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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.
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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. |
