Joe Neal's report from Saturday

Lynn Sciumbato of Morning Star Wildlife Rehabilitation Center near Gravette brought her big birds to Shiloh Museum in Springdale yesterday. The occasion was Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society’s annual program of nature photography plus conversations with bird guys and gals. She shared an hour of fact and humor concerning birds and people. A mesmerizing story teller, Lynn has a real tale to tell about northwest Arkansas and big birds to tell it with. 
 
The core of these stories revolves around individual personalities of birds. With her favorite bird, a Turkey Vulture name Igor literally in hand, she shares Igor’s story, which began 11 years ago, when Igor was one day out of the egg. With the successful humorist’s pregnant pauses, voice inflection rising and laughing, facial features varying from remarkable to quizzical and natural timing—that chuckle or sudden silence— we learn Igor is not a buzzard and how calm Igor is compared to many other big birds. 
 
As Lynn puts it, some want raptors want to tear you up, but Igor and his kind just sort of look at you and say “duh…” Then she moves on to hawks and owls. 
 
Of yes, did I mention she is an expert, with decades of experience working with all kinds of raptors, song birds, small mammals, and the odd reptile that has come her way? And a retired school teacher?
 
She brought Ginny, a 7 year old Red-tailed Hawk. Lynn calls her the “diva bird…nothing makes her happy” and we soon have Ginny’s story. She was hand-reared for falconry and treated then like a queen. But she lost her exalted status in life in a hunting accident. No longer able to fly, the usual outcome is to be “put down.” Instead, Ginny came to Morning Star. Today Diva Bird shares the limelight with Igor. Lynn explains Igor and Ginny also share a cage. Maybe the vulture “duh” will wear off on the dethroned diva. 
 
Nancy Harris from Fayetteville asks Lynn how she protects herself pecked in the face and really hurt? Lynn responds, “Well, do you want to see the scars [much laughter]. As a matter of fact…I don’t really scar…Owls and hawks don’t think to bite. That’s not their first response…this beak is like their knife and fork. It’s for ripping food apart…” Now she segues to difficulty handling really BIG birds, like Bald Eagles, that can get you. 
 
She recalls released of a rehabbed eagle at Beaver Lake. “I was fixing to throw her up in the air and she ripped all the side of my face…I was fixing to fling the bird so I went ahead and flung her… [pause, then laughter] for SEVERAL reasons.” Then she mentions something more common: puncture wounds. “Ah, puncture wounds. You don’t get much sympathy for puncture wounds. They don’t bleed near as well as rips from eagles…” She remembers something else, too. “I have been hurt worse when bitten by a cardinal. Really and truly. I mean, that brings tears to your eyes. They always get you right there…” indicating the sensitive flap of skin between the thumb and forefinger.
 
Before you get the idea that Lynn is just a skilled talker – she’s certainly that – let me mention what a skilled observer she is as well. I noticed that Ginny didn’t have much a “belly band,” a dark band often seen on mature Red-tailed Hawks. I asked about this. They don’t all have it, she explained. In fact there is a huge amount of variation. She recalled a time in the early 1980s in Decatur, at the mega-center of Arkansas’s poultry industry.
 
“They had this huge hawk die-off at this one farm. They were finding hawks everywhere, you know, down or dead. Game and fish called and said, ‘Do you have room for about 25 hawks?’ I said, ‘LUTHER! WHAT!!!???’ There were all these hawks that had gone down on this one farm and we didn’t know what the deal was. We had no idea why they’d all gone down. Finally figured out it was ‘poor poultry husbandry.’ This one farmer had dumped three truck loads of dead chickens. As the predators had gone down towards the bottom, there was botulism…and everybody who was working this pile of dead chickens was dealing with this botulism…I think I got in all totaled 26 hawks…I think 24 of them survived…”
 
“I had all of them in my big flight pen. It was a little crowded. They would all be sitting on the back perch in the back of the flight pen and you would look at all those birds and every one of them was a different color. You know what I mean…the width of the belly band different, or it was a little tiny belly band, or a kind of peachy color…every one of them was different…” 
 
Every bird she gets is an individual. And Lynn is that rare “bird” herself: an unabashed raconteur finding interesting fact and humor at every turn. We’re just fortunate she long ago chose birds in trouble as her source of inspiration. 
 Lynn Sciumbato of Morning Star Wildlife Rehabilitation Center near Gravette brought her big birds to Shiloh Museum in Springdale yesterday. The occasion was Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society’s annual program of nature photography plus conversations with bird guys and gals. She shared an hour of fact and humor concerning birds and people. A mesmerizing story teller, Lynn has a real tale to tell about northwest Arkansas and big birds to tell it with. 
 
