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Director's Message
Amy Weeks
Summer is winding down and cooler temperatures are on the way. It’s the perfect time to get outdoors and enjoy one of the many activities St. Louis Audubon Society (SLAS) has planned.
Our beginner bird walks and field trips visit a wide variety of parks, refuges, and conservation areas, all within 50 miles of the St. Louis City limits. You can learn more about these great birding sites by visiting our website- St. Louis Area Birding Hotspots. Upcoming bird walks and field trips are listed at the end of this newsletter along with a link to register. No need to worry about registering for one far in advance, we’ll send you a pre-trip reminder with important information the day before your event.
The Bring Conservation Home Expo is a fall favorite so mark your calendars for Sunday, September 22 from 10 am to 2 pm. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to visit with our knowledgeable staff, Dan and Shannon, learn about new resources and opportunities, and shop with our vendors!
Peak fall migration is right around the corner and that means our dedicated BirdSafeSTL volunteers will be busy conducting surveys in downtown St. Louis and Clayton. You can learn more about the program, or join the effort, by contacting Matt, our new Urban Conservation Specialist. If you don’t have time to assist with the surveys, that’s okay. You can still help migrating birds by taking a few simple actions at your own home!
Keep an eagle eye out for SLAS at the Passport to Clean Water event on Saturday, August 24 from 11 am to 2 pm. We’ll have an interactive table with information, displays, and volunteers to keep you updated on what’s going on with SLAS. If you'd like to help us out please check out the volunteer opportunities below.
And, we'd like to encourage you to gather all your friends because SLAS is hosting a Trivia Night on November 2. This fundraising event will feature a silent auction, mulligans, 50/50 raffle, heads or tails, and a wine pull. Registration will be opening soon so get ready to show off all your trivia talon-ts!
It’s a fun time of year so we hope to see you out and about very soon!
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Ornithological forecast, August 2024
Bill Rowe
In terms of bird life, and the rest of nature too, August begins as late summer and ends as early
fall. The most obvious sign of migration is the presence of shorebirds, which leave their Arctic
breeding grounds as fast as they can and begin showing up here in early July; by now they are around in force if you can locate their shallow-water-and-mud habitat. This can happen when a park or a refuge draws down the water level of a wetland for a while, as at the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge in Calhoun County, IL, where the drawdown of Swan Lake may invite thousands of Pectoral Sandpipers and a variety of other shorebirds to linger and feed—or it can happen when there is flooding that leaves pools and sloughs of water behind that dry up only gradually. Other water-related birds, especially terns, may be coming through as well, and herons and egrets may be here in their peak numbers, resulting from a sort of reverse migration that brings them here from breeding grounds farther south, to stay a month or two. By mid-August, we may see some early-migrating passerines—certain flycatchers, for instance—and this will accelerate by the end of the month to include warblers, vireos, thrushes, etc., in the vanguard of their big movement to the neotropics. Meanwhile, the resident nesting birds have mostly fledged their young, and the level of singing has gone down—although this varies a lot by species, and some birds such as Dickcissels, Indigo Buntings, Common Yellowthroats, and vireos are still performing well and may continue into September.
Photo: Caspian Tern
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At Home Ecology, Curated Conservation
August 2024
Shannon Callahan
We are well into the dog days of summer. We have experienced extreme heat and powerful storms in the last few weeks. Maybe, like me, you have noticed your neighbors dutifully setting out sprinklers to water their lawns and smile as you appreciate your hardy native garden.
For those with warm-season buffalo grass lawns, this is your time to shine! By August, we are transitioning to late summer blooms. Many silphiums such as prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) and compass plant (Silphium laciniatum) are on full display, it is easy to spot their tall distinctive stalks full of large yellow flowers while driving down the highway.
If you are lucky, you may see hummingbirds zooming around your garden, especially from those red and orange blooms such as cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). Remember to keep an eye on new plantings and help them along with supplemental waterings if needed while they establish root systems.
As spent flowers turn to seed, be sure to leave some for hungry birds in the area. Consider spreading a portion of those seeds in thin or bare areas over the upcoming months. Doing so insures that the seeds can properly stratify over winter, a process that many seeds require before germinating in the spring. For anyone thinking about fall planting, August is the perfect time to start planning!
Photo: Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Cardinal flower
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ST LOUIS AUDUBON BIRDING & NATURE TOURS FOR 2025
Just a few spots remain!
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Barred Antshrike
Photo Credit: Naturalist Journeys
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Tanager Rainforest Lodge
Photo Credit: Naturalist Journeys
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Keel-billed Toucan
Photo Credit: Naturalist Journeys
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Once again, we are partnering with Naturalist Journeys for our 2025 tours. These are open to all members of St. Louis Audubon, and we expect them to fill rapidly – so if you are interested, please act, per the instructions for each tour.
I. BELIZE: Three Great Lodges February 3-13
This trip is an introduction to the fascinating small country of Belize and its wide range of tropical birds and other wildlife. With trip host Bill Rowe and the expert guides provided by each of the three lodges where we stay (for four, two, and four nights, respectively), you’ll enjoy the natural world that Belize offers in abundance. Here are details:
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
This trip will be an introduction to Alaskan birdlife, covering several of the best parts of the state: Nome and the Seward Peninsula; Anchorage and environs; and the upper Kenai Peninsula with a day’s boat trip out of Seward. Pat Lueders and Bill Rowe will be your co-leaders. A link to the full itinerary will be available next week; meanwhile, we can send it in document form on request.
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.
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SAVE THE DATE FOR TRIVIA NIGHT! | |
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GET YOUR FLOCK TOGETHER - REGISTRATION OPENS SOON!
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. The best selling items, however, are experiences, like sporting event tickets, weekend get-a-ways, Broadway shows, and more! We greatly appreciate your contributions and the support for our local wildlife!
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AUGUST VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Please consider volunteering for one of the following events. You can sign up by clicking on each registration link or, click on the event titles to learn more about these opportunities.
Pollinator Garden Maintenance
Location: Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park
Date: Saturday, August 17
Time: 8:30 am - noon
*Possible activities include removing unwanted plants, planting new plants, and other general maintenance.
Register Here
Passport to Clean Water
Location: 2150 Marshall Rd, Kirkwood, MO 63122
Date: Saturday, August 24
Event Time: 11 am - 2 pm
SLAS Volunteer Shifts: 10:30 am - 12:30 pm; 12:30 - 2:30 pm
*Need 3 people per shift for a total of 6 volunteers. The first and last shift will be responsible for set-up and tear down of our table.
Register Here
If you haven't volunteered on behalf of SLAS yet, that's okay! We will provide you with all of the necessary information and materials you will need.
Participation in community events is a great way for SLAS to share the many ways we impact the community and will help to build relationships with new people. And, they are fun!
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Join others who share your interests in nature, birds and wildlife!
Click on the link to register.
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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.
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ST. LOUIS AUDUBON SOCIETY BOARD MEETINGS
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 8
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Please Note: Some Board meetings will be held in person and some by Zoom. If you have an interest in joining our volunteer Board, please contact one of the officers or staff members. | |
Officers & Staff
Ellen Harmon, President
Michael Meredith, VP Conservation
Stephanie Schroeder, VP Education
Gail Saxton, Secretary
Nick Eaton, Treasurer
Amy Weeks, Executive Director
Dan Pearson, Director, BCH
dan@stlouisaudubon.org
Shannon Callahan, Conservation Ecologist, BCH
Matt Barton, Urban Conservation Specialist
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