EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETY – From the Barrens to the BaysFormerly Moriches Bay Audubon, established 1967

Jan./Feb. 2012 — Vol. XXXVII No. 1

If your winter plans do not include awell-deserved vacation in a warm,southern climate, there are a few places

which may warm your bird-loving heart –all here on the Eastern End of Long Island!

The very best part of Winter LI Birding isthat it basically involves looking for and atDUCKS! They don’t need to be seen justaround dawn, they are frequently viewablefrom the comfort of your car, and – mostimportantly – they stay PUT! You can takeyour time, looking at the birds and lookingat the field guide – it’s those pesky femalesthat give us the most problems. Where tobird? Patchogue Lakes – there are aboutfour of them – each offers a different“stew” of birds. Southampton Lakes –Agawam, Cooper’s Beach Lake and OldTowne. Frequently, different birds than theones found in Patchogue for some reason.Alcott AKA Phillips Pond in East Quogue(along Montauk Highway) and QuogueWildlife Refuge Ice Pond – surprisingly dif-ferent population on almost every visit.Remember – ducks look at Long Island astheir Florida – as long as the ponds andlakes remain open water! Some stay for along weekend, others for the season.

Dune Road and EPCAL/Calverton’s for-mer Grumman facility – Raptors are thekey species in both areas. Northern Harri-ers and owls – both Short-eared andSnowy – are frequently seen along a DuneRoad in Winter. Best time of the day?Close to or just after sunset. Plus, the lightis incredible then, there’s no traffic andyou get home in time for supper! EPCALdoesn’t host the Short-eared owls as inyears past, it seems, but a daytime visit af-fords Red-tailed Hawks, Kestrel, NorthernHarriers like clockwork. Even better, Blue-birds, Meadowlarks, Horned Larks andSnow Bunting can almost be guaranteed.An occasional, stray sparrow often pops

up – usually Song or Savannah – butsometimes a really rare, lost sparrowdrops in. Historically, EPCAL has recordedBald Eagle sightings. This year? Maybe!

Morton NWR - Noyack/Southampton -Anyone out there who has NOT beenhere??? Well, get in your car TODAY anddrive there with a coat pocket full of birdseed and suet. Yes, this is the place whereyou get to feed the birds right out of yourhand. Chickadees, Titmouse, DownyWoodpeckers, and White-breastedNuthatches will all greet you with hungrylittle beaks as soon as you exit the car!Go early, and go often! No matter howcool, jaded, or old you are – I don’t knowa single, solitary person who can walk outof there without a huge smile and warmheart! You can even keep your mittenson – the birds don’t mind! One note – theKeepers of the Facility request that youdon’t dump seed anywhere – that is, bring

home what you haven’t fed the birds. Itseems vermin tend to LOVE those 5pound bags of seed which are frequentlyleft behind. And we’re there to feed thebirds, not the rats!

For those who are Hard Core – there’salways Montauk or Orient Point! Cold,windy, and generally miserable – but,WOW, those birds!! Standing on the ob-servation deck of the closed-in-winterrestaurant and looking out at thousandsand thousands and THOUSANDS ofocean loving birds is a Must Do at leastonce! And, the new and improved parkinglot rest rooms at the Point are alwaysopen and HEATED – very, VERY impor-tant. Just to thaw out before the longdrive home....

The Eastern End of Long Island is abirder’s paradise, even in the short, darkdays of winter - get out there and enjoy!

Nature ProgramNature Programs are held at Quogue Wildlife Refuge. All programs are free and the public is welcome.

Monday, February 7 beginning at 7:15 pm

Birding by Car Presented by Ken Thompson

Ken Thompson will our first speaker this year. On February 6th, he will present apower point program Birding by Car. Every image was taken by Ken, from eitherinside the car or using the car as a blind and standing next to the car. Most of these

shots were taken on Long Island, with few particularly good ones from the Metropolitanarea, New York State his travels.

