Indiana Audubon Society
Fall Meeting
October 3 - 5, 2008
Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary

Driving Directions Change: Two new bridges are going in on Bird Sanctuary Road. The road will be closed for the meeting. If you usually come in from SR44, you will need to take the other road in from the east. Drive east on SR 44 into Connersville. Turn RIGHT on IN-121 South. Drive 2.7 miles. Turn RIGHT onto W-CR 350 S. Drive 3.1 miles and arrive at the Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary. (Map)(Google Map)

Meal Reservation Information

Grand Opening Celebration of
Brooks Hall Museum and Nature Center!

Find out about the plans: Nature Center Plans

Schedule, Friday, Oct. 3

For a printable copy of the schedule, click here.
6:30 pm Board of Directors Meeting
 Markle Barn
7:00 pm Registration Please stop by the registration table in Brooks Hall to sign in or to register for the weekend. If you have not pre-registered for meals, there will be a $5 late charge added to your meal total.
8:00 pm The American Naturalists Tradition: The Storyteller's Journey Through Literature and Science Walking a path first blazed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, Brian "Fox" Ellis travels in the tradition of these American Naturalists. The Transcendentalists were the first truly American movement in literature that broke from European traditions. Fox follows in these footsteps. He promises to tune our ears to the quiet whispers of wildflowers, to teach us the songs of wind and wave, and to share the stories of the land.

From "A Storyteller's Tour of the Louvre" in Paris, to a campfire in the mountains of North Carolina, from the Historic Sandwich Illinois Opera House, to an International Conference on Wetlands Conservation in Washington D.C., Fox has been regaling audiences for more than 25 years. Since 1980 Fox has been touring the world as a performer and educator. He is a dynamic teller who, in a warmly entertaining manner, captures what is most life-affirming and beautiful in the human experience.

Saturday Morning, Oct. 4
6:45 - 8:00 am Breakfast in Markle Barn
 A hardy breakfast will be served by the Rushville Kiwanis Club. Be sure to order your tickets in advance. Cost: $6.00
7:30 am - noon Option 1: Field trip to Brookville Lake Brookville Lake lies in the heart of the Whitewater River Valley. This area has long been acknowledged as one of the most picturesque and historically significant in the state of Indiana. Please join Peter Scott and Carl Wilms (who monitors local listservs) and go to current hotspots for migrant and resident species. Meet at Markle Barn for coffee, breakfast, and carpooling organization by 7:00 am. The trip will leave promptly at 7:30 am.

Carpooling will be necessary for this trip. Please consider driving with other IAS members and be sure to "tip" the driver to help cover gasoline costs.
9:00 am Option 2: Let's Do Some Archeology! What did the people who lived in the yellow brick house have for dinner? What did they wear? What tools did they use?

We may find some answers during the fall meeting. With Allen King as the leader, we will open several pits, using good techniques, to see what we can find at this home site from the 1800's. We will use trowels and then screen the dirt. Proper records will be kept with 4 people working in each pit. If there is a demand, we will have one pit reserved for young people.

You should wear old clothes. Bring a pair of gloves that you don't care about. Knee pads are useful but not required. If you have a small mason's trowel, please bring it marked with some identification.

If the dig yields some good artifacts, we could make this an ongoing project. This program will be offered several times though out the weekend. Since space is limited, please sign-up for your 'dig' time when you register.

Allen King is a long term member of IAS and has traveled the world touring and photographing our natural world. He recently returned from an archeological dig in Northwestern Minnesota.
10:00 am Nature Sketching No experience required, just a love of nature for this easy and relaxing program. Paper and pencils will be provided or you may bring your own supplies. Different drawing techniques and tips will be given, with special attention given to the drawing of birds. Weather permitting we will work outdoors part of the time.

Rebecca Fallat, owner of the Blue Heron Gallery located in nearby Liberty, IN will be the instructor. Rebecca teaches painting, sketching and sculpture. Her art career has mingled with her natural resources career for the last 30 years giving her unique perspectives and knowledge on sketching nature.
Noon Lunch in Markle Barn Lunch will be provided by Lora, Terri, and Amy again this year. The menu includes soup, sandwiches, dessert, and drink. Cost: $6.00 adults and $3 for children 12 and under.

