 2011, 7AM - 4 PM of prairie in Peoria County, our Board is and other scientic studies, we try to monitor these changes in the less common bird species. For us the term Field Trip - Birding the Illinois River Illinois Spring Bird Count continuing to work toward creating a conservation means seeking opportunities to stem the decline in less common bird species. This often means protecting More information inside this newsletter. Statewide bird count. This bird count consists of sustainable local wetland sanctuary. the habitat needed by these species. We are seeing some recent improvements in wetland habitats at Hennepin Hopper Pre-registration required Call Forest Park volunteers conducting bird censuses in all 102 With field trips and membership in Putnam county and the Emiquon project near Havana. Peoria Audubon is trying to establish a shorebird habitat project Nature Center @ 309-686-3360 for info and to counties in Illinois. The participants record all birds meetings at the Forest Park Nature in our area as this habitat is in short supply here during migration. The Illinois Audubon, an aliated group, is working register. Fee: $35/person, Nature Center and seen or heard, along with the number of hours they Center, Peoria Audubon continues the with IDNR to protect grassland habitat at Prairie Ridge state natural area near Engham, Illinois. Another example of Peoria Audubon Members’ discount price spend "owling" (pre-dawn hours), the number of rich tradition of promoting birding, $30/person. Meet at FPNC @ 7:00 AM, Return hours spent looking for birds during the day, the appreciation of nature, and conservation protecting biodiversity locally is our group protecting tall grass prairie plants by taking on the stewardship of the 6 acre through a generous dose of fellowship. Brimeld Railroad Prairie Nature Preserve. Also, we always encourage individual eorts to help with habitat. by 4:00 PM number of miles driven in a car, and the number of miles walked. To volunteer for Peoria County, Perusing through the archives leaves one Wed., Mar. 9th, 2011, 7 PM contact: Mike Miller (309) 681-2858. Volunteers are with a very deep and humbling Although the Peoria Audubon discusses many ideas for conservation Monthly Membership Meeting at FPNC opportunities, we still welcome new ideas for group eorts. Because also needed for Fulton, Mason, Tazewell, and appreciation of this heritage and the We will be showing the film: Opposable Woodford counties. work by other volunteers who came we have limited resources, we must be very selective on the projects Chums: Guts & Glory at the World Series of before us. to be pursued. Should Birding. This documentary won numerous Wed., May. 11, 2011, 7 PM awards by showcasing the world of Monthly Membership Meeting at FPNC Starting with a group of eleven science the board decide to teachers, back in 1930, the Peoria focus on a new idea, be "Competitive Bird Watching." The film includes Brian "Fox" Ellis of Fox Tales International will Academy of prepared to help with footage of several famous naturalists and provide an educational encounter with the earth's Sciences was the eort to pursue the birdwatchers. One reviewer claimed, "Equal wildest places. Through the ancient art of formed. The next idea. parts scavenger hunt, science expedition, and storytelling, "Fox" will leave you inspired as he year, the organiza- endurance test...." as teams go out to find and becomes the persona of "John James Audubon," tion created eight Maury Brucker count the greatest number of bird species in 24 celebrating the 200th anniversary of his arrival in sections, each hours. Free Attendance. Kentucky. emphasizing a Black-necked Stilts south Havana different scientific May 13-15, 2011 discipline. The SolitarySolitary andand PectoralPectoral SandpipersSandpipers phos by D. Endic FPNC = Forest Park Nature Center, Illinois Audubon Spring Gathering ornithological 5809 N. Forest Park Drive, Peoria Heights Hosted by McHenry Co. Audubon Society, Crystal Lake, Illinois. More information coming soon. ...continued on page 2 ...continued from page 1 Volunteer section became the Peoria Audubon Society. A Nature And to be consistent with our chartered purpose of promoting Opportunities conservation and preservation of critical habitat, in 1981, the Peoria Documentary for Birders at Audubon Society elected to become an active chapter of the National Audubon Society. Later on, Peoria Audubon also became Comedy ??? Wildlife an affiliate chapter with the Illinois Audubon Society (“Helping to Competitive preserve the Flora and Fauna of Illinois since 1987”). Recently, birdwatching...may sound Prairie State Peoria Audubon became a member of the Bird Conservation like an oxymoron to you, but Network "http://www.bcnbirds.org", which is a coalition of Park organizations with an interest in the conservation of birds in NE it makes perfect sense to the Melissa Sauder is looking for help with the following items: Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and NW Indiana. participants of The World Series of Birding, who • Possible Guest Speaker and 1-2 Guides for a beginning birding class to be held on Friday, April 22nd. (Please contact ASAP if available) I feel very humbled by efforts of the earlier Audubon members who convene for one day each have worked to create the foundation for the efforts that we continue FieldField TripTrip spring to see which of the • Reestablishing Bluebird Box Routes today.