FROM FLORA TO FLYWAYS: STORIES OF CHANGE AND PHENOLOGY

“From Flora to Flyways: Stories of Change and Phenology in Wyoming’s Natrona County”, will be presented by our own Jenny Edwards. Naturalists, farmers, and ranchers traditionally recorded changing seasons and wildlife in simple nature journals. Dr. Oliver Scott’s bird checklists stemming back from 1953 offer a goldmine of baseline phenological data for students to investigate very local patterns of change in our community. Jenny will share how her students dig into these historical datasets and ask locally relevant questions while building their data science skills. Her students can pursue questions like, how climate changes are impacting bird migration and plant phases in Natrona County, and whether there will be food sources available when birds migrate here. She will also show how students combine those checklists with modern citizen science platforms of eBird and BirdCast to make comparisons between past and present data. She will also show how students are engaged in a citizen science wild?ower monitoring program. This approach brings the past to life for her students, helps them see value in historical voices, and builds data science skills and citizen science tools that enable them to be life-long observers of nature. Jenny will be delivering a similar presentation in Philadelphia on March 28 for the National Science Teaching Association.

Jenny is a teacher of Environmental Science at Natrona County High School.

The public and Audubon members are invited to attend the Murie Audubon free talk on March 13, 2025, at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road.

Jenny and Bruce

MURIE AUDUBON PRESENTS: REDDS SPAWNING HABITAT ENHANCEMENT

The Redds Spawning Habitat Enhancement is located on BLM lands about 30 miles southwest of Casper within the North Platte River’s famed Gray Reef section. Gray Reef is designated a blue ribbon trout ?shery that attracts anglers from around the world who are seeking numerous trophy rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. Additionally, trout spawned in this section populate the rest of the North Platte River to Dave Johnston Power plant as temperatures and sediment loading become detrimental below Government Bridge. The Redds Spawning area consists of three channels; the main southern channel receiving all of base ?ow (500 cfs) and includes around 250,000 ft² of potential spawning habitat. As ?ows increase beyond 700 cfs, the middle and northern channels are engaged opening an additional 159,000 ft² of potential spawning habitat. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Platte River Foundation are pursuing Redds spawning habitat enhancements including: diverting ?ow from the main channel to the middle channel at base ?ow taking advantage of an additional 112,000 ft² of potential spawning habitat, buffering middle channel ?ows using the Northern channel as “relief” while adding an additional 47,000 ft² of potential spawning habitat, adding favorable spawning gravels to rif?e and glide habitats, incorporating favorable hydraulics including glide-like features, stabilizing nearby eroding banks decreasing ?ne sediment inputs, and allowing adjacent low lying wetland areas to be used by young of year trout as rearing habitat. These areas will be constructed to hold water year round serving as refuge for waterfowl and amphibians including the leopard frog. John McCoy, Aquatic Habitat Biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will be our guest speaker to update us on the efforts for habitat improvements not only for aquatic fauna but also for all species along the river.

Public and Audubon members are invited to come to the Murie Audubon free talk on
February 13, 2025 at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, at 4205 Fort Caspar Road.

MURIE AUDUBON PRESENTS: NON-GAME BIRDS IN WYOMING

This month’s Speaker is Zach Wallace, the statewide Nongame Bird Biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, based in Lander. His presentation will cover the Department’s long-term monitoring programs for nongame birds, including Trumpeter Swans, Peregrine Falcons, Bald Eagles, and Harlequin Ducks, as well as current projects investigating the habitat needs of American Goshawks, sagebrush songbirds, and Pinyon Jays. He will highlight ongoing collaborations with academic researchers, community scientists, and other partners, all aimed at increasing our knowledge and ability to conserve Wyoming’s birds.

Wallace previously served as the Biometrician for the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database at the University of Wyoming, and he brings a strong background in research and coordination from leading projects on birds and other wildlife in Wyoming and across the western United States.

He received his master’s degree in wildlife science from Oregon State University in 2014, where his research focused on the nesting ecology of Ferruginous Hawks and Golden Eagles in Wyoming. Wallace’s graduate research was done in close collaboration with WY Game and Fish.

Murie Audubon members and the public are invited to this free talk on November 14, at 7 p.m., at the Izaak Walton Clubhouse, 4205 Fort Caspar Road.