Newsletter, September - October, 2005

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Welcome Back Otters
Thursday, October 20, 2005
7:00PM in the Cafeteria
Church St. School
295 Church St., White Plains

Speaker: Laura J. Bried

After being overtrapped in the 1930's, river otters have made a comeback in eastern New York. In western New York reintroduction efforts in the late 90's led to the transfer of 270 otters to that region. Scientists are now monitoring those populations. Our speaker, Laura J. Bried, is a Student Conservation Association intern working on outreach for the Hudson River Otter Stewardship Program. Laura is a graduate of Paul Smith's College with a degree in Natural Resources Management and will attend the University of Albany's graduate program in Biodiversity, Conservation & Policy in the spring.

Our program will consist of a slide presentation, a craft activity and a game and will cover the physical characteristics, behavior, and signs and tracks of the river otter.

Please join us for our first program of the season and bring your kids.

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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, September 18, 8AM
Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. Meet at Education House at 8AM for carpooling. Join us for a fall migration walk of about 2 hours. Bring binoculars.
Leader: Victor Ramos.

Saturday, September 24, 9AM
Meet at Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers. Introduction to Hawk Watching: A 9AM slide presentation will be followed by a hawk watch at 10AM. Learn how to identify the 16 species of hawks, falcons, eagles and vultures that pass over Lenoir Preserve during our fall hawk watch. The presentation will be great for beginners and those wanting to sharpen their skills as hawk migration gears up in the coming weeks. Birds expected at the watch (if the conditions are right) should include Broad-winged, Sharp-shinned, and Coopers Hawks, American Kestrel, Osprey and more. Bald Eagle has a reasonable chance of being seen. Sponsored by Hudson River Audubon, Bronx River/Sound Shore Audubon and CWAS.
Leader and slide presenter: Mike Bochnik.
Directions to Lenoir Preserve:
From Saw Mill River Pkwy: Exit at Exit 9, Executive Blvd. Take Executive Blvd. to North Broadway and turn right. Go 1/4 mile and turn left onto Dudley Street. Lenoir's parking lot is on the left

Sunday, October 9, 9AM.
Greenwich Audubon. Meet at Ed House at 9AM for carpooling to Greenwich. Test your hawk ID skills at this manned hawkwatch. No walking, no climbing - just hang out and look up.
Leader: Victor Ramos.

Sunday, November 6, 9AM.
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Meet at Education House at 9AM for carpooling. Join us for an easy, level walk along the dikes and in the gardens of this urban oasis. Among the highlights of this trip will be snow geese, and a variety of wintering ducks. Most will be easy to see and we will have scopes. Dress in layers - it could be windy - and bring a lunch.
Leader: Victor Ramos.

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Message from the President

We start the new season with renewed enthusiasm and high expectations. Buoyed by our best-ever fundraising effort which realized more than $3,000 for our birdathon and excited about our participation in the Courtyard Garden Project at the Church Street School (about which more later), we look forward to a very busy and fulfilling year.

We have great programs in store for you, including what must be our signature program in November, Jim Eyring and his fascinating hawks. By co-sponsoring with the Hudson River and Bronx River/Sound Shore chapters we have expanded our field trips and hope that you will take advantage of the expertise of all three trip leaders. Remember that CWAS leader, Victor Ramos, can provide Spanish translations if requested.

In order to accommodate the significant Hispanic population in our area, we are in the process of translating the camp scholarship application into Spanish-thanks again to Victor. We hope this will open up the opportunity for more students to enjoy a wonderful week at a local ecology camp.

Now about the Courtyard Garden. CWAS has become involved in helping the principal and teachers at the Church Street School develop a pesticide-free native plant garden, which will attract birds and butterflies. The project will be fully integrated with the academic program and the learning experiences will be coordinated with NY State curriculum and learning standards. We expect that students in all grades will actively participate in the garden's design and implementation. Obviously a project of this size will require a great deal of volunteer effort, so if you are interested in being part of our planning committee or just on a list of people we can call on to do the hard work of digging and planting, please call me at 946-1780.

Finally, our need for volunteers in many areas continues. Please let me know what your interests are and how you would like to help.

Members of the Board and I look forward to seeing you at our programs and field trips.

---Jeanne Albert

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Pecans for Sale

We still have a small supply of delicious Mammoth Georgia Pecans for sale at a reduced price of $8 a pound. To order please call Beth da Silva at 949-5249 or Jeanne Alpert at 946-1780.

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Trip Reports

Birdathon
Even though we had an optional rain date, we worried for a week that our May 14th Birdathon would be rained out. Instead of the rain we were blessed with an exceptionally beautiful day--sunny and no wind. We didn't beat our record for the number of species seen but we found a respectable 100 species.

Thanks to some very dedicated local birders who carry water into the park to supply the drip bird bath, the famous Water Hole in Forest Park was filled and the warblers were drinking and bathing. We counted 18 wood warblers this year, almost all at Forest Park. There is a constant stream of warblers to the water (and other birds too) which makes it very hard to leave this spot and continue birding through the rest of the park.

After Forest Park we drove to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge for lunch and afternoon birding. Our trip around the West pond was disappointing. Swans have taken it over. Many of the ducks we usually see here were absent entirely or were represented by only a couple of individuals. Happily, the ospreys are back and nesting. Swans don't seem to intimidate them.

