2022 Spring Meeting at Swan Lake State Park Carroll Iowa
Swan Lake State Park near Carroll Iowa was the site of this year's spring meeting April 29-May 1. Greene, Guthrie and Carroll county filled with roving flocks of IOU members searching the skies for migrants, residents and vagrants for three days dodging raindrops and avoiding wicked winds.
Swan Lake was perfect place to register and get some preview of the excellent birding this area has to offer. Before registration many birds were showing off, Common Loons, Franklin Gulls, wide assortment of waterfowl. It would have been a very good three days just birding and enjoying Swan Lake.
Friendships were renewed and field trips planned. Those field trips included; Assorted County parks,sheet water and state lands, Black Hawk Lake, Dunbar Slough, Swan Lake State Park, and White Rock Nature Conservancy. Field trip leaders included John Bissel, Stan Bauman, Brandon Caswell, Diane Dentlinger, Keith Dyche, Doug Harr, Kevin Murphy Eric Ollie, and Matt Wetrich.
After the Saturday Morning Field trips we reunited at the Swan Lake State Park Center for the afternoon. Excellent programs were given by Erik Murry on the Rough Legged Banding Program in Iowa. Brandon Caswell on magical warbling and birding areas in Eastern Iowa, and Matt Wetrich on the wonders of Carroll birding both urban and rural.
The membership voted on the top three birds of the day. Top three were American Golden Plover, Swainson's Hawk and American Kestrel. 35 species recieved votes out of 140 species viewed on Saturday. Many highlighted species of Saturday including Loggerhead Shrike, Sandhill Cranes, Godwits (Hudsonian and Marbled), Yellow Headed Blackbird, and Sora and Virgina Rails.
Anne Lacy of the Internationl Crane Foundation gave an outstanding program on the Sandhill Cranes and Whooping Cranes.
We reconvened on Sunday morning and picked up another 16 new species to end with 155 for the weekend.
Personally the last bird of the trip was the American Avocet as I was leaving the park Sunday afternoon.
Thank you Matt Wetrich, Membership, Speakers, Swan Lake and Western Iowa for a great weekend.
It was great to see everyone again.
PS Dunbar Slough is worth the trip alone.
Participants and Species Seen