Arkansas Audubon Society's Spring 2025 Convention

Name: Arkansas Audubon Society's Spring 2025 Convention
Start: 2025-04-25T17:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-27T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Mount Sequoyah

Schedule

Fri, 25 Apr, 2025 at 05:00 pm to Sun, 27 Apr, 2025 at 03:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Mount Sequoyah | Fayetteville, AR

The Spring 2025 Arkansas Audubon Society convention will be held on April 25-27, 2025, at Mt. Sequoyah Retreat Center in Fayetteville. We will have outstanding speakers and field trips. Our Field Trips will include fabulous birding destinations with amazing leaders, a night owl opportunity, and beginner-friendly options on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday will feature a trip to Ninestone, a unique and beloved place for Northwest Arkansas birders.
At Mt. Sequoyah, our room block includes various combinations of queen, 2 queen and queen/full beds. The cutoff date for our reserved block of rooms is March 25, but don’t procrastinate! To reserve your room at the great $100 rate, Click Here or call (479) 443-4531.
Register for the convention by March 25 to qualify for Early Bird registration rates: $25 for AAS members and $30 for non-members. Student registration is $15. Save money by registering early! Also, please note the cutoff date for meals is one week before the meeting, April 18.
On Friday night, Leslie Cooper, the Arkansas Monarch and Pollinator Coordinator with Quail Forever in Arkansas, will be our speaker. Her topic will be “Power in Pollinators: Growing Native to Benefit Butterflies, Bees, and Birds.” She will offer an overview of native bee and monarch biology, the native plants they depend on, and how saving bees can benefit us all. Cooper will also discuss how we can create habitat using native plants and highlight what Arkansas is doing to benefit pollinators.
On Saturday afternoon, our symposium speaker will be Kevin Pierson, Chief Conservation Officer of Bat Conservation International, and while we will learn plenty about bats, the real thrust will be about the inner workings of BCI’s efforts around the world, including personal stories of BCI staff.
Saturday night after dinner, Still on the Hill (Kelly and Donna Mulhollan) will be performing, followed by our own Joe Neal, who will be speaking on “How to Find Birds New to Arkansas.” He will share his thoughtful musings over the last 40 years when, as he puts it, “I didn’t find any of the birds new to Arkansas since the publication of Arkansas Birds in 1986, but did enjoy seeing quite a few of them.” Joe Neal has had a distinguished career and is currently a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Biological Sciences at UA-Fayetteville.
Field Trip Coordinator Taylor Long has done a fantastic job putting together interesting field trips for us, with 13 guided field trips over three days, ranging from a beginning birder trip and a research field trip featuring snakes to many other options, like Lake Fayetteville and Chesney Prairie. Birding and Banding at Hobbs State Park will include a behind-the-scenes look at an active bird-banding station. Take time to look at the options that Taylor has planned, and you’ll be excited to see all the choices!
At the business meeting, members will vote on bylaws revisions. You will receive an email about them at the end of March so be on the lookout.
Finally, we will hold our silent auction. It's not too early to be thinking about items to donate! Once again, we are asking for new items to be donated for sale. Used items, including books, can be offered on our “Free Table.” Contact me with any questions about the convention. We hope you can join us for an entertaining and educational weekend of birding, learning and gathering with friends!