Flyer Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society Chartered by the National Audubon Society since 1974

Serving southeastern Wyoming Audubon members

Officers and Committee Chairs

Barb Gorges, President—307-634-0463,

bgorges4@msn.com

Dennis Saville, Vice president—307-632-

1602, dtsaville@gmail.com

Donna Kassel, Secretary—307-634-6481

Chuck Seniawski, Treasurer, 307-638-6519,

chuckski@aol.com

Jack Palma, Audubon Rockies liaison—

jpalma@hollandhart.com

Pete Arnold, Audubon Rockies liaison

Greg Johnson, Bird Compiler—307-634-

1056, gjohnson@west-inc.com

Conservation—Vacant

Belinda Moench, Education—638-8257

Field Trip—Vacant

Historian—Vacant

Mark Gorges, Newsletter, Habitat Hero

program—307-287-4953,

mgorges@juno.com

Art Anderson, Important Bird Areas—

307-638-1286

Wanda Manley, Member at Large

Membership—Vacant

Barb Gorges, Programs—307-634-0463,

bgorges4@msn.com

Lorie Chesnut, Hospitality, Website

The CHPAS Flyer is published monthly as a bene-

fit of chapter membership. Submissions are wel-

come. The current issue is available online at

www.CheyenneAudubon.wordpress.com.

Please become a CHPAS member—Send $12 and your name and mailing address to the chapter. Include your e-mail address to get your newsletter digitally to save re-sources and see the photos in color. All chap-ter memberships expire Aug. 31.

Cheyenne-High Plains Audubon Soc.

P.O. Box 2502

Cheyenne, WY 82003-2502 www.CheyenneAudubon.wordpress.com

Wyobirds e-list - Subscribe, post and/or read interesting sightings: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?A0=WYOBIRDS.

December 2017

Dec. 29—Cheyenne Country Club Survey 8 a.m.

Contact Chuck Seniawski if you wish to take part or be on his email notice list: 638-

6519, chuckski@aol.com. You are welcome to join the group, but please register with

Chuck the week before the survey so that we can arrange golf carts for the survey.

Jan. 16—Program: Wyoming Toad Reintroduction Progress. Learn about chang-

ing strategies for releasing toads and the captive breeding program.

Jan. 20—Field Trip to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge: We

will tour the visitors center and look for bison, prairie dogs, bald eagles, other raptors

and other winter wildlife.

Dec. 17—Guernsey/Ft. Laramie Christmas Bird Count

Cheyenne birders will meet at 7:30

a.m. at Lions Park, in the parking lot south

of the Children’s Village on South Lions

Park Drive.

Please let Mark Gorges, mgorg-

es@juno.com, 307-287-4953, know if you

plan to come in case there are any changes

in plans due to weather.

Bring water, lunch, warm clothes,

binoculars, and a scope if you have one, and

whatever you need for a day watching birds

at Grayrocks Reservoir, Guernsey State

Park, Ft. Laramie National Historic Site, the

Oregon Trail Ruts and Hartville, leaving for

Cheyenne about 4 p.m., depending on

weather or stopping for refreshments or

dinner.

Birding on your own or watching

your feeders? The center point of the 7.5

mile radius count circle is where Highway

26 crosses the Goshen County/Platte County

line. Please send in your results ASAP to

the count compiler, Jane Dorn, 640-4002,

linglebird@yahoo.com.

Anyone in the neighborhood of the

count area is welcome to meet Jane at 8 a.m.

at the Ft. Laramie Post Office, or at 9:30

a.m. at the main entrance to Guernsey State

Park.

Dec. 30—Cheyenne Christmas Bird Count and Tally Party

Be a field observer with a group:

Downtown Post Office lobby,

2100 Capitol Ave., by 7:30 a.m. Dress for the weather and bring

pencil, notepaper plus thermos, cookies,

binoculars and field guide, if you have

them. We will divide into groups to visit

simultaneously Wyoming Hereford Ranch,

High Plains Grasslands Research Station,

F.E. Warren and Lions Park. Your group

may finish up within a couple of hours.

Be a field observer on your own. You are free to look for birds any-

where within the count circle—see map on

p. 3. Record numbers of each species you

observe and the amount of time and dis-

tance you travel—and the kind of transpor-

tation you use. Keep track of where and

when you saw species of note so we can tell

if you counted the same bird or flock as

someone else.

For your report, compile the total

number of individuals of each species and

include your travel information. Turn in

your results at the potluck or call Greg

Johnson, CBC coordinator, 634-1056,

gjohnson@west-inc.com.

Be a feeder watcher. See p. 3.