Saturday Afternoon
1:00 pm Membership Meeting Everyone is invited to participate. The meeting will be held in Brooks Hall.
2:00 - 4:00 pm Non-flowering Plant Walk You won't want to miss the non-flowering plant walk! Join Jack Berninger for a walk in the woods to find many of the ferns located at Mary Gray. The ferns are second only to flowering plants in species numbers. Jack will talk about the reproductive spores located on many of the ferns that are not seeds, but are part of the unusual reproductive cycle of ferns. We'll view unusual organisms with both animal and fungal characteristics. If time permits we will utilize microscopes to investigate some of the Green Algae found in the Sanctuary ponds. The ancestors of these algae are the evolutionary parents of the flowering plants that we see every day.

Jack has a Masters degree from Xavier University and is a retired biology teacher. He and his wife Elaine raised their family on a farm near Dillsboro. Currently, Jack and Elaine are involved in several population research projects and conduct hikes in Fakahatchee Swamp and Big Cypress parks in Florida.
2:00 pm Let's Do Some Archeology!
 See description above.
2:00 pm Turtles at the Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary Young and old alike will not want to miss Gary Breitenbach's discussion regarding his ongoing turtle population study at the Sanctuary. Gary has been trapping, marking and recording Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary Turtle population for over 25 years. Meet at the pond in front of Markle Barn for this hands-on presentation! Recent captures have consistently recorded a snapping turtle that rivals the Indiana state record at 48 pounds.
5:00 pm Dinner - Markle Barn
 Please purchase your tickets in advance. $7 Adults - $3 for children 12 and under. A small number of tickets will be available for purchase at the registration table for an additional $5 fee.
7:30 pm Awards and Photography Contest Share your photographic efforts of the year and help us make this the best photo contest so far! Be sure to submit early! Submission details
8:00 pm On the Road to Calakmul Alan Bruner and Peter Scott will delight us with their photographs and adventures in birding from Cancun to the ruins of Calakmul in the far southern end of Yucatan.

Peter Scott is a professor of biology at Indiana State University whose specialties are ornithology and plant pollination ecology. He has studied Indiana birds since 1995, and published papers on the use of reclaimed coal strip mines by grassland birds. As a graduate student in the 1980's, Dr. Scott spent parts of three years in Yucatan, Mexico, studying the breeding biology of Turquoise-browed Motmots and Cave Swallows.

Alan Bruner grew up in west-central Indiana birding extensively along the Sugar Creek corridor and Wabash River including Shades and Turkey Run St. Parks. He earned a B.S. in Life Science at Indiana St. Univ. He worked as a nickel plater and environental analyst at Metal Forming Industries in Russellville, IN. He currently resides in Marshall, Indiana, with wife Jacki. Alan is a former President of Indiana Audubon Society, Wabash Valley Audubon Society, chair of Indiana Bird Records Committee, and sub-regional editor for American Birds, maintains the Indiana Bird Report Archives and has published numerous articles in Indiana Audubon Quarterly for which he is the editor.

Sunday, Oct. 5
7:00 - 8:00 am Breakfast Breakfast will be served by the Kiwanis Club until 8 am. Cost is $6 per person.
7:45 am Bird Walk Meet in front of Brooks Hall to join the morning bird walk. All skill levels welcome!
9:00 am Worship Service The Biblical Call to Environmental Stewardship. Join Alan Bruner and Tom Goldsmith for the Sunday morning worship service in Brooks Hall.
10:00 am Let's Do Some Archeology!
 See description above.
11:00 am Birds & (Honey) Bees Retrospective Alex Zomchek will share the 150 million year journey of the co-evolution of flowering plants and honeybees with a focus on the last 9-10 thousand year symbiotic relationship with modern man. Highlights will include the relatively new dependence humans have with honey bees as we depend on them for crop pollination and the dependence honeybees have on humans as they now need humans to fight predators, pests, and diseases. Africanized ("killer") bees, varroa mites, and CCD (Colony Collapse Disease) will also be topic of interest. He will outline modern beekeeping practices including the new honeybee "cowboys". Alex will also highlight the economics of pollination on the world food market, how this impacts food prices and supply, and what individuals can do to support the honey bee industry at the local level.

Alex Zomchek is a small business owner in Oxford, Ohio. He is a beekeeper who enjoys educating groups about the role of honeybees and their importance in our environment. In addition to these two roles, Alex is involved at the Environmental Research Center (ERC) at Miami University, is married, and is raising his two daughters.
Noon Lunch Lunch will be provided by Lora, Terri, and Amy again this year. Cost: $6.00 adults and $3 for children 12 and under.

Spring Meeting

Mark your calendar now for the Spring meeting, May 1, 2, 3, 2009.