Tony Rothering, professor of biology, reports that the spring season at the LLCC bird banding station saw a new season high for number of species. Below are highlights and the entire report is attached. The 2018 fall banding season will begin Monday, Aug. 20.

• A total of 1,687 birds were banded of 87 species (new season high!) over 52 banding days (the previous season high for any season was 82 species).
• Of these, 146 returns (birds banded during an earlier season) were captured.
• The average capture rate of unbanded birds was 32.4 birds per day.
• Three new species for the banding station were captured this spring: Black-billed Cuckoo, Scarlet Tanager and Vesper Sparrow.
• Over 12 banding seasons, we have banded 20,089 birds of 122 species.
• Over 250 LLCC students visited the LLCC bird banding station.

View spring bird banding final report.

Do you know of a student interested in clinical laboratory science? Encourage them to attend a presentation on the field of clinical laboratory science (CLS) on Monday, April 16 from 2:30-3 p.m. in S2216. Students in the CLS program at UIS will be discussing the different fields in clinical laboratory science, career opportunities and how to earn a degree in CLS. All students and staff are invited. Snacks will be provided!

Tony Rothering, professor of biology, reports that a student (Maureen Hurd) from UIUC is conducting her graduate research project on chimney swifts. This bird species historically used hollow trees for nesting, constructing a rather haphazard nest out of sticks and saliva. They adapted readily to using the human-made equivalent of a hollow tree … chimneys. As we have progressed to high efficiency furnaces, etc., the construction of traditional brick chimneys (that are not capped) has declined. This in turn has caused a decline in chimney swift populations. One aspect of Maureen’s project is to look at the effectiveness of artificial “chimneys” or towers as an alternate nesting site for this species. Maureen was looking for locations around central Illinois to place her towers where they could, hopefully, be monitored on a regular basis. Upon hearing about the bird monitoring/banding activities here at LLCC, she elected to erect a tower in the prairie between the lake and the softball field. If the nesting tower is used by chimney swifts, Maureen will monitor the nesting activities with an internal camera and possibly attach GPS locators to a bird to monitor the short-term movements of that individual bird.

During a recent class, Professor David Cox’s biology students learned about dendrochronology, the study of dating tree rings. Professor Cox brought in tree ring sections from two historic trees from the Springfield area for students to study in order to compare their age and growth.

The first piece is from the Gudgel Oak, found on Gudgel Avenue, west of Athens, near New Salem.  The Gudgel Oak is a tree that was present prior to the founding of the United States. The tree dates back to the late 1700s.  The other ring is from an oak tree that grew near the Lincoln Vault in Springfield. Professor Cox acquired the pieces from Guy Sternberg, an arborist who maintains Starhill Forest Arboretum.  You can learn more at http://www.starhillforest.com/gudgel_oak.htm.

Math Professor Hugh McNiece celebrated Pi Day yesterday by taking pies to class.

Approximately 300 individuals (an all-time high) attended the storm spotter training class hosted by LLCC and the National Weather Service Feb. 27. Thanks to all those at LLCC who helped in some way with the event.