Ken is a member of Great South Bay Audubon Society. He has been birding for over 10years, and now as a retiree he has become a even more active and serious birder. It wasKen who is responsible for giving most of the regions birding community the closest,and for many, their first look, at a Dovekie. Ken found this, the smallest of the alcides ina marina in Great River. This bird was not shy, with many of a birdrer, myself included,seeing from a distance of no more than six feet while standing on top of the dock. oops,hope I didn’t give away one of the programs goodies. Bob Adamo

Winter Birding Eileen Schwinn

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 2

Highlights from the Nature Walks…

Saturday, November 19 – Jamesport StatePark & Hallockville Farm Fields

Saturday, November 19 – Jamesport State Park & Hallockville Farm Fields

Saturday, November 19 – Theodore Roosevelt County Park & Montauk

Saturday, November 5Smith Point County Park

Lively ocean greeted us today, thick withNorthern Gannets and Scoter flocks.Dozens of Long-tail Ducks passed bywhile a few more rested on the bay side.Best bird of the day was a bright Blue-headed Vireo along the ball-field fence-line. A lone sitting Merlin kept things quietfor a while, then a flock of Juncos eruptedfrom the hedgerows accompanied byField and Chipping Sparrows. Earlier inthe day we watched about twenty SnowBuntings skim the primary dune, ThreeHorned Larks were also found in theparking lot. No sign of the seven RoyalTerns I had seen on Thursday. Good Au-tumn Birding, Carl Starace

A Red-tailed Hawk flies over Jamesport StatePark, a racoon leaves his print in the wetsand, and sparrows pop out of the hedgerownear Hallockville fields.

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 3

Membership Corner John McNeil

With the new postal regulations goinginto effect later on this month de-lays might occur, our newsletter can

always be viewed around the first of themonth on our web site if the mailed copyis late. In this way you will not miss fieldtrips or coming meeting notices. Recentlywe have changed the way we mail ournewsletter to the membership. We nowhave a commercial printer imprint themailing labels onto the newsletter con-forming to the latest postal regulationswhich speds the processing and lowersour mailing cost.

When you renew your membership inELIAS, please include your e-mail address. Iwill send a welcome letter thanking youfor your continued support and add yourname to our email list. If you elect not toinclude your email address, you can alwayscheck your address label to see if I haveupdated your membership. If you do notsee an update, please contact me and willmake all the necessary corrections so thatyou are properly credited.

Before closing, I have to extend an apologyto all my feeder supporters. Do not fear Ihave not forgotten you. All your data issafe and I am in the process of doing someanalysis and a report will be coming soonon the results. John

Nature WalksJohn McNeil

Sat., Jan. 7th, 2012 @ 9:00am

Wintering Waterfowl around Patchogue LakesLeader: John McNeilThis half day trip will explore the lakesaround Patchogue, where we hope tosee Ring-neck Ducks, American Wid-geon, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks justto name a few. Will be also looking foran Eurasian Widgeon who makes anappearance every year or so to delightus all. Also, if we are lucky; maybe wewill spot a Tufted Duck that was a reg-ular visitor for years but has been ab-sent for the last few years.

We will meet at 9 am at the SwanLake Lodge on Swan Lake in EastPatchogue. Contact me for trip detailsat 631.281.2623 or on the day of thetrip, on my cell phone: 631.219.8947

Sat., Feb. 4th, 2012 @ 6:30am

Teatown’s Hudson River EagleFest2012Leader: John McNeil

We will be heading up along the Hud-son River about 35 miles north ofNYC (Westchester County) to seeour nations symbol, the Bald Eagle.Teatown’s Hudson River EagleFest2012 will start at Croton Point Partthen we will drive to various locationsalong the Hudson River for views ofthese beautiful birds perching either intrees or on the frozen ice of the Hud-son River.

We will depart at 6:30 am from theeast side of the old Home Depot (nowRaymour & Flannigan & Shop Rite)parking lot on the Sunrise Highway atRoute 112 in Patchogue and return tobetween 3 and 4 pm. The drive time isa little less than 2-hours and I want tobe up at Croton Point Park before 9am. We will leave promptly so do not

be late. Contact me at my home631.281.2623 and on the day of thetrip 631.219.8947 for additional infor-mation. You can check out the website of the Teatown’s Hudson River Ea-gleFest 2012 at www.teatown.org.