The core of these stories revolves around individual personalities of birds. With her favorite bird, a Turkey Vulture name Igor literally in hand, she shares Igor’s story, which began 11 years ago, when Igor was one day out of the egg. With the successful humorist’s pregnant pauses, voice inflection rising and laughing, facial features varying from remarkable to quizzical and natural timing—that chuckle or sudden silence— we learn Igor is not a buzzard and how calm Igor is compared to many other big birds. 
 
As Lynn puts it, some want raptors want to tear you up, but Igor and his kind just sort of look at you and say “duh…” Then she moves on to hawks and owls. 
 
Of yes, did I mention she is an expert, with decades of experience working with all kinds of raptors, song birds, small mammals, and the odd reptile that has come her way? And a retired school teacher?
 
She brought Ginny, a 7 year old Red-tailed Hawk. Lynn calls her the “diva bird…nothing makes her happy” and we soon have Ginny’s story. She was hand-reared for falconry and treated then like a queen. But she lost her exalted status in life in a hunting accident. No longer able to fly, the usual outcome is to be “put down.” Instead, Ginny came to Morning Star. Today Diva Bird shares the limelight with Igor. Lynn explains Igor and Ginny also share a cage. Maybe the vulture “duh” will wear off on the dethroned diva. 
 
Nancy Harris from Fayetteville asks Lynn how she protects herself pecked in the face and really hurt? Lynn responds, “Well, do you want to see the scars [much laughter]. As a matter of fact…I don’t really scar…Owls and hawks don’t think to bite. That’s not their first response…this beak is like their knife and fork. It’s for ripping food apart…” Now she segues to difficulty handling really BIG birds, like Bald Eagles, that can get you. 
 
She recalls released of a rehabbed eagle at Beaver Lake. “I was fixing to throw her up in the air and she ripped all the side of my face…I was fixing to fling the bird so I went ahead and flung her… [pause, then laughter] for SEVERAL reasons.” Then she mentions something more common: puncture wounds. “Ah, puncture wounds. You don’t get much sympathy for puncture wounds. They don’t bleed near as well as rips from eagles…” She remembers something else, too. “I have been hurt worse when bitten by a cardinal. Really and truly. I mean, that brings tears to your eyes. They always get you right there…” indicating the sensitive flap of skin between the thumb and forefinger.
 
Before you get the idea that Lynn is just a skilled talker – she’s certainly that – let me mention what a skilled observer she is as well. I noticed that Ginny didn’t have much a “belly band,” a dark band often seen on mature Red-tailed Hawks. I asked about this. They don’t all have it, she explained. In fact there is a huge amount of variation. She recalled a time in the early 1980s in Decatur, at the mega-center of Arkansas’s poultry industry.
 
“They had this huge hawk die-off at this one farm. They were finding hawks everywhere, you know, down or dead. Game and fish called and said, ‘Do you have room for about 25 hawks?’ I said, ‘LUTHER! WHAT!!!???’ There were all these hawks that had gone down on this one farm and we didn’t know what the deal was. We had no idea why they’d all gone down. Finally figured out it was ‘poor poultry husbandry.’ This one farmer had dumped three truck loads of dead chickens. As the predators had gone down towards the bottom, there was botulism…and everybody who was working this pile of dead chickens was dealing with this botulism…I think I got in all totaled 26 hawks…I think 24 of them survived…”
 
“I had all of them in my big flight pen. It was a little crowded. They would all be sitting on the back perch in the back of the flight pen and you would look at all those birds and every one of them was a different color. You know what I mean…the width of the belly band different, or it was a little tiny belly band, or a kind of peachy color…every one of them was different…” 
 
Every bird she gets is an individual. And Lynn is that rare “bird” herself: an unabashed raconteur finding interesting fact and humor at every turn. We’re just fortunate she long ago chose birds in trouble as her source of inspiration. 
 

