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November 20
Martin Kemper, our new District Natural Heritage Biologist in Southwest Illinois (and long-time KVAS member), will give us a program entitled Comments on Illinois Biodiversity. Marty has worked for 30 years as a wildlife biologist with IDNR prior to taking his new job as heritage biologist. With plenty of experience to draw on, Marty will talk about what biodiversity is, and trends in Illinois and global biodiversity.
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KVAS 2008 CALENDAR - PROGRAMS AND FIELD TRIPS All meetings are Free and Open to the Public.
All meetings will be held at 7pm at Southwestern Illinois College, Red Bud Campus in the auditorium. For More Information contact Program Chairman, Debbie Newman at 618-684-4799 or skink@globaleyes.net.
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**January 17 – Show and Tell. Bring items and stories to share with the group. We will also discuss the Festival scheduled for July.
**February 21 - SNOWED OUT
**March - Board meeting only TBD
**April 17 – Our own Tom May will give us a program on A Year in my Life with the American Kestrel. There are bird watchers and there are bird workers. Tom has been a bird worker doing American kestrel banding and research for 5 years. This program will take you through a year as he works with the kestrel, from building a nest box to watching the young fledge. It is a walk through all the different tasks he does in working with kestrels. Not everyone will want to do all the things he does, but everyone can do some of them and in doing so, help to increase the population of this smallest American falcon.
April 26, Saturday -- Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve (Monroe County) protects more than 500 acres of bluff land forests and hill prairies. A new one-and-one-half mile trail in the Reserve recently was constructed and is open to the public. We will join members of the Salt Lick Point Stewardship Committee and CLIFFTOP for a morning of birding, botanizing and bluffing. The field trip is from 8 a.m. to noon. Directions: Just North of Old Valmeyer on Bluff Road is the entrance to Rock City. We'll meet to the left and outside the gate for Rock City, in a parking area beside a maintenance shed, near the trail head. Contact: Carl and Pen Daubach at 618-458-4674.
May 10 - Spring bird count. Meet at the Marina in New Athens at 6am. contact Tim Dever at for more information.
**May 15 –Tom Clay, Executive Director of the Illinois Audubon Society will provide us with a program 111 Years of Illinois Audubon Conservation Efforts. This will be a great opportunity to see past and current efforts of our parent organization, and to visit with Tom on conservation topics. Tom will also give us an update on the new headquarters building project.
May 31, Saturday -- Little Mary’s River Fish Collection and Identification Trip (Randolph County) - Starts at 10:00 am. and will probably be over at noon. Come see up to 23 species of fish from the little Mary’s River, including such interesting species as the orangethroat darter, freckled madtom, logperch, central stoneroller, and many others. Fish will be collected by using electric backpack shocker and minnow seine. Learn how to ID some of our native stream fish species. Located at the covered bridge historical area on Rt. 150, east of Chester, Ill. Should be adequate parking. Led by Randy Sauer and Barry Newman. Call Barry Newman, IDNR, at 618 295-2877 regarding questions.
June - 2009 Planning meeting. Hanft Park, New Athens, IL. 9:30am --1pm B.Y.O.B. Bring Your Own Bag/Basket lunch. We will be picnicing in the park and planning the next year. We will also do a brief walk through of the park and discuss the KAVANA Fest in July.
July 19, Saturday -- Horseshoe Lake Shorebirds – (Madison County): Each year, wetland areas are dewatered in summer at Horseshoe Lake for waterfowl management purposes. Our trip is planned to coincide with the excellent shorebird habitat conditions this produces. Planning our trip requires some “crystal-balling” because the dewatering does not occur on a precise date. Hopefully we’ll be “in the ballpark” and see our share of shorebirds. If not, the site offers other birding opportunities. We’ll meet at the park office parking lot (located at the north end of the property) at 9 AM. Horseshoe Lake is just west off of I-55-70 at exit 6. From exit 6 travel north on Ill Rte. 111 for 2-3 miles. You’ll see the park entrance and main office on your left (west). You can also go 1 mile north of Collinsville on I-255 and take the Horseshoe Lake Road exit (clearly marked). Proceed west about 2 miles. Turn south onto Ill Rte 111 at the traffic light. Go approximatrly ½ mile south, you’ll see the park entrance and main office on your right (west). Contact: Martin Kemper at 618-327-4158.
July 26 - Kaskaskia Valley Nature Festival. "KAVANA" 9am-1pm. Hanft Park, New Athens, IL
August - No meeting
**September 18 – Smart Energy Solutions. The choices we make and the products we buy test our commitment to maintain a healthy planet. Terri Treacy, Conservation Field Representative with
Sierra Club Illinois Chapter will share some Smart Energy Solutions that are simple, effective ways everyone can help in the race to reduce global warming.
Sept. 20, Saturday -- Silver Creek Preserve Walk --This field trip will convene at 8AM at the parking lot. Silver Creek Preserve is an approximately 500 acre “green space” owned by St. Clair Co. The site has contains reconstructed wetlands, large tree plantings, a small prairie planting, and a good representation of maturing bottomland forest. This site has picnic and restroom facilities. An approximately 1 mile loop trail is paved and an easy walk. To get there, proceed west about 1 mile on Il Rte 177 from its junction with Il Rte 4 (east side of Mascoutah). Turn south onto 10th street (there’s a silver Creek Preserve sign here also) and proceed about 2 miles south (through two bends). The right turn into the preserve is marked. The parking lot is about 1/8 mile west.
If weather permits, we should see some wading birds and waterfowl, plenty of brush birds and with luck, some fall migrant warblers in the “big woods” and elsewhere. Again, weather permitting, we may be able to explore off the trail and take a short walk to see the adjacent Silver Creek Marsh INAI site. Contact: Martin Kemper at 618-327-4158.
**October 16 – Brad Walker from Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) will speak to us on Upper Mississippi River Restoration. Brad is the UMR Restoration Coordinator for PR N, Illinois’ statewide river conservation organization. Brad will talk about the general condition of the Mississippi river environment, including some history, and will talk about the benefits of a large-scale restoration effort. Also included will be an update of the Corps of Engineers lock expansion and ecosystem restoration project, known as the Navigation and Ecological Sustainability Program which was included in the 2007 federal Water Resources Development Act.
**November 20 – Martin Kemper, our new District Natural Heritage Biologist in Southwest Illinois (and long-time KVAS member), will give us a program entitled Comments on Illinois Biodiversity. Marty has worked for 30 years as a wildlife biologist with IDNR prior to taking his new job as heritage biologist. With plenty of experience to draw on, Marty will talk about what biodiversity is, and trends in Illinois and global biodiversity.
December 11– Christmas Party.
World Shooting Complex, Sparta. 17th Street Bar and Grill. 6pm socialize. 6:30 order food off menu. 5 miles north of Sparta on State Route 4, turn west onto County Rd 18.
December 20, Saturday - Christmas Bird Count. Meet at 6:30am at the New Athens Marina. Contact Tim Dever for more information
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2008 Christmas Party Directions
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