Bartel and Orland Grasslands
               TOGETHERGREEN
           Volunteer Days Kick-Off
         National Public Lands Day

As our regular newsletter readers know, TCAS is a Grant recipient from the National Audubon and Toyota Corporation Alliance. The Togethergreen Volunteer Days program kicks off Saturday, September 27th, National Public Lands Day. TCAS urges our members and newsletter readers to support this important event and make our Grant a success by coming out to Bartel or Orland Grassland and to bring along your family and/or friends. Tours will be this Volunteer Day’s focus with detailed accounts of the planning and processing of the area for conservation preservation and explanations of how volunteers can make a difference in many unique ways at each grassland site. There is something for everyone of every age. Deer, coyote, birds, butterflies and a spectacular assortment of prairie and grassland plants will be on hand to highlight the tours. Come out and learn how to be a part of the solution!!
Call Dick Riner: 708-720-5683 or Al Thomas: 708-957-9847 for times and details.

       FALL BIRD SEED SALE!!
Order Form is due October 1st.

TCA GRANT APPLICATION (click)
ECOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP (click)
Scholarships and Grants are now awarded twice a year. Applications are due April 1st and October 1st to be awarded in May and November.

      TCAS Fall Program Calendar
     Wednesday, September 3rd, 7PM
           Park Forest Library

The first program of the new fiscal year features Glyn and Sylvia Dawson with a report on "Wildlife in Australia". The Dawsons spent last winter(Australian summer)working in Adelaide and will present a program of their weekend travels around the south and east portions of the country to see about 400 of the diverse species of birds found "Down Under".

"We will visit habitats ranging from the Adelaide Hills, Gluepot Reserve, and Kangaroo Island, the Island of Tasmania, to the Outback of South Australia and Victoria, and both the temperate and tropical rain forests of Queensland. In addition to large flightless birds such as the Emu and Cassowarys, Australia boasts three Megapodes, Bower Birds, Riflebirds and a host of specialized birds such as Honeyeaters, Lyrebirds, Logrunners, Plains Wanderers, and of course, the fairy wrens. We will also take a look at some of the unique marsupials that inhabit Australia: the monotremes(Duckbill Platypus), Koalas, Kangaroos, Possums and, close to Adelaide in a reserve sponsored by the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago to preserve its habitat, the Hairy-nosed Wombat. A view of some exotic lizards found in the "Red Continent" will conclude this visit to the country larger than the U.S. with a fraction of the population.