Audubon photo contest winners' works to be on display at Shiloh Museum on Saturday

I know this is not a field trip, exactly, but in case you hadn't heard about this already:

This Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1 to 4 pm, at the Shiloh Museum in Springdale, the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society is displaying Annual Nature Photo Contest winners. In addition, Lynn Sciumbato will present a program featuring live hawks and owls. There will also be a question and answer session by Bird Guys, Dr. Doug James and Joe Neal, authors of Arkansas Birds. The event is free and open to the public. If you have any questions, call 479-575-6364.

Since the program doesn't start until 1 PM, there's PLENTY of time for some good early morning birding before Shiloh.

Field trip to Woolsey Wet Prairie

NWAAS Field Trip to Woolsey Wet Prairie Share · Public Event

Time	Sunday, October 17 · 9:00am - 5:30pm
Location	Broyles Ave - Fayetteville
Created By	Northwest Arkansas Audubon
More Info	Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society will host a field trip to Woolsey Wet Prairie in Fayetteville on Sunday October 17, 2010. Meet on site at 9 AM. The trip will be lead by Dr Andrew Scaboo, who has studied birds there from the beginning. This is an open brushy and grassy area with shallow pools. All kinds of open country species can be expected. Expect easy walking on earthen levees; boots are a good idea, but not necessary. The meeting place is in front of the main gate area of the westside wastewater treatment plant on Broyles Ave. There's lots more information and directions on the NWAAS website. Go to nwarkaudubon.org; when you get there, look on the left hand side for Places to bird in Northwest Arkansas. Go there and look for the Woolsey Wet Prairie guide. Lots more information on what birds to expect are in National Audubon's ebird site (look for WWP in the Arkansas hot spots). *Photo: Nelson's Sparrow at Woolsey Wet Prairie by Joe Neal*

Ambrosia trifida feeds many species of migrating and local birds in fall

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Joe Neal's report for October 9, 2010

• love in the wasteland (Vaughn 9 Oct 2010)‏

12:24 PM

Reply  ▼

 joe neal

To ARBIRD list discussion, Aubrey Shepherd, Beth Lowrey, BEVERLY MADDOX, Bill Beall, Burnetta Hinterthuer, Chris Kellner, Douglas A. James, geddessylvia@yahoo.com, Jacqueline Froelich, Joe Woolbright, Joel Funk, lisa riley, Louise Mann, Lynn Armstrong, Mary Bess Mulhollan, Nancy Harris, Paige Mulhollan, R and M Stauffacher, Shane Woolbright, Susan And Liz, Susan Young, TERRY STANFILL, VINEY, Michelle, Warren Fields

My ambition this morning was to get up to Centerton for sparrows, and maybe a Dunlin, but never made it, waylaid instead by reality. First, it was foggy. Around the time I reached Vaughn the sun was just barely up, and a kind of pink light suffused the fog. I passed an old chicken house, admiring the broad old artistically weathered boards exposed when the tin siding fell off. A big hole that used to be a window was filled with pink light, except for the space occupied by the head of a black and white milk cow. This seemed a promising start.

I still couldn’t see anything across the big fields, but I could hear the Eastern Meadowlark version of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They sang all around (“surround sound” is how they market this, I think), with support from KEE DEE KEE DEE – Killdeers from an invisible, but audible, farm pond. I pulled up right there and listened for a while, thinking I might hear a first of season Western Meadowlark, but didn’t. A few sparrows flushed up on the barbed wire, near enough that I could see them – Savannah Sparrow (2), Grasshopper Sparrow (1).

Still not to Centerton, BUT the day is young, and it’s not so far to “Weedy Estates,” a big flopped subdivision where in the get-rich-quick daze of three years ago, 80 acres were dozed to bare red dirt, streets pushed in, curbed but not paved, forlorn utility hook-ups marooned and deteriorating, plumbing scattered all over the place. So instead of Centerton, I’m headed for Weedy Estates.