Attend the CBC tally party and

potluck. Westgate activity center,

5519 Gateway Dr., 5:30 p.m. Bring your results and a food con-

tribution to share. At the intersection of

Yellowstone and Carlson, go west on Carl-

son half a block. Turn south on Gateway

Drive (through the gate). Look for the two-

story building immediately on the left.

Thanks, John Cornelison, for making ar-

rangements for the tally party location once

again.

Get more potluck information. Call Mark Gorges, 634-0463.

Nov 24—Cheyenne Country Club survey results by Chuck Seniawski

Pretty much a routine day for the

Cheyenne Country Club survey.

Nov 24, 2017 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM

12 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose 2

Mallard 25

Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk 1

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 4

American Kestrel 1

Black-billed Magpie 2

American Crow 9

Mountain Chickadee 2

Red-breasted Nuthatch 4

Pygmy Nuthatch 8

American Robin 1

European Starling 22

View this checklist online at http://

ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40846509

Chapter News—see more on page 4

Nov 18—Front Range Lakes Field Trip Report by Mark Gorges

It was sunny with icy roads in

town when five intrepid CHPAS bird

watchers started out. South of the state

line, the roads were mostly dry. The tem-

perature never got above the mid-40s, but

there was hardly a breeze.

We stopped at four reservoirs:

North Poudre Reservoir #3, North Poudre

Reservoir #4, Bee Lake, and Fossil Creek

Reservoir

The highlights of the trip were the

bright white heads on many Buffleheads

and close looks at a couple of Northern

Harriers. There were hundreds of Canada

Geese, Mallards, Northern Shovelers and

Common Mergansers.

19 species and thousands of birds:

Snow Goose Canada Goose Northern Shoveler Gadwall Mallard Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Common Merganser Ruddy Duck Horned Grebe Eared Grebe Great Blue Heron Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk American Coot

Ring-billed Gull Prairie Falcon American Kestrel European Starling

Nov. 21 meeting: Greater Sage-Grouse update: Daly Edmunds, director

of policy and outreach for Audu-

bon Rockies, described the devel-

opment of the Wyoming Sage-

Grouse management plan. It does

not eliminate oil and gas drilling in

core habitat areas, only limits it to

a lesser density of wells.

Daly then discussed the Notice of Intent from the Bu-

reau of Land Management to revise those guidelines throughout

the West and the impacts it might have in Wyoming. Many chap-

ter members attended the BLM public meeting in Cheyenne Nov.

6 and submitted comments by the Dec. 1 deadline.

Since Nov. 21

However, The U.S. Forest Service has published a No-

tice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. This

begins the scoping process asking for public comments on Great-

er Sage-Grouse land management issues that could cause land

management plan amendments similar to BLM’s.

Land management plans for national forests in Idaho,

Montana, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming were amended

in September 2015 to incorporate conservation measures to pro-

tect the Greater Sage-Grouse.

To read the Notice of Intent and submit a formal com-

ment, use the link above or go to this website: https://

www.federalregister.gov. In the search area type: Ask Forest

Service to Amend Greater Sage-Grouse Land Use Plan. It is dat-

ed 11/21/2017.

Comments must be received by January 5, 2018. For an

analysis of the notice, please contact Daly Edmunds, Audubon

Rockies, dedmunds@audubon.org.

First chapter grant approved by board: Up to $500

was approved to purchase eight pairs of binoculars for Kerry Pe-

terson’s third grade class at Prairie Wind Elementary in Chey-

enne. This will be the start of scientific observations document-

ing birds using a feeder.

Winter Moose Day Jan. 27: The University of Wyoming

Biodiversity Institute is surveying the moose of Pole Mountain

and the Snowy Range. Participants follow routes on foot looking

for moose and moose sign. Training provided. Contact Juliet

Slutzker, jslutzke@uwyo.edu, 307-766-6240.

Habitat Hero workshop March 18: This will be our

fourth year helping you learn how to provide habitat in your yard

for birds, bees, butterflies (and bats) and other wildlife. It will be

a whole day of the Bee College conference at LCCC, but with

separate registration. More info next month.

Noah Strycker coming May 14: Author of “Birding

Without Borders, An Obsession, A Quest, and the Biggest Year

in the World,” saw 6,042 species, but he hasn’t birded Wyoming

yet! See more about him at http://noahstrycker.com/.

Greater Sage-Grouse.

