General Meeting

Murie Audubon General Meeting & Program, 9 February, 2023

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Photo: Habitat Hero Awardee, Ellen Schreiner’s garden in Casper, WY

In this presentation on February 9, we learn how to create wildlife-friendly gardens that help combat the loss of open spaces. Learn how to create green corridors that link your wildscape to larger natural areas by providing habitat for wildlife. Jamie Weiss, Habitat Hero Coordinator for Audubon Rockies, will be presenting this program. Along with her B.S. in marine biology and chemistry from University of North Carolina Wilmington, Jamie is a certified interpretive guide through the National Association for Interpretation. Jamie previously worked at Boyd Lake State Park and the Georgia Aquarium as an educational interpreter, raising awareness of conservation.
When not working, she is often leading an active lifestyle trying to keep up with her Border Collie puppy and Golden Retriever. She enjoys hiking, camping, snowboarding, and long-distance running. Jamie will be presenting remotely from Colorado, we will gather at the usual location at
the Izaak Walton Clubhouse to participate. To take part, come to the Murie Audubon free talk on February 9, 2023, at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road.


Bruce Walgren

Murie Audubon General Meeting & Program, January 12, 2023

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The Swift Fox, a tiny, lesser known, but valuable part of the grassland and desert ecosystems of Wyoming, will be the subject of our January 12, 2023 program. Weighing only five pounds on verage, with a black tipped tail, the Swift Fox is the smallest fox species in North America and the smallest member of the canid family. Historically found across western North America, these foxes were thought to occupy the eastern part of Wyoming and can still be found there in small numbers. Like many predators, Swift Fox numbers in the U.S. and Canada saw a dramatic decline about the turn of the 20th century due to anti-predator campaigns and habitat changes. Efforts have been made in recent decades to preserve remaining Swift Fox populations, and their work seems to be paying off. Wildlife officials in Wyoming are beginning to see an increase in Swift Fox populations, with more frequent sightings across the state. In fact, they’ve been expanding their range into higher-elevation areas like Big Piney and Pinedale. Researchers and Wildlife officials are currently using various methods to get an estimate of Swift Fox numbers, as well as some genetics from scat, to get an idea of how many individuals seem to be showing up within a given area. Research ecologists are working to trap and reintroduce Swift Foxes from Wyoming to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Foxes were trapped in Natrona County this past summer. Heather O’ Brien, Nongame Mammal Biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department from Casper, will be our guest speaker.

To find out more about this fascinating Fox, come to the Murie Audubon free talk on January 12, 2023, at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road. -Bruce Walgren *All Swift Fox photos by Art Van Rensselae

Murie Audubon General Meeting & Program, October 13

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This is the 2022 Wyoming Naturalist class, organizers, and trainers. The mission of the Wyoming Naturalist Program is to cultivate a community of volunteers to steward the state’s natural resources through conservation, education, and service. The program provides
education and training to participants in biodiversity, ecology, conservation, management, and interpretation so that they can become leaders in the effort to protect our natural resources and the special places where we live. Zach Hutchinson, community science coordinator from Audubon Rockies, will share stories from the first two years of the program. If you wish to learn more about Wyoming Naturalists, or how to become one, come to the Murie Audubon free talk on October 13, 2022, at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road.


Zach Hutchinson
Community Science Coordinator

Murie Audubon General Meeting & Program, April 14

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This month we will learn about how torrent ducks (Merganetta armata) live at high altitudes in the Andes of South America. This presentation will help us understand these riverine specialist ducks, and the methodology used to capture them alive. We will also learn about their history: when and how torrent ducks occupied the Andes, their behaviors (diving, feeding, and reproduction), their population abundance, and their orphological and physiological adaptations to the extreme conditions that they live in, such as high elevation, low temperatures, and hypoxia. Our guest speaker, Dr. Alza-Leon, is an ecologist, working in evolutionary biology. He works as a full-time instructor at Casper College and as an associated researcher to the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad in Peru. He spent more than twenty years working in the field in Peru, and other countries in South America and in the Antarctic Peninsula. He began his career as an undergraduate in 1995, working in different research and monitoring projects. Later, in 2012, he started in the Ph.D. program at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and finished at the University of Miami, Florida. During that time, he moved to Casper in 2017 to start his family, and worked as a zoology adjunct instructor for the University of Wyoming at Casper.


Please join us on Thursday, April 14, at 7 PM at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, 4205 Fort Caspar Road, for this program. As always, the program is free and open to the public!
-Luis Alza-Leon and Donna Walgren

Murie Audubon General Meeting & Program

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MAS APRIL PROGRAM AMPHIBIANS OF WYOMING

On April 23, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Charlotte Snoberger will present The Amphibians of Wyoming. She will
cover the diversity of amphibians in Wyoming and share a variety of frog and toad calls. Snoberger is
the Herpetologist and Wildlife Management instructor at Casper College.

