Field trip set for 10 a.m. Saturday, January 10, 2009, at Chesney Prairie Nature Area

field trip, Chesney Prairie NA, Sat. Jan. 10, 2009. Meet 10 AM.‏
From: joeneal (joeneal@uark.edu)
Sent: Mon 12/29/08 8:52 AM

Please mark your 2009 calendar for a field trip with the newly
reflegged Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society, Saturday January 10,
2009. Meet at the entrance to Chesney Prairie Natural Area (directions
below)starting at 10 AM. The relatively late start is to accommodate
travel and let things warm up a bit. Chesney is a fine place to see a
variety of grassland and open country birds typical of northwestern
Arkansas at mid-winter. Please share this announcement with anyone who
might be interested. Joe Woolbright has mowed good paths and folks can
walk as much or as little as they like among spectacular native
tallgrasses. There is plenty of good car birding with a good view of
the old Lindsley Prairie in the immediate area, too, if walking isn't
a good option. For more information, Joe Neal 479 521 1858, or email,
or Joe Woolbright 479 427 4277.

Location of CPNA: Benton County, near Siloam Springs, AR. How to get
there: From Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, take highway 412 W to near
Siloam Springs city limits. At the intersection of 412 & 59, turn N
onto 59. You pass the Siloam Springs airport. Approximately 1 mile
past the airport, note an intersection: the road W is ?Chesney;? road
E is ?Bill Young.? Take Bill Young Road E approximately 0.8 miles. At
this point there is a gravel farm road going N. Go approximately 0.5
miles N on this road to the dead end at chicken houses and the
entrance sign to CPNA.



JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "Nature is already as good
as it possibly can be. He who seeks to improve it will spoil it. He
who tries to direct it will mislead it and become lost himself." --
Chinese philosopher about 2,500 years ago

Cedar waxwing eats berry of nonnative privit on December 28, 2008, on World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with privit berry on WPWP on December 28, 2008.

Cedar waxwings on December 28, 2008, at World Peace Wetland Prairie eat berries of privet and China honeysuckle

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with face shaded. One must scroll left and right and up and down to find bird closeup in enlarged image. Please be patient.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with berry of nonnative privet bush in its bill on December 28, 2008.

Please click on image to see why this bird is called a cedar waxwing.

Cerulean warbler nesting area adds 80-acre protected zone

Bird’s Breeding Grounds Protected In Ozarks

By The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The fastest disappearing member of the warbler family is getting a break in Missouri.

The number of the small, sky-blue bird — the cerulean warbler — has been declining over the past four decades. But the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports it is getting a boost through the acquisition of an 80-acre plot of prime breeding ground for the warblers in the Ozarks.

The acreage is bordered on three sides by state and federal forest land, and the fourth side belongs to a conservation-minded private owner.

The 80 acres plugs the doughnut hole that, if cleared, would have allowed the intrusion of cowbirds and other predators that threaten many breeding warblers.

The American Bird Conservancy says securing the tract and keeping it from being cleared and developed will enhance the reproductive success of pairs breeding within a mile around the site.

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Joan Reynolds recaps December 17, 2008, meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society

Here's a recap of the NWAAS meeting Dec. 17, 2008: The following
persons were elected officers for the upcoming year 2009:

Doug James, President djames@uark.edu
Joanie Patterson, Vice President joanie.patterson@yahoo.com
Ann Paillet, Treasurer fredp@cox.net
Stephanie Cribbs, Secretary stephanie cribbs@live.com

The following persons volunteered for various positions as set forth
below, to be nominated and confirmed at the first board meeting of
January, 2009:

Scott Michaud Director/Writing/Publications mazhude@yahoo.com
Fred Paillet Director fredp@cox.net
Sarah Whittenberg Director sara_ress@hotmail.com
Brandon Schmidt Director/Website brandonschmidt2@gmail.com
Kris Bolin Director kabolin21@tntech.edu
Aubrey Shepherd Director, Website/Photography
aubreyshepherd@hotmail.com
Joe Neal Director, Field Trips joeneal@uark.edu
Leigh Helm Director leigh7h@aol.com


Thank you all so much for attending the meeting and keeping NWAAS
going! Let me know if you have any questions.

Joan Reynolds

Dr. Doug James accepts presidency of Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Doug James on December 17, 2008.

Neal announces first Audubon field trip for 2009 series to be held on December 28, 2008!

Everyone is welcome to join the newly reorganized Northwest Arkansas
Audubon Society on a field trip to the Eagle Watch Nature Area, just
west of Gentry in Benton County. Sunday, December 28, 2008. Meet at
the parking area just off highway 12, at 9 AM. I will post directions
below. It can be a birdy place, and not just Bald Eagles. After, some
may want to "retire" to a locale a few miles away, for Great-tailed
Grackles, etc.

DIRECTIONS AND OTHER INFO: Notice Highway 59 on your Arkansas highway
map. Gentry is at the intersection of 59 and Highway 12. From this
intersection, travel W on 12 for approx. two miles. The Eagle Watch
Nature Area is approx. 1 mile W of the city limits on the S side of
the highway. Look for the parking lot on the highway?s S side,
immediately E of the highway bridge spanning Little Flint Creek. There
is an information sign in the parking area.
The approx. 1,500 acres of EWNA are part the 500-acre SWEPCO Lake,
constructed to provide cooling water for the coal-fired plant
generating electricity for NW Arkansas. During winter, temperatures in
the lake average in the low 70s. This warm water is presumably the
source of some interesting bird records. The parking lot is the
starting point for a trail that is 0.5 miles long (1 mile round trip).
The trail is well-marked, generally level, and easily walked because
of a thick bed of mulch. The first 0.3 miles include open fields and
the Little Flint Creek bottoms. There is a farm to the E, and a
forested ridge to the W. The final 0.2 miles includes an optional
steeper path into typical Ozark woodland. The trail ends at an
attractive pavilion that provides tables, an appealing overlook of
part of the lake and forested ridges, and information about the flora
and fauna of EWNA.


JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "I have great faith in a
seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to
expect wonders." -- HD Thoreau

Audubon Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Rumor that Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society was dying put to rest

About half the seats in the Pat and Willard Walker meeting room at the Fayetteville Public Library filled with enthusiastic Audubon supporters Wednesday night. New officers were elected and volunteer board members signed on. Joe Neal offered a slate of outings for 2009, starting on December 28, 2008.
Neal hikes and watches birds and leads organized birding events regularly.
We'll provide updates regularly.
The "new" president is Professor Doug James, who was the adviser/leader of the Northwest Arkansas Audubon chapter when it was mostly made up of graduate students from his biology classes decades ago!
A special treat was that Michelle Viney, the Northwest Arkansas coordinator for Audubon Arkansas, attended and offered a new level of cooperation of the local and state chapter and national Audubon.
And, most important, some of the most significant young conservationists in Northwest Arkansas participated.