Prairie Falcon by Mark Gorges

_____ Rock Pigeon

_____ Eurasian Collared-Dove

_____ Northern Flicker

_____ Downy Woodpecker

_____ Blue Jay

_____ American Crow

_____ Black-capped Chickadee

_____ Mountain Chickadee

_____ Red-breasted Nuthatch

_____ White-breasted Nuthatch

_____ European Starling

_____ Dark-eyed Junco

_____ House Finch

_____ House Sparrow

Other species: _____________________

CHEYENNE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT FEEDER-WATCHER DATA SHEET

Directions:

The feeder(s) you intend to watch on Dec. 30 must be within the “count circle,” an area defined by a 15-mile diameter circle

centered on the Capitol building in downtown Cheyenne. See the map below.

Identify and count the number of each species that visits your feeder on the day of the count. Record only the maximum number

seen at any one time. For example, if a single house finch visits your feeder 10 times, but you never actually see more

than one house finch at a time, then that counts as one house finch seen, not 10.

Record the total hours spent observing the action at the feeder. It is not necessary to watch the feeder the entire day. Even if

you can only watch for 15 minutes, we’re still interested in receiving your data.

Please report the species and number observed ASAP to Greg Johnson, Cheyenne CBC compiler, at 307-634-1056 or by email

gjohnson@west-inc.com.

Date: Dec. 30, 2017 Name: ___________________________________________________

Phone: _________________________ Feeder(s) watched for ______ hours and _________ minutes.

Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society

P.O. Box 2502

Cheyenne, WY 82003

Board of Public Utilities Habitat Hero project CHPAS members have worked with Dena Egenhoff of

the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities to design a water-smart,

bird-friendly Habitat Hero demonstration garden at BOPU’s of-

fice at 2416 Snyder Ave.

The chapter is applying for a National Audubon Society

collaborative grant to help pay for the vegetation that will be

planted this spring. The chapter board voted to match up to $500

of the amount granted.

BOPU is committed to showing people how to save

water. Climate change will negatively affect mountain snowmelt,

the city’s major water source.

The goal is to demonstrate to the 200-300 BOPU visi-

tors per day that a water-smart landscape is beautiful, beneficial

to birds, butterflies, bees and other wildlife, and installing their

own Habitat Hero garden saves them money, not only by using

less water, but avoiding BOPU customers having to invest in

finding new water sources.

The other outcome of the demonstration garden project

is that it will convert 1,500 square feet of lawn to wildlife-

friendly habitat and could inspire more conversions in the 25

square miles (16,000 acres) of the city.

Outreach including signage, brochures (plant lists and

how-to-garden), news releases, social media and mail will reach

the 60,000 people in the city, plus the 15,000 city water users

outside the city limits.

Chapter supports Crow Creek Revival By Chuck Sniawski

At its October meeting, the CHPAS board voted to do-

nate $1,000 to the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce

Crow Creek Revival project which is focused on the restoration

of Crow Creek and its tributaries.

The project is designed to improve water quality, restore

wildlife habitat and create the opportunity for easier public ac-

cess. The ultimate goal is to make Crow Creek a welcoming

gateway for visitors and a destination for locals.

100 percent of funds received are to be applied

to project design and implementation. This is a collaborative

effort of Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Wyoming

Game & Fish Department, Wyoming Department of Environ-

mental Quality, Laramie County Conservation District, BOPU,

City of Cheyenne, Cheyenne Parks & Recreation, Adventure

Cheyenne, Greater Cheyenne Greenway, Curt Gowdy Chapter of

Trout Unlimited, and Wyoming office of The Nature Conservan-

cy.

Cheyenne Business Park Natural Area plans In the spring of 2014, Matt Ley, from the Laramie

County Conservation District, introduced our chapter to the dis-

trict’s opportunity to make a mostly unbuildable part of the

Cheyenne Business Park into a natural area to use for nature edu-

cation, recreation and wildlife habitat.

During the next two years, the district met with local

educators, including CHPAS members, to gather ideas. In No-

vember, Ayres Associates presented a plan that includes siting a

new LCCD office on Whitney Road, just north of Campstool

Road, two outdoor classrooms that double as picnic shelters, an

amphitheater embedded in a hillside, realignment of Dry Creek

and wetlands to improve the hydrology by slowing water flow

with more curves, gravel paths, connection to the Greenway,

replacing invasive vegetation with more natives. Funding could

allow for construction to begin in 2019.

How a mysterious bird collection could unlock sci-

entific secrets in the future Brian Barber, UW Biodiversity Institute faculty mem-

ber, recounts how he accidently discovered a bird collection in

Laramie and how it could answer future scientific questions.

Listen to the podcast that aired May 25, 2017, at http://

www.outtherepodcast.com/episodes/2017/5/25/what-the-future-

will-hold.