2014-2015 Officers President Joshua Hodge Vice-President Kelly O’Neal Secretary Larry Basden Treasurer Lin Harper Committees Newsletter Larry Basden Field Trips Diane Lafferty Education Diane Lafferty Conservation Joshua Hodge Hospitality Jerri Simmons Membership Kelly O’Neal Historian Linda Basden November 5—Audubon on the Coast—Becky Skiba Education Manager Becky Skiba will talk about what the Audubon Mississippi Coastal Bird Stewardship Program (AMCBSP) and its volunteers are doing to help our coastal birds and their habitats year round. Ranging from citizen science and stewardship efforts to education and outreach. AMCBSP engenders community connections and a sense of pride in conserving our coastal resources. In addition, the Pascagoula River Audubon Center has just opened its new center and we will get a brief tour! December 3—To Be Announced Later Plans for December speaker have not yet been finalized. November/December Meetings—Joshua Hodge Volume 2015/2016 November/December 2015 The Pine Warbler Pine Woods Audubon Society is a chapter of National Audubon Society, Inc. Nov. 7—St. Catherine Creek NWR. It will include an overnight stay on Nov. 6th in Natchez at Best Western motel. Meeting Chris King from Jackson at 7:45am at St. Catherine Creek on the 7th. Nov. 21—Ducks and Eagle watch at the Hattiesburg Sewage Lagoons. Meet at gate to lagoon at 8am. Dec. 16—Christmas Bird Count for Hancock County (Waveland). Dec. 18—Christmas Bird Count at Camp Shelby. Dec. 28—Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count. Additional details at November and December meetings. Jan. 2—Christmas Bird Count for Lauderdale County (Meridian). Jan. 3—Christmas Bird Count for Jackson County (Ocean Springs). These, as well as other events, are included in the calendar pages included with the e-mail version of the newsletter. This can also be seen (and downloaded) at the PWAS website. November/December Field Trips & Events—Diane Lafferty Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month (September through May) in the Education Building at the Hattiesburg Zoo. Refresh- ments at 6:30 pm. Meetings begin at 7:00 pm and are open to the public.
Education Manager Becky Skiba will talk about what the Audubon Mississippi Coastal Bird Stewardship Program (AMCBSP) and its volunteers are doing to help our coastal birds and their habitats year round. Ranging from citizen science and stewardship efforts to education and outreach. AMCBSP engenders community connections and a sense of pride in conserving our coastal resources. In addition, the Pascagoula River Audubon Center has just opened its new center and we will get a brief tour!
December 3—To Be Announced Later
Plans for December speaker have not yet been finalized.
November/December Meetings —Joshua Hodge
Volume 2015/2016 November/December 2015
The Pine Warbler
Pine Woods Audubon Society is a chapter of National Audubon Society, Inc.
Nov. 7—St. Catherine Creek NWR. It will include an overnight stay on Nov. 6th in Natchez at Best Western motel. Meeting Chris King from Jackson at 7:45am at St. Catherine Creek on the 7th.
Nov. 21—Ducks and Eagle watch at the Hattiesburg Sewage Lagoons. Meet at gate to lagoon at 8am.
Dec. 16—Christmas Bird Count for Hancock County (Waveland).
Dec. 18—Christmas Bird Count at Camp Shelby.
Dec. 28—Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count. Additional details at November and December meetings.
Jan. 2—Christmas Bird Count for Lauderdale County (Meridian).
Jan. 3—Christmas Bird Count for Jackson County (Ocean Springs).
These, as well as other events, are included in the calendar pages included with the e-mail version of the newsletter. This can also be seen (and downloaded) at the PWAS website.
November/December Field Tr ips & Events—Diane Lafferty
Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month (September through May) in the Education Building at the Hattiesburg Zoo. Refresh-ments at 6:30 pm. Meetings begin at 7:00 pm and are open to the public.
I hope you love birds, too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven. - Emily Dickinson -
Did Someone Say Chapter T-shirts?
Thanks to Rise Creative at USM and Lin Harper, we now have Chapter t-shirts again. Lin was instrumental in getting the initial batch printed in time for distribution to those who participated in our Dauphin Island field trip. Thank you Lin.
If you ordered t-shirts at our last meeting, they will be available at our November meeting. If you didn’t already place an order, this would be a good time to see what they are like. We have a limited supply of extras so you may be able to pur-chase and receive yours at the meeting. The cost for a t-shirt is $10.
If you missed earlier previews of what the t-shirts look like, here are the 2 varieties offered:
Hatt iesburg Chr istmas B ird Count
December is on the way and that means Christmas Bird Count time. The 116th Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) takes place between December 14 and January 5. Our traditional time for the Hattiesburg count is the Saturday after Christmas. This timing is problematic for counts this year and next year. With Christmas falling on a Friday this year, we will move our count to the Monday after Christmas—December 28.
While we would love to have you join us as we cover our 15-mile count circle on the 28th, if that isn’t possible you can still contribute to our effort by doing a feeder count in your own backyard.
