Seven Tulsa Audubon members met four Indian Nations Audubon members at Spavinaw State Park for a day of birds and wild flowers. After birding around the park and vicinity, we headed for the main objective; the City of Tulsa property between Lakes Spavinaw and Eucha, which has been largely untouched for 100 years.Migrating birds were scarce, but we did find Louisiana Waterthrushes, Northern Parula, and Yellow-throated Warbler. The Ozark wildflowers were blooming nicely, and we saw Woodland Phlox, Rue Anemone, Dutchman's Breeches, Bloodroot, Trout Lillies, Yellow and Blue Violets, Cutleaved Toothwort, and others we could not identify. Both Spavinaw and Eucha Lakes still had Common Loons, and Eucha had an Osprey. After lunch in Jay, we went to the upper Eucha area for a while before heading home. There we found a rookery of Great Blue Herons, and observed them coming and going for a while. We lucked out on the weather, and while we finished with only 52 bird species, we all agreed it was a very good trip.Here is the complete bird list:Canada GooseGadwallScaup sp.Common LoonPied-billed GrebeDouble-crested CormorantAmerican White PelicanGreat Blue HeronBlack VultureTurkey VultureOspreyBald EagleRed-shouldered HawkRed-tailed HawkAmerican CootBonaparte's GullFranklin's GullEurasian Collared-DoveMourning DoveRed-bellied WoodpeckerDowny WoodpeckerHairy WoodpeckerNorthern FlickerPileated WoodpeckerEastern PhoebeScissor-tailed FlycatcherBlue JayAmerican CrowFish CrowBarn SwallowCarolina ChickadeeTufted TitmouseWhite-breasted NuthatchCarolina WrenBlue-gray GnatcatcherEastern BluebirdAmerican RobinNorthern MockingbirdEuropean StarlingLouisiana WaterthrushNorthern ParulaYellow-throated WarblerChipping SparrowSong SparrowWhite-throated SparrowNorthern CardinalRed-winged BlackbirdCommon GrackleHouse FinchAmerican GoldfinchHouse Sparrow
We'll be meeting Amy from Oxley there and she recommends we stay on the entrance road rather than walking down the flowline, which is very wet. She has been seeing them about half way up the road.
Woodcock Watch Etiquette: The birds are somewhat tolerant of people, but be sure to keep your voices down, so everyone can hear the peenting, and stay with the group. You are welcome to bring a camera, but know it will be dark and they are very difficult to photograph. Since we are with a group please do not use any flashes, and stay with the group and don't try to get closer. As with most wildlife photography, you are best off doing it alone without a crowd around.
Tulsa Audubon receives many requests throughout the year asking us to provide speakers for various community, civic and school groups. We love sharing our love of birds and nature with others, but being a volunteer group makes it difficult for us to accommodate all these requests.
To solve this problem, we have formed a new Outreach Committee. Donna Horton, retired Naturalist from Oxley Nature Center, is helping us develop various programs for both adults and students. She is also providing us training on how to do a presentation (a skill Donna excels at!) By having pre-prepared programs, and offering training, we can expand our pool of volunteers to present these programs.
While our presenters will all be TAS volunteers, there are costs to ramping up this program. We will need to purchase a projector, put together kits for the school presentations with hands-on items, storage boxes, a rolling cart and other mundane but necessary supplies. We are developing appropriate handouts for participants that need to be printed. Finally, we are also pursuing a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Salvage Permit, allowing TAS to possess and use educational wildlife specimens.
Our goal for this is $1,500.
Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support.
We already have a small pool of volunteers working with our new Outreach Committee, but we still need more help! If you would like to volunteer to present some of our prepared programs (along with appropriate training) please contact Julia Harris at 918-493-2388 or scotfiddle@aol.com.
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And the October meting, featuring Dr Mia Revels on Saw-whet Owls in Oklahoma:
https://youtu.be/D2Q8Dy2mAPM
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