Last Chance Audubon Society

Join Dan Sullivan on a trip to Little Prickly Pear Creek at 7 a.m. on Saturday, June 16th.

Enjoy fantastic birding from Silver City to the Sieben Ranch, where Little Prickly Pear Creek winds through a narrow valley of grass-covered hills and rocky outcroppings. Probable sightings include hawks, rock wrens, cranes, bobolinks, thrushes, orioles, and warblers.

Call Dan at 443-4229 for details and meeting place.

Sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society, the event is free and open to the public.

Join Jim Greene on a trip to H2-O Ranch near Helmville on Saturday, June 9th.

H2-O Ranch adjoins the meandering Blackfoot River among natural wetlands, with mixed woodlands on the periphery. Part of the Blackfoot Challenge project, the area offers a wonderful diversity of habitats and potential avifauna sightings.

Meet at the northwest end of the Lundy Center at 7:00 a.m. for an approximate 70-minute drive to the ranch. Bring lunch, water, appropriate birding equipment and clothes for any kind of weather, including waterproof boots.

Call Jim Greene at 495-9270 for details and to reserve a spot.

Sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society, the event is free and open to the public.

Join Jo Lace and Brian Shovers on a trip to Benton Lake near Great Falls on Saturday, May 19th.

Benton Lake is an excellent place to see various waterfowl and burrowing owls. Meet at the DOT parking lot at 7:00 a.m., returning about 4 p.m. Bring lunch, water, binoculars, spotting scope, and dress for any weather.

Call 443-6640 to reserve a spot, 15 people maximum.

Sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society, the event is free and open to the public.

Bob Brister, outreach coordinator for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, will present “Wild Utah: America’s Redrock Wilderness” this Tuesday, May 15th, at 7:00 p.m. in the L&C Library large meeting room. The event is sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society and is free and open to the public.

Bob will present a multimedia slide show dealing with grassroots efforts to protect the spectacular canyon country of southern Utah. Narrated by Robert Redford, the presentation includes photos, music and words donated by Utahns concerned with saving this unique and inspiring landscape.

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has been working for decades to have this land designated as Wilderness, and Bob has been a public lands protection advocate for over 10 years.

Our May 2007 Newsletter was mailed to LCAS members and is available online and in print at several locations throughout Helena.

Join Cedron Jones on a trip to BLM’s McMaster Hills, at the mouth of Spokane Creek, on Saturday, April 21st.

Expect an off-trail walk of about 5 miles round trip, with occasional steep and rocky slopes. Highlights are a lush riparian habitat at the mouth of Spokane Creek, views of Hauser Reservoir, an intriguing wooded and rocky canyon, and open grasslands.

Pre-register and learn the meeting place and time by calling Cedron at 442-1271.

Sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society, the event is free and open to the public.

Chris Hammond, former Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks ranger and current University of Montana graduate student, will present “Common Loons in Montana” this Tuesday, April 17th, at 7:00 p.m. in the L&C Library large meeting room. The event is sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society and is free and open to the public.

Although doing well in other parts of the world, Common Loons in Montana are considered “sensitive” and “imperiled,” threatened primarily by loss of nesting habitat and human disturbance. Chris will discuss Common Loon breeding, nesting, calls, and diet, along with recent banding and satellite data used to identify migration routes and coastal winter sites in Montana.

At the University of Montana, Chris is working on the Montana Common Loon Ecology Project. His research will be used to revise the Common Loon Management Plan, which was originally completed in 1990 by Don Skaar, a Last Chance Audubon member.

Steve Loken, owner and president of Loken Builders in Missoula, will present “Environmentally Sound Building Design, Construction and Energy Conservation” on Tuesday, April 10th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Covenant United Methodist Church at 2330 Broadway (map).

Steve is a nationally recognized authority on recycled building technologies and the founder and director of Center for Resourceful Building Technology, a leader in the field of environmentally responsible construction.

The event is part of the 2007 Last Chance Audubon Natural History Lecture Series, exploring how climate change will affect Montana’s plant and animal communities.

Tickets are $5 at the door or $20 for the entire series. All proceeds dedicated to the Montana Important Bird Area surveys.

Join Scott Brown on a trip to Warm Springs Ponds at 7:00 a.m., Saturday, April 7th.

Meet at the northwest end of the Lundy Center parking lot for our first field trip of the season. Last year the group watched a peregrine falcon eating its prey, a rock dove, for 30 minutes.

Bring warm clothing, lunch, binoculars, guidebooks, and a scope, if possible, and expect to return in the mid-afternoon.

Please call Scott at 442-3714 for details and to reserve a spot.

Sponsored by the Last Chance Audubon Society, the event is free and open to the public.

Our April 2007 Newsletter was mailed to LCAS members and is available online and in print at several locations throughout Helena.