MEETINGS      FIELD TRIPS      MEMBERSHIP      CONSTITUTION     CONTACTS    LINKS

Purpose
The Yuma Audubon Society is dedicated to conserving natural resources, educating members on conservation issues, and increasing awareness about the diversity of nature in the Yuma area.  Our constitution is here: YAS Constitution

In the recent past, Yuma Audubon has sponsored Audubon Adventures, the Yuma Birding & Nature Festival, and Audubon Christmas Bird Counts.

Common Poorwill

Meetings
Meetings are held the second Tuesday of November through the second Tuesday of April at 7:30pm, at the Casa Sierra Vista Apts club house, located at 600 E. 25th Street (just east of Arizona Ave. & 25th St.)  A kick-off meeting in October and a May picnic are held at the Yuma West Wetlands or another park.

Field Trips
The local Yuma area is surrounded by many natural features, including the Colorado & Gila Rivers, deserts, mountains, the Imperial Dunes, and the Salton Sea.  Join us as we explore these areas in search of diverse birds, reptiles, mammals, and plants.

Field trips are usually held the Saturday following the monthly Tuesday meeting.  We carpool from the Red Lobster parking lot (corner of 16th Str & 4th Ave.) at 7:00 a.m.  Past trips have visited the Salton Sea NWR, Cibola NWR, Cienega de Santa Clara, and Palm Canyon.

Upcoming Field Trips:
- February 16, 2008:  Imperial NWR Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
- March 15, 2008:  Cibola NWR
- April 12, 2008:  Salton Sea NWR
 

Feb Field Trip:  Imperial NWR GBBC Join us as we participate in the GBBC, sponsored by National Audubon Society and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology as a way for everyone to learn more about birding while collecting important conservation data.  Imperial NWR volunteers (and I) will be leading 30-45 minute excursions through the closed area of the refuge. Trips will leave every 15 minutes from the refuge headquarters; the last trip will leave at 10:00 a.m.  More details will be available at the February meeting, or give me a call at 210-6474.

Field Trip Report - Jan 07:  The trip to Tacna was cold!  Traci, Mickey, Al & Helga, and I met Murray, L.D., Bob Hoover, Terry & Jean, Eric & Brooke, and Lin at the Tacna Chevron at 7:45 am.  From there we caravanned the final few miles to the Couch's Kingbird site.  Except it wasn't there!  Lots of other birds to entertain us, like Vermilion Flycatchers, both accipiters, and plenty of doves, though.  But no kingbird.  A couple of folks left after a couple of hours.  Still no kingbird. But lots of searchers--and more coming all the time.  Soon there were more birders than birds.  After 3 hours we decided to move on to Quigley WMA, so I left my cell number with a California birder I knew.  We took a break at the Tacna Chevron and were pulling into Betty Mason's when my phone rang--Rich Hoyer had spotted the wiley bird eating bees at some near-by hives.  So we turned our caravan around and drove back to the site.  And had marvelous looks at the bird swooping out of a mesquite grove to catch bees mid-air.  Following that we saw White-tailed Kites, White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese, Canda Geese, and numerous ducks at Quigley WMA, and then several other species at Quigley Pond.  All in all, it was a cold but successful morning!

Christmas Bird Count

Membership
Membership can be at the national or chapter level, or both. Fee structures and benefits are as follows:

Contacts

Links
National Audubon Society
www.audubon.org
Imperial NWR www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/arizona/imperial.html
Cibola NWR
www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/arizona/cibola.html
Local & National Rare Bird Reports  
birdingonthe.net
Southwest Birders
www.southwestbirders.com
Yuma-area Bird Guide
www.southwestbirders.com/guide_yuma.htm
ASU - AZ birds, range maps, & songs
http://askabiologist.asu.edu/expstuff/experiments/birdsongs/
 

Thick-billed Kingbird - Yuma Main Drain
(as of Oct 2007 it's back for another season)