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The mission of Red Rock Audubon Society is to
protect, restore, and improve natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and
other wildlife, and to educate the public about our unique Nevada
environment.
The Red Rock Audubon Society is the Southern Nevada chapter of the
National Audubon Society. Located in Las Vegas, our chapter was
formed in 1976 and continues to be active in the community today. As a
local environmental organization we are dedicated to the preservation of
habitat for birds and other wildlife in Nevada through education,
contributions as citizen scientists, and efforts to preserve, restore,
and maintain wildlife habitat. Many projects have been accomplished in
partnership with various government and community organizations. RRAS
Outreach Activities involve 8 monthly programs and up to 20 Field Trips
per year.
Outreach Activities include:
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Field Trips
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Volunteer opportunities
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Restoration activities
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Education programs
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Environmental education
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Conservation activities
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RRAS Announcements
Quick Jump:
RRAS Announcements
- Nevada News -
National Audubon
Announcements -
Other Birding Events
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RRAS Special Report
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RRAS Annual Potluck Dinner!
Hosted by Red Rock Audubon Society
Members
Please note the change in location: see directions below
May 12, 2008, Monday
5:00 PM Pre-dinner Birding
6:00 PM Potluck
- Red Rock Audubon Society members and
non-members will meet at Calico Basin Picnic Area, located near the Red
Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, to hold our Annual Potluck
Dinner. This will be our last monthly General Meeting before the summer
break.
Everyone is welcome to come enjoy an evening of camaraderie with friends
and fellow birders. The birding is great along the boardwalk and very
accessible for people with walkers or wheelchairs. Restrooms and picnic
tables, with benches under covered pavilions, are available.
Bring a dish to share using the guidelines below or bring your favorite
dish. You'll also need to bring your own beverages, plates, and plastic
ware. Don't forget a jacket in case the evening turns cool. And of
course, bring your binoculars!
Dish guidelines, use first letter of last name:
A - I Dessert
J - R Salads and Bread
S - Z Main Dish
Directions: Drive west on Charleston Blvd for 3.8 miles from the I-215
Beltway (about 1.5 miles before the entrance to the Scenic Loop) to
Calico Basin Road (Calico Basin-Red Springs sign). Turn right onto
Calico Basin Road and drive for about a mile; the picnic area is on your
left
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Monthly Meeting Place Changes!
- As of January 2008, the location of
our General Meetings
changed to the
Nevada Power Building, in the Wengert Room, at 6226 W Sahara Ave (1
block west of Jones, on the north side of the street). Enter on Steve
Rigazio Court (west side of Nevada Power) and park in the north lot. The
room entrance is located slightly north west of the drive up windows.
Meetings will be held at 7:00 pm on the 2nd Monday of every month except
June, July, August, and December. Social hour begins at 6:30pm.
2008 Meeting Dates: Jan 14th, Feb 11th, Mar 10th, Apr 14th, May 12th
(Potluck!), Sep 8th, Oct 13th, Nov 10th
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Getting Involved: Put your skills and
creativity to work for something you care about!
- In June 2008 the terms for several of
our board members will be ending. This is an opportunity for those
of you who are new to RRAS, and for others who’ve never had the chance
to participate as a board member, to become involved and be an integral
part of our organization. Our seasoned board members have built a
good foundation – now let’s continue to build on that even more!
If you would like to step in to fill an open spot on our board, please
let us know.
Available positions:
Newsletter Editor, Membership Chair, Field Trip Chair, Fundraising
Chair, and Whittel Fund Representative. Board Member terms are
from July 1 – June 30th, and meetings are held on the first Thursday of
the month at Pam Nickels' office.
Click on
Getting Involved for
more information.
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RRAS and The Birds in the Garden
Program!
- April 26th 8:30-10:00am
Red Rock Audubon Society is leading the "Birds at the Springs Preserve"
tour Saturday, April 26th, from 8:30am-10:00am. COME JOIN THE FUN! We'll
locate the birds in the gardens, on the trails, and learn about plants
that will attract birds to your own backyard. Reservations are required:
call Springs Preserve Adult Education at (702) 822-7786. We are still in
need of volunteer leaders, let us know if you want to help out.