Sat,, Feb. 18th, 2012 @ 9:00am

Montauk Point Bird WalkLeader: Carl Starace

Please join your field trip leader CarlStarace for an exhilarating trip aroundthe Montauk Peninsula in search ofwintering waterfowl and pelagic birds.Huge numbers of scoters and eidersare always present at this time. Othersmight include Razorbill’s, Thick-billedMurre, Dovekie, Black-legged Kitti-wake, Red-necked Grebe, and EaredGrebe. Remember to watch for thedays’s weather and dress appropriately.Meet at the Concession building atMontauk State Park at 9 am. For addi-tional trip details, contact Carl, hisemail is castarace@gmail.com or hishome telephone: 631.281.8074.

Sat., March 3rd, 2012 @ 8:00am

The South Lakes & Pondsheading to Robert Moses State ParkLeader: John McNeil

You never know what we have missedduring the winter months or someearly Spring arrival might have stoppedfor a rest heading north. So let’s ex-plore the south shore lakes headingwest to Robert Moses State Park andcheck things out. Let’s meet at the eastside of the old Home Depot (nowRaymour & Flannigan & Shop Rite)parking lot on the Sunrise Highway atRoute 112 in Patchogue. We will leavethe parking lot at 8:00 am for this ad-venture. For more details, contact Johnat his home 631.281.2623 or on hiscell phone on the day of the bird out-ing at 631.219.8947.

Thank you ELIAS would like to thank EastportFeed and Bay Gardens both of EastMoriches for their help with theELIAS/Quogue Wildlife Refuge Seed sale.

It was a success with lots of suportfrom the membership of both organizations.

Thanks to all who purchased seed,and birding supplies. to volunteersand Allyson & Dan Wilson who didthe organizing.

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 4

Dear ELIAS Members,

Iwould like to thank you forgiving me the amazing oppor-

tunity to attend DEC Summer

Camp. During my stay at Camp

DeBruce I made many friends,

memories and had a million new

experiences. We learned every-

thing from what lives under

rocks in ponds to how bats can

see at night.

Camp DeBruce was one of the

most amazing experiences of my

life. I have been thinking about

reapplying for summer camp this

year. Thank you ELIAS for the

amazing experience.

From James, Center Moriches

Our president for life EileenWhose birding obsession was meanShe hoped for a snipeBut she didn’t gripeWhen her sight for a snipe went unseen.

A long time birder named BobWent to see warblers with a mobBut the warbler named hermit was exactlythatAnd wouldn’t respond to a chatWhich only brought Bob to a sob.

Our editor-birder SallyVisited the Rio Grande ValleyShe hoped for a kiteAnd she tried all her mightAnd may have seen it had she not dallied.

There once was a birder named Mike Who liked to go on a hikeHe went to see birds aroundIn places where they aboundAnd they abounded the most at Pike’s.

A birder named MaryLauraAvoided people who were borersTo bird was her thingAnd she loved to ringUp, any new birds that she sora.

A lithe birder named PatLoved birding more than her catShe thought it would fitTo do the Big SitBut she tired and did the Big Sat.

Traveling birder EricSeeks birds everywhere, even in MerrickHe’s birded all overFrom Peru to DoverBut really Long Island is his bailiwick.

Parks Commissioner Annie MacLives nearby in the outbackShe really like cootsAs much as her old bootsAnd runs her domain with much tact.

Webmaster Supreme DianeIs Long island Birds biggest fanShe always includesSightings and newsOf birds seen hither and yan.

Limericks Mike Higgiston

A little fun submitted by Mike Higgiston. Enjoy all you birders.

By the time you receive this there willstill be a little time to have a teenapply for a camp scholarship offered

by ELIAS. By Jan. 12 we need to get theapplication. Check the web site for the ap-plication. Or call Evelyn at 631-727-0417

If you fondly remember your camp daysregistration is open for the 2012 HogIsland Audubon Camp in Maine

This are nine sessions of about a weekeach. There are programs adults, teens andfamilies at the historic Audubon Camp inMaine on Hog Island. Pete Dunne, ScottWeidensaul, Steve Kress, Lang Elliott, DonKroodsma, Bill Thompson III and manymore expert ornithologists, naturalists,educators and authors will be in residenceduring the 2012 sessions.