The joys of trash dumping in Weedy Estates have been discovered (tires, car parts, yard waste). The unpaved streets are growing gullies. Spaces dozed and flattened for mansionettes are festively decked out in a variety of composities (daisy fleabane, for example), plus poke, persimmon sprouts, and the odd, isolated oak tree. The open country birds obviously love the place. I saw 15 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers carrying on in a fine racket in one tiny tree out in the middle. Enjoying them, I noticed one small bird tail-flipping, then a second, and soon had 2-3 more – Palm Warblers (4-5). Composites sheltered Common Yellowthroats, House Wrens, a Marsh Wren, several Indigo Buntings (including one with a lot of blue), Lincoln’s Sparrow, and other stuff I missed. 

Mentally I took note of the obvious beauties of a seemingly bankrupted subdivision. I summarize as follows: (1) lots of interesting weeds (butterflies and botany); (2) rocky bare dirt (Lark Sparrows); (3) very open (American kestrel); (4) relatively quiet – no lawn mowers, leaf blowers, weed eaters, or Harleys; (5) unfinished roads perfect for easy slow-walk sparrow birding; (6) isolated trees great for hawk perches; (7) a moonscape, a wilderness uninhabited as the moon itself; (8) big open weedy fields perfect for Savannah Sparrows – oops! – just saw 3 in one of those dried up composites! (9) scattered poke bushes (there are 2 Palm Warblers!); (10) no street signs, so I make ‘em up as I go: “Scissor-tailed Perch,” “Palm Warbler Poke,” “Kestrel Vista.” Long may they show the way.

It’s up to mid-morning and the illustrious pink fog is gone -- in fact all of the fog is gone. It’s another drop-dead-beautiful fall day. Then, in the warm light, monarchs stir in the low sheltering atmospheres of tall weeds not planned for these 80 acres, but which now belong almost exclusively to them.

aubunique: Insect Festival coming up

aubunique: Insect Festival coming up: "Please use live links on site to navigate and read more detail. Bumpers College Home Entomology Home O..."

aubunique: Tree and Landscape Committee sets annual city tree...

aubunique: Tree and Landscape Committee sets annual city tree...: "12th Annual Celebration of TreesSaturday October 9, 2010 7:00 am Town Center entrance on the Fayetteville SquareEvery year the Tree and Lan..."

Ninestone visit coming up

Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society will lead a field trip to Ninestone Land Trust in Carroll County on Saturday, October 2. Meet at Ninestone at 9 AM. If you arrive later, you can bird around until you run into us. Directions and other details about Ninestone are available on the NWAAS website, nwarkaudubon.org (when you get the home page, notice “Places to bird in nw Ark” – go there and look for the Ninestone PDF file). Everyone is welcome. You do not need to be a member of anything to participate & folks new to birding will find this a fun place to get started. The awesome natural beauty and habitat diversity there makes it a fine place to see & hear birds, plants, springs, and natural rock formations typical of the Ozarks. This is relaxing & easy going all the way.

In case you can't make Ninestone, but still want to get into some conservation action, Audubon Arkansas is sponsoring some field work on the Wilson Springs project in Fayetteville, also on the same day. Willing hands are very welcome. For information about that, contact Michelle Viney, 479-527-0700 or mviney@audubon.org.

Northwest Arkansas DU banquet Friday in Fayetteville

Please click on image to ENLARGE banquet invitation and go to DU blog for more information and online ticket order form.

aubunique: Vote now! Tonight attend City Council meeting and/...

aubunique: Vote now! Tonight attend City Council meeting and/...: "Please click on individual photos to ENLARGE and widen view for easier reading."

Northwest Arkansas Ducks Unlimited banquet on September 24, 2010, at Washington County Fairground

Start the celebration early for the Alabama game by attending the  Northwest Arkansas Ducks Unlimited membership banquet at the Washington  County Fairgrounds. Lots of great food, unique auction items and plenty  of prizes.
Individual, couple, Sponsor and Corporate tables for eight are  available. To purchase your tickets online please click the Buy Tickets  link below.

