Tale Feathers Newsletter

Ellen Harmon

Hello to all the supportive members and followers of St. Louis Audubon. I hope everyone is having a

lovely summer and enjoying the beautiful sights and sounds of Midwestern flora and fauna.

SLAS is happy to announce that Matt Barton has joined our team as the new Urban Conservation Specialist. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Matt has been involved in extensive public outreach regarding bird related causes and has a passion for educating people about birds and the challenges they face. Some of you may already know him as, prior to becoming an employee, Matt volunteers as co-leader in SLAS Beginner Bird Walks, helps conduct surveys for the BirdSafeSTL program, and volunteers at the Audubon Center at Riverlands helping with events and nest box monitoring. Additionally, Matt volunteers with the World Bird Sanctuary Rescue & Transport team and has participated in a number of bird counts for the Christmas Bird Count and Great Backyard Bird Count.

Please note that while there are no Bird Walks scheduled in July due to heat and fewer birds in the area, they will pick up again in early August. So be sure to check our calendar for upcoming events.

Earlier this spring, SLAS adopted a new Strategic Plan (you can read about it here). Some of the goals of the Plan include enhancing our committees and encouraging members to participate. Currently, we would love to hear from anyone with experience in event planning and fundraising who would like to get involved. Please contact our Executive Director, Amy Weeks, at amy@stlouisaudubon.org.

In May, my husband and I were fortunate to go on an expedition to Alaska with National Geographic. We participated in hiking, biking, kayak trips and Zodiac rides led by naturalists who are experts in local wildlife and plants. I was able to add numerous species to my Life List on e-Bird including the Mandarin duck (see photo above), Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Orange-crowned Warbler, Violet-green Swallow, Tufted Puffins, Kittlitz’s and Marbled Murrelets, Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gulls, Townsend’s Warblers and Surfbirds to name a few! Bryan Holliday, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor for National Geographic, guided some of our expeditions and was gracious enough to share some of his excellent photos with SLAS. Please note that his photos are copyrighted and are not to be copied, scanned, edited or shared without the written permission of Bryan and National Geographic. You can find more of his photos at Bryan Holliday Photography (www.bryanholliday.com).

Yellow-billed Loon

Tufted Puffin

Short-billed Gull

Red-breasted Sapsucker

My name is Matt Barton and I am excited to join SLAS as the new Urban Conservation Specialist. I grew up in the STL area and have lived in the city for almost 15 years. I have previously participated in education and citizen science projects with organizations such as SLAS, the Audubon Center at Riverlands, and MDC. In my free time I enjoy cycling, birding (favorite bird: green heron), and almost any other outdoor activity. I look forward to contributing my efforts to an organization that is already doing great work in our community.

Bill Rowe

July suffers from the stereotype of being dull. Yes, it’s often hot, and yes, many of the songbirds have cut back on their singing (or stopped), and yes, most bird groups are not migrating yet—but wait, let’s have another look. First and foremost, a lot of successful nesting has just occurred, and those young birds are out there now learning to fly and feed on their own and often still hanging around with their parents. Initially, they will be in their juvenile plumage, i.e., the first set of real feathers that they wear. They may or may not be properly illustrated in your field guides, and this can make them both challenging and interesting to look at and figure out. A juvenile Chipping Sparrow, for instance, doesn’t look like any other age of Chipping Sparrow; it is all streaked below. And while juvenile passerines don’t usually hold that plumage for very long—often just a matter of weeks—larger birds may hold it for a whole year. Juvenile Cooper’s Hawks are the brown, streaky version that we see in the fall and winter and on into the following spring and summer, until they finally molt into an adult plumage. Additionally, some birds may be roaming about in family groups and actually starting to move away from their nesting grounds and head south; Orchard Orioles are famous for being early migrants of this type. Shorebirds are already on their epic southbound migrations from the Arctic, starting with some individuals even the first week of July and building up in numbers with the passing weeks (these, by the way, will be nearly all adults, to be followed later by the juveniles). In the other direction, many wading birds may be filtering northward following their own nesting farther south, so that we see a buildup of herons and egrets, with the possibility of rarer species like ibises. So even though St. Louis Audubon field trips take an annual pause now—mostly because our leaders need a break and have their own vacation schedules—it is well worth the effort to go birding in July.

Everywhere you turn, the beauty of summer blooms is a sight to behold! Towering silphiums, such as cup plants (Silphium perfoliatum), prairie docks (Silphium terebinthinaceum), and compass plants (Silphium laciniatum), with their large yellow blooms, seem to reach into the sky over gardens and wild spaces alike. Keep an eye out on those milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) for monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) and on spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and sassafras (Sassafras albidum) for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars (Papilio troilus)! In the heat of the summer, be sure to keep new plantings watered. A layer of leaf mulch will help maintain cooler soil temperatures, slow evaporation, and give insects a soft place to land underneath canopy trees. Remember, by not deadheading spent blooms, you're leaving food for any hungry birds that may be visiting. It's a small act of kindness that makes a big difference in supporting local wildlife.

Barred Antshrike

Tanager Rainforest Lodge

Keel-billed Toucan

I.                    BELIZE: Three Great Lodges          February 3-13

The cost will be $4490 (double) or $5180 (single). Please note that there are only two single rooms available on this trip; other rooms are for double occupancy. Enrollment limit is 10. To sign up, please tell Amy Weeks (amy@stlouisaudubon.org) that you want to go, and she will put you on the list in the order in which she hears from you. You will soon receive instructions about enrolling through Naturalist Journeys.

II.                ALASKA: Birding and wildlife           June 13-22

The cost will be $6790 (double) and $7770 (single). If you would like to go on this trip, please send a message to amy@stlouisaudubon.org and she will put you on the list in the order in which she hears from you. She will then notify you as soon as enrollment opens. 

St. Louis Audubon Society (SLAS) is looking for items to include in a silent auction. If you have any new or unused items you would like to donate, please let Amy know at your earliest convenience. We are looking for unique art pieces, restaurant gift cards, bottles of wine, books, jewelry, household items or decor. We greatly appreciate your contributions and the support for our local wildlife!

October 5 - Forest Park

A beginner bird walk is a short (two hours or less) walk along a path or trail, either around a loop or out-and-back. It is designed, broadly, to help participants see as many birds as possible, and in particular to become familiar with a good variety of our commoner birds.

A field trip is an excursion to a natural area around St. Louis that is promising for finding birds and other wildlife. Generally it involves taking a walk at several points, noticing and recording as many birds as possible, and (as a goal for the leaders) helping all participants get a good look at each bird and learn something about it, such as its field marks, its song, its behavior. Some areas may be covered entirely by walking, while others may involve many short drives with stops in between to check fields, lakes, etc., often with the use of a scope. Field trips typically last a full morning, sometimes into the afternoon; the pre-trip announcement will let you know what length to expect and whether to bring a lunch along.