Central Westchester Audubon Society
	Elmsford, Greenburgh, Harrison, Purchase, Rye, Rye Brook, Port Chester and White Plains
	P.O. Box 359, White Plains, NY 10602 email: cwas@centralwestchesteraudubon.org

CWAS Trip Leader Is Featured In Local Newspaper

Victor Ramos, our trip leader, was featured in in the October 2003 issue of the White Plains Watch.The article with a photograph was written in both Spanish and English and was headlined, "Victor Ramos - Sharing His Love of Nature with the Latino Community." According to the article, Victor is "eager to encourage Hispanics to experience what he considers not a hobby, but a passion - to explore, get to know and protect nature."

We invite everyone to come on our field trips to enjoy and learn about nature with Victor.

Programs

Raptors from the Rafters
Thursday, November 20, 2003
7:00 PM in the Gym
Church St. School
295 Church St., White Plains

Speaker: Jim Eyring

Hawks, Owls and Falcons, too.
They'll all be in the school gym
Waiting for you.
Come learn about these birds of prey.
Watch them fly
Get out of their way!
You'll learn all about these interesting creatures
With feathers and talons
And fascinating features.

Once again, master falconer, Jim Eyring of Pace University, will delight one and all with his troop of flying raptors. Please join us for this exciting presentation. Refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the program.

Schedule of Field Trips

Following is a listing of upcoming 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. Although appreciation of nature transcends all languages, if requested, our trip leader, Victor Ramos, can provide Spanish translations. We strongly encourage beginning birders to take advantage of our field trips which are free and open to all. A few loaner binoculars will be available.

In general, for all of our trips you should dress in layers and bring water.

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, November 30, 1:00PM, Read Sanctuary in Rye. Meet at Education House for carpooling. Join us to get a first look at wintering ducks. We should find rafts of Scaup, Buffleheads, both Red-Breasted and Hooded Mergansers, Great Blue Herons, and others. Bring your binoculars if you have them. We will have some scopes for close-up views. Trip will last about 1 1/2 hours. Short, easy walk.

Sunday, December 28, 1:00PM, Larchmont Reservoir. Meet at Education House to carpool to the site. This is another site for wintering ducks. The beautiful Wood Duck is almost a guarantee here plus we should see several other species. Trip will last about 1 1/2 hours. Easy walk.

Gladys Goldmann Honored

During the first board meeting of the year in September we honored Gladys Goldmann, long time board member and former president, with an Audubon Certificate of Meritorious Service, signed by John Flicker, President of National Audubon. The award reads "...in grateful recognition for outstanding contributions to the advancement of the purposes and goals of the Central Westchester Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society."

Gladys has been a member of the CWAS Board since 1990 and has served in several capacities, most significantly as president for three two-year terms and co-president for one year. Gladys still serves on our board and, we are proud to say, was elected Chair of the Audubon Council of New York State.

We are grateful to Gladys for the energy and enthusiasm she has brought to our meetings and her tireless efforts to make our chapter one we can be proud of.

Despite an inauspicious weather forecast and the plink, plink of raindrops when we met at Education House on Sunday, September 14th, we decided to take a chance and pursue our field trip to Marshlands as planned. A wise decision as we were rewarded generously with respect to both flora and fauna.

The meadow was aglow with goldenrod and sunflowers, punctuated here and there by the purple of Joe Pyeweed, sweet pea and magnificent thistle, all in the soft light of a misty morning. The spartina on the marsh was tipped in reddish gold, an early harbinger of fall, and later on, when the sun finally emerged, we noticed the delicate tracery of the pale purple sea lavender as we walked along the Sound.

On the meadow path we had long looks at a Black and White Warbler as it gleaned insects from the tree branches, a quick look at a Red-eyed Vireo as it nervously hopped around a shrub and a fleeting glance at a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the forest edge. We also saw on this path American Goldfinch, Catbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black-capped Chickadee and a Yellow-crowned Kinglet.

