Murie Audubon invites members and the public for a talk May 9, 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, 4205 Fort Caspar Road, featuring University of Wyoming students Emily Shertzer researching bird tracking technology and Katie Schabron monitoring window collisions. Speaker Emily Shertzer is a PhD student in Anna Chalfoun’s lab studying the impacts of energy development on survival and ?tness across the full annual cycle in sagebrush-obligate songbirds. She will discuss her research using Motus and geolocators for tracking. Speaker Katie Schabron is a senior at the university studying zoology, focusing on bird window strikes on low-rise buildings on campus and how traits of different species impact how often they strike. They will also highlight the new UW WYOBIRD program (Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity) a goal of which is to build avian ecology skillsets in UW students through hands-on experiences like a fall migration banding station and tree swallow nest box monitoring. Bruce Walgren
We will have our annual August Picnic at Eden’s Kimball Wilkins State Park on August 8 at the Centennial Shelter at 5:30 PM. Please bring something to share with the fried chicken that Murie will provide. In order to know how much chicken be buy, please call Stacey Scott at 262-0055.
The Platte River Trails is having the spring cleanup on Saturday, May 18. We will cleanup the Piggery portion of the trail at the same time. Please pickup bags and register at the Tate Pump House from 8:00 AM til noon. We usually spend most of our time on the edge of the Piggery that is closest to Walmart.
Murie has brought lots of shrubs to replace the Russian Olives removed at Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park. We are going to help the park staff plant them on Saturday and Sunday. We will meet at the Park office at 8:00 AM both days. Even if you can only help for a few hours, any help will be greatly appreciated. Call Stacey Scott at 307-262-0055 for more details
The Bird Class Field Trip to Goldeneye this morning is a GO. The Weather Bureau now thinks there is a 40% chance of showers after 10:00, and if it does start raining we will just leave. I will meet anyone who wants to car pool at the Werner Wildlife Museum Parking Lot at 9:00, and meet everyone else at Goldeneye a little after 9:30. The temperature is not predicted to warm up much, and with a wind it will feel pretty cool. The Airport had a tenth of an inch of moisture, so bring appropriate foot ware. – Stacey Scott 262-0055
It’s ?tting that during our spring bird migration, Will Robinson will be our guest speaker to inform us about the migration of the giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) in Thailand. And just like the ungulates and birds more familiar to us here, the honey bees travel the same route each year, following the food sources as they become available across the land. What started as a sabbatical for Robinson, has turned into four trips, in 2009, 2010, 2016, and 2023. On the latest trip that ended in December of 2023, Robinson and his wife, Maria Katherman, were working with the World Wildlife Fund to protect the migratory bee stopover site he identi?ed on their ?rst trip. On his original trip, Robinson soon found that what appeared to be large hives were in fact large clumps of bees hanging from trees as “bivouacs” while they rested during migration. And just as Wyoming has learned the importance of preserving migratory routes for mule deer, he feels the same approach should be applied to bees. Similar to the experience many of us have had observing the Sandhill Cranes or large ?ocks of geese, Robinson shared that “It’s absolutely incredible to have an entire group of 50,000 bees ?y right over your head. The adrenaline rush is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It is soul stirring.” Robinson’s presentations are always excellent, and we hope that you may join us for this free talk on April 11, 2024 at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road. Bruce Walgren
Last month, I presented a history (including Wild Turkeys) of a few select species of birds that are found in Natrona County, Wyoming. Brandon Werner, a Wildlife Biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Casper will present our program to bring us up to date about Wild Turkeys in Wyoming. Brandon will also tell us about efforts to trap and relocate turkeys here in Casper to more appropriate habitat. The history of wild turkeys in Wyoming dates back to 1935 when the Wyoming Game and Fish Department traded sage grouse with New Mexico for 15 Merriam’s turkeys, nine hens, and six toms. The birds were released on a ranch on Cottonwood Creek in Platte County in the spring of 1935, and were reported to lure some of the ranch’s domestic turkeys with them into the Laramie Mountains. By 1947, the wild turkey population was estimated to number over 1,000. Other reintroduction attempts across the state weren’t very successful, until birds were sowed into the fertile habitat of the Black Hills in 1951-52. Thirty-three Platte County turkeys, along with 15 more New Mexico transplants, found new roosts near Redwater Creek in the northwest Black Hills. They probably combined forces with some transplants that strayed over from South Dakota releases, and the introduction served as the foundation for Wyoming’s most recognized turkey hunt area. In 1955, hunters began harvesting the wild turkeys. The ?rst report of Wild Turkeys on the Casper Christmas Bird Count was in 1988, when 25 birds were tallied. Turkeys were reported periodically in subsequent years until 1999, when they began to be reported each year. In 2006, 194 turkeys were counted, and each year since then they have been plentiful (288 this year). Turkeys have done well enough that they are very common within the city limits of Casper. So common, in fact, that in August 2023 it became illegal to feed turkeys in Casper to try to manage the turkey population, and mitigate the negative effects caused by its growth. It will be interesting to see how the turkey population may respond to the ordinance against feeding them. To learn more about Wild Turkeys, come to the Murie Audubon free talk on March 14, 2024 at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road. Bruce Walgren
We will meet at Eagle Ridge Ranch at 6:45 AM to survey the birds along Matheson Creek. This should be an interesting comparison to the survey of Garden Creek in Casper. We will walk to the starting point and plan on starting about 7:00 AM. Call Stacey Scott at (307)262-0055 for more details.
We will meet at 7:00 AM at Adams Park to walk down Garden Creek to Nancy English Park. Every bird heard or seen will be recorded so we can compare the birds along Garden Creek to Matheson Creek that is on Eagle Ridge Ranch. Since I moved to town, I have been amazed by the difference in the birds in town and out in the country. This should give us some real numbers. Call Stacey Scott at (307)262-0055 for more details.
Meet at 8:00 AM at the lower parking lot (the one you can hear the Ovenbird from) to look at wild flowers with Joanne Theobald. Call Stacey Scott at (307)262-0055 for more details.
