Prodigy Seen Through Rufous Colored Bins

One of the primary missions of the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society is to reach out to discover all those people in the general population who have more than a passing interest in birds, and then to provide opportunities to foster their avian interest. This is particularly challenging when the person with the birding interest is still living in his/her parents' nest. But, discovering and investing in these young people is the most rewarding of all of our Greater Ozarks Audubon ventures, and it can pay big dividends in education and conservation as the years pass and these young people become adults, expanding their geographic ranges to reach into troubled ecosystems and pursue ecological solutions around the globe.

David Ringer and N8 Swick

During the holiday season, I had the privilege of birding with two of the finest that GOAS has nurtured, David Ringer and Nathan Swick. Even though we only joined for a brief moment in the living room of the gracious host's home pursuing a winged winter resident in Ozark, it was delightful to overhear the conversation and bask in the warmth of the bird friendly environs. How fitting that the accidental lingering of a tiny Rufous Hummingbird should provide the impetus for our paths to cross once again! It was another milepost forged by years of local relationships centered around small winged jewels of adaptation.

photo taken by Marvin DeJong

David Ringer, of Search and Serendipity and Nathan Swick, of The Drinking Bird were both GOAS prodigies as teen birders. They honed their identification skills in the field and their communication skills on the Internet to adapt to a changing technological climate and carve out unique niches in the blogosphere. Their blogs are both informative, innovative, and dedicated to blazing a trail into the frontiers of birding, conservation, and ecotourism.

Be sure to follow their blogs in 2010. They both will be chalk full of birding adventures, ecological insight, and just plain fun!

Although they were once our young, inquisitive kids in the club, as adults they have exceeded our expectations and soared to new heights, both becoming conservation leaders in a world starving for their intelligence, creativity, and new ideas for sustainable living on Earth. The birds, the birders, and the "village" will be stronger for what they have to offer. We at GOAS are simply proud to watch them dip and soar on the warm winds of change.

Green Leadership Academy: The GLADE Model

How long has it been since I posted to Conservation Conversations? Sure, a new grandson's arrival in North Carolina prompted a brief and boastful offering from me. As a result, life will never be the same over at The Drinking Bird, but it has clearly changed for the better, and hope springs anew.

Today I bask in the afterglow of highly successful Greater Ozarks Audubon Society effort in environmental education. GLADE came to us last fall as a result of a TogetherGreen innovation grant award. Funded by Toyota Motors and administered by the National Audubon Society, our TogetherGreen grant award was one of only 41 nationwide, and opportunity knocked loudly on the GOAS door.

A perfect storm of sorts brought an eclectic and insightful group of educators together for the project. Lisa Berger, local Audubon activist and visionary, sat with Dr. Janice Greene, Missouri State University Biology Professor specializing in evaluation of science education programs, in a local Panera restaurant and talked about possibilities, forming the framework for a bird camp. I had recently retired from full time teaching and was actively seeking opportunities to increase my role in the conservation movement. When I received an offer from Lisa to direct the new project, I remember replying immediately, "Yes, Yes, Yes", as a wave of gratitude swept over me. Celeste Prussia, manager of the Missouri State Bull Shoals Field Station in Drury-Mincy Conservation Area, joined the team with her exuberant spirit and her expertise in ecological and sustainability issues.

And so our camp plans began. Long a lover of acronyms, I offered up GLADE, Green Leadership Academy for Diverse Ecosystems. It seemed right for our project as it was to be set in the White River Glades and Woodland Important Bird Area (IBA), a region that was once inhabited by Swainson's Warbler and Bachman's Sparrow. Our first mission was evident: to increase biodiversity in hopes of bringing Swainson's Warbler and Bachman's Sparrow, along with other Giant Cane inhabiting species back in sustainable numbers.

In addition, we recruited highly intelligent young conservationists into an academically rigorous, hands on experience in conservation biology. Sixteen high schoolers, pre-screened by area biology teachers, were selected from many highly qualified youth applicants. Experts in the biological field, conservation professionals, and graduate students were brought in daily to expose the students to scientific research, to share their knowledge and insight with the participants, and to illustrate how the scientific method is used to shape public policy in conservation. Our second mission fell into place: to create a new generation of environmental leaders, and closely tie them to the Ozarks bioregional network of "green partners".

Coming from a background in gifted education, I assembled an initiative game based protocol, teaching leadership from the bottom up, and using natural analogies (a simplified example, trees grow strong foundations and reach for the sky, humans should do this, too) to complement the intensive field biology curriculum. We aimed to teach grass roots leadership skills to the young adults: every person has a niche, everyone is a leader, one's role is essential in group problem solving, the challenge is to discern one's role and speak the truth when necessary. Natural extroverts were taught to listen to nature, and to their peers for solutions to challenges presented. Natural introverts were taught that even very small voices, often insightful, hold the key to solutions.