Walking along the marsh we heard and observed Marsh Wrens flitting about the phragmites and were surprised when we looked up to see a Glossy Ibis flying overhead. On the Sound side were a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, several Semi-palmated Plovers, a Lesser Yellowlegs and the most spectacular sight of the day, four Ospreys (Marshland's Osprey family - two adults and two grown offspring) hunting for fish. We watched the Ospreys for quite a while as they surveyed the waters and dove down to catch their prey. Most of their efforts were unsuccessful, but we did see two of them catch fish, one large and one small. Later on we saw the Osprey, who caught the large fish, perched near the top of the dead tree at the end of the field carefully guarding its hard won catch.

As we walked back to our cars, we saw a male deer with a full set of antlers, a doe with her fawn and a female turkey with several of her progeny scratching around in the underbrush.

All in all, a beautiful morning in the field.

Summer Camp Reports
From Our Scholarship Winners

This summer I spent a week in the "Audubon Explorers Program." The whole week was very exciting. We had long hikes in the woods and spent some time in the field. We saw frogs, birds, snakes and much more. When we were in the field looking for birds, I turned around and there was a Wild Turkey walking in the grass. On Thursday, the day before the last day of camp we went to a stream. Some people caught crayfish. My counselor Rich caught a leech. One kid caught a minnow, a yellow fish no bigger than your pinky. I just caught a few water strders. It was a really fun week of camp.
-- Leon Zaruvinsky

Dear Audubon Society,
This summer I went to Marshlands camp. I had a great time there. Here are some of the things I did and saw. I saw a black and yellow butterfly. I saw a big yellow slug. We went in a pond. I saw a frog. I saw a snapping turtle. We went seining. I saw a live horseshoe crab. I caught a lot of fish. I would really like to go there again!
Sincerely,
Sarah Kamensky

More camp reports in the January issue.

Good News on the Conservation Front

In August, the Open Space Institute bought ten thousand acres of forest, mountains and lakes in northeast New York's Essex County to protect the headwaters of the Hudson River. The $8.5 million purchase was made fromTexas Chemical Company and NNL Industries that had been mining titanium in the area. It caps a 10-year effort by Moe Martens, president of Open Space Institute, which over the years has bought and protected 500 thousand acres of forest and open space in the state. Six thousand acres of the parcel will be kept "forever wild" guaranteed by the New York State Constitution; 400 acres, containing the abandoned village of Adirondac, will be designated an Historic District within Adirondack Park and 3,000 acres will be sold as protected working forest to a timber company.

-- Louise Jones

Citizen Scientists Wanted
Project Feeder Watch

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology would like as many people as possible to sign up for Project Feeder Watch so that scientists can learn more about feeder bird populations.

Last winter was a season of extremes for birds across North America. In West Nile virus-afflicted parts of the country, American Crow counts dropped to a 25-year low. Counts of Black-capped and Carolina chickadees were also at record lows range-wide. Meanwhile, other species such as Down Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, and Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks, appeared in record-high numbers. This is known because more than 16,000 people counted the birds that visit their feeders and sent this information to scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch, where it was collated and analyzed to determine the status of North America's feeder birds.

Participants in this project receive a research kit that includes instructions, bird-feeding tips, a colorful poster of common feeder birds, a bird-counting days calendar featuring photos taken by FeederWatchers, and more. A $15 fee ($12 Lab members) helps defray the cost of operating the study. To learn more about Project FeederWatch, including how you can become a FeederWatcher, call (800) 843-2473, or check out the website at www.birds.cornell.edu. This is a great project for parents and kids to enjoy together.

Just in time for holiday gift giving and baking, these delicious pecans will be on sale for $8.00 per pound at our meeting on November 20th, or you can order in advance for local delivery by filling out and mailing this coupon.

NAME ____________________________________________TEL#______________________________

ADDRESS _____________________________________________________________________________

NO.LBS _____________ x $8.00=AM'T DUE _______________________

Please mail your check, payable to CWAS, to P.O. Box 359, White Plains, NY 10602, Attn: Pecans
If you have any questions, please call Beth DaSilva at 949-5249

copyright © 2003 Central Westchester Audubon Society
email questions or comments to webmaster@centralwestchesteraudubon.org