HAPPENINGS

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NEW! Map of LaPorte County Birding Hot Spots
 

Happenings

"Birding field trips are conducted by chapter members to area birding hotspots on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month from March thru October. 

September 24, Luhr County Park, LaPorte October 8, Washington Park, Michigan City Lakeshore October 22, Bluhm County Park, Westville All field trips start at 9AM. Check this website in February for details on birding outings scheduled for Spring 2009.

Contact Joan Wisniewski at 785-2765 or wisniews2@aol.com for information on when and where to meet."

Binoculars, a basic bird guidebook, and clothing appropriate for the weather are useful gear when taking part in any outdoor birding activity. Anyone interested in birds, regardless of birding experience level, is welcome to participate in any of our outings.

Please share with us any news or photos you might have of noteworthy local bird sightings. With your permission, we will post these notices and photos on this website. Contact any of the chapter officers with your birding news.

February 13-16, 2009

Great Backyard Bird Count

Join tens of thousands of everyday bird watchers for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Nation al Audubon Society.  This is an opportunity for families, students and people of all ages to make an important contribution to conservation.  Participants report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.  Anyone can take part from novice bird watchers to experts. By counting for as little as 15 minutes and reporting their sightings.  This data helps researchers understand bird population trends information that is critical for effective conservation.  Everyone’s effort enables us to see what would otherwise be impossible; a comprehensive picture of where birds are in late winter and how their numbers and distribution compare with previous years.  We encourage everyone to take the time to participate in this important activity,.  We increased the number of participants from LaPorte County last year and hope to increase again in 2009.  Last year Michigan City Participants reported a total of 607 birds spotted with the Canada Goose being most prevalent.  LaPorte participants spotted 837 birds with the Dark-eyed Junco being the most prevalent.  For detailed information and some great pictures visits www.birdcount.org

March 21, 2009 10-12 noon

Junior Audubon Society

Organizational Meeting

Red Mill County Park

0183 S Holmesville Road, LaPorte

Students age 6-17 are invited to learn more about birds while enjoying the outdoors.  This group will be responsible for monitoring the Bluebird Trail and Red Mill County Park.  Students will learn to identify bluebirds, watch them build their nest, lay their eggs and see baby bluebirds fledge.  This is a great learning experience for students while helping our environment.

April 16, 2009 6:30PM

Regular Program Meeting

LaPorte County Public Library

904 Indiana Ave, LaPorte

Join us for a presentation on “Spring Wildflowers”.  This is an excellent program in anticipation of our Wildflower Walk on April 25th.

April 25, 2009 9AM

Wildflower Walk

Bluhm county Park

3855 S 1100 West

Marian Schoonaert and Mary Heath will lead the group through the east woods on a hike on the paved trail.  Hepatica, bloodroot, harbinger of spring and trillium are just a few of the wildflowers we will see.  Meet in the parking lot.

May 2, 2009 9 AM

Birding at the Kankakee State Preserve

Intersection of St Rds 8 & 39

Jim Jessup will lead us on a walk along the riverbank to look for birds.  This has become an annual event and we are never disappointed because we always see a lot of birds.  For Participants who want to spend more time we may drive the 10 mile road and view the river, woods and marshland.  We will meet in the parking lot at the preserve or for carpooling meet at Luhr Co Park at 8:30 AM

May 4-8, 2009

Soil and Water Conservation Days

Luhr County Park

378 S 150 West, LaPorte

We will once again man the Birding Station on this important Environmental program sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation of LaPorte County.  Volunteers are always needed.  Fifth grade students from throughout the county will participate.

May 9, 2009 7:30 AM

Spring Bird Count

Luhr County Park

3178 S 150 West

Another great opportunity to view birds, call Jim Simon at 366-8109 for your assignment area or meet him at the park.  Last year we had 16 participants travel a total of 322 miles to count birds.  129 different species and a total of 4499 birds were observed.  The Canada Goose, Ring-billed Bull, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, European Starling, and Common Grackle were the most observed.  Anyone interest in birds should attend, as inexperienced birders will be paired with experienced birders.  Bring Binoculars, bird guides if you have them and dress for the weather.

May 21, 2009 6:30 PM

Regular Program Meeting

LaPorte County Public Library

904 Indiana Ave, LaPorte

Come and enjoy a Power Point presentation on “The Indiana Dunes”.  We have a treasure right here in our area.  This program will help you identify plant life in the dunes.

Wednesday Morning Outing 9 AM

We will continue with our second and fourth Wednesday outings.  March 11th at Hanson Park, March 25th at Bluhm County Park, April 8th at Wintergreen Woods, April 2 at Wisniewski Woods, May 13 at International Friendship Gardens, May 27th Kesling Property, June 10th Tall Tree Arboretum and June 24th at Fox Park.  The schedule is tentative with details to be emailed or called to participant.  Our birding usually lasts about 1-2 hours.  Please call or email Joan 9785-2765 wisniews2@aol.com for more information on a specific outing.

 

 

 

Chickadees

Any inhabitant of a northern state who has taken the time to get acquainted with his or her surroundings is likely familiar with the chickadee.  This was the case even before W.C. Fields and Mae West immortalized the little creature in the film “My Little Chickadee” in 1940.  It is a delightful, saucy little (just a bit smaller than a sparrow) bird which stays with us throughout the year.  They make our winters more enjoyable with their antics at our feeders. 

Chickadees are aggressive little tykes with bright white and black coloring on the head, a cream-colored breast, and black, white, and

gray stripes on the wings.   Many patient feeder tenders report that they can coax the chickadee regulars to eat from their hand.  These passerines eat insects during the summer, so they enjoy suet, but they will munch on sunflower and smaller seeds also. 

Chickadees usually hang together in small flocks throughout the winter, but pair up in breeding season to find a cavity or nest box to raise a family.  Their call is a familiar background noise in our neighborhood back yards, parks, and woodlands.  Even casual birders have little difficulty in recognizing the namesake chicka-dee-dee-dee call or the fee-beeee song notes.  They have a pack rat type of habit of hiding seed and dead insects in a variety of places.

Chickadees seem to be able to remember the location of a large number of these caches.

Most of the chickadees indigenous to the midwest are black-capped chickadees.  These are very similar in appearance to the Carolina chickadee which is more common in the southeastern US.  The ranges of the two species do overlap and they do interbreed. 

Chickadees have been extensively studied for their ability to communicate via subtle variations in their song patterns.  So these birds are not just pretty faces, they’re also pretty smart!  Ms. West should truly have been flattered to be WC’s little chickadee.

See the Projects Page for updates on bluebird trails, the bird count and the butterfly count.

SIGHTINGS:

Papa bluebird and teenage offspring.  Taken by Elizabeth Roman in her backyard.

 
 
 
 

 

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