IOU spring meeting
Dennis Thompson
The IOU 2017 spring meeting will be held in Chariton on May 5-7. We’re doing it a bit differently this time by partnering with the Lucas County tourism board for their inaugural Lucas County Birding Festival. It will be open to the public, but the format will similar to our regular IOU meetings. We’ll have field trips in the mornings and several presentations and workshops on Saturday afternoon, including a Trumpeter Swan release. There will a banquet Saturday evening with a keynote speaker. Our speaker this year is Heather Sanders from Ankeny. She participated in an EarthWatch expedition last summer to study Flammulated Owls in northern Utah. It should be a fun and informative program.
Lucas County has the second highest percentage of public land in Iowa and has two of Iowa’s Bird Conservation Areas (BCA’s) – Stephens Forest and 1000 Acre Forest. The forests and grasslands host the typical southern Iowa specialties, including Northern Bobwhite, Northern Mockingbird and several resident warblers. While not extensive, there are several nice wetlands in the county. As always, who knows what spring migration will bring. We’ll also offer a night outing for Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow. There’s a good chance for staked-out Barn Owl nests.
Attached is an infographic that outlines the details (as of now) about the festival. One difference from previous IOU meetings is that registration for the festival will be handled through the Lucas County Tourism Board site instead of the IOU webpage. The registration process is still being finalized, but once it’s completed I will have links to the site on the IOU website under the Next Meeting tab. As you can see, registration costs are quite reasonable at $10/Individual, $15/couple, $20/family and $5/student.
Mark your calendars and plan to join us for a fun and birdy weekend in Lucas County. Registration will be available soon. I’ll be sending out more information as it becomes available, but please contact me if you have any questions. Hope to see you in Chariton.
Denny Thompson
IOU Vice-president
Paul Hertzel
now, and I haven't had any comments. I guess that's a good sign, but
if it's because you didn't know to check, please do so and let me
know if there are errors. To visit the list pages, go to
http://iowabirds.org/ and follow the drop down menu under Iowa's
Birds to the IOU Listing Report. There are three distinct pages.
In my opinion, the details of Paul Roisen's amazing year, alone, are
worth a visit. Other notable events:
* Jim Fuller added bird #214 to his gold standard Johnson County yard list.
* Linda Rudolph held her position of first place in the Top Birder
ranking for the second year in a row
* The November Big Day record of 87, a 13-year-old record, was broken
by Jeff Livingston and Nathan Miller
* Jay Gilliam found 205 species. . . on bicycle
* Ray Cummins did not find a new bird in Appanoose County so his
total remains at 299 in the county.
* Rita Goranson caught me in Floyd County, a county I have been
trying to hide from the birding community.
Paul Hertzel
Mason City