>>>All DCAS programs are open to the general public<<<

2010-2011 Programs

Meetings are held at 7:00 pm at
First Christian Church
700 JR Miller Blvd
Intersection of JR Miller Blvd and 7th Street

Upcoming meetings have topics ranging from bluebirds to regional water quality.  Meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend!  Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month.

September 7 - Micah Perkins, associate professor of biology at Owensboro Community & Technical College, will present “Monarch: Natural History and Conservation”.

October 5 - One of the most acclaimed nature films in recent years will be the focus of the October meeting of the Daviess County Audubon Society. The DCAS and the Brescia University Art Department will present a class on migration, using the Owensboro debut of “Winged Migration” at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at Taylor Hall in the science building on the Brescia campus, 717 Frederica Street in Owensboro.  A 2002 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, Jacques Perron’s film worked with imprinted birds to follow migrations through 40 countries and each of the seven continents. To get a bird’s eye view of travel, transportation ranging from planes to balloons and various innovative cameras were used. The Sony Pictures Classics film also makes use of some CGI special effects. Fly along with birds ranging from sandhill cranes to Siberian cranes.  Refreshments will be provided. The event is free, but donations will be accepted. The program will end at 8:45 p.m.

November 2 - Western Kentucky University biologist Albert Meier returns to the Daviess County Audubon Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, at First Christian Church, Seventh Street and J.R. Miller Blvd.  He will share his and wife Ouida’s reflections on the Gulf oil disaster and other environmental issues which faced the Gulf of Mexico before and after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon.  WKU biologist Ouida Meier is a marine biologist who grew up in Louisiana.

December - Bird identification refresher with Mike Henshaw.  This program is aimed at renewing everyone's identification skills prior to the Christmas Bird Counts.

January - Native grasses and wildflowers with Margaret Shea of Dropseed Nursery in Louisville, KY.

February - Dr. Chris Hochwender and Dr. Don Batema present a program on their research in wetland ecology on 1,100 acres of Vectren's Conservation Park along the Wabash River in southwest Indiana.  A field study is planned for next summer as a followup to this presentation.

March - Cy Mott, assistant professor at Kentucky Wesleyan College, describes parenting techniques of beavers based on 1,500 hours of videotape research taken inside beaver lodges.

April - Geo-tagging is a recent photography enhancement illustrated by Dr. Chuck Price of the University of Southern Indiana.

May - Kentucky turtles, their habitat struggles, and her research by recent Murray State University graduate Amy Krztan-Presson.

June - Annual picnic at Panther Creek Park in Daviess County will feature grilled meat by Mike Henshaw and potluck.  The Business Meeting will present the nominating committee's slate of officers and committee chairs for the upcoming year for consideration of the members.

Field Trips

Field trips are planned monthly to various places around Kentucky including John James Audubon State Park, Peabody Wildlife Management Area, Sloughs Wildlife Management Area, Ben Hawes State Park and many other locations.  As always, all field trips are open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend!

September 18 - Experience the miracles of the monarch Thanks to the Slough Wildlife Management Area in Henderson County, Western Kentuckians live near one of the prime rest stops as the monarch butterfly continues its journey to mountain peaks west of Mexico City — 1,400 miles away. The Sloughs feature large nectar-bearing plants, including swamp milkweed, one of their favorite food sources. For the past several years,  John James Audubon State Park has sponsored a tagging program for the Monarch Watch program, which provides scientists with key information about nature’s winged jewels. Butterfly lovers capture them, tag them and release them. Help tag migration butterflies for the Monarch Watch Program Sept. 18 and 19. Tags and nets will be provided for 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. sessions. Please dress for potentially marshy conditions. The cost is $5 per person; family rate $13 (up to five members, extra members $2.50 each). The Daviess County Audubon Society will carpool for the 1 p.m. session Sept. 18.  We will leave from the back parking lot at Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn at noon.

October 9 - Prehistoric and current-day natural wonders will be on display when the Daviess County Audubon Society returns to Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, IN on October 9.  The club has arranged for a private tour leader, who will guide the group for a two-hour session that features birding and fossils.  The 390-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest, naturally exposed, Devonian fossil beds in the world. The club will be there at the end of the shorebird migration period, but other fall migrants and hawks are possible. Please wear footwear for wading and bring spotting scopes to check out the visitors.  Please pack a lunch and snacks. After the session, the club will eat out before leaving the Louisville area and returning to Owensboro between 6 and 7 p.m.  Our program cost will be $5 per person.  The group will leave from the back of Rural King/Kroger on U.S. 60 East at 9 a.m.  Our rain date for the trip is October 16.

November 6 - Daviess County Audubon Society will be traveling to Campbellsville Nov. 6 to view an innovative program that uses a man-made wetland to treat wastewater.  Clay Hill Memorial Forest and the Joan White Howell Environmental Education Center are under the direction of Campbellsville University’s Dr. Richard Kessler’s environmental education program.  The club will leave OCTC at 8:30 and eat lunch before the 1 p.m. EDT program.

December - Christmas Bird Counts

January - Planned trip to Peabody WMA was canceled due to hunter season conflicts.

February - Sloughs WMA Green Wing Day and eagle nest watching.

March 5 - Greene County Marsh Madness Festival in Linton, IN.  The second annual event at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area celebrates the early spring migration of sandhill cranes with a high probability that there will also be a whooping crane spotted amid the sandhills.

April - Ohio Valley Birding Festival Bluebird Trail at Audubon Sate Park and keynote speaker at the University of Evansville

May - Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest (a National Audubon Society Important Bird Area).

June - Vectren Conservation Park is a 1,100 acre area along the Wabash River in southwest Indiana where we will study wetland ecology and restoration.

Join the Daviess County Audubon Society!!!