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

Programs

Pesticides and Healthy Backyard Habitats
Thursday, October 14, 2004
7:30 PM in the Cafeteria
Church Street School
295 Church St., White Plains

Speaker: Sean Mahar

In New York, and across the United States, the use of lawn care pesticides and herbicides, primarily for aesthetic purposes, has proliferated at an alarming rate. Current research shows that three times more pesticides are applied per acre on household lawns and gardens than to agricultural crops. Their impact on birds is staggering, resulting in the deaths of an estimated seven million birds annually. But the impact of lawn care chemicals, and other "beautification" pesticides and herbicides extends well beyond avian populations, impacting insects, pets and other small mammals, aquatic wildlife, and humans.

At our meeting, Sean Mahar, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator of Audubon New York will be discussing the problems associated with common lawn care pesticide use, and how you can create a healthy, bird friendly backyard habitat without a reliance on toxic chemicals. As part of his presentation he will be showing and leading a discussion on the informational film, "Our Children at Risk", which addresses the mounting health risks children face from the increasing exposures to pesticides and other environmental toxins, a must see for parents!

Come and find out the steps you can take to have a beautiful and healthy backyard.

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 or Victor Ramos at 1-646-644-6025. Although appreciation of nature transcends all languages, if requested, our trip leader, Victor, 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.

On all of our field trips, which are bilingual in English and Spanish, 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. 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, September 19th, Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. Meet at Education House at 8AM for car pooling. Join us for a fall migration bird walk of about 2 hours. Bring binoculars if you have them.

Sunday, Ocotber 3rd (Rain date October 10th). Butler Sanctuary in Mt. Kisco. This park is one of the best locations in Westchester for observing the fall Hawk Migration. Meet at Education House at 9PM to carpool to Butler, about a 30-minute ride. After a short, but fairly steep 10-minute walk we will gain the hawk-watching platform which has stadium seats where we can sit in comfort and gaze upward to observe several species of hawks as they fly over. Bring binoculars.

It was a lovely day for a Birdathon! Our team was divided into two groups. Team One went the traditional route to Read Sanctuary, Forest Park and Jamaica Bay and Team Two went to Iona Island and Doodletown Road. We didn't beat our record for the number of species seen on our Birdathon but we found a respectable 114 species.

Team One Report
This year the famous Water Hole in Forest Park was filled to the brim and the warblers were drinking and bathing. The highlight of the day for Team One was finding both the Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes at the water hole at the same time. Team members had the opportunity to see both of them together for quite some time, almost in the same binocular field. Although we had good looks at many different species of warblers, there were only a few birds of each species.

After lunch at Jamaica Bay, Team One headed out to the West Pond. The Ospreys are in residence again at the platform along the path. There was one bird in the nest and another on the ground when we arrived. Although we found most of the birds we usually see every year, like the warblers, their numbers were down.

Team Two Report
Like the Team One contingent, those of us on the Doodletown/Iona Island team experienced some very cool and windy weather and found that we had to work very hard to spot our birds. And while many of the birds we saw were the same as those seen in the more southern and eastern locations, we were able to add a total of 15 different species. On the Doodletown Road leg, we easily spotted both Black and Turkey Vultures and a Red-tailed Hawk. More difficult to spot were the Blue-winged and Cerulean Warblers. Their presence seemed tantalizingly close as we listened to their songs, but we had to wait a long time before these two presented themselves. Interestingly, we found the Cerulean in just about the same place we found one 2 years ago. Other species from Doodletown that we added to the list were: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo.

After a relaxing lunch at Bear Mountain State Park, we went on to Iona Island where the birds are a bit closer to the path and easier to find. We had nice looks at a Common Tern, a species usually seen at Jamaica Bay, a Chipping Sparrow, a Warbling Vireo (also in the same place we had seen one 2 years ago), both male and female Orchard Orioles, and flying above, some Chimney Swifts. The Orchard Orioles were, perhaps, the most interesting birds of the day as they were in view for a long time, jousting with a Northern Mockingbird in a fight for position. It turned out that the Orioles were able to stand their ground while the Mockingbird flew off - an outcome we all cheered.

It was a long but wonderful day for both teams. At the end we were pleased with our sightings and were reminded once again that patience is necessary and definitely a virtue in our sport of birding.

We thank our birders for their persistence and we especially appreciate their birding expertise. And all of you deserve particular thanks for your financial support. Your generosity will help fund our scholarship program.

