Volume 17, Number 1 January 2012 People & Places President’s Message 2011 MoNEP Holiday Show Pages 1 & 2 Thank you for making 2011 another With good weather, a great location and strong year for MoNEP: a year of plenty of fine food and company, The Meeting Information wonderful programs, field trips and 2011 MoNEP Holiday Show and party Page 3 events. We started out the year with a was a huge success. Our sincere thanks very successful seminar featuring Bill to all who made it such a great evening. Nature Calls Fortney. Other special events included We would especially like to thank Margy Page 3 the distribution of tree seedlings for and Dan Terpstra for all their hard work planting, MoNEP’s sponsorship of the coordinating food and logistics and Contact Information Shaw Nature Reserve’s (SNR) Youth Jerry Miller and Pat Burgess for Page 4 Photo Contest and a MoNEP photo putting together another great holiday exhibit at Powder Valley and Busch show. Thanks also to the many Editor Wildlife Areas. We wrapped up the volunteers who helped with setup, Barbara Addelson year with an outstanding Holiday Show cleanup or brought food. The party and Contributors at Powder Valley Nature Center. All of the show are huge endeavors, and we these things rely upon the help, are so fortunate to have talented people Scott Avetta dedication and time of the board, the who are willing to give their time and Susan Day volunteer committee chairs and the energy to make it a great celebration of Lori Purk membership. Many thanks! We look the year. We are grateful as well to the forward to your support in 2012, as we staff of Powder Valley, for allowing us to continue to involve MoNEP with events use their facilities and for their support throughout the community. with the arrangements. 2012 looks to be busy with our photo Finally, our thanks to the 57 members exhibit moving to Kansas City in who submitted images for the holiday th January. Join us at the January 17 show: Barb Addelson, Scott Avetta, meeting as we start off the year with Karen Bade, Kevin Bade, Tim Bade, Ken Greg Basco. The year also brings: the Biddle, Vearl Brown, Gary Budke, Pat Annual Backyard Bird Festival on Burgess, Jim Campbell, Sandy Campise, Saturday, February 4th at MBG, a joint Kathy Cherry, Mark Cherry, Joe Coelho, reception with NANPA on March 3rd Jane Deeker, Nancy Donnell, Gary Eaves, and the SNR Youth Photo Contest in Scott Evers, Mark Freeman, Loena Gerdes, Ron Gerdes, Bob Gross, Kelly late spring. Our biennial seminar is th Hall, Michelle Jones, Paul Kulessa, Butch scheduled for Saturday, August 4 , Lama, Milton Loessberg, Christy Lonero, with Rob Sheppard. Remember, the Emerald Toucanet Bill Lubben, Ed MacKay, Mark McAmish, profits from the seminars are used to by Greg Basco Monica McAmish-Bahr, Dennis McCarthy, help nature-based organizations and Lori Meier, Rich Merz, Beverley Miller, fund our UMSL scholarship. Jeremy Miller, Jerry Miller, Sandra Miller, Linda Moder, Don Morice, Larry Morrison, If you haven’t already done so, it is time Norma Mull, Vicki Northrop, Marcy Pivin, to renew memberships for this year. We [Nature] is the one place where miracles not Lori Purk, Sarah Radke, Dick Roman, only happen, but happen all the time. welcome the many new members who Joseph Schmidt, Don Sheahan, Richard ~Thomas Wolfe joined in 2011 and hope our veteran Spener, Jim Stroup, Dan Terpstra, Margy American Novelist members will help acclimate the newer Terpstra, Larry Terrell, Dug Threewitt and 1900-1938 ones. Happy New Year! -Scott Sammylane Wirth. 1 New Members Celebrating Missouri Exhibit Backyard Birding Festival We offer a warm welcome to the The MoNEP member photo exhibit, MoNEP will be a part of the Missouri following new members of MoNEP: Celebrating Missouri, has moved Botanical Garden’s annual Backyard Leandra Lewis, Jim Rhodes and Gina across the state to the Anita B. Birding Festival, an educational and Ted Rubright. Gorman Conservation Discovery event, on Saturday, February 4th. We Center in Kansas City, Missouri. It will will have a booth with an exhibit of Member News be on display there from the beginning members’ work and will talk with Michael Abbene’s photograph of a of January to the end of festival attendees about bird polar bear at the Saint Louis Zoo was February. The Community Outreach photography and our organization. part of a November 17th front-page Committee hopes to continue showing Don Morice and Lori Purk are article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the exhibit at other nature centers looking for members to join them in on the Zoo's efforts to build a new around the state and will keep the shifts to staff the MoNEP booth from exhibit. In addition, several of Michael’s membership posted. Thanks again to