If you're interested in becoming a volunteer on the committee, or  would like more information on the banquet, please contact me at the  email address shown. Be sure to forward this email to friends and fellow  duck hunters who would also like to attend the banquet.
Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Illinois River waterfowl on January 6, 2010.

Aug9 aubrey.asf

Please attend tonight's meeting of the Council of Neighborhoods: Agenda below

Please double-click on the image to ENLARGE and widen view of swallowtail on World Peace Wetland Prairie in the Town Branch neighborhood on August 25, 2010, or scroll down to read about Fayetteville's Council of Neighborhoods and Thursday night's meeting of that group in city hall. Please see agenda for the meeting at the bottom of the post.

Please check the agenda and notice that there are two significant presentations slated for Council of Neighborhoods for August 26, 2010. In addition, all people who attend may report on anything of interest to them or others in their neighborhood or on any matter of importance to residents of the city. Many important issues have first surfaced when one person showed up and shared at Council of Neighborhoods. Chances are good that you may get to meet the people who are running for half the positions on the the City Council. And other candidates for public office also may be there. People who attend are not required to speak but have the opportunity to speak on Government Channel or simply meet representatives of other neighborhoods before and after the meeting and suggest subjects for future agendas. If you have never been contacted by anyone from your neighborhood association or don't believe there is an organization in your neighborhood, you can give your address to Julie McQuade, whose contact information is at the bottom of the agenda below, and she can tell you whether one exists and who to contact or how to form one if none exists. Everyone is always welcome at Council of Neighborhoods and often multiple city employees are on hand to answer questions and offer advice on problems people may mention during the meeting. I hope to be early and help create a "quorum." If you have never attended, please give it a try. If you can't attend, watch for the broadcast on Government Channel starting Friday, Saturday or Sunday or one day next week. The Government Channel schedule for the coming week usually is online on Friday afternoon. Of course, if we don't show up, there may not be a quorum and the meeting won't be recorded and shown on City 16.

AGENDA FOR A MEETING OF THE

FAYETTEVILLE COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOODS

Thursday, August 26, 2010, 6:00 p.m.

Room 326, City Hall

Call to Order

1.         Introduction of neighborhood representatives

2.         No minutes from July meeting to approve.

3.         Eco-Logical Communities - Michele Halsell

4.         Certified Community Habitat

5.         Chairman’s report

6.         Treasurer’s report

7.         Neighborhood Updates & Announcements

8.         September 30, 2010 Meeting - Candidate Forum

Adjourn

Julie McQuadeCommunity Outreach Coordinator
City of Fayetteville

113 West Mountain, Suite 320

Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 575-8302

www.accessfayetteville.org

TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) 479-521-1316

Two such wetland plants growing together are a strong indicator of wetland

Please click on image to ENLARGE and widen view of Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) and Verbena hastata (swamp vervain) growing together on south Fayetteville wetland.

Land-use and green-infrastructure committee of Fayetteville forward to meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 28, 2010, in Room 11 of city hall to discuss stormwater managment and erosion-control ordinance being considered by City Council on August 3, 2010

Doug James congratulated by Joe Neal on the occasion of Professor James' 85th birthday coming up Sunday

My friend and ornithological mentor, Doug James, will open his 85th year on July 25. Just for the record, he was born in Detriot in 1925. I will be out of town on the 25th, so I’ll just have my say right here, right now.

Doug and I go back to 1977 when our shared interest in art and nature found us working together on an art exhibit. I’d been traveling to the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a pilgrim, studying the life and art of Walter Inglis Anderson of Ocean Springs. He was the celebrator of the natural history of the Gulf Coast, and especially Horn Island, now part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. He died in 1965, but his family accepted and nurtured my interest.

Artists Robert Ross, Neppie Conner, Martha Sutherland and others in the University art community were interested in having a Walter Anderson show in Fayetteville. His family was willing to loan to us, no strings attached. This grew into plans for two galleries (Oct 3-22, 1977), with some work in the Arkansas Union Gallery (now the Annie Kittrell Gallery) and the Fine Arts Gallery. Annie Kittrell (Arkansas Union Programs), Billie Giese (an art student), and I drove a UA van to Ocean Springs and loaded it up with what would today be millions of dollars of art. VOILA, we had drawings, paintings, pottery, and hand-carved furniture.