Barbara Ferrari
Jeanne Alpert

This spring, miraculously, the sun shone on all of our ventures into the field. Our spring agenda began with a trip to Rockefeller State Park Preserve on April 17th. We were fortunate to have as our guides the Preserve Naturalist, Richard Nelson, and the the Preserve Environmental Educator, Mark Roger, who helped us tally 32 species in a morning walk. Among the highlights were: 5 of the 6 possible woodpeckers - Pileated, Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, and Northern Flicker; Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers; an Eastern Bluebird, brilliant with the sun shining on its back; a Cooper's Hawk; and a Chipping Sparrow.The next trip was our annual Kelisky-Ferone Memorial Walk on May 1 held at the Ferone farm in Millbrook. John's brother, Paul, accompanied our group and spotted one of the best birds of the day, an American Kestrel. Another treat just as we arrived was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Paul then guided us through Farmer Andrews' property , with its collapsing barn full of Barn Swallows and the old junk cars growing out of the tall grass. We recorded a total of 30 species including a Spotted Sandpiper, a Killdeer doing its "broken wing" act, a Purple Martin, Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and a lustily singing Tree Sparrow which craftily managed to elude detection.As is our custom, we gathered in the olive grove to share memories of Nicole Kelisky, past president of CWAS and John Ferone, teacher and devoted friend of our chapter. The Ferone family generously hosted a sumptuous and scrumptious luncheon and made us feel as welcome as when John was there. We are, indeed, grateful for their friendship.

On May 18, at just about the height of migration, we visited Central Park and feasted with our eyes on warblers in glorious spring plumage.. We had very good looks at Canada, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Yellow, and Yellow-rumped Warblers; American Redstart, Ovenbird and a Northern Waterthrush. More common, but endearing, was a Robin tending her nest of babies.

Our final trip for the season was on May 23 to Doodletown Road, near Bear Mountain in Rockland County where we tallied 27 species. Among the warblers we spotted were Chestnut Sided, Blue-winged, Magnolia and Hooded. We also saw two flocks of Cedar Waxwings, each consisting of 10+ individuals and an Indigo Bunting, or its relative, on the same tree we had seen one 2 years ago!

All in all - great spring birding.

Libby Wagner, founding member of CWAS, past president, and current board member, was honored by the White Plains Women's Club on July 22 at a Tea and Garden Party. More than 100 colleagues, friends and fellow gardeners were on hand to honor Libby for "...her vision, dedication and plain old pick and shovel labor..." over the past 29 years which have made the club's gardens what they are today.

From an article in the White Plains Watch, August 2004

With funding from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Audubon has launched the Audubon At Home website at www.Audubon.org. This website explains key concepts and provides concise action plans to help you make your property a thriving habitat, good for both people and wildlife.There are five major principles to observe in order to create a healthy environment: establish native plants; remove exotic invasive plants; reduce pesticides; conserve water; and protect water quality. In order to help you make this commitment you will find a variety of useful tools at the website:
An interactive image that identifies 16 elements of a healthy yard
A long list of bird habitat necessities and resources
Plant recommendations that address the conservation needs of some of Audubon's Watchlist birds
A children's page with introductory activities and resources for teachers
A "Keeping Wildlife Safe" section with sound suggestions for making yards safe for wild visitors
Downloadable Action Plans
A large number of useful resources and links in each section.

We can all make a personal commitment to to create a healthy environment, one yard at a time. It all begins at home.

From Audubon Chapter Networker, Spring 2004

The Long Island Stewardship Act of 2004, sponsored by Senator Joseph Lieberman is moving through Congress. If and when it is passed it will provide $40 million a year: 75% federal funds matched by 25% local funds. Its intent is to improve the Sound's coastlines for wildlife and increase public access. Support is promised by all four Senators from both New York and Connecticut, plus the five Connecticut representatives and eight of the 29 representatives for New York. Presently only 40% of the LIS coastline can be reached for fishing, boating and birding; habitat for the 135 bird species that make the Sound their home is being eroded. Audubon for 15 years has been an active advocate for the sound. The Long Island sound Stewardship system, working with the EPA, New York and Connecticut, is working to identify a network of significant ecological sites in and around the Sound. The proposed Cross-Sound Cable is included in the discussions.

Louise Jones

Do you want to make a difference in Local, State and National issues? Audubon Action Network will send you monthly e-mail updates of current conservation issues that are pressing in the State and Nationally, plus e-mail Action Alerts when your help is needed immediately on an issue. If you are interested, contact nyaction@audubon.org.

Bring your unused and/or unwanted chemicals in their original or labeled containers. Close all bags and bottles tightly and place them in a sturdy box in the trunk of your car. Only residential chemicals are acceptable.

Pre-registration is required for 60 pounds or more of solid material or 25 gallons or more of liquids. There is no fee. No paint will be accepted.

For more information and/or pre-registration call Household Chemical Info-Line: (914)813-5425.

copyright © 2004 Central Westchester Audubon Society
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