Programs

Saturday, January 12, 2008. Croton Point in Winter. This walk is offered by Saw Mill River Audubon. The leader is Charlie Roberto. Meet at 9AM extreme lower (south) end of the Croton-Harmon railroad station parking lot, at the boat ramp. Possibilities include bald eagles, short-eared owls or rough-legged hawks.

Saturday, February 2nd: Croton Point Park & possibly George's Island. This is our annual trip in search of wintering bald eagles. Meet at 8AM at Ed House for car pooling and directions or at 8:30AM in the parking lot of Croton Point Park. Leader is Hank Weber of the Wild Bird Center in Scarsdale, which is co-sponsoring this trip

Saturday, February 9th. Hudson River Eagle Fest. Teatown Lake Reservation's Hudson River Eagle Fest: Annual celebration of the winter return of Bald Eagles to the Hudson Hills and Highlands. There will be educational programs, exhibits and children's activities and Bald Eagle viewing at several locations along the Hudson River. Warming tents and hot chocolate will be available at several sites. For complete details check the website: www.teatown.org or call 762-2912, Ext. 110.

Garden News
The Courtyard Soup Extravaganza

On Monday, December 10th the Courtyard Scientists sponsored the "Courtyard Soup and Dip Tasting" festival. In the fall, with the help of Bruce Riggs and Wendy Podell the fifth grade classes planted some vegetables and herbs in the greenhouse with the idea that the produce could be harvested in December. The growth was abundant and the herbs and vegetables young, tender, and tasty. Chef d'cuisine was Bruce Riggs with Wendy Podell acting as sous chef. Using a couple of hot plates and some large pots, Bruce added the chopped vegetables to some chicken broth, making a delicious and fragrant soup. The herbs were finely chopped and combined with cream cheese to make a dip for crackers. All this was served to the student body of 650 and the teachers and other helpers at the school by the older students who delivered trays of soup and dip to each classroom. The older students also had a chance to chop the veggies and herbs and mix the cream cheese. As the various classes came in to the art room, they were questioned by Wendy and Bruce as to the elements required for growing plants. The children eagerly raised their hands and seemed to have all the right answers, indicating to me that the garden provides a valuable and pleasurable learning experience benefiting the whole school.

The courtyard now has several bird feeders with a heated bird bath to be added after the Christmas vacation, when the bird club will be meeting on a regular basis. A few board members have agreed to act as advisors so that the club can meet more regularly than every 6th day which is as often as Joan Conca is available. We look forward to working with the students and helping them with bird ID and behavior.

--jsa

New Board Member Announced

I am pleased to announce the addition of Dorothy Vieni to our board. Dorothy will assume the position of Hospitality chair. We still have room for more volunteers - on the scholarship and fund raising committees. We could also use someone to plan our field trips and the newsletter editor would like a rest. If you have an interest in any of these positions or if there is some other way you can volunteer, please get in touch with Jeanne by telephone at 946-1780 or by e-mail: jsalpert@optonline.net

--jsa

CWAS Offers Camp Scholarships

CWAS will again offer camp scholarships to elementary school students who reside in the communities served by our chapter. Children entering grades 2 through 6 by September 2008 are eligible for 1-week scholarships this coming summer to the Westchester County Ecology Camps at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye and Cranberry Lake in North White Plains. This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage in your children an appreciation of the natural world.

Around mid-January we will be mailing applications to the principals of the schools in the communities we serve for distribution to teachers in the appropriate grades. If you wish your child to apply for a scholarship, ask your child's teacher or principal. In addition applications will be available at the children's section of your local library, at the Marshlands and Cranberry Lake Nature Centers, and on our website. You may also call Gladys Goldmann at 949-3486, Jean Coates at 255-7617 or Barbara Ruskin at 949-4429 for information. See the letters below from some very happy campers.

Thank you for sending me to Marshlands camp. I saw wild turkeys with their babies. We caught a praying mantis. We made ink with dogbane and goldenrod and we wrote with it. We caught blue crabs when we went seining. May favorite part was reaching to the bottom of the pond and pulling out clay.
Patrick Adamo

Every day we went on a hike. One day we went to the pond and caught dragonfly larva and a backswimmer. Some kids fell in the mud! We learned how to identify poison ivy and wineberrys. We also went to the quarry. When we walked past the pond we saw a green frog, a water snake, and 2 turtles. On the quarry we made rock necklaces. That was fun. At the lake by the quarry we saw fish and water striders. Before we left, there was a wolf spider on the table at the lounge. I learned about different things and had fun. I would do it again.
Alex Segnini

Former Church Street School Student Launches New Birding Website

Benjamin Van Doren, formerly a student in Joan Conca's third grade class and now in the eighth grade, has launched a new web site that he says will make birding a lot easier and more fun. The site is called BirdAlert.org and is a free rare bird notification service centered around use in the field. The service depends on your having a cell phone that allows text messaging and is geared to immediate notification from the field to all cell phones that have signed up for a particular area. For a more detailed explanation and to sign up for this free service visit Benjamin's website.

Benjamin became interested in birding in third grade through the Project Feederwatch program introduced by Joan Conca. He has around 183 species on his life list and uses the National Geographic Handheld Birds program for a Palm hand-held device.

Kudos to Benjamin for his initiative in creating an improved method for timely notification of rare bird sightings. I hope the readers of this newsletter will log on BirdAlert.org and subscribe to this new service.

--jsa

11th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count
February 15-18, 2008

· Discover more about the birds around you.
· Track results in real time online.
· Count anywhere-in your backyard, balcony, schoolyard, park, refuge and contribute valuable information for science and conservation.
· All ages and skill levels welcome.
· No fee or registration required.

Take part by visiting:
www.birdsource.org/gbbc

The Board of CWAS notes with sorrow the passing of board member, Herb Ruskin, on November 18th. Herb and his wife, Barbara, joined CWAS in 2000 and Herb became Birdathon Chairman at the end of that year. Herb was a generous and loyal member of our chapter, always in full support of our various activities, even though he could not always participate himself.

Our deepest condolences go to his wife Barbara, his children and grandchildren.

Jeanne Alpert for the Board

CWAS Winter Birdseed Sale

Copyright © 2007 Dick Budnik Photography
http://mysite.verizon.net/DickBudnik

Need more seed? Click here for our mail-in order form or order at our January 17th Meeting. Deadline to submit orders: Tuesday, January 22, 2008. Pickup dates are Thursday, January 31 to Sunday, February 3.