Anderson was an avid birdwatcher and bird drawer. He painted birds on pottery and carved them in wood. He created huge murals with birds as central figures. We really needed a bird expert to help us interpret Anderson for the exhibits. This is where Doug came in. He showed up at the Union Gallery and began examining the art in a professorial manner. His notes provided the basis for tags on the bird pieces that were meaningful in an ornithological way.

Besides traveling to the Gulf Coast trying to figure out Walter Anderson (and myself), I had been writing weekly feature stories for a newspaper, the Grapevine. Doug had seen my bird pieces. Before we were done with the Anderson exhibit, we had started talking about his state bird book project. My features tended heavy on poetic phrase and light on science. I don’t know if Doug approved of them in an ornithological way, but he knew I was interested in birds and nature, and especially that I could write. That is, he saw potential in me as a collaborator on what became Arkansas Birds (1986).

Looking over the 30+ years of friendship, I can see that what happened between Doug and I over the Anderson show has been repeated with others. He has seen in many a rough-hewn graduate student potential others couldn’t see; he provided opportunity for potential to flower. Off campus, he has encouraged the public to become involved in ornithology. Consider his role in founding Arkansas Audubon Society. As president of Wilson Ornithological Society, he encouraged networks between professional and non-professional bird enthusiasts. He helped found and then helped resuscitate Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society.

I could go on here, but … Happy Birthday, Doug. Once the beers and cake are downed, there’s more work to do. We are glad at your being freshly minted at 85 and we look forward to sharing with you the work ahead.

Diana fritillary on butterfly milkweed on June 21, 2010 CATRO_Title_03_0...

DSCN7073Clasping leaf milkweed SEED.AVI

Centerton Fish Hatchery next stop on Audubon tour list for August 14, 2010

The next Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip is to Charlie Craig State Fish Hatchery at Centerton in Benton County. Date: Saturday, August 14, 2010. Time: 8 AM. Hatchery meeting place: parking area adjacent the picnic shelter. Everyone and all skill levels welcome. You do not have to be a member to participate. You can stay as long as you like & go home when you are ready. There is no on-site bathroom, but there is a McDonalds a mile away in Centerton. Walking will be on grassy mowed lawn or 2 track road. 

CARPOOL FROM FAYETTEVILLE: Meet Joe Neal at 7 AM (sharp!) in the Packrat Outdoor Center parking lot, 209 W. Sunbridge Drive. We’ll clump into as few cars as possible.

The hatchery is designated by National Audubon as an Important Bird Area for good reason. Day in & day out, season after season, the hatchery is interesting & sometimes stunning in terms of its bird life. The southward fall migration of sandpipers and other shorebirds will be well underway by August 14. Birds that nested in Alaska, Canada, & across the Arctic tundra will be passing through. Depending on weather and quality of mudflat habitat on the 14th, we can expect to see 6-8 shorebird species and under very good conditions, this could range up to double that. 

You can see shorebirds anywhere in the state at this time, but the hatchery is special because they can often be seen at close range. If folks who regularly use spotting scopes turn out for this trip, anyone who is interested in an eyeball-to-eyeball look at these fascinating birds should have a memorable day. And, of course, there are many other bird species present at the hatchery – we’ll look at ‘em all.

For more information and directions to the hatchery, check out the NWAAS website here:
http://www.nwarkaudubon.org/id17.html

The society’s web site also has a complete list of dates and places for field trips to the end of 2010.

To explore all of the bird data associated with 25 years of intense birding at the hatchery, check out “ebird”. In your search engine, type ebird, select view and explore data, select bar charts, select Arkansas and Hot spots in Arkansas. On the drop list of Arkansas hot spots, select Charlie Craig State Fish Hatchery (Centerton), then select continue. The bar chart will give you good ideas about what you can expect for the day.

Photos from 2007 and 2010 tours of Chesney Prairie available at this link.