Hog Island Audubon Camp is run by theSeabird Restoration Program (Project Puf-fin) of the National Audubon Society. Allsummer programs include field trips tonearby Eastern Egg Rock, where Dr. SteveKress and his team of biologists have suc-cessfully restored an island colony of At-

lantic Puffins, and Roseate, Arctic andCommon Terns. Immerse yourself in thejoy of birding with expert-led workshops,lively evening presentations, saltwaterbirding tours and trips to diverse habitatson the Maine coast. Roger Tory Petersonwas the camp’s first birding instructor in1936 and many of America’s finest natural-ists, including Rachel Carson, have spenttime on the 330-acre wildlife sanctuary, located in mid-coast Maine,.

Participants live in restored wooden build-ings dating back to the early 1900’s andare treated to three fabulous meals eachday, prepared by chef extraordinaire JaniiLaberge.

For more information or to enroll, visithttp://hogisland.audubon.org or call (607)257-7308 x 14. Or contact Erica Marx,registrar, at hogisland@audubon.org.

Dreaming of Those Crazy Days of Summer Days

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 5

It's not a good year for acorns on theSouth Fork of Long Island. And thus itcould a difficult year for acorn eaters, in

particular, the wild turkeys, white-taileddeer, blue jays, white footed mice, chip-munks and gray squirrels. The acorns thatwere produced from scarlet, black, redand white oaks this year started out in thespring of 2010. It was a very wet spring, arecord amount rain fell in March.Therewere very few oak leaf predators in theway of gypsy moth caterpillars and canker-worms. Nonetheless, very few acornsripened to maturity, which in some wayway may have been related to HurricaneIrene which passed through in the lastweek of August.

The chipmunks were active right up untilthe last week of November. The above-av-erage temperatures in October and No-vember were partly to blame for theirtardy undergrounding. But, also, food mayhave been so sparse that they needed theextra time above ground to harvest whatthey could, even though it might beenough to get them comfortably throughthe winter, especially, if the winter is any-thing like last year's when snow stayed onthe ground for two months before thelate thaw.

Gray squirrels took a big hit on the high-ways this fall which is what happens whenthe acorn crop is spotty. On some days inOctober and November driving back andforth to work between Noyac and EastHampton, I counted as many as four freshroad kill squirrels. There was never a daywhen there wasn't at least one to besighted. On the few days that I drove theother way, between Noyac and Riverhead,I also recorded at least one road kill squir-rel, generally in the hamlets of North Seaand Tuckahoe. In the 31 years that I havebeen recording road kills on Long Island,gray squirrels have always been the mostfrequent, ahead of cottontails, opossums,raccoons, chipmunks and deer, but in badacorn years the number of gray squirrelroad kills exceeds all of those otherstaken together.

Most bird feeders aren't put into produc-

tion until it gets cold, say in November,and with passing each year more andmore of them are of the keep-out-the-squirrels kind. Turkeys and deer also liketo be fed during the winter, and whilesome feeding stations are amenable totheir needs, most aren’t. They also get byon buds, shrub berries and other stuff dur-

ing the non-growing season; you will oftenfind the deer, and, at times, too theturkeys, grazing in the rye grass coveredfarm fields side-by-side with CanadaGeese.

Nonetheless, the turkeys will scratchevery bit of leaf litter on the forest floortrying to find acorns and, perhaps, torpidearthworms, bugs and beetles, during abad acorn year.

Blue jays are very rarely barred from feed-ing stations, they can get by more easilythan the others. If they run low on foodthey can fly tens of miles to find othersources. Deer are not like caribou, theypretty much stick to a home territory asdo turkeys. White-footed mice are smallenough and good climbers to frequentlysolve their needs during shortages of out-side food stuffs by moving into houses andother buildings for the duration of thewinter. I expect that I will find that to bethe case in my Noyac home come Januaryand February.

Oaks are fickle, as are many other localnut-bearing trees such as hickories,beeches and walnuts. Even when growingconditions are excellent and predation byinsects is very low, they can be very be-

grudging in terms of fruit production. Ifevery year was a good nut year, popula-tions of the nut eaters would swell to out-landish numbers setting a givennut-dependent species up for a big crashin the near future.

Let's keep track next year. Instead of aver-aging nearly two fawns per doe, we mightsee one or fewer. Turkey production mightbe down for the first time in many a year.To make it worse, red fox numbers havebeen slowly climbing. We might see abumper crop of them in 1912. Almost allwildlife and fish populations throughoutthe world have always been up-and-downphenomena. Only in chicken houses andlivestock farms are the numbers apt tostay the same year after year.

