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Trade ‘em in…

January 20, 2010 By Marilyn Mackett

Do your part to reuse, reduce, and recycle – the easy way. Bring your empty aluminum cans and ink cartridges to any general meeting and we’ll send them off for recycling. recycle_new

Dust off your nature-related books or any “art” you have around, and donate them to the 2nd annual RRAS Book/Art Sale to help fund our activities.

Marilyn Mackett, Hospitality Chair, will accept your donations at the next general meetings in anticipation of having a successful book/art sale at the General Meeting in March 2010.

Filed Under: RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With:

A Fine Interview

December 24, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

John Hiatt was on NPR’s State of Nevada this morning, and was able to provide excellent insights into birding in general in Southern Nevada.  He talked about the habitat of the Mohave desert and the varied species that have been particularly noticed here.  He discussed the mechanics of the Christmas Bird Count and it’s relevance to the United States.

John spoke of the enjoyment of birding and fascination with the variety of birds to see and hear.  At the completion of the talk, he mentioned Miller’s Rest Stop on Hwy 93 as a site that hosts many of the usual, unusual, and accidental species in Nevada.

Thanks John, for representing us on at NPR.

Filed Under: Nevada CBC, RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With:

John Hiatt to speak about CBC on KNPR radio 12/16/09

December 6, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

KNPR’s State of Nevada will be airing an interview between Dave Berns and John Hiatt on Wednesday, December 16th, at 9 am.  KNPR’s program is a two-hour public affairs program, airing weekdays at 9 am and has an evening broadcast at 8 pm.  The topic will be the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

John is our Conservation Chairman and very knowledgeable about the data the CBC has collected in past years, particularly in Nevada, and RRAS appreciates his taking on this endeavor.   Dave Berns welcomes email questions and comments sent before and during the first hour (9 to 10 am ) of the broadcast. Include your name and the city you live in and email  to  son@knpr.org.

John Hiatt has been involved in the Las Vegas Valley’s Christmas Bird Count effort for 30 years.  He and Hermi Hiatt will again be our leaders this year for the event.  The Bird Count draws thousands of volunteers from all over the country, from December 14, 2009 to January 5, 2010, in an effort to collect and inform the world about the State of Birds.

I am hoping John’s appearance on the State of Nevada program will lay the ground work for other Las Vegas environmental groups to participate in Bern’s programs.  This is very encouraging to have NPR (88.9FM) host a Red Rock Audubon Society member on the environment.

I hope all of you will be able to tune in and listen to John’ interview on State of Nevada, Dec. 16th at 9 am.

Marilyn Mackett
RRAS Board member

Filed Under: Nevada CBC, RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With: ,

Friends of Desert NWR Complex

November 22, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

Several RRAS members are participating in the ground floor of a new organization called Friends of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex.  The Complex consists of the following Southern Nevada NWR areas: Ash Meadows, Desert (Corn Creek), Moapa Valley and Pahranagat Refuges.

At the last meeting, held on November 12th, the mission statement was agreed on:  To support the mission of the Desert NWR Complex through advocacy, stewardship,and outreach.

The organization will have a 501C purpose, and also elected their officers at the meeting.  John Bialecki (RRAS) will be the Treasurer and Mike Dandridge will be the President.  The core group asked for a list of priorities from the Refuges, before the Friends of the Desert NWR brainstorm their objectives.

Angelina Yost, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Amy Sprunger, Desert NWR and Moapa Valley NWR Manager and Jennifer Vincent, Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Center (RRCIA) employee at Desert NWR are organizing the Friends group.

RRAS has long encouraged citizens to visit and enjoy Southern Nevada’s NWRs, and this organization may be able to bring publicity and involvement from many of the Valley’s environmental organizations in meeting new goals.  Ms. Yost plans meetings and events in the new year to assist in the establishment of the Friends of Desert NWR focus and objectives. All meetings are open to the public.

Filed Under: Partner Submitted News Tagged With: , , , ,

The passion of the Batchelders

November 22, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

Ned and Gigi Batchelder have a passion for hummingbirds. They have been banding birds since 2001, and have assisted in banding 80 to 100 species of birds in Alabama, the Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes area.

Since living in Montana, they have banded over 13,000 hummingbirds, at 150 different Montana locations. The Calliope species is the most prevalent in Montana. Their objective is to investigate breeding, migration patterns and longevity.

This is the second year they have banded hummers in Nevada. They have a special federal permit with USGS and also a Nevada permit to be licensed hummingbird banders. They were able to observe and band the Anna’s and Costa’s while in the Las Vegas area.

