Oklahoma City Audubon Society
1947 - 2008
Upcoming Events
May 19
Membership meeting
|
BIRDERS' RESOURCES
Birding Hot Spots
Central
Oklahoma |
May 2008: James Walden
Veteran
commercial photographer
James Walden will be the
featured presenter at
the May 19, 2008 meeting
of the Oklahoma City
Audubon Society. James
will describe how a
chance encounter with
two Mississippi Kites
introduced him to the
joys of birding and
reenergized his passion
for photography. He will
also share many of his
images that provide
close-up views of
Mississippi Kites
flying, nesting and
raising their young,
along with his personal
observations and
research on the social
behavior and migratory
habits of these amazing
birds. Our meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Will Rogers Garden Center, I-44 and NW 36th Street. Visitors are always welcome.
Tuesday Morning Field Trips
Tuesday, May 5, 2008:
Birders of all skill levels should plan to attend these half-day fieldtrips. The main focus is to introduce folks to new places, improve bird ID skills and enjoy a leisure morning with friends. These weekly outings are much more than just looking for birds, even though that is the main goal. We have such a nice diverse group with a vast array of knowledge including photography, flowers, mammals, reptiles and butterflies that it's a great opportunity to learn about all of the critters, feathered or not.
Contact Nancy Vicars (nancy.vicars@sbcglobal.net ) for more information. Information will be posted here each week.
Adopt-A-Park at Prairie Dog Point
The members of the Oklahoma City Audubon Society
have adopted Prairie Dog Point at Oklahoma City's Lake Hefner
by participating in Oklahoma City Beautiful's Adopt-A-Park
program. Our commitment to the program is for assistance in
litter management. The Parks department has responded to our
request to have additional trash cans placed around the area to
help keep the area clean.
Prairie Dog Point is located at the southwest corner of Lake Hefner. It attracts diverse species of birds throughout the seasons and is especially popular with birders during the spring and fall shorebird migrations. In addition to contributing to the beautification of our community, our participation in the program allows us to promote the area as a location of interest to birders, perhaps helping to avoid further habitat loss. Everyone is invited to participate in our Adopt-A-Park project by picking up litter during birding trips to the Point.
2006 Christmas Bird Count
numbers
More than 50 observers contributed to a successful Christmas Bird Count in
2006. To find out how many birds were spotted during more than 100
combined hours and almost 400 combined miles, click here.
April: Bill & Susan Schmidt
We njoyed a “two-fer” at our April 21st meeting when Bill Schmidt shared a video by Dan and Diane True of Clovis, New Mexico, along with bird photos taken by the Schmidt family. The 20-minute video captures a female Black Chinned Hummingbird building her nest and raising chicks in an RV storage barn in Del Rio, Texas. We saw a mother building her nest with sticky spider webbing spun the night before and see another mother steal food from her baby! This was truly amazing video footage.
March:
Victor Roubidoux
Victor Roubidoux,
wildlife manager for the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma was
the featured speaker at the March 17 meeting of the
Oklahoma City Audubon Society. His presentation focused on his work with the tribe's aviary near Perkins
and its eagle rehabilitation program.
In a recent Tulsa World
interview, Victor explained that part of the Iowa's
beliefs is that eagles were the only ones to see the
face of the Creator. This is why it is important to the
tribe to take care of them, he said.
February: Churchill with the Vicars
On
Monday, February 18, 2008, the Dynamic Duo of Jim and
Nancy Vicars shared their “trip-of-a-lifetime” journey
to Churchill, Canada, via a collection of beautiful
slides and entertaining narratives that you will not
want to miss.
Nancy became a birder in November 1986 on her first fieldtrip to the Washita Wildlife Refuge. Always a "nature nut" by her definition, one who enjoys the great outdoors and all of the creatures contained therein. Since retirement in 1995, in addition to birding, she has devoted much of her time to enjoying grandchildren, traveling and genealogy research. Jim doesn't consider himself a "birder," but is an excellent photographer. So as a team, if Nancy can "spot it" Jim has the ability and skills to capture it on film.
January:
The 700th Bird!The January 28 speaker was Jimmy Woodard recounting events leading to his successful quest of acquiring 700 species on his North American list, a feat few accomplish. Jimmy is regarded as one of the premier birders on the North American continent. He has motivated and aided many people to become excellent birders and continues to influence others and aid our knowledge of the natural world through his committed field study and leading field trips for others to enjoy.
November:
Wintertime- A Good Time for Birding in Central Oklahoma
Our
very own vice president, John Shackford, will be a guest
speaker at the November 19th meeting. John is a highly
experienced birder and accomplished field researcher. John
plans to show slides of winter birds in central Oklahoma,
and explain why there are more species in winter than in
summer. In addition, John will discuss the upcoming
Christmas Bird Count. The information will be of interest to
all birders, including feeder watchers, not just CBC
counters.
October: Backyard birding
Kurt and Sharon Meisenzahl
of our OCAS Lawton contingent were the speakers at
our October 15 meeting. The Meisenzahls have constructed
one of the best birding backyards in Oklahoma.
Situated on a creek and straddling eastern, western,
northern and southern birding regimes with trees, understory shrubbery, feeders and a mist system, the
Meisenzahls attract a wonderful mixture of birds coming
into their yard. With an advantageous viewing setup built into their
house, Kurt and Sharon possess a long list of species we all would
love to see in our backyards.
September: Feather Connections in Migratory
Birds
Our
September 17 meeting speaker was Dr. Jeff Kelly,
Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma and
Assistant Heritage Zoologist with the Oklahoma Biological
Survey. Possessing a Ph.D. from Colorado State University,
he currently studies conservation biology and avian ecology
for the Biological Survey. Recently, Dr. Kelly was a guest
lecturer at OU's Dept. of Zoology weekly seminar series
speaking on "An isotopic approach to understanding bird migration."
June:
Bosque del Apache
The
June 18 program featured photographer
Duane Angles on the birds of Bosque del Apache National
Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.
The 57,000-acre refuge is
located along the Rio Grande near Socorro, New Mexico.
Bosque del Apache is known for large flocks of waterfowl,
including snow geese and sandhill cranes.
May:
OKC Christmas Bird Count: Tales and Trends, Odds and Ends
John
Shackford, CBC compiler, took a look at the Oklahoma City
Christmas Bird Count for our May meeting. With an eye toward the unusual,
rarely-considered, quirky, and interesting, John's
presentation included a perspective on the rise and decline of
several species from 20 years of CBC records.
April:
Warren Harden's Bird
ID Quiz
The
April 16 Oklahoma City Audubon
Society meeting was hosted by Warren Harden who returned with
his very popular Bird
Quiz. The program was an audience participation game of
"Guess Who?". Based upon problems of basic identification,
everyone practiced to hone skills in birding. Also, a simple
test of elementary bird knowledge challenged everybody along
with some posers for experts.