The Pine Warbler

November 2008

Volume XXXIV, Issue 3


President's Letter
John Wright

Well, migration is upon us.  As usual we see and learn many new things about those feathery creatures that astound us.  I am somewhat envious of our migrants as I reflect upon my college years; I always enjoyed a new semester/season and new surroundings, challenges, and friends it brought.

This is a great time to see our visitors or those just passing through.  Once again we see the importance of where we live and how vital the basic efforts that your fellow members and others do to help these birds in their journey.  It seems so simple and basic and yet providing food, water, shelter and educating the public could make the difference in whether a bird makes it to its final destination.  Just imagine if everyone could just do a little bit along the migration route.  It would make the journey for our feathered friends so much easier!

We recently learned about the Bar-tailed Godwit in the news.  This bird shocked many as we learned about its endurance flight between Alaska and New Zealand¬¬–not just the distance that it travels (a 7,200-mile non-stop trip taking about nine days) but that birds could cover distances that commercial flights cannot cover on a single tank of gas.  This great journey is possible due to habitat preservation efforts in the Yukon regions.  Proper preparation with resources available along the way is the key to this journey.

The more we learn about the animals and the world we live in, the more they can teach us about ourselves. We all need opportunities to have new challenges and meet new friends along the way that give us a helping hand.  We all hope for the proper resources and a protected environment to prepare for those long journeys ahead, and, in the end, we hope to surprise a few people along the way with our own accomplishments. 

Best of luck on all your journeys, near and far.


Membership Reminder
Diane Lafferty & Larry Morgan

Please look at your mailing label on this issue of your newsletter.  If you see a date below the city, that is the date your membership is set to expire (No date?  Don’t worry, you’re paid up!). We want and need your support in our organization!  Don’t let it lapse!  You can join the National Audubon Society, the Pine Woods Chapter only, or both, but please, please continue to lend us your support!  And encourage a friend or two to follow your lead and join, too!  Or give someone a great Christmas present and  join for them!  We’ve got a great “thank you” gift for first-time chapter members, but you’ll have to pick it up at a meeting!  Thank you.

Mail to:  PWAS Treasurer, 544 W. 4th Street, Hattiesburg, MS  39401
$20/year for Chapter-only Membership

Bird Quiz
Larry Smith

Birders should carry a lot of important information around in their heads and not just about birds.  Here are a few tidbits for you to store away for when you need it:
·        North Carolina has more pigs than people.
·        North Carolina’s hog industry generates more waste than the entire human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston combined.
Solutions, Nov. 2007; Environmental Defense
Now—to the QUIZ!

Fill in the blanks to make a correct species name for a bird on the MS checklist:

Buff-breasted __________            Ruby-crowned _____________
Buff-bellied ____________            Ruby-throated ______________
Gray-cheeked __________            Bay-breasted ______________

Five points for each correct answer.

November Program Preview
Chuck Gramling

“Citizen Science & Ecology: What Our Back Yards Can Tell Us About the World”

Pine Woods Audubon Society cordially invites the public to a program on Citizen Science by Pine Woods Audubon Society member & Hattiesburg American columnist Ronnie Blackwell on Thursday, November 6th at 7:00 PM at the Hattiesburg Zoo’s Education Building.  Lin Harper, also a Pine Woods Audubon Society member, will assist. Ron and Lin will talk about the “citizen science” programs that allow all of us to help scientists by sharing important information right from our own back yards. You, too, can be a citizen scientist and an advocate for wild birds.

Light refreshments will be served.  Visitors are always welcome! 

November Field Trip Announcement:  DEATON PRESERVE
Ronnie Blackwell

The 3,300 acre Charles M. Deaton Nature Preserve at Merrill is one of the Mississippi Nature Conservancy’s most important properties. The Deaton includes eleven miles of river-front where the Chickasawhay and the Leaf join to form the Pascagoula. There are large stands of hardwood along the rivers that provide critical habitat for migrating, breeding, and wintering birds. It is a magical place.
Join us on November 15 for a guided tour with the Nature Conservancy’s Becky Stowe. Please note that this is a change of date from what is in the yearbook. We will leave Hattiesburg at 7:00 to meet Becky at her office in Merrill at 8:00.
And, yes, that’s 7:00 AM, guys! Josh will have more details for us at the November meeting. We’ll see you bright and early!


Audubon Adventures
Liz Wolfe & Sherry Barton

Audubon Adventures is the classroom package that Pine Woods Audubon supports each year to go out into our area schools.  So far this year, we have ordered 8 classroom packages for 7 individual teachers.  If you know of any teachers who are interested in receiving Audubon Adventures, please have them contact either of us at the numbers on the front of the newsletter. 

AND, if you would like to help support getting Audubon Adventures out into local or even distant classrooms (Lin & Ron sponsored AA classrooms for their god-children in Miami for 3 years), please send at check for $46/classroom (or any part of that you’d be willing to send) to our Treasurer (544 W. 4th Street, Hattiesburg, MS  39401). 

For more information on Audubon Adventures and our chapter's involvement, contact Education Co-Chairs:
Liz Wolfe  (264-9545) & Sherry Barton (584-6685).

If you want to learn more about Audubon Adventures, please go to
http://www.audubon.org/educate/aa/chapters.html
 

Calendar of Events

November 6, 2008 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Board Meeting, 6:15 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center.  The Public is invited to attend.  Contact any Board Member or officer for more information or to add something to the Agenda.

November 6, 2008 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Chapter Meeting, 7 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center.  PROGRAM: Citizen Science (Ronnie Blackwell & Lin Harper).  Contact Program Chair Chuck Gramling (601-408-0499) for information.

November 15, 2008: Deaton Nature Preserve on the Pascagoula.  Meet in Rose’s parking lot at 7 AM to travel with the group.  For details, call Ronnie Blackwell @ 601-545-2437.

November 11, 2008 (Tuesday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Birding Committee Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the Keg & Barrel Restaurant.  Contact Ron Blackwell (601-545-2437) for information.

November 11, 2008: Deadline for items for December Pine Warbler to newsletter editor by email (lin.harper@usm.edu), by phone (601-545-2437), or by fax (Attn: Lin @ 601-266-6541).



Chapter Membership Dues payable now!
$20/year. 
Mail to PWAS Treasurer: 544 W. 4th Street, Hattiesburg, MS  39401