Western Prairie Audubon

On December 9th  we will hold our Annual Christmas Party and Potluck at the Macomb City Hall Community Center in place of our regular chapter business meeting for December.  Attendees are asked to bring a potluck dish and table settings for themselves.  We will have turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and gravy, fruit punch and plenty of food.  Bring your appetite.  Dinner will begin that Tuesday evening at 6 pm.  After dinner we will plan to host a bird game such as bird bingo or another option and have prizes available for winners.  Come and join us for an early Christmas celebration and lots of fun.

****Update Meeting Moved to  Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at:
300 Wigwam Hollow Rd , Macomb, IL 61455 ****

It is located on Wigwam Hollow just down the street from Casey’s on East Jackson.

Western Prairie will present a video program entitled “Birding Australia”. The video filmed by world birder Jan Shaw and personally narrated by Larry Hood who will take us through the myriad of birds and their habitat across the vast continent of Australia.

Our chapter meetings are held at the community room in Macomb City Hall. Meetings begin at 7pm. Programs will typically follow the chapter meetings, starting between 7:30 and 8pm.  All of our programs are free and everyone is welcome to attend.

November 1st – “Birding the Illinois” For our November field trip we plan to view migratory waterfowl and other water birds at Chautauqua Refuge and other wetlands along the Illinois River. Each fall thousands of waterfowl spend several weeks within the middle section of the Illinois River to feed in waters rich in plant and invertebrate foods prior to making their journey south to their wintering grounds. We expect to see a wide variety of ducks including: Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, and American Wigeon along with other migrants such as the American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot. We will plan to meet Saturday morning at 8 am at the (WIUM parking lot west of Godfather’s Pizza) to share rides. The field trip will involve mostly driving with short periods of easy to moderate walking. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring binoculars, field guides and spotting scope if available (some will be provided; we can share). We plan to have lunch in Havana or Manito and return to Macomb by mid-afternoon.

Marry Todd will present a talk entitled  “Floristic Journey of a Prairie Advocate”.   Mary A long time prairie advocate from Galesburg has agreed to show wildflower photos she has taken over past decades from natural areas within the rural landscape of west-central Illinois. She will share with us tales of her photographic journeys as well as her successes and failures in fighting for the preservation of high quality prairies and forests. Featured natural areas will include Munson Township Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve, Knox Station Prairie and forests with the Spoon River watershed.  Please join us at our next meeting for this free talk at the Macomb City Hall Community Room on Tuesday October 14th at 7:00 pm

Illinois Audubon will dedicate our new headquarters at our Adams Sanctuary in Springfield on Saturday, September 20 (2pm - 4pm) as part of our annual Fall Gathering.   As parking is limited at the site, we will meet at the Signature Inn Parking Lot for a bus ride to the new headquarters.  All members and the general public are invited.  Officers and board members of the society will be there along with dignitaries from the city of Springfield.   For more info on the Fall gathering go to http://www.illinoisaudubon.org/

September 9th – “An Introduction to Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge” by Matt Sprenger.  Matt Sprenger is the refuge manager for the Illinois River Refuge which includes a complex of refuges and units owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service including: Cameron-Bilsbach north of Peoria, Emiquon in Fulton County (west of Havana), Chautauqua north of Havana, and Meredosia (north of the town of Meredosia).  Mr. Sprenger will provide us with a brief history of the refuge as well as a summary of activities refuge staff and currently involved with at Chautauqua Refuge to improve the habitat quality for migratory water birds.

Our regular monthly chapter meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month, evenings (see calendar) at the community room in Macomb City Hall.  Meetings begin at 7 pm.  Programs will typically follow the chapter meetings, starting between 7:30 and 8pm.