The female hummer builds the nest, lays the eggs, and feeds and cares for the young birds with no help from the male, whose sole duty is to breed and fertilize the eggs. The male mates with as many females as possible, but the female appears to choose the mate. Hummer nests are sometimes reworked and used year after year. If you are lucky, you can spot one of these tiny nests, about the size of a walnut, where the female lays two white eggs the size of a dried white bean. It takes 12-15 days for the eggs to hatch and nestlings stay in the nest for 18-23 days.

Ned and Gigi visited the Las Vegas area to band and study the hummingbirds which favor this area year around. Breeding was confirmed with both Anna’s and Costa’s species. They visited the Henderson Bird Preserve and the backyards of the many Audubon families in early November and will back in 2010 to continue banding.

Filed Under: Board Member Articles

1st Annual RRAS Book Sale A Success!

April 13, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

Book Sale Nets $178.00

Bird books that have been well read and then sat on bookshelves, met head-on with RRAS readers and guests at the March Red Rock Audubon General Meeting. Arm chair birders, active birders, teachers, friends and relatives of birders are now deep into new reading after our successful book sale.

As a saying goes “Behind every good idea, there is good work to be done”, and we thank all the members who gave us their used books, and those who purchased the books. Save your birding books for next year to pass on to others, when we will again have a Birding Book Sale.

A huge thank you to Phoebe Hawson, Carolyn Titus, and the estate of Polly Long for the wonderful donation of many books to get us started. Kudos to Marilyn and Dave Mackett for their hard work managing the sale.

Filed Under: RRAS Las Vegas Activities

The Magic of Healing

February 10, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

February 9th, 2009 – “Wildlife Rehabilitation in Casper Wyoming”

Our February meeting will feature a presentation on Wildlife Rehabilitation by Merlyn and Lynn Herold. Their presentation will cover what wildlife rehabilitation involves including training and permits. They will discuss various techniques used to rehabilitate a wild bird or small mammal from intake to release, along with training and preparation to optimize the animal’s ability to adjust to the wild environment following human intervention.

Prior to moving to Las Vegas, Merlyn and Lynn worked as Certified Wildlife Rehabilitators in Casper, WY, from 2000 to 2007. They were known as Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. They cared for all native migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Act and small mammals. During the 7-year period, they took in over 2,000 sick, injured or orphaned animals and were able to return approximately 60% back to the wild. The Herolds moved to the Las Vegas area after a severe snowstorm destroyed their facilities in May of 2007.

THE MAGIC OF HEALING

You missed a wonderful presentation if you missed our February General Meeting.

Our speakers, Merlyn and Lynn Herold, are federal and Wyoming state licensed wildlife rehabilitators. They worked with orphaned and hurt wildlife, and then released to the wild, those healed animals and birds who could survive on their own. They began their vocation with five small Mountain Bluebirds and expanded their facility to help over 600 birds. Merlyn and Lynn were highly dedicated, devoted and energized in their work of some seven years at their ranch outside of Casper, Wyoming.

Besides helping a huge variety of birds, including osprey, various species of hawks, golden eagles, common grackles, ducks, mallards, robins, larks, crows, and a variety of songbirds, they also helped heal red and fox squirrels, coyote pups, bats, eastern and mountain cottontails, and once helped a raccoon and a porcupine. Their photos showed a truly wonderful selection of animals that landed on their doorstep needing help.

In general the injuries to the animals were broken wings and legs, hurt eyes, and head injuries. The injuries were usually caused by cars, barbed wire, dogs, traps, pellets, freezing weather or wandering into oil cans. Many of the orphaned animals had lost parents to the harsh Wyoming weather, or had fallen from their nests. All needed help to survive. Practicing flying and teaching them to find food were daily routines for the Herolds as they worked to return these animals and birds to nature.

The Herolds are now living in Las Vegas, and we were delighted they came to speak to us about healing and helping wildlife. We enjoyed the photographs of their facility and the ideas they used to help the birds and animals heal. We appreciated the energy they expended caring for these hurt and orphaned animals and birds, and pleased they could return the birds to the skies.

Filed Under: Board Member Articles, RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With: ,

A Beautiful Talk on Raptors

January 13, 2009 By Marilyn Mackett

January 12th, 2009 – “Wild Wing Project”

Lisa Ross, with Wild Wing Project will join us for the January meeting and show a wonderful multimedia program on Owls that she developed this year. The program provides an educational component to help better explain the unique features of this family of raptors. She will also bring in her live red-tailed hawk ‘Max’, as well as some other raptors.

Lisa has been working with injured wildlife, in particular birds, throughout southern Nevada for over 20 years. Wild Wing works with several qualified veterinarians and they freely share their professional time and talents by donating medical evaluations, testing, and even surgeries to help treat ill and injured wildlife. She is knowledgeable on many different aspects of bird care and behavior.

