Officers

of Big Bluestem Audubon

President	Eric Ollie
Vice-president	Doug Harr
Secretary	Hank Zaletel
Treasurer	Brian Schilling
Board Member	Wolf Oestereich
Board Member	Matt Wetrich
Board Member	Marlene Ehresman

Upcoming Events

9/17/2017
2017 CyHawk Big Day
The 2017 CyHawk Big Day will be held on Sunday, September 17th. Teams of birders will bird for either the Cyclones (Big Bluestem Audubon Society) or the Hawkeyes (Iowa City Bird Club). The side that builds the highest cumulative total of bird species in that 24-hour period (midnight to midnight) will win the coveted Kent-Dinsmore Trophy and bragging rights for the next year. Each team must have at least two people and two people must identify each bird for it to count. As long as all other rules (contact Eric Ollie for a complete set of the rules) are being followed, you can bird for 24 minutes or for 24 hours (anywhere in Iowa), as long or as short as you like. Any help could be the effort that puts us over the top! To bird for BBAS and the Cyclones, register by emailing Eric Ollie at uphawkeye@gmail.com. This year we are doing something special. Each participant will need to pay a $5.00 entrance fee. All money raised will be donated to Iowa Audubon! Send your $5.00/person entrance fee to Eric Ollie at: 1512 Ridgewood Ave Ames, IA 50010 Big Bluestem and the Cyclone birders have lost to ICBC and the Hawkeye birders for the first three years of this competition. If there is any way that you can help BBAS out and raise money for Iowa Audubon it would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! Eric Ollie BBAS President

11/11/2017
Birding trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast of Texas!!!
Big Bluestem Audubon Society, based in Ames, IA, is excited to be leading a birding tour of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) and Gulf Coast of Texas that will include six full days of subtropical birding. The LRGV is one of the elite birding hotspots in the United States, with some species that are seen nowhere else in the United States, that every true birder needs to visit at least once. The LRGV and the Texas Gulf Coast also offer an amazing array of butterflies, odonates, herptiles and mammals. A few of the many amazing birds that we will be targeting on this trip will include: Plain Chachalaca, Common Pauraque, Least Grebe, Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Couch's and Tropical Kingbird, Vermilion Flycatcher, Red-billed Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Black-crested Titmouse, Audubon's and Altamira Oriole, Gray-colored Thrush, Green and Ringed Kingfisher, Aplomado Falcon, Crested Caracara, Harris’s, Gray, Zone-tailed and White-tailed Hawk, Whooping Crane, Groove-billed Ani, Northern Beardless-Tyrranulet, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Tricolored and Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy, Piping and Wilson's Plover, Royal, Sandwich and Gull-billed Tern, Black Skimmer, American Oystercatcher, Red Knot, Mottled Duck, Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Monk Parakeet and Red-crowned Parrot, plus many, many more, including the possibility of rarities that wander up from Mexico! WHEN: Saturday, November 10th through Saturday, November 18th, 2017 WHERE: We will be based out of Weslaco, TX, in the heart of the LRGV! We may range anywhere between the Laredo, Corpus Christi and Brownsville areas. COST: $1000 for a double-occupancy hotel room and $1400 for a single-occupancy hotel room. A deposit of $250 will secure one of the twenty slots for the trip. Only full payment by 8/11/17 will guarantee trip participation. This fee includes: - Hotel accommodations at the Holiday Inn Express Weslaco for 7 nights, including a hot breakfast - All transportation while in Texas - Birding guides/drivers - All entrance and excursion fees - A four-hour boat excursion out of Rockport, TX across Aransas Bay to Aransas NWR to get close looks at the over-wintering Whooping Cranes and other wildlife of all kinds! NOTE: This fee does not include transportation to and from Texas. All participants are responsible for providing their own transportation to and from Weslaco, TX and for all meals, excluding breakfast, which is provided by the hotel. WHO: All birders are eligible to participate! We have set a cap of 20 participants for this trip, with a minimum of 13 participants needed for the trip to proceed. Registration will be closed at the end of the day on Friday, August 11th. HOW: Send an email to Eric Ollie (BBAS Field Trip Chair) at uphawkeye@gmail.com stating: - Your name - Your full mailing address - Your phone number - Your email address - Whether you want a double or single-occupancy hotel room (Only 4 single-occupancy rooms will be guaranteed!) - For those who choose double-occupancy, please include the name of the person you will be sharing a room with, or you may be paired up with another participant. Emails will be responded to with more information, registration materials and answers to any questions you may have. Eric Ollie Ames, IA

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