Next IOU Meeting (Registration Coming Soon)

2010 IOU Spring Meeting
Bettendorf
30 April - 2 May 2010

The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union Spring Meeting will be held April 30-May 2, 2010 in Bettendorf, Iowa. Our hosts for the meeting will be the Quad Cities Audubon Society. All meeting activities will take place at the Ramada Inn in Bettendorf.

The Quad Cities area is known for excellent woodland birding and of course, the Mississippi River. This meeting should be timed to take advantage of both as the first of the warblers and other neotropical migrants should just be arriving, while the tail end of the waterbird migration should still be underway.

Potential fieldtrip locations include Wildcat Den State Park, Credit Island and Nahant Marsh, Wapsi Environmental Center, Lost Creek Lake, Sherman Park, Rock Creek State Park, Princeton Marsh, and Lock and Dams 13, 14, 15, and 16 on the Mississippi River. Some trips may also include areas on the Illinois side of the river.

In addition, there will be a special limited opportunity to visit Big Sand Mound Nature Preserve. Monsanto and MidAmerican Energy own and manage this 510 acre property along the Mississippi River near Muscatine. The preserve’s purpose is to “conserve and enhance existing ecological communities, manage endangered species, protect archaeological features, and accommodate university research.” Because access to this unique site is restricted, there will be a single Saturday fieldtrip which will be limited to fifteen people. The fifteen slots will be available to the first fifteen people to register for the meeting and select this fieldtrip.

Directions: The Ramada Inn is located just off Interstate 74 at the Kimberly Rd./Spruce Hills Dr. exit. It is less than ¼ mile off the Interstate.

Motels: Ramada Inn, 3020 Utica Ridge, Bettendorf, (563) 355-7575
* $69 IOU discount rate until March 31
Fairfield Inn, 3206 E. Kimberly Rd, Davenport, (563) 391-8222
Holiday Inn, 909 Middle Rd. Bettendorf, (563) 355-4761
Days Inn, 3202 E. Kimberly Rd, (563) 359-7165

Camping: Buffalo Shores Campground - Hwy 22 ~1 mile west of Buffalo,
Iowa West Lake Campground - Locust St exit or Hwy 61 exit off Interstate 280, west to 110th St
Scott County Park - north on Hwy 61 past Eldridge near the community of Park View

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Brian Peer

Brian Peer became interested in birds in graduate school at the University of Illinois under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Robinson. After completing his Ph.D., he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution combining molecular genetic techniques with field studies of Brown-headed Cowbirds. Brian began his career as a professor of biology at Simpson College and is now an Associate Professor of Biology at Western Illinois University in Macomb. Brian's studies are diverse and have taken him throughout North America and Europe, and have included topics such as gynandromorphic birds, sexual selection, animal signals, and brood parasitism in wild turkeys, but his primary area of interest is the interaction between the Brown-headed Cowbird and its hosts. Brian has >40 publications and has secured > $300,000.00 in grants to support his research.

Schedule

FRIDAY, April 30 – Ramada Inn
5:30-9:00 P.M. Registration
Social time with snacks
Field trip sign-up

SATURDAY, May 1 – Ramada Inn
6:00 A.M. Breakfast
7:00 A.M. Field trips depart
Noon Lunch
1:00-1:30 P.M. Larry Stone and Jon Stravers – “Gladys Black: The Legacy of Iowa’s Bird Lady”
1:35-2:05 P.M. Kelly McKay – Milan Bottom’s Bald Eagle Study
2:15-4:00 P.M. IOU General Business Meeting
4:00-4:10 P.M. Introduction of new IOU members
4:15-5:15 P.M. IOU Board Meeting
6:30-7:30 P.M. Saturday Evening Banquet
7:30-8:30 P.M. Speaker: Dr. Brian Peer – "Brood Parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds: Separating Fact from Fiction"

SUNDAY, May 2 – Ramada Inn
6:00 A.M. Breakfast
7:00 A.M. Field trips depart
12:00 P.M. Field trips return
Lunch
Final compilation