Audubon Arkansas offers meeting in Little Rock with people representing Gulf Coast victims

Clean Energy Works is hosting the Gulf Voices Fly-Out in order to share the personal stories of the devastating effects of the Deepwater oil disaster with communities and members of the press across the country. Four Gulf Coast residents directly affected by the disaster will be traveling to Arkansasfor approximately 24 hours in order to educate the people in the state about the effects of the oil disaster on business, health and ecosystems. The public is encouraged to attend. The disaster in the Gulf affects real people whose stories resonate across the country. These Gulf Coast residents are seeing firsthand how America’s dependence on oil and other fossil fuels hurts our economy, our environment and their unique way of life in the Gulf. The worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history is happening in our backyards. The environmental, economic and human costs that come with our continued dependence on dirty fossil fuels is too high for our communities to bear any longer. What: A roundtable discussion and media availability. When: Thursday, July 15th at 11:00 AM Where: The Oyster Bar 3003 West Markham Street Little Rock, AR 72205-5853  Who: Rick Roberts, Executive Director, Snook Foundation (Sarasota, FL) Linda Hawkins, Health Care Professional (ret.) (Abita Springs, LA) Linda Schuch, Owner, Island Seafood Market (St. Petersburg, FL) Joe Morris Doss, Bishop, Episcopal Church (New Orleans, LA) Help us to spread the word!  Tell-a-friend! If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for the Audubon Action Center.

Joe Neal's report on today's Audubon-sponsored field trip to Chesney Prairie with a few photos linked

Somewhere in my mind I have this message that says, “July field trips don’t work out. Waste of time,” etc. The turn-out for this morning’s Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip was 35-40 folks, which makes it one of the best ones EVER in terms of numbers & I would argue, quality, too.
Chesney Prairie and Stump Prairie photos from today at bottom of old Chesney Prairie set of photos on Flickr from 2007.
OK – it is cooler than usual, we have had some rain, and there was cloud cover with a gentle south wind. Can’t do better than that at mid-summer. Plus, Joe Woolbright and his helpers at Ozark Ecological Restoration, Inc. invested a lot of time and effort in mowing the trail system established a few years ago. What that means is, you can walk a grassy, flowery prairie without undue exposure to ticks & chiggers. There aren’t a lot of places like that, anywhere. Advertising that fact probably encouraged some to come out. Our local National Public Radio affiliate, KUAF, also aired free announcements.

Among the 35-40, there was an 11-month girl and several folks in their 70s. There were local folks and out-of-towners. Some had NEVER been on an “official” bird walk or visited a natural, unplowed prairie in full bloom. There was a blind woman – who enjoyed birding by ear -- and several virtually deaf. There were also very experienced birders, butterfliers, photographers, botanists, etc. 
Folks wanted to know how long we would be out: as long as they wanted to be. How far would we walk: as far as they wanted. Could they walk slow: everyone sets their own pace. Is talking OK, or since it is Sunday, did they have to be church quiet: no. Also, Chesney is always open for a visit.

It took only about 15 minutes for the string of folks headed out into the prairie to bunch around different paces & interests. The birders got out ahead and racked up Painted Buntings (male, female, young-of-the-year), Red-headed woodpecker, Orchard Oriole, etc. They naturally bunched around Mike Mlodinow and Joanie Patterson.

A solid knot formed around Joe Woolbright, especially evident as the trail wound around a stunning patch of blazing stars attendant by an array of appreciative butterflies. Woolbright explained how prairie management worked and Paige & Mary Bess Mulhollan filled right in with specifics on the butterflies. Great masses of ashy sunflowers are blooming and we kept getting over-flights of American Goldfinches probably impatient for the seeds to ripen.

Two photographers, David Oakley & Jacque Brown, disappeared in the tall Big Bluestem grass in search of a trophy plant – I think some kind of Silphium. Lisa Sharp, owner of Nightbird Books (where we have had recent NWAAS meetings) came with her husband. Lisa wanted to experience the prairie. Her husband is a “walker” who circumnavigated Chesney’s trail system, then caught up with us to take in the flora & fauna. 

I completely lost track of most of the field trip, mainly because I kept getting & sharing stunning spotting scope views of singing Dickcissels with folks who didn’t have binoculars or hadn’t been birding much. 