Editor’s Note: I read about the dearthof acorns in The New York Times and theyanswered a question I had. Why does itmatter if we have less acorns? Strangely,one reason is the crash in mouse andsmall animal populations. How so? Ticksfeed extensively on these small creatureswhich to some extent keeps them awayfrom people. So you may have to be evenmore careful in your yard.

Then, thanks to Gigi Spates, I heard abouta product called Damminix. It looks some-thing like the tube from a roll of papertowels, it is stuffed with permethrin-im-pregnated cotton. (Permethrin is a com-mon synthetic insectiside.) White-footedmice, frequently the carrier of the lymedisease spirochete, gather the treated cot-ton to line their nests. Ticks that get onthe mice are killed by the pesticide in thecotton. This interupts the cycle and stopsthe passage of the spirochets to othermammals like deer, dogs, cats and us!

As always, carefully read the directions asto when and where to place the tubes.

If you give it a try please get in touch andtell us what you think.

Sally Newbert

Acorns, the staff of life for many critters are in short supply this year.Larry Penny

Oaks are fickle,

as are many other local

nut-bearing trees such

as hickories, beeches

and walnuts.

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 6

Answers to last issue’s puzzle

Habitat

Across

1. Greater_____-fronted Goose, although this isthe only wild orange footed goose in ourarea, its named for the color of its face

7. Ring-____ shouldn’t this be Ring-billed?!

8. Gray duck with black rump

11. Surface feeding ducks, often feed up-ended

13. Common_________, has long, slender billwith sharp points for gripping small fish

14. Most ducks eat both plants and animals

19. Northern_______, not to be confused witha Long- tailed Duck

21. Duck with large bonnet-like white patch onits head

22. A duck for Goya to paint on?

23. Northern________, duck with a long, broadbill for sifting muddy water, yum!

25. Type of water preferred by ducks for breed-ing

26. The Scaup with the rounder head

Down

2. A swan of the high Artic

3. This Merganser can wear his up or down

4. Many ducks lay their eggs in other birds’nests to be raised by these foster parents

5. Not so much named for clownish behaviorbut because of the bird’s colors

6. Surf ______, has a hard, stout bill to pullshellfish from underwater rocks

9. American_______, white forehead with domi-nant green eye patch

10. Goldeneye with large white face patch

12. Swans ride high in the water, divers ride low,how a duck floats is called this

15. Type of duck subfamily, Ruddy Ducks, for ex-ample

16. The Lucille Ball of ducks

17. Duck that has become extinct in moderntimes, last recorded in 1878

18. Scoter with a “butter nose”

20. Vocal sea duck, ow-owdle-ow

24. Either King or Common

Winter Waterfowl by Tom MoranWintering Ducks on Long IslandHere is a list of ducks you have a goodchance of seeing on Long Island:

American Black DuckAmerican WidgeionBlack ScoterBlue-wing TealBuffleheadCanvasbackCommon EiderCommon GoldeneyeCommon MergenserEurasian WidgeonGadwallGreater ScaupGreen-wing TealHarlequin DuckHooded MerganserLesser ScaupLong-tailed DuckMallardNorthern ShovelerNothern PintailRed-breasted MerganserRedheadRing-necked DuckRuddy DuckSurf ScoterWhite-winged ScoterWood Duck

Seen occassionally:King EiderTufted Duck

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 7

Winter WrenTroglodytes Troglodytes

Carl Starace

This minute, (Kinglet sized), woodland wren is thesmallest of North America’s nine wren species. Theworld contains 59 wren species in total and all of

these are in the Western Hemisphere. Most live in Cen-tral and South America. Colombia alone has 25 species.The Winter Wren’s family name is Troglodytidae which isderived from a Greek word meaning,“diver into holes,cave, (cavity), dweller.” This wren is the only one foundas far north as Alaska. It is from there that the WinterWren is thought to have spread into Europe, eventuallygoing as far south as North Africa. This Wren thus be-came the Old World’s sole wren species and over thereit is known only as, “Wren”.