IT'S FREE! Yes, it's free to go into the Gardens and onto the Trails at
the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.
When you get to the entrance, just let them know you only wish to go
into the Gardens and Trail areas - they will provide you with a free
ticket. They do that to keep a count of who is on the property. If you
haven't been there yet, you should take some time this spring to head
over there. The Preserve is open 10am-6pm daily and is located at 333 S
Valley View Blvd, between US 95 and Alta Drive in Las Vegas.
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The Spring Mountains Spring Cleaning
On May 10th, from 9:00am - 4pm,
The Spring Mountains Spring Cleaning will be held in Kyle and Lee
Canyons. Please read their
Fact Sheet for more information about participating in the clean-up.
For those of you who participate in the clean-up, we give you a big
round of applause in advance! And a reminder to send a re-cap
of your experience to
RRAS_Reporter.
RRAS will have a booth at the event
from 10am - 4pm. We need volunteers to help “man” the booth, share
your knowledge and experience, and to help others understand the birding
opportunities available in the Spring Mountains. If you are
interested in helping at the table,
please
email us.
In future years Spring Cleaning will
grow to cover the entire Spring Mountains National Recreation
Area. Since the Spring Mountains is a
Nevada Important Bird Area, this is a great event for us to be
involved in.
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Special Report
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RRAS Member submitted photos!
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Keep sending in your pictures!
A big thanks to those who have already submitted pictures, keep them
coming. This is a new feature and we had a few bumps to work out but
things should be smooth sailing going forward. So let us see what wild
birds you're getting pics of and send them in to share with everyone.
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Recruiting RRAS Reporters!
- If you would like to contribute to the
content of this website, then become a RRAS Reporter! Send us your news
and views, event, field trip, or nature-related observations and
experiences, pictures, tips & tricks, and interesting tidbits; and we'll
consider it for posting right here. Care to share - and let the rest of
us know what's going on in your piece of the habitat.
C'mon,
send us the scoop.
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RRAS Burrowing Owl Project
Update!
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We
still need to know the location of local urban Burrowing Owls.
Although we have located over 213 burrows, some burrows are inactive
or being used as satellite burrows by the Owls. Burrowing Owls
like to have more than one burrow to live in for safety reasons, such
as if the original burrow collapses or is bulldozed, they will then
have other burrows to use. Also, to protect their young from
predators or other dangers, the parents may split the babies up into
two burrows.
Even though we have located many burrows, we still need to find live
Borrowing Owls - especially PAIRS of Owls! We had reports of 173
Owls, and now we need to determine an accurate head count by
confirming that Owls are still present at those reported locations.
This needs to be be done now, as breeding season is starting, because
some Owls may have been migrants or even killed.
If you know the location of any Burrowing Owls, please let us know so
we may add them to the monitoring project.
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Be
sure to check out the Burrowing Owl Project
page for more info and pictures of the volunteers and Owls!
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Male Owl, Burrow #274
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Nevada News
Quick Jump:
RRAS Announcements
- Nevada News -
National Audubon
Announcements -
Other Birding Events
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Celebrate National Wildlife Week
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Point Count Workshops Las Vegas and
Sparks, NV May 2008
- The
Great Basin Bird
Observatory will be holding point count workshops at Corn Creek,
Desert National Wildlife Refuge, north of Las Vegas, on Friday May 2,
1:30 pm, and Saturday May 3, 9 am, and in Sparks at Rock Park (Rock
Blvd, N. of Mill, along the Truckee River) in the afternoon of Friday
May 23 (1:30 pm), and morning of May 24 (9am). If you are interested in
surveying breeding birds for the Nevada Bird Count (or even if
you're not!), and would like to attend one of these workshops, please
RSVP at 775-323-4226 mailbox 2.
The workshops are free. They will cover safe navigation with GPS, the
basics of bird surveying, and a run-through of the point count protocol.
