My Life’s Birds: #209

May 21, 1994 – Taney Co, Mo – Being a member of a local Audubon Society has its perks. Not only have you found a community of like-minded individuals, you typically have experienced birders always willing to pass on the knowledge they’ve acquired over years of involvement in the activity. After all, if they were interested in keeping it to themselves, they’d have never joined either. If they work it right, the organization gains a reputation as a reliable and useful tool for outside groups looking to increase their birder or general environmental cred.

So when a luxury lakeside resort in Branson asked the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society to spend a day on the grounds, walking the trails, and putting together a bird list, several of us jumped at the chance. After all, they offered lunch in on of their fine restaurants. And if there’s one thing birders can’t turn down, it’s free food.

I remember the trails being somewhat disappointing, and wound their way through as much clearcut hillside as Ozarks primary woodland. The birds were what you might expect on a late spring day, mostly residents with a few lingering migrants, nothing special or notable. At least until we retired for lunch in a room overlooking a particularly scenic arm of the lake. A solitary Black Walnut still stood between us and the lakeshore on a hillside of Morning Glory and in it, a singing Orchard Oriole. It was by far the best bird of the day, and a topper for the lodge list.

photo from badjoby via flickr