The Pine Warbler

September 2009

Volume XXXV, Issue 1

President's Letter John Wright

As school gets started up again and activities that go with it increase, I would like to welcome back all of you to this year's Audubon activities. I would also like to take the time to invite those of you who have not made it to our meetings or trips to come join us and enjoy the company of our members. As always I ask that our regulars invite their neighbors and friends to accompany us as we explore South Mississippi birding and nature.

This year hopes to bring about many firsts for our organization and for me personally. Ron Blackwell and Jeremy Hodge, with the help of other members, are coordinating a bird census project. This long-term chapter commitment tracks the density and diversity of birds in the areas studied. Researchers can utilize this data to better understand the complex dynamics of bird behavior and habitat.

We will also continue to work with the next generation of birders with our Junior Birders program and Annual Bird Festival. It is a great opportunity to raise awareness and curiosity about the world around us with the next generation, an issue that has recently become even more important to my wife and me (guess why!).

I hope to have the opportunity to see many new faces this year and get our members involved in meetings, field trips and events. As always, we are a laid back and fun group that enjoys sharing time with one another. With that said there is always room for One More! A new perspective and fresh ideas from any individual will make our organization stronger.

September Field Trips Ronnie Blackwell

Field trips are a way of meeting up with folks you know or want to know better to explore and enjoy nature and, in our case, birds (we are AUDUBON, after all!). We generally gather, try to carpool when possible and make a morning out of it. The field trips will have different leaders, so please consider volunteering for one or more. Sometimes we bring picnic lunches; sometimes we plan a stop–I confess we hardly ever get home before lunch! Mostly, we just get outdoors to enjoy some time away from work, away from home (and housework), and pursue our interests. Come join us. It's fun! I promise!

September 5 Behind the Scenes Tour of Hattiesburg Zoo

September 19 Fall Migration in the DeSoto National Forest

September 26 MS Native Plant Society 2009 Annual Meeting

BIRD QUIZ Larry Smith

We will kick off the new season with a severe memory test:

What bird established a new state record when it graced the coast of Mississippi
in the hurricane season of 2008?

May 30 Field Trip Report Chuck Gramling

I can't believe I still get so excited over seeing the Male Painted Bunting! We have to give credit to our visiting guest Jim from CA; Ron stopped the vehicle at some obscure corner of the Lagoon. "Why are we stopping here?" I asked. Ron explains, "Last year, this is where Jim found a painted." Guess what? Right there is where our painteds were– two of them: one bright red male in full color, another almost orange where you think of red, putting on a show flying backing forth from the edge of the woods to the stand alone tree out near the base of lagoon damn. No females seen. Gee, the first brief look of the Prothonary Warbler, and later that Common Yellow Throat–those were my highlights!

Other birds included Orchard Orioles (lagoon and Walters Pond), Yellow Billed Cuckoo (lagoon and Walters pond), Indigo buntings, Blue Grossbeaks, and two Northern Mocking Birds, as well as one I believe to have been a Southern Mocking Bird (vocal ID). Well the Walters's pond may be the next location for CBC Ahingas after today. It was a good day and good folks.

We give Ron an A++ for stopping and hearig that Common Yellow Throat, a beautiful little bird to behold. It stopped 20 feet from us, then all but flew into Diane when she was playing its song on that bird song player device she had. We all got a great look at that bird for sure!

Emily is Looking for Hospitality Helpers!

Please bring your calendars for 2009-10 and volunteer to help Emily with refreshments for our group meetings! It doesn;t have to be elaborate or fancy–heck, last year Ronnie and Lin brought a bag of cookies and some chips-n-dip! But the fellowship of "breaking bread" with our fellow members is one of the things we all look forward to! Partner up with a friend or two to make it easier and more fun! Emily will have all the details at the September meeting, so bring those calendars!

September Program Notes Chuck Gramling

The Public and members of Pine Woods Audubon are cordially invited to Pine Woods AudubonÕs September Program at the Hattiesburg Zoo at Kamper Park Education Building at 7:00 PM on Thursday September 3, 2009. John Wright, Zoo Curator Hattiesburg Zoo, will present a program of a recent service trip to European zoos, titled, ÒLost in Translation and in Transition, A Romanian Zoo Assistance ProjectÓ. We are so lucky here in Hattiesburg to have a curator who serves countries from Central America to Europe and beyond on the care of animals. We should all support the efforts of Hattiesburg and Mr. Wright on leadership roles.

So come learn more about the Zoos, people, and animals! Meetings are free, refreshments are served, and the public is welcomed at all Audubon meetings.