The bird of the day was the beautiful little Sora that appeared as if on cue about every 15-20 minutes in a tiny pond next to a marsh in the South Garden. While looking for food, it totally ignored the birders quietly standing within 30 feet of it.

Since a couple of brave souls started the day at 5:30 a.m. at Read Sanctuary and it was almost 5:00 p.m. when we stopped in the picnic area to compile our bird list, we were all pretty tired. But we had a wonderful time hunting for birds. Birding is like a treasure hunt where you always know you'll find something but are never sure exactly what it will be.

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Pruyn Sanctuary
On April 16th a group of us went on a field trip to Pruyn Sanctuary, led by Ann Swaim. Among the group was Monserrat Ramos, Victor's niece, who wrote the following report:
Going Hiking
It was a beautiful Saturday morning when I went hiking. When we went hiking I saw a plant with a flower. I said to myself, what kind of plant is that? The tour guide said it was skunk cabbage. She also said that the flower that grows next to it melts the snow. The skunk cabbage really does smell like skunk! Next we saw leaves that feel like fish. We also saw beautiful beach trees. Next we were going to a spring house. Now I know where spring water comes from. When we got there, we saw a lot of mouses fur and bones (from an owl pellet, Ed.). I picked some bones. When we were going back to where we started we saw a dead snake. It had no head. The tour guide said it was eaten by an animal or cut by a human. It was so much fun. Wait...I forgot. I went with my mother, sister, uncle and friends, Jean, Frank, Barbra and Joe.
By Monserrat Ramos, Age 7.

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Doodletown Road
On May 22nd we had a field trip to Doodletown Rd. in Bear Mountain State Park, home to a large variety of birds, especially migrating song birds.

When we arrived, we saw Red-winged Blackbirds flying over the marsh and perching on the tall grass, singing loudly as if they were claiming the marsh as their property. However, they seemed okay sharing it with several Tree Swallows that were flying around.

As we were walking up the hill we heard a Scarlet Tanager singing and were able to spot it easily. Not so far from there an Indigo Bunting was giving a concert and as a respectful audience we enjoyed the melody.

Close to the reservoir, we spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher very busy catching insects. Did you know that everything they eat is winged? Analysis of stomach contents has shown no traces of caterpillars, spiders, or other larvae.

There were other species present such as Cedar Waxwing, Baltimore Oriole, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, American kestrel, Turkey Vulture, just to mention some. It was a good birding day for an enthusiastic group from our chapter.

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Ward Pound Ridge
On June 4th we went on a Butterfly walk at Ward Pound Ridge under the leadership of Mike Bochnik. The largest of our county parks, Ward Pound Ridge, with its abundant wildflowers, is home to a variety of butterflies.

As we were gathering at the parking lot we met a friend of Mike's who is an expert on moths. He explained some of the special features that make moths different from butterflies. Both belong to the same group of insects (Lepidoptera) but they are different. In general, butterflies fly during the day and moths at night; the butterfly's antennae is clubbed while moths have feathery antennae. Butterflies rest with their wings closed together over their backs and have a slim body; moths rest with wings open and have a fat, hairy body. For the most part, butterflies are more brilliantly colored than moths although there are exceptions to this general rule.

After spending some time examining the moths that were resting on the outside of the restroom wall, we headed toward the fields where we saw some of the species of butterflies and skippers that reside in the park, from the small Pearl Crescent to the big Tiger Swallowtail.

The Department of Parks of Westchester County has released a brochure on butterflies which contains general information about butterflies and moths, their life cycles and drawings of the species that live in the County. Brochures are available in all County Parks and Preserves.

--- Victor Ramos, Trip Leader

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Of Interest

Beginning Bird Watching Class
Hank Weber of the Wild Bird Center and CWAS is teaching a class on Bird Watching at White Plains Continuing Education. The class is good for both beginners and more experienced birders. It consists of 2 classroom sessions 8-10am on Tuesdays, October 11 & 18 at White Plains High School plus a Saturday birdwalk to a local nature center where you can utilize the information from the classroom sessions. Call 422-2362 for details. There is a fee for this class.

Fall Gardening for Spring Birds
Wild Bird Center on Weds. Oct. 12, 7:30pm
Ann Acheson, a landscape and garden designer form Nabel's Nurseries, will explain how to make your yard more attractive to birds and butterflies. Learn the best choices for hardy, low-maintenance plants, and how to plant, arrange and care for them. Free. Call 713-0630 for details.

Program at Sheldrake Environmental Center
Andrew Farnsworth, a Ph.D candidate at Cornell and an expert on nocturnal bird migration, will present a program at the Sheldrake Environmental Center on Wednesday evening, November 2nd at 7:30pm. Andrew participated in the recent searches for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker with the Cornell Lab or Ornithology. For more information, you can contact the Center at 834-1443.

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CWAS Annual Bird Seed Sale
Deadline to submit orders: Thursday, October 20, 2005
Pickup dates: Wednesday, October 26th to Sunday, October 29, 2005
Pickup location: Wild Bird Center, 400 Central Park Ave., Scarsdale (Across from Office Depot).

Click here to view our order form.

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