“SHOW AND TELL”, A Beautiful Talk on Raptors

Lisa Ross, of the Wild Wings Project, gave an interesting, educational talk on raptors at our January meeting. Coming along with her was Max (really Maxine), a beautiful 26 year old red shouldered hawk, as well as a small burrowing owl, who had quite a large voice for such a small bird. RRAS provides funds for Max’s upkeep.

Lisa is known by the Valley’s citizens for working with and rehabilitating injured wildlife, and two veterinarians assist her. Her slides on owls were very interesting to RRAS members, and she provided many amazing owl facts. Did you know barn owls can “bench press” 150 pounds with their talons? Lisa found out the hard way! Did you know that owls have a nictitating membrane that closes diagonally across the eye from inside to outside? Did you know owls cannot roll or move their eyes? Hence you will see them swivel their necks in a range of 270 degrees as they have 14 vertebrae to do it.

Lisa’s “show and tell” talk was received well by the thirty members attending the meeting. Her talk is given to many schools and environmental groups in the Valley.

Filed Under: Board Member Articles, RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With: , , ,

December Book Recommendations

December 14, 2008 By Marilyn Mackett

Submitted by: Marilyn Mackett

I would like to recommend two books that I have particularly enjoyed this past year. Both would make wonderful gifts for your birding friends. I have shared them with other RRAS members who also loved them:

A World of Watchers, by Joseph Kastner
I wandered into a used book store while my car was being serviced, and happened upon this absolutely wonderful hardback book on birding. What luck! It is not a guide book, but a book describing the history of American birding and it’s wonderful characters, both men and women, who loved birding with an obsessive passion. Events, anecdotes and facts played an extraordinary role in the history of America’s enjoyment and popularity of birding. I highly recommend this book to birders of every level. It was written in 1986, but is still a classic.

To See Every Bird on Earth; A Father, a Son and a Lifelong Obsession, by Dan Koeppel
This story of a father-son relationship and a story of the man’s love of birding all over the earth is a wonderful read. He describes the inner workings of an obsessive birder as he seeks birds in their habitat, and adds each of them to his Lifelong Bird Lis. He includes stories of famous birders, such as Phoebe Snetsinger who had 8,400 on her bird list, and their devotion to and obsession with birding. There are some 10,000 birds in the world depending on who is counting. Anyone who enjoys the world of birds and relationships of people in our world, will enjoy reading this book as it is a fun reading as well as educational.

Filed Under: Board Member Articles Tagged With:

What a Privilege to Live in Southern Nevada

September 25, 2008 By Marilyn Mackett

September 8th, 2008 – “Images from the Wildlands of Southern Nevada”

Discover the hidden beauty and grace of southern Nevada’s less traveled wilderness areas through artist/naturalist Sharon K. Schafer’s new works. Sharon will provide a multimedia presentation and sketches, paintings, and photographs of the region’s inspiring wildlands and is designed to reveal southern Nevada’s wildlands as a place of unparalleled natural beauty and diversity.

Sharon K. Schafer has a diversified background with skills ranging from wildlife biologist, naturalist, and photographer, to writer, illustrator, and river guide. Now as a full time artist, she combines two loves – art and nature. Sharon founded Skydance Studio in 1998. With the studio, she has dedicated herself to the creation of fine art images that promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of the beauty and diversity of the natural world.

“What a privilege to live in Southern Nevada “.. so stated our speaker, Sharon Schafer, for the opening fall meeting of the general membership of Red Rock Audubon Society. Sharon, a biologist turned artist and naturalist, gave an inspiring slide show of the wonders of nature in Southern Nevada.

Her show centered on these areas and each Audubon member would love to visit these areas as they are close to Las Vegas.

  • Bridge Canyon Wilderness (northwest of Laughlin)
  • Wee Thump Wilderness (8 miles west of Searchlight)
  • Eldorado Canyon Wilderness Area (south of Boulder City)
  • Black Canyon Wilderness (just below Boulder Dam)
  • North McCullough Wilderness (near Sloan Canyon and requires 4 wheel drive)
  • Rainbow Mountain Wilderness (part of Red Rock Preserve)
  • Mt. Charleston Wilderness
  • Overton Wildlife Management Area

Those attending were thrilled to see beautiful pictures of their favorite Southern Nevada plants, animals and birds. Among them were: Bristlecone, Jeffrey, Ponderosa, Creosote, Canada geese, yellow-headed blackbird, black-necked stilts, dragonflies, hummingbirds, killdeer, rock wren, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures and cormorants, the big horn sheep in their many poses, and the wonderful petroglyphs in the canyons.

The September evening was a success and was enjoyed by our members and visitors. Sharon provided many of her posters as raffle gifts and they were also for sale. She provided fantastic slides of the flora and fauna of So. Nevada, and is an excellent photographer and speaker.

Filed Under: Board Member Articles, RRAS Las Vegas Activities Tagged With: ,
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