MURIE AUDUBON’S ANNUAL BANQUET AND FUNDRAISER
March is the month hundreds of Sandhill cranes will converge in one of North America’s greatest wildlife spectacles. Per an article by Alex Shoumatoff, which appeared in the Smithsonian, March 2014, states “Nature got it right with the cranes. They have been around since the Eocene, which ended 34 million years ago. They are among the world’s oldest living birds and one of the planet’s most successful life-forms, having outlasted millions of species (99 percent of species that ever existed are now extinct). The particularly successful Sandhill crane of North America has not changed appreciably in ten million years.”
Every year 400,000 to 600,000 Sandhill cranes (80 percent of all the cranes on the planet) congregate along an 80-mile stretch of the central Platte River in Nebraska to fatten up on grain in the empty cornfields on their journey to their Arctic nesting grounds. Crane watchers flock to the Platte annually to witness the spring migration. Murie Audubon Society (MAS) invites all of you to “Come Dance With Us” – the annual banquet and fundraiser, February 7, 2015, featuring Tim Banks as guest speaker.
The focus of Tim’s presentation will be Sandhill Crane Natural History and Behavior. Tim has guided many Road Scholar Tour Groups to Kearney, NE, and as our fearless leader for the evening, he might just spur a few Auduboners to venture east.
Tickets will be available in December by MAS Board members or the January 9, 2015, general Audubon meeting. Again, the Silent Auction and numerous raffle items available for bidding provide major fundraising for various MAS activities. Donations may be made to any MAS Board member or Karen Anfang, banquet chairperson, 472-0278.
“Cranes are the guardian birds, keepers of knowledge all over the world, and this is the epicenter. Entire conversations unfold on the Platte with just a few well-orchestrated wing beats. Fully spread wings with black wing tips on display is a basic move in the crane dance repertoire, combined with curtsies, jumps and face-offs. Cranes call for our attention”. Be at the Parkway Plaza, February 7, 2015, to “Come Dance With Us”.
BANQUET CHAIR – KAREN ANFANG