Due to social distancing precautions, all future programs, including this one, will appear via Zoom.
Links (see registration info below) to each program may be accessed via the Murie Audubon Facebook
or web page or by requesting a link via email from bruce_walgren@bresnan.net.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.


When: Apr 23, 2021 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqcemoqDwtHNCCrKvscL2wrWvfjsmKgMKv
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the
meeting.
Program Chair note: There is a great article in the April 2021 Wyoming Wildlife magazine entitled
Who’s That Hopper all about Wyoming’s hoppers.
Bruce Walgren

October General Meeting

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Audubon Rockies Community Naturalist Zach Hutchinson will be the guest speaker at the Audubon program for October.

Zach returned at the end of September from a whirlwind, five-week journey around the globe! He spent two weeks in South Africa, two weeks in southeast Arizona, and one week in southern Colorado.
Okay, not so much the globe, but he did cross an ocean! He will present mostly on his time in South Africa, where he experienced safaris, sharks, and sunbirds! While birds were not the focus of his trip, he will share some of the photos of birds he took in between his other adventures. Prepare to hear about amazing sightings, harrowing  escapes, and awful misfortunes!

Zach’s presentations are always entertaining, educational, and fun, so you won’t want to miss this. Please join us on Friday, October 12, 2018 at 7 pm at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building
at 2211 King Blvd. for this exciting program. As always, the program is free and open to the public! See you there!
– Zach and Bruce

 

February 9, 2018 Program

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Casper native McKenna Paulley is a recent graduate from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. In May 2017, she received her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in Zoology and was acknowledged as the Outstanding Graduate of the Biology Department. Following her graduation, she had the opportunity to travel to the Galapagos Islands, where she was able to experience the diverse flora and fauna the islands have to offer. While exploring the islands, she was able to capture several stunning photographs, one of which won the Galapagos

Conservation Trust’s annual photography contest. One day, she hopes to return to the islands that provided her with such an unbelievable experience.  McKenna will share her experiences of her trip at our February 9 program at 7 pm at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. for this program. As always, the program is free and open to the public!

Janurary 12, 2018 Program – Saw-Whets in the Night

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Members of Jenny Edwards’ IB Environmental Systems and Societies class will present our program for January 12, 2018.  The class members participated in Zach Hutchinson’s Northern Saw-Whet Owl banding project on Casper Mountain last October.

Many of you may know about Zach’s Bird Banding at EKW State Park during the summer months.  Unlike that program, these nets are set up during the hours after dark.  The 40 foot long and 8 foot high nets are set up in appropriate habitat and are checked every 30 minutes for owls.  An electronic recording of the owl is used to lure the owls into the net.  When a bird is captured its vital statistics are recorded and the bird is banded before being released.  Little is known about the owl population in Wyoming, so it is hoped that the data will shed light on numbers and perhaps migration data.

Please join us on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 7 pm at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. for this program.  As always, the program is free and open to the public!

November 2017 General Meeting

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Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Biologist Stan Harter from Lander will be our guest speaker for our November 10, 2017 program.

Stan will share what Wyoming Game and Fish Department and its partners have learned through recent collaring projects on mule deer in the Lander area and bighorn sheep on and near the Wind River Indian  Reservation.

The Wyoming Migration Initiative is a model for catalyzing science-based conservation and management of wildlife corridors. Founded in 2012 as a project of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the initiative collects data needed to effectively conserve migratory wildlife. The Wyoming Migration Initiative also produces risk assessments for managers and stakeholders, and uses multimedia storytelling to promote public understanding of large animal migrations.

Please join us on Friday, November 10, 2017 at 7 pm at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. for this program. As always, the program is free and open to the public! —–Bruce Walgren

May General Meeting

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Conserving Wildlife in a Boom and Bust State: Wildlife Conservation and Energy Development in Wyoming

Amanda Withroder, a staff biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Habitat Protection Program, will present “Conserving Wildlife in a Boom and Bust State: Wildlife Conservation and Energy Development in Wyoming” on Friday May12 at 7 p.m. at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. The talk is free and open to the public.

Withroder, who grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, has a BA in Political Science and a MA in International Studies and Environmental and Natural Resources. She started working for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in 2010 where her program is responsible for environmental commenting on development proposals of all types and sizes. The goal is to work with project proponents to avoid and minimize impacts to wildlife as much as possible, and to mitigate if needed. She spends a lot of time working with other state and federal agencies on large energy development projects, and to ensure that we have a process in place to adequately consider the needs of wildlife. She also works with project proponents on implementation of the State’s sagegrouse conservation strategy. In a state that is dependent upon energy development, and also is home to an amazing array of wildlife, it is sometimes hard to strike a balance that benefits both. The job of finding that balance falls in part on Withroder. She will discuss how Wyoming Game and Fish coordinates with state and federal agencies, industry, and other stakeholders to reduce the impacts of energy development on wildlife in Wyoming.