The Oklahoma Audubon Council's second annual Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival, will be held April 16-21 in Woodward, OK. The keynote speaker is Julie Zickefoose, widely published natural history writer and artist. Beside seeing the Lesser Prairie-Chicken up close and personal, there will be field trips (led by Eric Beck, Terry Mitchell, Bill Carrell, John Couch and others) to the Selman Ranch, Harper County, the Cooper WMA, the Four Canyons Preserve, Owl Prowls, a two night extension to Black Mesa led by Jimmy Woodard, and a prairie and caving trip to the Selman Living Lab led by Dr, Bill Caire and Dr. Gloria Cadell.

Cherokee Birding and Heritage Festival at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge
April 23-25, 2010

The festival link still shows the 2009 schedule, but this will give you an idea of the huge variety of events scheduled at this festival.

Red Slough Birding Convention
May 8-11, 2010

The 2nd Annual Red Slough Birding Convention will be held May 8-11, 2010 in Idabel, visiting the legendary Red Slough and Little River NWR among other areas. Speakers include Dr. Mia Revels on Swainson's Warbler, George Harp on Dragonflies, Dr. Chris Butler on Yellow Rails and Bill Burt on Rare and Elusive Birds of North America. Burt is a nationally famous naturalist, photographer and writer with a passion for wild places and elusive birds – especially marshes, and the shy birds within.

Arbuckle-Simpson Nature Festival
May 7-8, 2010

The 4th annual Arbuckle-Simpson Nature Festival in Tishomingo, OK – May 7 & 8, 2010.  Participants in the 2010 festival will have the opportunity to be guided by regional naturalists, historians, and wildlife experts on tours of such local gems as: the Blue River, Pennington Creek, Pontotoc Ridge Preserve,  Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery, Chickasaw Nation Capitol, Council House Museum, Emet White House, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, and   Arbuckle-Simpson ranches that private owners have generously opened for our tours

Fall 2009 OOS Meeting Highlights

If you have pictures you would like to share, please send them to John Kennington

Recent Rarity Sightings from eBird

Below is the eBird Rare Bird Google Gadget, an up-to-date list of birds reported as "rare" in eBird. eBird is a great way to track your own sightings and to add to the global knowledge-base of bird population trends. eBird has greatly improved over the last year, and is a great way to keep your bird lists, You can also export from AviSys and other listing software. Click here for more info on the eBird gadget and how birds included on this list.

OOS Now Accepting Credit Cards!

You may now join or renew your membership in the OOS on-line with your credit card. Visit the membership page and select your membership level.

You may also purchase the OOS Date Guide and Field Cards on-line. See the publications page to order your items.

Lesser Prairie Chickens and Wind Energy

New proposals for vast wind energy farms are now threatening the existence of the Lesser Prairie Chicken in Oklahoma. Visit the Conservation Page for more information