Andrew Scaboo got a digiscoped Painted Bunting image. BUT, equally wonderful, we all learned that he has received a post-doctoral fellowship at UA-Fayetteville and will be around northwest Arkansas longer. Since he had finished his PHD, we assumed we would lose him – a good companion on a field trip and a frequent observer at Woolsey Wet Prairie. He wants to go on to a teaching job eventually.

Finally, did I forget: towering Big Bluestem Grass, swaths of Switch Grass, Prairie Cord Grass in flower along the headwaters of Sager Creek, colorful butterflies on blooming buttonbush, a roiling & ever-changing caravan of juicy summer clouds, Loggerhead Shrike on the fence.

Photos from Saturday night Joe Neal lecture at Nightbird Books at bottom of old Flckr site of photos of Conservation groups and people collected over three or four years. Please scroll down to view and use tools (actions choice) to ENLARGE view.

Joe Woolbright will be the star of the show starting 8 a.m. today at Chesney Prairie just northeast of Siloam Springs: Joe Wooldbright was at Joe Neal's lecture at Nightbird (at left in photo) and Joe Neal (background at left) and even the UA's oldest active professor, Doug James (seated in center background in photo below), are expected on the Audubon Tour of Chesney Prairie: For a sample of photos from Chesney Prairie three years ago, please use live link below.

Please click on images to ENLARGE.
Photos from Joe Neal's lecture at Nightbird Books on July 10, 2010
For directions to Chesney Prairie, please see page on Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission site.

Chesney Prairie photos

This is an update on our upcoming the field trip to Chesney Prairie Natural Area near Siloam Springs (Sunday, July 11, meet 8 AM). The field trip at Chesney is an opportunity to visit a native Tallgrass Prairie in FULL BLOOM, walking through the area on a mowed trail--with many birds, of course. EVERYONE is welcome: you do not need to be a member of Audubon to participate. For details, call Joe Neal 479-521-1858.

Big weekend July 10-11 for local Audubon members but nonmember public welcome free of charge

This is an update on our upcoming gathering at Nightbird Books in Fayetteville from 7 to 8:30 PM Saturday, July 10, 2010, and the field trip to Chesney Prairie Natural Area near Siloam Springs (Sunday, July 11, meet 8 AM). The NWAAS “meeting” will last about 1-2 minutes; the main part of the evening is a lecture by Joe Neal with photographs of birds from the western U.S. that have been documented in Arkansas. The field trip at Chesney is an opportunity to visit a native Tallgrass Prairie in FULL BLOOM, walking through the area on a mowed trail--with many birds, of course. EVERYONE is welcome for both events; you do not need to be a member to participate. For details, call Joe Neal 479-521-1858.

Audubon invites public to participate in Hands across the Sand, an event to help protect the coast from oil

To read the full message, please click on Hands Across The Sand to go to the Audubon Web page that explains the plan.

Hands Across the Sand A Nationwide Event to Protect Our Coast from Oil Join us on June 26th to deliver a clear message that America wants Clean Energy Now! The disaster in the Gulf reminds us every day of the true price we pay for oil. On June 26th join a national day of action calling on President Obama to lead us to a clean energy future. In over 500 communities across the globe we'll join hands at 11am to create a line in the sand against offshore drilling. We'll bear witness to the ongoing tragegy in the Gulf and the communities, habitat and wildlife that have been devastated by this spill. Most importantly, we will call on our leaders to move our country beyond oil. If not now, when? For more information or to find an event in your community, go to HandsAcrosstheSand.org Help us to spread the word!  Tell-a-friend!

John Rule to read from his own poetry today at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, 2010, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. TONIGHT!

Please click on image to enlarge to read introductory page and half of book's first poem.

This buckeye butterfly was on nonnative butterfly bush in the peace-circle portion of the World Peace Wetland Prairie on June 11, 2010. You may be able to see it and many other pollinators Saturday June 12, 2010, at some of the 8 private gardens on the OMNI Tour of Peace Gardens

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Buddleia with
Precis coenea nectaring on it on June 11, 2010, at World Peace Wetland Prairie in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
For interactive map and information about 2010 OMNI Peace Garden Tour, please see OMNI Peace Gardens blog.

'New report shows aquatic life declines at early stages of urban development'

'New report shows aquatic life declines at early stages of urban development'