between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. This is photographs are included in the 2012 all of those who participated by a fun event and there is always time to Saint Louis Zoo calendar. submitting their work, helped at the visit the other vendors during your framing session and also to those shift. The Garden will not have classes Fran Mannis’ image of a lilac breasted members who helped install and move as they have had in the past, but they roller won the St. Louis Award for the exhibit to and from the various are still planning on conducting Nature in the 2011 Mississippi Valley venues. We couldn't do this without bird walks. If you are interested in Salon of Photography. The St. Louis such dedicated members. For more helping out at this event, please talk to Camera Club sponsors this competition, information about the Gorman Lori Purk at the January meeting, or but club members are not eligible for Conservation Discovery Center visit: you may contact Lori by email at the top medals in the overall http://mdc.mo.gov/regions/kansas- [email protected] or by phone at competition. Deserving club members city/discovery-center/image-gallery. 314-869-7427. No experience is may receive St. Louis Awards instead. required to volunteer at the booth. The competition had two divisions, Membership Renewals Color and Nature, and there were 2012 dues are due! If you have not yet NANPA Events approximately 550 exhibitors, from over renewed, please submit a renewal NANPA has announced its 2012 Road 50 countries, who submitted roughly form, along with your payment, in the Shows and Regional Events. 3,700 images. Chuck Mannis had four form of cash or a check payable to Regional Events are shooting events images accepted in the Nature Division MoNEP to Vicki or Shawn Northrop that take place in the field with five and Fran had two, including the winner. at the January meeting. You can also different field trip leaders at each The mayor of Clarksville, Missouri, mail your form and dues to: Vicki and event. The first of the year is in the rd th presented an eagle photograph, taken Shawn Northrop, 1111 Wilmington Everglades from February 23 – 26 . by Lori Purk, to the Missouri Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63111. For details, visit www.nanpa.org. Department of Transportation at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in October 2011. The gift was selected to represent both the artists and the town of Clarksville and was presented at a ceremony to commemorate the reopening of a stretch of Highway 79 that had been closed for several years. Artists from the three towns of Hannibal, Louisiana and Clarksville were asked to participate in the ribbon cutting in recognition of the region’s 50 Miles of Art initiative and the fact that Highway 79 is an important connection between the three communities. Lori’s image is currently on display at the Missouri DOT’s Northeast District Headquarters office in Hannibal. Richard Spener has a photographic exhibit at the Maryland Heights Community Center from January 9th through February 17th. On January 15th, visitors will be able to meet and talk with Richard from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. 2 November Speaker Recap Many thanks to Butch Lama and Susi Allison-Lama for taking us on a Quest for Tigers: Tracking India's Endangered Bengal Tigers during the November meeting. With the help of Butch’s stunning images, they Meeting Dates and Share & Show Themes shared a wealth of information about the biology, behavior Tuesday, January 17th – No Share & Show and conservation status of India’s magnificent tigers. Tuesday, February 21st – Far, Far Away Tigers occur in a range of habitats, are well camouflaged and can be hard to find. Tracking methods require keen Meetings begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. at Powder Valley observation skills. Butch and his colleagues look for Conservation Nature Center. pugmarks or tracks or the presence of scavengers. They Share and Show Nature Images also listen for the alarm calls of prey species, which are all Members are invited to share their nature images at each potential clues to a tiger’s presence. Tigers are also MoNEP meeting. If you wish to participate, you should creatures of habit, which aids in finding them. prepare up to four (4) nature-related images. Be sure to: Tigers do not live in isolation and our speakers introduced Resize your images so vertical images are 768 pixels us to some of the other wildlife species of the high and horizontal images are 768 pixels wide. subcontinent. Like Africa, India has its own “Big Five” Save your images as .jpg files. mammals including the tiger, lion, leopard, Asian elephant Place your four resized images on a drive or disc in a and one-horned rhinoceros.