I am looking forward to 2022 and taking over the reins from Brad Andres as the new Evergreen Audubon President. But, before we start looking ahead, I want to recap the celebrations of 2021 as shared during the online Annual Banquet on January 15th.
Brad first reminded us of some of the more interesting birds seen by our members throughout the year, including large numbers of Wilson’s Snipes and a Long-tailed Duck. His great narrative of what was spotted each month led up to the announcement of the “Bird of the Year.” The 2021 contenders were the Lewis’s Woodpecker, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Tundra Swan. The tundra swans, spotted by Todd and Melissa Leasia at Evergreen Lake after a December snowstorm took the top honor!
As for the 2021 Birding Challenge, eleven folks, including newcomers Chris and Patricia Gearhart, joined the existing club members, Chuck Aid, Brad Andres, Ron Belak, Steve Garman, Rachel Hutchison, Heather Johnson, Peg Linn, Kathy Madison, and Dick Pricket, who all qualified in one or more of the challenges. The 2021 Bird Challenge Table, shows the number of birders completing the challenge in each region, with Jefferson County having the most. Folks were so close to meeting the challenge in Clear Creek County and Gilpin County but fell short by 2 and 1 species respectively. The table also indicates the number of species required in each area and how many bird species the group saw or heard. One birder had an amazing 277 species in Colorado!
Emma Vasicek, our Education and Outreach Director, was super creative in recognizing a few of her volunteers, including:
- Jump-Right-In Award: Linda Engelhart, a new volunteer for Wildlife Watch and the After-School Programs: “she jumped into these opportunities with such vigor and enthusiasm”
- Knight in Shining Armor Award: Melissa, a long-time Nature Center and After-School Program volunteer: “Thank you for always coming to the rescue… and responding to a last minute requests”
- Night Owl – Behind the Scenes Award: Brad Andres, our outgoing President who “does so much behind the scenes incredible work – and provided a tremendous support to me and Evergreen Audubon”
Brad presented three Royal Order of the Dipper Awards to those volunteers who go above and beyond. The Dipper Awards have been a long-time tradition at Evergreen Audubon as a way of showing our appreciation to those members who go above and beyond in helping the organization. The 2021 awards went to:
- Larry White for his efforts in organizing and reporting on the American Dipper Survey
- Melissa Leasia for her outstanding effort to publicize Evergreen Audubon and organize the eDipper newsletter, as well as her commitment as a Visitor Assistant at the Evergreen Nature Center
- Chuck Aid for the amazing outreach time he spends organizing the Christmas Bird Count, conducting bird walks and providing nature education.
Brad also thanked many other members, as he said, “It takes a village”
- Carmon Slater for the quilt raffle donation
- Marilyn Rhodes for a Herculean effort on wreath sales
- All the Alternative Gift Fair Volunteers
- Dwight Souder for organizing the Highway Clean-ups
- Stephanie Gomolka for social events and COVID advice
- Ed Furlong for programs and nest boxes
- Kathy Madison and Lisa Wald for website/emails/Bash/membership
- Ann Dodson for taking the minutes and helping with Evergreen community events
- Rachel Hutchison for outstanding record-keeping, paying the bills and organizing nest box builds and sales
- JoAnn Hackos for her work with Audubon Colorado Council and regular contributions to the e-dipper, including the book reviews
- Of course, all of our Evergreen Audubon members, donors and volunteers
I agree with Brad, it does take a village and I hope you all will join the community and get involved in 2022!
-Kathy