Volunteer Spotlight: Alfred Strout
Mitch Leachman
Alfred Strout began working with St. Louis Audubon helping plant trees at Queeny Park nearly 10 years ago. He dug the holes and his wife and daughters planted a lot of the trees. Unfortunately, many of those trees did not survive, primarily due to deer browse. So, much of Alfred’s work in recent years is helping to protect trees that have been planted on previous Audubon and Forest ReLeaf work days, primarily at Creve Coeur Park. He waters young plants during dry periods and has helped put cages around many trees and shrubs to prevent deer damage. He has also spent many hours killing invasive bush honeysuckle at the park, frequently following up on areas previously addressed during Audubon volunteer days.
Alfred moved to the Maryland Heights area in 1990 from Camden, Maine a small town in mid-coast Maine. Over those years, his family has always had easy access to Creve Coeur Park, and the availability of parks and open spaces is easily a favorite thing about St. Louis. Alfred and his wife hike in county parks at least once a week, and they love the Owl Trail in Queeny Park with its shagbark hickories and pawpaw trees. He also rides his mountain bike in upper Creve Coeur Park quite often.
Alfred’s aerospace engineering degree gives him a different perspective on birds – he just loves to watch them fly. “I love watching the purple martins at Mallard Lake set up for a landing at their house from 100 yards away. They glide effortlessly and then turn their airspeed into altitude for a perfect landing. We have a small pond in our neighborhood, and I love watching the Canada geese come at a steep approach and bend their wings to create lots of lift and drag.”
Alfred’s favorite experience with St. Louis Audubon was being a team leader at the Confluence Trash Bash, an annual watershed cleanup that Audubon has helped coordinate since 2009. “Working with a group of enthusiastic volunteers was wonderful. Everyone was so friendly and nice. In a few hours, they did what would have taken me weeks working on my own.”
After an Audubon bird walk, Alfred realized individual bird spotting wasn’t really his thing, but he was fascinated by all the different habitat elements that birds utilize to survive and wanted to learn how to provide such things in his own yard. He signed up for a consultation with our Bring Conservation Home program and planted natives in earnest at home. “I went outside one morning and the birds had stripped every last elderberry off of a shrub we had planted. That made me smile.”
