Hawkwatch at Rocky Ridge Park

Hawkwatching season is upon us again! Last year, a big increase in observers and observation hours led to some great numbers at Rocky Ridge Park.
 If you would like to participate in this year's Hawkwatch at Rocky Ridge Park, contact Brandon Pentz at
www.yorkcountyparks.org
for details and information.
The first dates he will be at the lookout (weather permitting) will be August 23rd  and the 27th. He will have hard copies of hawkwatching resources on hand. Get out and count!

National Audubon

The Audubon Mid-Atlantic chapter has some upcoming events that may be of interest. Check them out!


Need something to do? Try out a new birding area!
click the button to go to the map!

Signs to Enhance the York County Bird Trail Project: In an effort to improve the  experience for those who will use the York County Birding Map, signs are being placed at most of the 20+ birding sites that are identified and described on our web site. Thanks to financial support from National Audubon and York County Parks and Recreation, signs have been procured and are being located so that the visitor will know they are at a special birding site and that more information can be found on our website about their location and other sites. 
The York County Birding Trail Map was an initiative long considered, but made a reality by former vice-president Andrew Wolfgang. The website on yorkaudubon.org provides detailed information on 20+ locations including directions, unusual birds, best times of year, trails and other useful information.

York County Birding Trail Brochure - (printable PDF)
york_county_birding_trail_brochure.pdf
File Size: 2210 kb
File Type: pdf
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Re-live recent presentations

View the entire  webinar from Wildside Nature Tours, titled "Trinidad and Tobago: A Relaxed Introduction to South America". Just click on the button below!
 
View "Birding in Big Bend National Park" presented by Lee Hoy via Wildside Nature Tours by clicking on the following button.

View "U.S. National Park Treasures: Yellowstone, Tetons, and Glacier" presented by Kevin Loughlin, president and owner of Wildside Nature Tours by clicking on the following button.

View " Botswana: Okavango Delta Wildlife" presented by  Adrian Binns, of Wildside Nature Tours. Just click on the button below!

Garden Day at John Rudy County Park

York Audubon's first foray of the new season was the annual Garden Day at John Rudy County Park, when the public can tour the pollinator gardens, vegetable gardens, listen to seminars, get free plants, taste garden delicacies, and visit booths. The York County Master Gardeners play a huge role in this yearly venture, volunteering many hours of planting, tending, and harvesting. We all enjoyed the fruits of their labor today. Dick Humbert, Michelle Wittig, Bill del Grande and I spread the word about the York Audubon Society!




Neither rain, nor snow, nor heat of day shall deter us from watching birds!

Our 4 scheduled walks for the spring have been completed. They were very well attended, even though we endured a snow squall while walking amidst early spring wildflowers at the river, and showers on the boardwalk at Lake Redman, followed by an early taste of summer heat at Hopewell! What could Mother Nature possibly have in store for us next!
Don't forget to visit the York Audubon feeders at Pinchot Park
(photos courtesy Sherry Lookofsky)

Have an unusual bird sighting?

An unusual bird for the area, an unusual time of year for a bird to be seen, or maybe the first of the season as the migration season begins!
Report it on our new Birding Blog!
Members can enter their sightings (text only) on the blog for other members to read and comment on.
Click the button below to check it out!
Baltimore Bird Club's Martin Brazeau has created a new website! If you loved his bird identification video quiz, and enjoyed his presentation at our December meeting, you will love this!

Birding videos and quizzes, topics on bird songs, warblers and more! Check it out! Thanks Marty!

DECEMBER ACTIVITIES A SUCCESS

Christmas Bird Count: Dec. 19, 2020 To no one's surprise, the 121st CBC was challenging. While National Audubon suggested that the count need not be held, they advised that it could be, but with restrictions: social distancing, wearing masks, not carpooling. Snow of 4 to 6 inches that arrived before the count day compounded the difficulty. Nevertheless, 21 counters participated identifying 74 species among 5,304 birds. The effort and results were, in fact, similar to previous years despite the challenges. No unusual species were counted, but Dark-eyed Juncos were plentiful and Wild Turkeys were not recorded. Despite the issues, which were significant, we were able to maintain the tradition of the York CBC. Our report becomes part of the National Audubon data base, the nation's longest-running community science bird project.   
Christmas Bird Count for Kids: Dec 29, 2020: For the 4th year, Nixon Park hosted the CBC4Kids. On a chilly but clear day, 13 kids and 9 adults were given instructions, binoculars, identification guides and sent out on park trails to count birds. Having enough volunteer guides, family groups were kept together throughout the walks. After an hour, the counters returned and while socially distancing outside, the birds were tabulated: 22 species and 123 birds including a Bald Eagle and Great Blue Heron. One parent left the following message:

 "I just wanted to thank all of you in your group for such an enjoyable morning.  We really did have the best time!  My kids talked about you guys and the birds the whole way home. They love the booklets Audubon provided as well.  We went on your website to check it out because the kids would love to participate in more activities in the future.”

