Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis

With a new Editor there were bound to be a few errors.  The 1st comment is there was no explanation for the envelope in the Kingfisher.  The envelope was for members to contribute to Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis during its Fall Appeal.  Please send your contribution to us using the enclosed envelope.

The 2nd comment is there was no mention of the place, date and time for the November program, “Antartica and the Falkland Islands”.  Please note that the November Program will be on November 9th (Not the November 2nd, that’s Election Day.  Please vote!)  The program meeting will be at 7:00 at the Mayflower Church just off 35W at Diamond Lake Road.

Finally there was no mention of the Christmas Bird Count.  We will again meet at Springbrook Nature, probably on Dec. 18th.

Click to view the November/December newsletter.

Jerry and Donna Bahls will talk about the birds of Antarctica at the next ACM program meeting on Tuesday, November 9 (note date change) at 7 pm at Mayflower Church in Minneapolis (106 East Diamond Lake Road). They visited Antarctica in December 2009 and took photos and did research on the interesting birds that can be found in this remote location. Free and open to the public.

Thank you to everyone who helped pull buckthorn at Roberts Bird Sanctuary (RBS) and William Berry Woods (WBW) this past fall. Please join us next year for more pulls. We can count on the buckthorn being back; we hope you will be, too.

The Friday, November 19 pull at RBS was moved to WBW. We had a good group of pullers and great weather.

The Oct. 16 pull at RBS was a great success – beautiful weather and a great group of pullers.

The pull at WBW on Saturday, October 30 went well, too. More beautiful weather and another great group of pullers.

Thank you to People for Parks for the donation of six weed wrenches; the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for the use of a shed to store the wrenches, and the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis for the donation of a garden cart to haul the wrenches. These donations helped cut down on the work involved with setting up and holding the buckthorn pulls. Much appreciated!

Join us for one more walk at Roberts Bird Sanctuary on the north side of Lake Harriet. This walk on November 6 will give you a check out the sanctuay in late fall/early winter. The walk starts at 8 am at the visitors shelter on the east end of the sanctuary (next to the Peace Garden and across from the Rose Garden) and lasts an hour. It will not take place during heavy rain or snow or if there is thunder and/or lightning in the area. The walk is free and everyone is welcome.

Paul Fusco will lead this novice walk focusing on the winter birds at Roberts. Paul is well known for his work with osprey. If there is interest, Paul is willing to extend the walk over to Lake Harriet to check out the bird activity around the water.

We hope to add more walks to the schedule. Check back for updates.

For more information about events at Roberts click on Roberts.

By purchasing a Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (commonly called a “duck stamp”) for $15, birders and conservationists can protect wetland and wildlife habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System.  98 cents of every dollar generated goes to land acquisition.

This year, you can also buy a $25 duck stamp silk cachet, to help heal Gulf Coast wetlands. The funds will be used to acquire wetlands for inclusion in the more than thirty-eight national wildlife refuges along the Gulf Coast.

A junior duck stamp is also available for $5.  Any of these choices is a wonderful way to help protect our migratory birds.  Duck stamps may be purchased at your local post office or online.  The bird featured on the 2010-2011 stamp is the American wigeon.

On Tuesday, November 16^th, GiveMN is once again sponsoring a day to encourage people to give to their favorite nonprofit.  By donating on that day, you make the nonprofit you choose eligible for additional funds.  Throughout the event, an individual donor will be chosen to have an extra $1,000 donated to the charity that received their original donation.  Also, the charity with the most individual donors that day will receive $20,000 and the second place charity will receive $10,000.  What a wonderful to make funds available to your local Audubon chapter.

To donate on that day, click on the link above to GiveMN.  Thanks for your support.

According to the Star Tribune, Bob Janssen is “widely recognized as one of Minnesota’s most prolific birders, because he can identify nearly all of the 427 bird species documented in the state by sight and sound, and because he’s been doing it for longer than just about anybody.” Come hear Bob speak at the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis program meeting on Tuesday, October 5 at 7 pm at Mayflower Church (35W & Diamond Lake Road in Minneapolis). Free and open to the public.

See a licensed bird bander band wild song birds.  Find out why we put bands on birds and what we learn.  The program is FREE!  It is at the Eastman Nature Center in the Northwest Metro Area.  Call (763)-694-7700 for directions or more information.

The programs are continuous from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the following dates:

Saturday, July 10

Saturday, September 4

Saturday, November 13

Jerry Bahls, a founding member of the Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery program (RhWR), will be speaking about the birds and their status on Friday, May 14 at 1 pm at the Minneapolis Audubon Society (MAS) monthly meeting. The MAS meets at Bryant Square (31st Street and Bryant Av S in Minneapolis). Refeshments will be served and everyone is welcome.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are also the focus at the Cedar Creek Reserve in East Bethel on Saturday, May 8 from 1 – 3 pm. Members of the RhWR will provide a guided tour of the reserve to view the birds and their nests. This is a great opportunity to introduce children to woodpeckers and birdwatching! Go to the Non-chapter Programs of Interest page for more information including directions to the carpooling site and the organizers’ phone number.

To learn more about the RhWR, go to Miscellaneous Links and click on Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery program.

The May 23rd field trip to Tiffany Bottoms, Wisconsin was very successful; we had a fun train ride and saw 55 species of birds.  Click here to see the complete list.

We plan on doing the trip again in 2011 – so put May 15th on your calendars.