Come join the fun! The Nevada Bird Count season begins in the last week
of April in the Mojave, and in the last week of May in the Great Basin,
and in both regions, we will conclude the surveys in the first week of
July. If you do surveys for us, we can loan you a GPS unit and
rangefinder and we will give you maps with your assignments.
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Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Programs
- Tues. May 6th - Join Ranger Jim on a
fascinating excursion into the world of bird watching while braving the
ornithological primeval world of nature, and observe the real life of
birds. Easy, 1 mile
- Sat. May 17th - Corn Creek - Spring
feeds three ponds at this headquarters of the Desert National Wildlife
Refuge. It is a major bird watching area and is prime habitat for
aquatic and land plants and animals. Join Bob during the morning to
observe all these creatures in a surprising setting, and learn about the
history and future of the area. Easy, 1/2 mile.
- Sat May 31st - Corn Creek Spring Walk:
Corn Creek Spring feeds three ponds at this headquarters of the Desert
National Wildlife Refuge. It is a major bird watching area and is prime
habitat for aquatic and land plants and animals. Join Bob, from Red Rock
Canyon Interpretive Association, during the morning to observe all these
creatures in a surprising setting.
Please call (702) 515-5367 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. PST for
program times and reservations.
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Spring Wings Bird Festival
- Fallon, Nevada: The Eleventh Annual
Spring Wings Bird
Festival, May 9-11, 2008, coincides with
International
Migratory Bird Day and the height of spring migration in the
Lahontan Valley wetlands. These internationally recognized wetlands are
temporary home to over 260 species of birds, including thousands of
White-faced ibis, Long-billed dowitcher, American white pelicans,
Black-necked stilts, American avocets, and many other waterfowl and
water birds. During the 2007 festival, 164 different species were logged
- a new festival record!
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The Center for Conservation Biology -
Nightjar Survey Network
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The Center
for Conservation Biology constructed the
Nightjar
Survey Network in 2007 to begin the process of collecting data on
the population distribution and population trends of Nightjars across
broad regions of the United States. The Network is being expanded in
2008 to provide coverage throughout the contiguous United States.
Volunteer participation is important to provide information on Nevada
nightjars and the broader region. The Nightjar Survey Network relies on
volunteer participation by conservation-minded citizens, biologists, and
other like-minded groups to adopt and conduct survey routes. Nightjar
Surveys are easy to perform and will not take more than two hours to
complete. Please consider adopting a route.
Visit the
United States Nightjar Survey Website for more details including
location of routes, instructions, and results. There are
3
routes available in Clark County or you can
create your own route.
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National Audubon
Announcements
Quick Jump:
RRAS Announcements
- Nevada News -
National Audubon
Announcements -
Other Birding Events
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Audubon & Toyota Launch Alliance for
Conservation Action
- On March 26th the National Audubon
Society and Toyota launched
TogetherGreen, a nationwide Audubon program to fund conservation
projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer opportunities
to significantly benefit the environment. A $20 million Toyota grant—the
largest Audubon has received in its 103-year history—will fund
TogetherGreen for five years, enabling Audubon to expand the scope and
reach of its internationally-known conservation programs.
TogetherGreen will include three
program components:
- Innovation Grants to fund dozens of
on-the-ground projects each year that employ creative approaches and
engage diverse communities to help achieve measurable land, water
and/or energy conservation results. Grant requirements will broaden
project participation and promote innovation by uniting Audubon's
national network with environmental and community partners.
- Conservation Fellowships to train
and foster up to 200 promising environmental leaders who can serve as
role models, expert guides and organizers for engaging new and diverse
audiences in effective conservation action.
- Volunteer Days to be offered at
Audubon Centers and other locations nationwide, providing hands-on
opportunities to address environmental problems and take part in
restoration activities.
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The 2007 Audubon WatchList:
A Call to Action
- Audubon and the America
Bird Conservancy have joined forces to rally conservationists around
America's most imperiled birds.