A photographer for the York Dispatch, who accompanied us on a previous count, put his work in the newspaper’s Gallery:  
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/picture-gallery/news/2020/12/29/photos-kids-bond-birders-during-annual-audubon-count/4077813001/
 
Thank you to the park staff and Audubon volunteers who made this introduction to a citizen science project possible.

GETTYSBURG!

Fifteen Audubon members and friends joined Gettysburg Battlefield tour guide Dave Weaver on Saturday, January 23 for our annual Winter Wildlife Watching Tour. The weather was a brisk and breezy 30 degrees under blue skies. Though it appears the birds were smarter than our group, we did get glimpses of red-headed woodpeckers, kestrels, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and starlings. Our guide took us to 4 choice locations for viewing the battlefield, but the birds were scarce. However, it was wonderful to spend a couple of hours with birder friends... socially distanced and masked!


2020 Bird Seed Sale is a hit!
Dick Humbert's 37th year of organizing the bird seed pick-up for York Audubon Society was blessed with perfect weather for early November! The binoculars were won by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stuhre. The afternoon volunteers, masked up, posed for a shot. People also bought some of Cliff Beittel's pristine book collection and Clyde Fisher's hand-crafted peanut feeders.

To contact us by email, or to unsubscribe from our email list, send a note to:

audubonyorkpa@gmail.com

Still need something to do? Try out the wealth of resources available from the American Birding Association (ABA) website, including tips on birding from home.

https://www.aba.org/
Please Note Our NEW MEETING LOCATION 
(when in-person meetings resume)
 OUR YORK AUDUBON SOCIETY Regular MONTHLY CHAPTER MEETINGS
WILL BE HELD AT THE
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH of YORK,
925 S. GEORGE ST, YORK, PA
(just north of York Hospital)

Regular Monthly Meetings are free and open to the public - Come join us!

 



Peter Kaestner shared some of his marvelous worldwide adventures at our March York Audubon Society meeting. The audience loved listening to his near-death experiences of birding in many remote and beautiful places! His life list is at 9,450 so far, with a goal of an unfathomable 10,000 birds! Peter is pictured here with Tish Swam and Carolyn Mathur.
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Our February 2020 meeting featured Mark Kocher, veteran volunteer for local raptor rehabilitator Mitzie Eaton. He wowed the  crowd tonight with live raptors and his many colorful stories about them. We got up close with a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, a cute little Screech Owl and a handsome Barred Owl!





The crowd was huge for the York Audubon January meeting, when George Schardt presented "The Desert Southwest~ A Birder's Paradise". His photos and stories were spellbinding, and humorous parts were charming! We applauded a spectacular program! Pictured are George and his wife Darlene.

Images from the Desert Southwest
Christmas Bird Count for Kids

York Audubon Society held our annual Christmas Bird Count for Kids at Nixon County Park on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019. Participants met at the Nixon Park Nature Center, and from there left in smaller groups to walk through different areas of the park and tally any birds that were observed. Everyone met up after about an hour of walking to come up with a grand total of sightings, which were then reported and used in National Audubon's 120th Christmas Bird Count. Reports are then used in scientific studies to track bird populations worldwide.
ANNUAL BIRD SEED SALE!

Thanks to all who purchased seed and helped make our annual sale a success. This is our major fundraiser for the year and it was encouraging to see all the support. A special shout out to all of the folks who showed up to help load bags of seed into customers cars, direct traffic, help with the paperwork, etc.  There will be lots of well fed birds in York County this winter!
Look for us again next year!
Picture
Our November 19 meeting featured the very talented photographer Bob Anderhalt (right), show here with York Audubon vice-president Andrew Wolfgang. Bob narrowed over 17,000 pictures down to his 100 best in order to present "The Birds of Magee Marsh". The photographers in the audience were enlightened on some of the techniques used to shoot the pictures, while the bird lovers were just "wowed" by the gorgeous photos. Thanks Bob for a great evening!
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York County geologist Jeri Jones (left) enlightened us about the many fascinating geological features of our county. He will lead a field trip to the Chickies Rock area on Saturday, Oct. 26. If you're interested, call him at 717-887-7103. Jeri is pictured here with our Audubon vice-president Andrew Wolfgang.

http://www.jonesgeo.com/


At our September 2019 meeting, Cliff Beittel, acclaimed bird photographer who now lives in Sanibel, Florida, offered tips on capturing the best possible nature photos. He revealed secrets about lighting, timing, subjects, equipment, and more. Check out his amazing photos at:

https://www.cliffbeittel.com/index
Picture
Cliff Beittel, shown here with Program Director extraordinaire Tish Swam, and the York chapters own photography buff, Bob Anderhalt.
Shown above are just some of Cliff's cover photos found on several national magazines.
Picture
 
Guest speaker Doc Schoch with YAS President Carolyn Mathur following Doc's extremely interesting and informative presentation entitled

“Damsels and Dragons—Flies, that is!”

at the May 2019 chapter meeting.
View a copy of our most recent newsletter and calendar of events
2021_fall_newsletter.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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2021_2022_yas_calendar.pdf
File Size: 813 kb
File Type: pdf
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Membership application for York Audubon Society - print and mail
york_audubon_membership_application.pdf
File Size: 66 kb
File Type: pdf
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