Newsletter, May - June, 2006

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The Amazing World of Spiders
Thursday, May 18, 2006
7:00 PM in the Cafeteria
Church St. School
295 Church St., White Plains

Speaker: Ted Gilman

Spiders are some of the most fascinating, yet misunderstood and under-appreciated animals in the natural world. Among their achievements are webs six feet across, silk that is stronger than steel, species that spit their sticky silk into zig-zag traps across their prey and species
whose webs are so strong that they have been used as fishing nets.

Ted Gilman, Education Specialist at Audubon Greenwich, has enjoyed observing spiders and their relatives in many parts of the United States as well as Trinidad, Kenya, and China. Come learn about the amazing variety of sizes, shapes, colors, webs, habitats and lifestyles of the world's spiders. This program will combine a slide presentation, illustrations, living specimens of local species, "spider ghosts", and reference materials to help everyone gain a better appreciation of these very special eight-legged engineers and hunters.

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This year our Kelisky/Ferone Memorial Walk will be held at the Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook New York, about 1 1/2 hour's drive from White Plains. There are several trails we can walk, each with a different habitat, which will allow us to see various species of birds as well as a variety of native trees, shrubs and plants. Rest rooms and picnic tables will be available and we ask that you bring a sandwich and drink. CWAS will provide the dessert.

We will meet at 8am at Ed House for carpooling. If you wish to join us, please call Lois Stierhout at 948-2706 to make a reservation, as space is somewhat limited.

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Field Trips

Unless otherwise indicated, all trips will start at Education House, 5 Homeside Lane in White Plains. Car pooling will be available. If you have questions call Jeanne Alpert at 914-946-1780 or Victor Ramos at 914-310-7742. Trips which are led by Victor Ramos are bi-lingual in Spanish and English. You should bring a snack, even for a half day trip. It is most important to bring water, especially in the warm weather. Always wear sturdy shoes and dress in layers. A few loaner binoculars will be available. If you need loaner binoculars, please call us before the trip to reserve one of the few pairs we have. We encourage beginners to join in the fun of birding..

Directions to Education House. Homeside Lane is located off North St. in White Plains. Going south on Mamaroneck Avenue from downtown White Plains, make a left turn on Ridgeway. Go down Ridgeway to the traffic light (firehouse on the left) and turn right on to North Street. Homeside Lane is the third right and Education House is the first building on the left. Parking is available in the circular driveway.

Sunday, April 30, 2006, 8am, Marshlands Conservancy. Meet at Ed House. Spring migration walk in one of our favorite places. Walk should last 2-3 hours.

Saturday, May 13, 2006, 7am, Birdathon (rain date 5/20). Meet at Ed House for car-pooling to Forest Park in Queens and then to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. This will be an all-day trip so you should bring lunch and water.

Sunday, May 21st, 7:00 AM, Doodletown Rd., Bear Mountain State Park. Meet at Ed House for carpooling. This is another hotspot for migrating songbirds. We should see a variety of warblers, flycatchers, indigo buntings, orioles, and perhaps cuckoos. The trail is a bit steep and rocky at the beginning, so sturdy shoes are a good idea. Co-sponsored with Bronx River/Sound Shore Audubon.

Saturday, June 10th, Kelisky/Ferone Memorial Walk.
See article above for details.

Saturday, June 24th, 8AM, Butterflies at Ward Pound Ridge. Meet at Ward Pound Ridge Parking Lot. Leader: Mike Bochnik (237-9331). Co-sponsored with Hudson River Audubon, and Bronx River/Sound Shore Audubon.

Migration Bird Walks With Hank Weber
Meet at Hank's Wild Bird Store, 400 Central Park Avenue, at 8am on Wednesdays, May 10, 17, and 24. Hank will lead the group in a search for migrating warblers in local birding spots. ?'s - call Hank at 713-0630.

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The Courtyard Garden

Our plans for the courtyard garden at the Church Street School are coming close to realization. At the start of spring vacation, the painters will be scraping and painting the courtyard walls. This project, which will take approximately 2 weeks, has to be completed before we can start preparing the ground for planting.

The garden design, originally conceived by board members Beth da Silver and Libby Wagner, has been refined by landscape designer, Victoria Sturner, who has prepared blueprints of the site complete with an inventory of the native plants we will need and their placement. All was done with an eye toward minimum maintenance and maximum value to wildlife. There will be ample room in the garden for students to plant seedlings, and insofar as is possible, they will be involved in the planting .

Several of us will be visiting local nurseries at the end of April to order plant materials and arrange for delivery to the school. We should be ready to plant around mid-May. If you are interesting in doing some digging and planting, please contact Jeanne Alpert, 946-1780.

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Long Island Sound

Stewardship Initiative (LISSI)
The stewardship committee met on February 22nd to identify the strategies that would address high ranking threats to the ecology of Read Sanctuary and Marshlands Conservancy. Many strategies were suggested and generally fell into the following categories: public awareness; monitoring and surveys; policy and advocacy; and management. Each participant was asked to select the 5 strategies that he/she felt would be most effective and/or most doable.

The next step will be a meeting to examine the top ranking strategies (based on the individual responses) and to work through what steps need to be taken to implement them and who will be working on the implementation. Jillian Liner from NY Audubon, the chair of this committee, will be setting up a meeting later on this spring.

Even though we have had several meetings, it is not too late to become involved. Progress along the conservation front frequently is very slow, so you would have plenty of opportunity to be brought up to date and to help in the preservation and enhancement of two of our most important nature sanctuaries.

