Mark your calendars for the following upcoming events.
9/22/2019
CyHawk Big Day
This is our annual friendly competition with our Hawkeye friends of Iowa City Bird Club. 1) Form a team of at least two people. 2) Register your team with Eric Ollie. 3) Go birding within the state of Iowa in the 24-hour period of the competition (9/22). 4) Report what you found. We are the reigning trophy holders. Let's keep it! Join in to support BBAS and the Cyclones!
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10/17/2019
Matt Wetrich, Wolf Oesterreich, Eric Ollie | Alaska: Fire and Ice
In July 2019, BBAS led a week-long birding and nature tour to the
wilds of Alaska. Through snow-capped mountains, glacier-filled
valleys, forests of spruce and aspen, marshes where the mountain
streams met the ocean, and on the open ocean itself, many birds,
mammals, insects, and wildflowers were found. Join us for a report
of our adventures, told through our pictures and our tales.
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10/19/2019
Loya's Little House B&B at Grandad's Farm
Over the last 40 years, Denise and Dean Biechler have transformed their rural Ames farm and residence into an ideal habitat for viewing wildlife. Positioned on the banks of the South Skunk River, just north of Soper's Mill, it will be an ideal place to search for migrating sparrows, finches, and raptors, as well as other migrants and resident birds. From their website: "Bird feeding stations, gardens, and water features attract a continuous supply of wildlife. Trails on Grandad's Farm and adjoining RiverRidge Farm provide birders and wildlife lovers an opportunity to observe a variety of wildlife and habitats while hiking the farms' trails. Trails consist of prairie, wetland, and woodland habitats and include a monitored bluebird trail."...... The group will assemble at the main shelter and parking lot on the northeast corner of Ada Hayden Heritage Park at 8:00 AM, where we will condense the group into as few vehicles as possible, due to limited parking. We will then caravan to Grandad's farm and bird the trails until around 11:00 AM.
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11/21/2019
Mark Bowman, Mike Havlik | American Kestrel Conservation
There will be four topics regarding American Kestrels: 1) their biology,
2) Dallas County Conservation Board’s conservation efforts, 3)
the American Kestrel Partnership, and 4) the Genoscape Project
(“Full Cycle Phenology”). Afterward, we will invite audience input
about advancing conservation efforts for this species.
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11/23/2019
Saylorville Reservoir Area
Meet the group at the Saylorville Lake Visitor Center by 8:00 AM. Waterfowl should hopefully be abundant on the lake. We will see what ducks, geese, swans, or maybe even scoters we can find, along with many possible passerine species.
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12/12/2019
Christmas Meeting
Details will be announced in the next newsletter. The Story County
Conservation Center is not available this year.
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