Distribution: The Winter Wren is a breeder from thatfar flung isle known as Newfoundland, across easternCanada to British Columbia and north along Alaska’ssouth coast to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands. In the U.S. it breeds across most of N.Y., New England,New Jersey, northern Pennsylvania, and west along theAppalachians down into Georgia. Westward it is found inMichigan, Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, Montana,Idaho, Oregon, Washington and down into Central Cali-fornia. Wintering populations are to be found fromsouthern New England to northern Florida, futher westin Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and east/central Texas. Afew are also to be found in the southwestern states.

Habitat: The Winter Wren’smain habitat is mature conifer-ous forest particularly in the wetplaces such as bogs, aroundponds and lakesides. During win-ters cold blasts and bright stilldays you are most likely to findthis wren around brush piles,within damp, fallen timbers andwell aged stumps searching forsome tasty morsel.

Behavior: Yes, its tiny, but alsofull bodied, plump really, with abill almost needlelike and dark.Its darker than the more com-mon House Wren, its colored a

dark brown with a slight contrast between upper andlower parts. Its tail sets it apart with its stubby, upturned permanence. The belly and flanks have dark nar-row barring. a last indicator is its pale tan supercillium(eyeline).

Behavior: It moves mostly low to ground, hopping,probing soft wood, perching ever so briefly in perusal orsong.

Food: Food items include ants, spiders, caterpillars,wood borers, sawflies, leaf beetles, and occasionally theberries of the Red Cedar.

Vocalizations: Loud rising/falling warbles and trills.Thecall is a double noted,“chimp- chimp”.

I close with a wonderful quote by a Robert Lynd, an Eng-lishman, who was quite enamored of this little wren.

From Solomon in All His Glory - “Amid the drearnessof dell and thornbush, the song of the wren hidden inthe wet branches seems all the more triumphant. It is asong brilliant as a rainbow in a wet sky- brilliant as adance of rainbows, There is a shameless optimism in itthat clothes the bare hedges with something better thanleaves.There is no other resident bird so incapable ofmelancholy. The Robin is often pensive, as it looks downat us from the apple tree as though he sympathized withus. But the Wren never sings except to say that it is thebest of all possible worlds.”

Good Birding in the new year. Carl

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 8

On the weekend of September 23rd to25th, the New York State Ornithologi-cal Association held its 64th Annual

Meeting, at the Circle Lodge on SylvanLake in Hopewell Junction, NY. Our in-trepid host was the Ralph T. WatermanBird Club of Dutchess County which wasfounded in 1958. Their willingness to takeon all the hard work associated with plan-ning and executing this endeavor was cer-tainly appreciated, by NYSOA’s officersand board members, right on down toeveryone in attendance at this most rusticof venues. The enthusiasm of the host clubmembers was infectious, even during therainly moments at the start of the week-end.

As ELIAS’s permanent delegate, I have at-tended many of NYSOA’s Annual Meetingsbut its been a very long time since attend-ing with another ELIAS delegate – it wasdelightful to have Tom Moran, our treas-urer, along this year… hopefully, the firstof many similar trips.

The official reason for the annual meetingper NYSOA’s Bylaws is to elect officerseach year, board members every two yearsand members of certain committees eachyear. Bylaw changes can also be voted onat the meeting, after being approved by theNYSOA board.

Other activities during this weekend in-cluced: field trips on Friday afternoon, Sat-urday, morning and afternoon, as well asSunday morning; workshops on Fridaynight; poster sessions on Friday and Satur-day; business meeting on Saturday morn-ing; and a Banquet with Keynote Speakeron Saturday evening.

With heavy rain on Friday as we left LongIsland, Tom and I didn’t make either of theFriday afternoon early-bird field trips. Wealso didn’t get to look at the poster ses-sions until Saturday. The posters consistedof fourteen interesting and informative ex-hibits. The exhibits included: Dynamic Goal-related, Site-specific Management of

Phragmites presented by Krik Kliviat fromHudsonian Ltd. of Annandale, NY.Withphragmites such a Long Island staple, thatone caught out eye.