The Hattiesburg CBC is a small but important part of our Chapter’s contribution to citizen science for the Audubon Society. This count will mark the Chapter’s 42nd year of participation. If you are willing to help with our effort this year, contact Larry Basden (home-601-544-1784 or cel-601-329-8698) whether you want to help in the field or as a feeder counter. All help in this effort is appreciated.
Camp Shelby Chr istmas B ird Count
This is the second year for the Camp Shelby count. If December 18th is available on your calendar, consider joining this count. The count circle covers some interesting birding areas not that far from home—Ashe Nursery, Paul B. Johnson State Park, and areas of Camp Shelby that are not usually accessible. They got off to a good start last year even though participation was somewhat lower than desired. They have some really knowledgeable people from the Environmental Office at the camp leading groups on the count. I’m sure that this year will exceed last year’s first effort. If you would like to volunteer your help with their count, contact Tony Crowe by phone at (cel-601-596-8625 or work-601-558-2157) or by email at
Although the participants enjoyed another weekend on Dauphin Island, the total species count was low (I think the final was 87). Several factors came into play keeping our count low not the least of which was the gusty wind on Saturday and Sunday. It seemed a struggle to find the birds (other than the resident Northern Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, seabirds, and waders). Even the West End bird survey suffered from the wind which made flying difficult (unless you wanted to go in the direction the wind was blowing) and the waves which were definitely higher than those normally seen during our fall trips. However, when migration is calling, birders just can’t stay inside at home.
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Welcome, New Members!—Kelly O’Neal
Here are the new members who have joined Audubon at the national level since the last issue of The Pine Warbler. If you know any of these people, please take a few minutes to welcome them, to tell them about PWAS, and to invite them to join us at a meeting, field trip, or other activity.
Anelle Ingram—Hattiesburg
Ellen & Steve Ramp—Hattiesburg
Judith Tepper—Hattiesburg
Shirley Ducker—Purvis
Linda Foshee—Hattiesburg
A. Gray—Hattiesburg
Kathleen Messenger—Hattiesburg
Sharline Wells—Soso
Fal l Migrat ion at Dauphin I s land
Snowy Owls moving south—winter i s coming!
(Excerpt from article published on 27 October 2015 on ebird.org)
Thanks to Harry Potter, Snowy Owl is one of the most well-known birds in the world, and also almost universally adored. Who can say no to a massive, charismatic, white owl? Over the past few winters, much of North America has been graced by these ghostly owls, especially during the winter of 2013-2014. In that season, thousands of Snowy Owls irrupted further south than normal, particularly in the eastern United States. Snowies were seen as far south as Florida (!), and a single bird even made it to Bermuda (!!). In Newfoundland, people were seeing hundreds of owls in a single birding outing.
We're already seeing signs of another Snowy Owl invasion this fall, with early reports of birds far exceeding what was seen by this time in 2013. Will the numbers continue to grow throughout the winter? Only time will tell. But looking at the sightings coming into eBird from the Upper Midwest this past month, it seems like there is a chance that we could see a similar pattern this coming winter.
It is important to state up front that this opportunity for birders often reflects a very stress-ful time for the owls.
Picture taken at Mahannah WMA in February 2014 by Danny Johnson (Vicksburg)
Pine Woods Audubon Society 544 West 4th Street Hattiesburg, MS 39401
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The Pine Warbler
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www.pinewoodsaudubon.com
Our winter residents are beginning to arrive in the area. They have been widely reported in the northern part of the state already. White-throated Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows have been seen (just not by me, I’m still waiting). A few Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers have also been seen. With Mourning Doves, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, Titmice, Eastern Towhees, Brown Thrashers, and Carolina Wrens prevalent in my backyard, it will be a real relief to see some other species arrive and begin competing for the seeds in my feeders. (Last minute addition—have now seen White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Eastern Phoebe in my yard)
If you see any “out of the ordinary” sightings, send an email to [email protected] or use the contact form on our website www.pinewoodsaudubon.com to let us know so we can include them in this section of the newsletter.
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Field Trip Ducks at Lagoon 8am at Gate
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Thanksgiving
Day
29 30
note
s For St. Catherine Creek NWR Field Trip – Leave Midtown Market noonish on November 6. Overnight stay at Best Western in Natchez. Meet Chris King at 7:45am on November 7 at St. Catherine Creek.
For Lagoon Field Trip – Meet at lagoon gate at 8am.
December 2015
Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat.
1 2 3 4 5 PWAS Meeting
7pm Zoo Educ. Center
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Keg & Barrel
5:30pm
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Hancock County
CBC Camp Shelby
CBC
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Christmas
27 28 29 30 31 1 2 Hattiesburg
CBC New Year’s Day Lauderdale
County CBC
3 Jackson County CBC
note
s
Contact Larry Basden (home – 601-544-1784 or cel – 601-329-8698) to participate in the Hattiesburg Christmas Bird Count.
