For our August chapter meeting will be a planning meeting along with a rap-up of this years butterfly and the Spring Bird Count. We will show this years best butterfly pictures that were taken on the butterfly counts including a surprise visitor from the gulf. The meeting as usual will be held at the Community Room in the Macomb City Hall. We will Start at 7pm and everyone is welcome.
On Saturday July 17th we will hold the McDonough County The 4th of July butterfly count. This program has been held annually since 1975, when only 29 counts were held across the entire continent. Volunteers around North American select a count area with a 15-mile diameter and conduct a 1-day census of all butterflies observed within the circle. The counts are usually held in the few weeks before or after the 4th of July, but the best timing for butterfly observation in each count circle varies. The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) organizes the counts and publishes an annual report.
We will meet at the K-Mart parking lot (north side, near the garden center) in Macomb to share rides for the counts at 8:15am. Everyone is welcome to join in on these counts regardless of experience level. Wear comfortable shoes, lightweight long pants and bring sunscreen and water. A butterfly net and butterfly identification book is useful but not essential – some participants will have these. We’ll stop for lunch in Colchester. The count generally last until about 3 pm.
If you are interested in participating in these counts please contact Dan or Angella (217) 256-4732 so that we may notify you should there be any last minute changes in dates or time.
Due to rain we have rescheduled this trip to Tuesday July 13th.
Instead of our Tuesday chapter meeting for June we will have a field trip to the Illinois Audubon Society property at Wigwam Hollow to check the property and clean out the nest boxes. We will meet at 6pm along the Wigwam Hollow Road near the bridge over the La Moine River. Wear comfortable shoes and long pants (to avoid nettle stings). Bring bug repellent. We will provide refreshments, garbage bags for litter clean-up and ladders/tools for cleaning/repairing nest boxes. Everyone welcome.
Once again we’ve planned our annual summer picnic for our May meeting. The picnic will be held on Tuesday evening, May 11th - 6pm at Everly Park in Macomb (across from the State Police Offices and Days Inn) at the shelter near the lake starting at 6pm. Bring a side dish and table settings for your party. We’ll supply grilled chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, condiments and lemon-aid. Dave Benson will be compiling the results of the Spring Bird Count at the picnic so hopefully we’ll know how well we did for McDonough County at the end of the picnic. After our picnic dinner we’ll take a short hike in the park to look for birds.
Volunteers are needed for this year’s Spring Bird Count on Saturday, May 8th. David & Heidi Benson will once again serve as the coordinator for the McDonough County count. Everyone, experts and amateurs alike, are invited to assist with the count. New participants are asked to contact Dave or Heidi at 836-6233. All of those wishing to participate in the count will be asked to attend a minimum of one of two warm-up field trips. These trips will be held at local parks and are intended to give everyone a chance to go over designated count areas and counting procedures as well as to practice bird identification.
The following warm-up trips are listed below. Please try to attend at least one of the two warm-up trips if you plan to participant in the Spring Bird Count.
Sunday Evening, 6pm on April 18th at Glenwood Park, Macomb at the shelter next to the pine trees.
Sunday evening, 6pm on April 25th at Spring Lake Park at the shelter overlooking lake.
Western Prairie Audubon is presenting a program by Ed and Evelyn Franks entitled “Birding in Costa Rica” at 7pm on April 13th at the Macomb City Hall Community Room. Ed and Eveyln have offered to give a presentation on a birding trip they took to Costa Rica 4 years ago with Elderhostel. Ed and Evelyn are long time birdwatchers and McDonough County residents. They will provide a digital slide show highlighting some of the birds they saw on their trip along with an overview of bird watching and conservation in Costa Rica. Ed Franks is the former ornithology professor from WIU. This talk is free and open to the public.
At our Tuesday March 9th meeting we will feature Dr. Robert McCleery current Wildlife Ecology professor at WIU. He will present a talk entitled “The influence of our changing landscape on mammalian population”. Included in his talk will be case studies of his work in Africa, Texas and our local area. Dr Robert earned his Ph.D., in 2007 in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University.
Our Meeting is held at the Macomb Comunity Room in the City Hall and will begin at 7:00pm. The talk is free and open to the public. The talk is sponsored by the Western Prairie Audubon Society a Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society.
Field Trip to Illinois River (Anderson Lake, Chautauqua Refuge, Spring Lake, maybe Sand Ridge State Forest etc.). We are planning to head east to view late winter birds and early migrating waterbirds on the Illinois River backwaters. We plan to break for lunch at Havana or another location. We plan to meet at 9 am at the Western Illinois Credit Union Parking Lot - Former Hy-Vee parking lot to share rides. Dress appropriately for cold weather. We don’t plan to do much walking. Viewing will be primarily through spotting scopes and with binoculars from the car. If you plan to attend please call Dan Moorehouse at 217-256-4732 or email at dmoorehouse@frontiernet.net
Due to the weather we have canceled our meeting tonight. The Costa Rica program by Ed and Evelyn has been rescheduled for April 13th.
Western Prairie Audubon is presenting a program by Ed and Evelyn Franks entitled “Birding in Costa Rica” at 7pm on February 9th at the Macomb City Hall Community Room. Ed and Eveyln have offered to give a presentation on a birding trip they took to Costa Rica 4 years ago with Elderhostel. Ed and Evelyn are long time birdwatchers and McDonough County residents. They will provide a digital slide show highlighting some of the birds they saw on their trip along with an overview of bird watching and conservation in Costa Rica. Ed Franks is the former ornithology professor from WIU. This talk is free and open to the public.