We did attend two of the five concurrentlyrunning workshops offered on Friday nightIt made for some some tough decisions.We elected to pass on the two cameraand one butterfly presentations, choosinginstead the eBird–Your Ticket to Seeing MoreBirds and Becoming a Better Birder given byChris Wood. Chris is the eBird andNeotropical Birds teacher at the CornellLab of Ornithology. eBird is a massive,growing data base, with birders from allover the world adding data on a daily basis.This in turn, helps protect birds and habi-tats. Anyone can join and contribute toeBird. In addition to your posts helping theaforementioned causes, you personally canbenefit from this stockpile of avianrecords.

The second workshop we attended, Findingand Identifying Gulls in New York State, wasgiven by S. Mitra, PhD from the BiologyDept. of the College of Staten Island, andthe editor of The Kingbird, NYSOA’s quar-terly birding publication. Through the useof very pointed images, along with hisknowledgeable and probing narrative,many of us were able leave this sessionfeeling more confident, with the sure tocome, tough gull identification.

Saturday morning, for Tom and I, startedwith an early breakfast, before going onthe early morning delegate’s field trip toNuclear Lake. There were a fair number ofbirds, but we had to work at staying dry.The early morning trip is designed to allowthe delegates to get in a little birding andstill be on time for the start of the busi-ness meeting at 9 am…it works, most of thetime!

Two of the seven other field trips offeredon Saturday were for non-delegates, andfolks not attending the Paper Sessions.

One hike went to Buttercup Sanctuary, itwas led by Alan Peterson and included theheadwaters of Wappingers Creek. ChetVincent led a walk around the FDR Estatein Hyde Park, where you can get the bestof both birding and history.

On Sunday morning, there were three fieldtrips planned. Each went in a different di-rection to suit attendees travel needs. Tothe west, Bashakill Marsh. To the north,Thompson Pond. The planned trip to thesouth, Croton Point was unexpectedlycancelled.

Carena Pooth, with her usual charm andefficency, presided over her last businessmeeting as President. She will continue tobe a valuable asset to NYSOA as a mem-ber of its Board of Directors. The electionof officers, board members and committeemembers were as follows: Gail Kirch, Pres-ident; Katheyn Schneider, Vice-President;Joan Collins, Recording Secretary, AndrewMason,Treasurer; Michael De Sha, Corre-sponding Secretary. Elected Directors to atwo-year term were: Timothy BairdCarena Pooth and Anges Wilson. TheNominating Committee for 2012 will beJoan Collins (Chair), Bill Ostrander andBob Adamo. The NYSOA Auditing Com-mittee were all reelected: Irving Cantor,(Chair), John Cairns and Peter Capainolo.

Awards voted on were: The Lillian StonerAward (for college and high school stu-dents) to pay for thier expenses to attendNYSOA’s Annual Meeting) went to GregLawrence, nominated by the NYS YoungBirder’s Club and Alexandra Hall, nomi-nated by the Linnaean Society. The John J.Elliot Award, for the best written articlesubmitted to The Kingbird and NY Birders,went to John Confer for his Avian Re-sponse to Shrubland Restoration in theForested Landscape of Sterling ForestState Park, NY. I’m sure you rememberJohn’s wonderful presensation on the Cali-fornia Condor at ELIAS’s recent dinner. Fi-

The New York State Ornithological Society Meeting Bob Adamo

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 9

nally Phyliss Jones was awarded the Gor-don M. Meade Award for her years of out-standing service to NYSOA – this award isnot given out every year, and only when itis truly deserved.*

NYSOA’s membership rose 5% over lastyear, from 523 to 560, the BedfordAudubon Society the lone new memberclub. All three categories of the NYSYBCincreased, as the Young Birders grew from22 to 36, the supporting adults from 20 to23, and the sponsor clubs increasing from17 to 18, ELIAS continues in this category.

The official NYS Bird list also grew withthe addition of Hermit Warbler, CommonGround Dove, and Black-bellied WhistlingDuck. The New York State Avian RecordsCommittee is also considering the inclu-sion of the Hooded Crow and HoodedGull. The Conservation Committee Re-port touched on many on-going issues in-cluding the Calverton Grasslands, PlumIsland, and hydro-fracking for natural gas inNYS. In addition the proposed staff cuts inthe NYS Dept. of Environmental Conser-vation (NYSDEC) was discussed.

