CANCELLED: RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS AT TREMPEALEAU REFUGE

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The power-point presentation “Red-headed Woodpeckers at Trempealeau Refuge” will highlight a charismatic species at Sobieski Lodge, February 5, 7:00 P.M. at a Winona Bird Club meeting free and open to the public. Richie Swanson monitored the “Scarlet Head’s” nest cavities as a citizen scientists from 2019-2024 and found that 18 0f 29 of territories that he documented successfully fledged young, suggesting that Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge provides vital habitat for this bird who has declined 95% in Minnesota and 70% throughout its range since 1967. Swanson will feature the Redhead’s idiosyncratic behaviors. They vigorously play “hide-and-seek” and pivot in “military fashion” during courtship, and also gather and hide acorns and sometimes hide them a second time, spreading them out to ensure winter meals. Swanson will discuss habitat features utilized by Redheads at Trempealeau Refuge and will present beautiful photos of local birders—Mara Bell, Kathleen Carlyle, Howard Munson, Andy Nyhus, Lisa Reid, Allen Black Sheldon and Rich Smith. Swanson has monitored bird populations on the upper Mississippi and written bird-conservation articles since the early 1990s. You can find his recent newspaper column about Neonicotinoid pollution and the reduction of mayflies and nighthawks on the river on the Bird Conservation page at RichieSwanson.com. He also invites short-story lovers and history buffs to visit the River Fiction page at his website.The results of Winona’s 2024 Christmas Count, coordinated by Lorraine Kilmartin and Julie Erickson, will also be presented at the upcoming meeting. Participants counted 56 species, including unusual winter sightings—an Eastern Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Carolina Wrens, Wilson’s Snipes—plus beautiful Snow Buntings. The Winona Bird Club has been celebrating nature and conservation since 1961. We offer free programs and bird walks September-May. We enjoy treats and social friendships after programs. Our annual dues cost $20 for individuals, $30 for families, and can be sent c/o Winona Bird Club, 319 West Mill, Winona 55987.The Friends of Trempealeau Refuge will also host Swanson’s program April 5, 10:00 A.M. at the refuge’s OWL Center. There will be a Redhead walk at 11:00am and new habitat analysis from the Red-headed Woodpecker Recovery Project, www.rhworesearch.org.