Coulee Region Audubon Society

The 2024 La Crosse Area Christmas Bird Count will abe held on Saturday, December 14, 2024. For this event, we will try to count as many birds as possible in a 15 mile diameter "Count Circle" that is centered on the La Crosse County Courthouse in downtown La Crosse. The circle will be divided into pre-defined sections and count teams will head out early to cover their section. We will also use the help of feeder counters - people who live and maintain a bird feeder within that count circle to count the birds that visit their yard. If you would like to help, please check out the Christmas Bird Count page of the Coulee Region Audubon Society website at: http://www.couleeaudubon.org/html/cbc.html New participants are welcome! Thanks, Dan Jackson, Compiler

It is May 1st so it is field trip season! As in past years, the Coulee Region Audubon Society and other organizations have quite a few birding trips scheduled. These include: Myrick Marsh Bird Walks - Tuesday mornings at 6:30 AM. Meet at the base of the Rabbit Trail at the east end of the Nature Place parking lot. These run from April 30 - May 14. Hixon Forest Bird Walks - Thursday mornings at 6:30 AM. Meet at the Hixon Forest parking lot at the end of Milson Court. These run from May 2 - May 16. Nature Saturday Bird Walks - 6:30 and 9:30 AM on Saturday May 4th. Meet at the base of the Rabbit Trail at the east end of the Nature Place parking lot. There will be other activities as well including a bird of prey presenation by the River Valley Raptors education organisation. Trempealeau NWR World Migratory Bird Day Walks. 7:00 and 9:00 AM on Saturday May 11th. Part of the Trempealeau NWR World Migratory Bird Day Event. Lots of other activities as well. Meet at Trempealeau N

The 2023 La Crosse Area Christmas Bird Count will abe held on Saturday, December 16, 2023. For this event, we will try to count as many birds as possible in a 15 mile diameter "Count Circle" that is centered on the La Crosse County Courthouse in downtown La Crosse. The circle will be divided into pre-defined sections and count teams will head out early to cover their section. We will also use the help of feeder counters - people who live and maintain a bird feeder within that count circle to count the birds that visit their yard. If you would like to help, please check out the Christmas Bird Count page of the Coulee Region Audubon Society website at: http://www.couleeaudubon.org/html/cbc.html New participants are welcome! Thanks, Dan Jackson, Compiler

The Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge will be holding a World Migratory Bird Day event on Saturday, May 13, 2023. It will include bird hikes and other family-friendly activities. Check the refuge website for details.

There will be a WMBD event at Myrick Park on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Events will include a bird walk at 6:30 AM, a family bird walk at 9:30, a bird presentation by River Valley Raptors at 10:30, and many other bird-related activities that make this a great family event.

Dan Jackson will lead a field trip at the Wyalusing State Park on Sunday, May 14th from 6:00 AM until about 11:30 AM. This trip is free and open to the public. We meet on the entrance road before the gate house and then bird throughout the park by car caravan. Car pooling is encouraged and we will stop at the gate house parking lot to let people buy park passes and consolidate. This is the most exciting field trip of the season with lots of park specialties. This year's date should be very close to the peak of the warbler migration.

The Myrick and Hixon Forest bird walks will be held on Tuesday (Myrick) and Thursday (Hixon) mornings from April 25 - May 11, 2023. The walks start at 6:30 AM and go until about 8:30. The Myrick walks will start from the base of the Rabbit trail near the Myrick Park Center and the Hixon walks start from the parking lot at the end of Milson Court. Due to severe flooding, it is likely that we will not be able to walk the marsh trails for the Myrick walks (at least for the first 2 weeks). We will adjust if needed by walking along the edge of the marsh and heading into the Oak Grove Cemetery (just west of Myrick Park). These walks are free and open to the public and will be led by Dan Jackson and Pat & Bobbie Wilson.

This year's Great Backyard Bird Count will be held on February 17-20, 2023. This is a great chance to make a difference in a great citizen science project. For this event, you can participate by counting the birds in your yard or at any location in the world. You can participate with a single count or count birds at multiple locations on any or all of the days of the event. For more information, see the Great Backyard Bird Count website at: https://www.birdcount.org/

For our February Membership Meeting, Alan Stankevitz will give a presentation on Bird Photography. Alan is professional nature photographer from the Coulee Region. He will be sharing hints and tips on how to become a better photographer and will also share some of his outstanding photos. As always, this meeting will be free and open to the public.

During the January Annual Meeting, Board and Officer elections were held. After serving for several years, Jonathan Ringdahl decided to hand over the reigns and Mark Webster was elected to take his place as President of the Coulee Region Audubon Society. First and foremost, we would like to extend a huge Thank You! to Jonathan for his years of service as our organization's President! He did a great job and donated a huge amount of time, effort, and energy to make the Coulee Region Audubon Society succesful during his terms as President. Thanks also to Mark for assuming that leadership role in our Chapter! Currently, the office of Vice President as well as an at-large position on the Board of Directors are open. We could sure use your help with either of these positions! Thanks, Coulee Region Audubon Society Board of Directors

Starting with our February membership meeting, we are hoping to be able to return to in-person meetings. These will be held at the Myrick Park Center and hosted by WisCorps. The Myrick Park Center is located on the south edge of the Myrick Marsh in Myrick Park. The address is: 789 Myrick Park Dr, La Crosse, WI. We are excited to see everyone in person again!