WatchList 2007, a new analysis from these leading bird conservation
organizations, uses the latest available research from the bird
conservation community along with citizen science data from the
Christmas Bird Count and the annual Breeding Bird Survey to identify
176 species in the continental U.S. and 38 in Hawaii that are in need of
immediate conservation help. It is a call to action to save species
fighting for survival amid a convergence of environmental challenges,
including habitat loss, invasive species and global warming.
Fortunately, there are many things you can
do for the birds and for our future. Start at home. It may seem
indirect, but by conserving energy, for example, you can save habitats
from the worst impacts of global warming. Take action for sound
environmental policy, urging lawmakers to pass laws to fight global
warming, improve farming practices, and save wetlands. And as a
volunteer, monitor birds and protect their habitats through citizen
science efforts like Audubon's Christmas Bird Count and the Important Bird
Areas program.
Here are some specific ways you can help:
Protect Local Habitat
Join local Audubon Chapters and other groups to protect and
restore habitats close to home. Audubon's
Important Bird Areas program offers opportunities to save critical
bird habitat, from small land parcels to broad landscapes.
Read more about
Nevada's Important Bird Areas.
Promote Sound Agricultural Policy
This has enormous impact on grassland birds and habitat. Promoting
strong conservation provisions in the federal
Farm Bill and
Conservation Reserve Program can help to protect millions of acres of
vital habitat.
Support Sustainable Forests
The Boreal Forest in the Northern U.S. and Canada is essential
breeding territory for many species of birds. Federal and state
legislations promoting sustainable forest management will help fight
habitat loss from inappropriate logging, mining, and drilling.
Protect Wetlands
Support for local, state and federal wetlands conservation
programs is essential to protect a wide array of species.
Learn more.
Fight Global Warming
Declining birds populations is just one impact of global warming's
mounting threat to people and wildlife around the world. Individual
energy conservation along with strong federal, state, and local
legislation to cap greenhouse emissions can help to curb its worst
consequences.
Learn more.
Combat Invasive Species
Invasive non-native species disrupt the delicate ecological balance that
sustains birds and other wildlife. Federal, regional, state, and
local regulations are needed to combat this growing environmental threat.
he
Audubon At Home program also offers tips for supporting birds with
native plants.
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OTHER BIRDING EVENTS
Quick Jump:
RRAS Announcements
- Nevada News -
National Audubon
Announcements -
Other Birding Events
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5th
Annual "Down East Spring Birding Festival"
- Cobscook Bay Area, Maine:
Information on the Fifth Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival, May
23-26, 2008, is now on the Registration page at
www.downeastbirdfest.org. Download the information you need. If
you want a registration packet mailed to you, call 207-733-2201 or email
info@cobscookbay.com with your mailing address. Participants find
over 150 birds each year; our 4-year total is 208 different birds. How
many will you find? Birding Will Be Great in 2008!
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6th Annual
"Potholes & Prairie Birding Festival"
- Carrington, North Dakota: June 4-8,
2008, Join nationally known birding experts Bill Thompson, III, and
Julie Zickefoose of Bird Watcher's Digest as they explore the prairie
pothole region of central North Dakota for the Baird's Sparrow,
LeConte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Sprague's Pipit,
Piping Plover, Ferruginous Hawk, Clark's Grebe, Red-necked Grebe and
many, many more! See the
Birding Drives website for more festival information.
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Quick Jump:
RRAS Announcements
- Nevada News -
National Audubon
Announcements -
Other Birding Events |
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ALL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS AND FIELD TRIPS
ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - COME JOIN US!
Sign up to
receive important local news and events emails!
Call or write us if you have any questions,
want to volunteer, or need information:
RRAS
Information (702-390-9890) Red Rock Audubon Society, P.O. Box 96691, Las Vegas, NV 89193
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© 2007-2008 Red Rock Audubon Society. All rights reserved.
All photographs are the property of the photographers and
may not be downloaded or reproduced without written permission.
Website Design:
M. J. Kammerer
Updated: 04/30/2008 |