Announcements

Audubon in the Schools: Year-end Summary Numbers, Thank You Booth Volunteers, Swift Event Recap and Thanks

Audubon in the Schools: Year-end Summary Numbers—From the 2018 fall term through the 2019 spring term, our AITS team gave 44 presentations in 19 schools to a total of 1075 students. Volunteers donated 49 hours of their time to this satisfying and exciting effort. AITS core group of volunteer instructors were: Barb Pope, Kathy Wilson, Rose Britton, and Marty Merrill. Assistants involved were: Janet Barnes, Pam Sheridan, Larue Rodgers, Sue Markley, Laurie Costa, Jessica Lamotte, and Joe Britton.

Additionally, on May 22, Barb Pope, Rose Britton, and Marty Merrill taught a beginning birdwatching session at an Outdoor School to 35 students! An end of year review meeting was held on June 14th. We have high hopes we can continue the positive momentum into the next school year!

Each member of the AITS team deserves a big thank you!

Thank You Booth Volunteers—LCAS booth volunteers answered the call once again at the Mt. Pisgah Wildflower and Music Festival on May 19 and at the opening of an exhibit on Peregrine Falcons at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History (MNCH) on June 1 and 2.

Volunteers at the Wildflower Festival included Connie Berglund, Hilary Dearborn, Ron Renchler, and Susanne Twight-Alexander. Each year, the festival attracts hundreds of people who view specimens of more than 300 wildflower species that grace the landscape in Oregon throughout the year. Other attractions at the festival include a selection of native plants for purchase, local food vendors, and musical entertainment throughout the day.

The MNCH exhibit, entitled “Peregrine Falcon: From Endangered Species to Urban Bird,” is a touring exhibit from the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota. The exhibit runs through September 29, 2019. At its table on the weekend celebrating the opening of the exhibit, LCAS offered displays of bird nests and eggs, along with an assortment of bird-related handouts and other material. Dolly Marshall, Janie Thomas, Nancy Radius, Ron Renchler, Debbie Schlenoff, and Maeve Sowles staffed the table during the weekend. 

The opening weekend of the Peregrine exhibit at MNCH also featured volunteers from LCAS’s Audubon in the Schools program. They offered a variety of hands-on, bird-related kids’ activities to the younger crowd attending the exhibit opening. Special thanks go to Rose Britton, Jessica Lamotte, and Kathy Wilson for their help in organizing and offering this LCAS educational outreach opportunity to museum-goers.

—Ron Renchler

Swift Event recap and Thanks to Volunteers–Lane Audubon held the annual spring Vaux’s Swift event on April 19th at the UO’s Agate Hall chimney. More than 100 people attended and watched about 540 swifts enter the chimney. Unfortunately it started raining about the time we all showed up! We cannot predict the weather when we make plans to watch birds, but at least the people and the birds showed up.

Thanks to our volunteers who helped answer questions and showed their enthusiasm for this fun event: Ron Renchler, Debbie Schlenoff, Rachael Friese, Hilary Dearborn, Dick Lamster, and Maeve Sowles

Thanks too, to Dick Lamster for his presentation, “Thinking Inside the Box: Cavity Nesting Birds,” at the Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council’s Science Pub event on April 23rd in Cottage Grove. Ninety people were there! He provided trivia questions to get the crowd’s attention, passed out LCAS handouts, and answered many questions after the talk. Thanks to Dick for his outreach efforts on behalf of Lane Audubon!