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Important Facts About Bird Flu

Most of us have been reading about the spread of bird flu throughout many parts of the world. In response to the many articles that are turning up in our newspapers, Audubon New York, the state office of the National Audubon Society, has announced a public awareness and educational campaign to provide up-to- date, science-based information regarding bird flu in wild birds and its relationship to people. Audubon has produced a bird flu primer that provides background information on bird flu as well as the most current information about the relationship between wild birds and people with regard to this disease. Their main points are as follows:

All indications are that people do not catch H5N1 bird flu from wild birds: there have been no known cases of this so far. If you are not associating with an infected flock of domestic birds, you are apparently safe from bird flu.

Birding is safe. As there is no evidence that people can catch bird flu from wild birds, birding, bird watching, and being outside with wild birds present no danger of contracting H5N1 bird flu.

Bird feeding is safe so far as our current understanding goes. We do advise that people clean their bird feeders monthly with a 9:1 water and bleach solution to prevent the spread of a variety of diseases among birds, and that people wash their hands with soap and water after handling bird feeders.

Report dead birds. Any large die-offs of birds, or the occurrence of individual dead birds in either a short period of time or at the same location, should be reported to the nearest regional office of the Department of Environmental Conservation.

When handling wild birds, staff and volunteers should wear latex or rubber gloves, wash hands and equipment thoroughly and not eat, drink or smoke while handling the birds. In general people should not pick up dead or sick wildlife unless they are trained in handling animals.

There are ways to safely handle hunted birds: Bird hunters should not fear H5N1, so long as they take proper precautions when handling and preparing dead birds. .

While killing of domestic flocks infected with H5N1 may stop or slow the disease, killing wild birds is not considered an effective means of disease control.

If H5N1 does show up in North America, that is not the same as a flu pandemic-people should not panic or change their daily activities as a result.

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2006 Camp Scholarships

We are pleased to report that CWAS has awarded ecology camp scholarships to 20 students from elementary schools in White Plains, Greenburgh and West Harrison. Congratulations to all of our scholarship winners-we know you will have a wonderful 5 days at either Marshlands Conservancy or Cranberry Lake Preserve. To those friends and members who made pledges for our 2005 birdathon, the total amount raised last year fully paid for the scholarships we awarded this year. If you have not already done so, this is a very good reason to make your pledge now for Birdathon 2006.

Thanks to all of our generous donors who make this program possible.

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Mammoth Georgia Pecans for Sale

We still have about a dozen 1 pound bags of Georgia Pecans from the crop ordered in November 2004. We are selling them at the greatly reduced price of $5 a bag. These pecans have been kept frozen and are more than acceptable for baking, making candied pecans and, after heating up for 5 minutes in a 350 oven, for eating out of hand. If you are interested, please call Beth Da Silva at 949-5249.

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Migration Bird Walks with Ted Gilman
at Greenwich Audubon

Saturdays and Wednesdays: 7:00am-8:45pm, through Wednesday, May 17. For more information please call 203-869-5272, ext. 230.

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Help Wanted

Scholarship Committee
CWAS needs a computer-savvy person to prepare and distribute scholarship applications and other correspondence related to our scholarship program. If desired, this person can also participate in the selection process-a fun job. Can be a Board position.

Conservation
Would you like to be active on the conservation front? We need an interested person to bring important conservation issues to our Board and membership. This is a Board position.

Fund Raising
We need someone to coordinate the fundraising phone calls for the birdathon. We have available membership lists, past records of contributors, and names of people who are willing to make phone calls. Computer capability would be helpful but not necessary.

Recording Secretary
This is a board position requiring attendance at our nine monthly board meetings. This position can be shared by more than one person.

If you would like to help us in these or any other positions, please call Jeanne Alpert at 946-1780 or e-mail: jsalpert@optonline.net

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Birdathon 2006

Saturday, May 13th
(Rain Date, May 20)
We invite all to join us in the most exciting field trip of the year. To witness the spring migration of song birds is to participate in one of the most rewarding activities of birding. Experts, beginners and everyone in between are welcome to join in the fun. Just bring your binoculars and spotting scope (if you have one) and a picnic lunch. Dress in layers, wear comfortable shoes, and bring water and insect repellent. Early risers can join the advance team at Read Sanctuary at 5:30 a.m. The rest of us will meet up with the early birders at Education House at 7a.m. for car pooling, first to Forest Park in Queens for the warbler extravaganza, and then to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where we have lunch and then bird the ponds and gardens. We will end the day around 4 p.m. when we tally the number of the species seen - it should be more than 100.

As a reminder, in addition to having fun, the purpose of this day is to raise funds for our scholarship program and other educational activities that benefit our community. So, if you haven't already done so, please use the coupon on the last page of this newsletter to make a generous pledge.

?'s call 946-1780

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TEAR HERE AND MAIL YOUR PLEDGE TODAY
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CENTRAL WESTCHESTER AUDUBON BIRDATHON PLEDGE CARD

___I am happy to pledge $______per species in support of your Birdathon

___My tax deductible gift of $________________is enclosed, payable to
CENTRAL WESTCHESTER AUDUBON

___I've enclosed a matching form. My employer matches my contribution.

 

Your Name: ___________________________________

Address: ______________________________________

City: __________________ State: _____ Zip: ________

Phone: _______________________________________

Mail to: CWAS TEAM, P.O. Box 359, White Plains, NY 10602

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR BIRDATHON

EVERY DOLLAR YOU GIVE WILL HELP SUPPORT THE CWAS SCHOLARSHIP FUND AND THE ACTIVITIES OF NEW YORK STATE FIELD OFFICE OF NATIONAL AUDUBON

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE