2020-2021 Year in Review: A Message from Our President
Carol McCasland
It’s been quite a year of ever-adapting public health guidelines, but that hasn’t stopped us from having a busy year of online and in-person activities! For Boulder County Audubon, September is the beginning of our new year, so let’s look back at what we’ve accomplished as a group in 2020 and 2021. Much thanks to you, our members, and to our dedicated volunteers for making this a successful year.
Comings and goings. We said goodbye to our Treasurer, Curtis Williams, who moved to Nevada! And we welcomed a new board member, Scott Severs. Scott of course is no stranger to us, having been on the board before and serving as president for a spell. Scott brings a wealth of environmental and wildlife knowledge to Boulder County Audubon.
House Finch foraging.
Fiscally, we are in great shape, thanks to you, our dedicated members, who re-upped this year, some taking advantage of our new membership structure. Some of you made special contributions! Even in the midst of a pandemic year, our community donated more than we’ve ever received on Colorado Gives Day! We continued to receive a grant for the last umpteenth year (I can’t really remember how long!) from SCFD. If you shop in Boulder County, a portion of your taxable purchase goes to SCFD and is apportioned to the scientific and cultural facilities that apply for grants. Your contributions have enabled us to continue our programming and outreach. We have also donated to nonprofits that share our mission. In the next year, we are looking to expand our outreach financially. Thank you to all of you who have made our year successful financially. Thank you to Pat Billig, our Vice President, who continues to manage our membership services. And thanks to Emil Yappert who took over as Treasurer after Curtis Williams moved to Nevada!
Even with restrictions, we were able to teach a bunch of educational programs that were requested by the public. Diane Wells gave a presentation to the Boulder Newcomers Club. Kevin Smith taught a Beginning Birders class as well as hosted a group of students from the Watershed School on two educational bird hikes. Dave Sutherland led a group of youngsters from the Friends’ School on a bird hike. I gave a presentation on owls at a Montessori school in Louisville. Several of us continued being judges for science projects at STEM schools in Adams County. I probably have forgotten a few, but we get requests like this, and we LOVE IT! If you know of other groups that would be interested in our programs, please let us know.
Dave Southerland teaching about local flora and fauna.
Program-wise, we continued even through a pandemic to offer monthly programs on a variety of topics that support our mission of educating the public about conservation, habitats, and wildlife. Thanks to our co-chairs of Programming, Carol Kampert and Carron Meaney, for finding such interesting speakers! Sydney Rayl joined the programming team as a Communication Specialist. Thanks for volunteering, Sydney! A special thank you to Sandra Laursen who stepped in to make our Zoom presentations run more smoothly and interactively with our audience. One of the surprises about going virtual in our programming is that we have increased the number of participants at each month’s meeting! It may be hard to give up zooming! But there is nothing like seeing faces in person, and we hope sometime in the fall that we’ll be in person once again. Find out more about our upcoming programs.
Even in a pandemic, we have seen that people want to get out and experience nature. We’ve managed to do that safely and within state and county guidelines. Thanks to all our trip leaders who took on this task! And thanks to Diane Wells, our field trip chairperson, who organized many of these trips. Thanks also to Ann Tagawa for continuing to organize the Birds and Brews field trips which you can read more about later in the newsletter. In December, Bill Schmoker once again organized the Boulder Christmas Bird Count! A special thanks for continuing to do this year in and year out!
Skye Newman, our secretary, proposed that we have a booth at the Boulder Creek Festival. So we did, and it was a huge success and tons of fun to meet people from all walks of life who were interested in our work. We’ll definitely do this again! Thanks for the suggestion, Skye, and thanks to fellow board members who worked the booth: Skye Newman, Pat Billig, Diane Wells, Scott Severs, and me. If you have any suggestions about other community events Boulder Audubon should have a booth at, let us know.
Ray Bridge, our conservation advocate, stays busy as always with his ear to the ground on what’s going on in the county. He is tirelessly lobbying for our habitats and wildlife and will be the first to appear at City Council or County Commissioners when he sees a conflict. This year has been busy with Gross Reservoir, CU South, and Boulder Reservoir, among other issues. As always, our focus is on habitat and species conservation. Ray also works at the State Legislature with Aubudon’s lobbyist. Yes, we support a lobbyist who works with many of the state’s Audubon groups!
Gross Reservoir, Boulder County
As you’ve likely seen, we launched a new website! Kevin Smith helped with the technical components and selected a much more sustainable platform. Kevin, Megan Jones Patterson, and Bev Baker then cajoled the board into decision-making, moved and improved content, and we went live! Megan and Bev so graciously continue as our web-mistresses publishing new articles and making sure the latest events are ready for you to join. THANKS to all three of you!
One of the new features of our website is the addition of Nature Almanac, a monthly article series written by Stephen Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman. These are ALWAYS a delight and I hope you are all enjoying them. They are published on our website on the first of every month.
September 2021 Nature Almanac highlights pine white butterflies.
Bob Parker has continued to organize human bluebird box monitors for county properties and report back to Boulder County Parks and Wildlife on what is happening to the birds who use these boxes. As a former monitor, I personally look forward to this year’s report once the season ends.
A huge thanks goes to Megan Jones Patterson, our newsletter editor and all-around advisor on all things that matter. If you haven’t gone on one of Megan’s field trips, check them out!
As we begin a new season of Boulder County Audubon, we hope to be able to see you in person soon be it during monthly programs or out on the trails.