Delta Butterfly Count Chuck Gramling

Back on July 18, 2009, 11 serious butterfly lovers showed up for our Delta National Forest Butterfly Count. Included in our group were seven members of Pine Woods Audubon, Diane and Mike Lafferty, Sherry Barton, Ron Blackwell, Larry and Mike Morgan, and Chuck Gramling. In short, it was a good year to ÒfindÓ a butterfly or two. We had our first three years with what we calls the ÒMultitudesÓ–no matter what number we turned in for the count, it is too many to describe. The next three years were bust years (smaller numbers); then came 2009, a count I would call it our best so far!

It was a treat for me to help putting the number totals on the tally. I think we turned in 70+ thousand to NABA for the count; my numbers were about 130 thousand, but we report in conservative numbers. The number was irrelevant; there was a constant swarm of butterflies around your head, around the puddles, and forming clouds in places. Think of a 'Puddle' as a lot of butterflies at one spot, whether around water, fallen fruit, or dung; a 'cloud' is when you see 50 or 100 butterflies flying in a 20-30 foot space ahead of your car as you drive along. That cloud amazes you after only a few hundred yards of driving–then you have to stop and figure out what they all are! Ron Blackwell added a new term this year of describing the butterflies there, calling them 'sheets' on the road–basically all over the road and close to a thousand in view at any glance.

I have never seen such a show of butterflies on the Delta NF. I called Friday afternoon, ahead of the count: "There are millions here." Well, our road count of 70+ thousand was for less than 1% of the whole forest. Given the report of the treetops dancing with Tawny males and females above the roads, you can imagine some number! The Tawny Emperors were definitely the highest numbered species (Tawny Lane was my title for the trip, like the Beatle's song "Penny Lane" and it still ring in my memory of the day). Red Spotted Purples and many Question Marks also lined the roads. Oddly, we were unusually low on Viceroys, Red Admirals, and Hackberry Emperors on this trip (maybe we were ahead of the butterfly stage). Larry Morgan even photographed our first ever Harvester butterfly found on a Delta count. Ron made a great report of them seeing a baby Bobcat playing with butterflies in a 'puddle' along the way. Many birds were seen, too, not to mention the pretty hardwood bottomland forest.

Everyone should come with us to the DNF for a butterfly count, "at least once" as Lin says. The mystery to me is to guess when the butterflies come–surely a mystery of weather, annual rainfall, food conditions, etc. If it's a multitude year, you will set a life record for butterflies in a day, many species in the mix, 40 species of birds, and lots of hardwood forest. Plan to join us next July and help us count!

It's MEMBERSHIP Time!

If you are or would like to become a "Chapter Member" of Pine Woods Audubon, now is the time to pay your dues of $20/year. This membership fee keeps the newsletter coming each month and helps to defray the costs of programs like Junior Birders, Audubon Adventures, Bird Fest, and other public and chapter programs. While we still get a very small subsidy from National Audubon for those people who renew their memberships with the national office, it is not enough to run our chapter. We need help from our friends.

Speaking of the National Audubon Society, for a limited time, when someone you know joins Audubon (a first time member), our chapter will get their FULL membership fee. Please, tell your friends and neighbors, join for a loved one or friend, or give some Christmas gifts this way. See Diane Lafferty for info.

Calendar of Events:

Sept. 3, 2009 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Board Meeting, 6:15 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center. The Public is invited to attend.

Sept. 3, 2009 (Thursday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Chapter Meeting, 7 p.m. in Hattiesburg Zoo Education Center. PROGRAM: Lost in Translation and in Transition: A Romanian Zoo Assistance Project (John Wright).

Contact Program Chair Chuck Gramling (601-408-0499) for information.

Sept. 5, 2009 (Saturday): Behind the Scenes Tour of the Hattiesburg Zoo. Meet at Zoo Education Center at Hattiesburg Zoo at 9:00 a.m. Guide: John Wright.

Sept. 8, 2009 (Tuesday): Pine Woods Audubon Society Birding Committee Meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the Keg & Barrel Restaurant. Contact Ron Blackwell (601-818-1788) for information.

Sept. 15 , 2009 : Deadline for items for April Pine Warbler to newsletter editor by email ( lin.harper@usm.edu ), by phone (601-545-2437), or by fax (Attn: Lin @ 601-266-6541).

Sept. 19, 2009 (Saturday) : Fall Migration in the DeSota National Forest. Meet at University Mall parking lot at 7:30 a.m. Contact Ron Blackwell (601-818-1788) for information.

Sept. 26, 2009 (Saturday): MS Native Plant Society 2009 Annual Meeting at Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve near Moss Point, MS. Nature Walk at 8 a.m.; NPS meeting begins at 9:30 a.m.