And so the stage was set. The students arrived. More on that tomorrow. I promise.

RAVEing about GOAS

Valley Water Mill Pond

My son and I became involved with the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society (GOAS) in the early to mid 1990's. We have come to know the individuals involved in our Audubon chapter as a group of movers and shakers unlike any other in the Springfield environmental scene. These people are leaders in the community, and coalition formation has always been at the top of the club's priorities, second only to the birds of our region.The history of GOAS is relayed to current members through oral traditions. Names like Nathan Fay, Leonard Confer, Rebecca Matthews, Betty Dyer, Kay Johnson, Betty Johnson, Jan Horton, Dorothy Thurman, Sue Schuble, Charley Burwick, Dave Catlin, and Lisa Berger echo from the past and shout into the future.



A new page has turned in the tradition of "moving and shaking" for GOAS, and this page emcompasses a much wider radius of influence, and thus, leads us into new frontiers of discovery. Things started moving fast when the Toyota Corporation donated $20 million over the next 5 years to the National Audubon Society for use on "green" ventures. The win-win collaboration has resulted in the TogetherGreen project. This project is now awarding grant money to innovative groups and chapters that organize green partnerships to educate and shape the public's view of conservation and bird ecology.

Thanks to the lightning quick reactions of Charley Burwick, Lisa Berger, and Dr. Janice Greene, our local chapter has received two grants, one for Green Volunteer Days and the other for Green Innovation Projects. Today, I'll address our $7000 Volunteer Days grant. More later on the cool innovation grant!

The volunteer grant requires that GOAS organize and coordinate six volunteer work days in the coming year. We have partnered with Springfield Parks and Recreation to carry out our projects.The first Volunteer Day will occur this Saturday, September 20, at the Valley Water Mill Park, the home of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and the future LEED certified Watershed Education Center.Our green partners include the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, who will host the many groups and the Springfield Plateau Master Naturalists, who, along with GOAS, will coordinate the volunteers. The local Sierra Club will work in the Rain Garden, while the Ozarks Greenways Project will work on linear parks and trails in the area. All participants will receive a free T-shirt, will be assigned to one of the many groups of workers for the morning, and will join with others for a combined lunch.To me, GOAS, has the most fun project for the day. Of course, as a child and adult, I've always been thrilled when I ran into a snake, frog, toad, lizard, or other animal along the way. So, for all of those volunteers so inclined, we are conducting a R.A.V.E., Rapid Assessment Visual Exploration, which will provide us with a four hour plant and animal inventory, a mini-BioBlitz. Teams formed will inventory all birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, insects, aquatic species, herbaceous plants, and trees/shrubs at Valley Water Mill Park in that four hour window. Many university and MDC experts are acting as team leaders for each group.

Videographers will be brought in to make a 3-4 minute video of our day, and our event will serve as an example to others with TogetherGreen projects awaiting completion.Here's me, looking forward to a grand Volunteer Day. Hope this weather holds!

Of course, I'll have a follow up entry soon.

Busiek Racers

This morning 17 GOAS birders and guests "raced" down to Busiek State Forest, a Missouri Department of Conservation Public Use Area 15 miles south of Springfield, Missouri. We were eager to greet fall migrants, and the cool, crisp morning held promise. The weather was ideal for humans, as we were met by many in the parking lot of the conservation area, including a group of cross-country "racers" getting in an early weekend practice.

The weather apparently proved to be less than ideal for birds as our fall migrant expectations exceeded our observations. However, it was great to be out in the field again with a great group of people. We successfully kicked off the fall field trip season, and it should be a season full of terrific sightings. On this morning, however, the birds took a second seat.

Where birds were concerned White eyed Vireos ruled the day at Busiek as we heard and saw over 20. but the true highlight for me was not avian, but reptilian. As others' eyes were on the sunlit edge of the forest, scanning for Nashville and Palm Warblers, my sights turned to a gray streak in the grasses. There I spotted this beautiful Blue Racer.

Many times in the past I've tried unsuccessfully to catch these speedsters, but today was the day that Nature sent me favorable conditions. The snake's metabolism had been slowed considerably by unseasonable overnight lows. I slowed its progress with my foot, and gently lifted it out of the grasses. Lisa, a warbler expert, quickly quipped, "Look, it's just like a Nashville." And indeed it was, its body transitioning from gray to blue-green to bright green to yellow. Its moist skin glistened in the morning sun.

Showing no signs of aggression, the cold blooded creature clung to the fingers of my hand, content to stay and to gather some of my inner warmth. For a moment I wanted to take it to my classroom to educate young people of the beauty and grace of this misunderstood reptile, but Sue reminded me of my conservation ethic, that of "enjoy, then release". So, I released this "racer" back to its grassy domain, where rather than speed away, it paused in the morning sun, long enough to let me capture its memory. I post it here, and give thanks for another day when Nature revealed her incredible beauty up close and personal.