The paper sessions consisted of eight 20-minute presentations on specific studies,mostly by professionals who tried to maketheir disciplines understandable and inter-esting. I throughly enjoyed all of the fol-lowing papers: Why do adult song birds addnew brain cells to their brain? by FernanoNottebohm, Director of Rockefeller Uni-versity Field Research Station; Assessmentof Grand Lakes Costal Wetland Healththrough Bird and Amphibian Monitor by JohnA. Bateman and Gregory J. Lawrence fromthe Dept. of Environmental Science and Bi-ology at the College of Brockport inBrockport NY; Veery Singing Ecology: HowPredation and Competition Influence SingingBehavior by Kara L. Bellinsky; ...

Study of Primary Projections in Austral Migra-tion by Jacob Drucker and Lia Fried, pastofficers of the NYSYBC and freshman at

Hampshire College and Oberlin Collegerespectively; Patterns of Bird-window Colli-sions in an Urban Landscape by S.B. Hage,Bl.J. Cosentino, K.J. McKay, C.D. Monson,W.M. Zuurdeeg, and B.L. Blevins; Stop-overHabitats for Migrating Songbirds in Lake On-tario Basin by David Klein of The NatureConservency; Meteorological Topographicaland Behavioral Corrclate of Diurnal MorningFlight Migration in the Northeastern UnitedStates by Benjamin Van Doren, Past Presi-dent, NYSYBC, and senior at White PlainsHigh School.

The Saturday night banquet was fun! Goodfood, great table company, and a terrificguest speaker. The noted author and natu-ralist, Scott Weidensaul, was our speaker.Among his many books are: Living on theWind: Across the Hemisphere with MigratoryBirds, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Ghost withTrembling Wings; and Of a Feather: A BriefHistory of American Birding. He is also an ac-tive field researcher with a focus on birdmigration. In addition to banding raptorsduring their southward travels in the fall,he is part of a continental study dealingwith the fast changing migration routesand wintering ranges of some westernspecies of hummingbirds in their pusheastward. The Rufous, Black-chinned andCaliope are being seen more frequentlyoutside their traditional range. Scott alsoserves on the boards of several conserva-tion organizations including The HawkMountain Sanctuary and Audubon Pennsyl-vania. The evening’s presentation by thisrenaissance man, Messing Around with Birds(for Fun and Science), both entertained andenriched the membership and guests.

The host and location of next year’s annualmeeting has not been solidified yet, clubsfrom the Elmira area are showing some in-terest. For the past decade finding hostsfor our annual meetings has been a signifi-cant problem — hourfully this trend willend. NYSOA’s board is trying to encour-age member clubs to have the confidence

level needed to give it a go. The NYSOAboard offers their collective experience, aswell as financial help to any host club inneed of operating capital to get theprocess rolling, and/or sustain the opera-tions until the registration fees, etc. startcoming in.

Our ride home, spent discussing the manyand varied activities of the weekend was,otherwise, thankfully uneventful.

*Note: The awards are presented at theBanquet Dinner when the full membershipcan participate in recognizing and congrat-ulating the awardees.

EastportFeeds,Inc.Bird Seed

Black Oil Sunflower Seed

Suet

Nutrena Products

Triumph® Horse FeedVitality® Horse FeedHay • Feed • Bedding

140 East Moriches Blvd.PO Box 127

Eastport, NY 11941

631-325-0077

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 10

Survey Dates: Sun., Jan. 1 to Jan., Jan. 7, 2012

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

___American Crow___American Goldfinch___American Robin___Black-capped Chickadee___Blue Jay___Brown-headed Cowbird___Carolina Wren___Common Flicker___Common Grackle___Dark-eyed Junco___Downey Woodpecker___European Starling___Gray Catbird___Hairy Woodpecker___House Finch___House Sparrow___Mourning Dove___Northern Cardinal___Northern Mockingbird___Red-bellied Woodpecker___Red-breasted Nuthatch___Red-winged Blackbird___Rock Dove___Rufous-sided Towhee___Shap-shinned Hawk___Song Sparrow___Tufted Titmouse___White-breasted Nuthatch___White-throated Sparrow___Yellow-rumped Warbler___Other ________________

Survey Dates: Sun., Feb. 5 to Sun., Feb. 11

Name ________________________

Address ______________________

______________________________

Town ________________________

Phone ________________________

___American Crow___American Goldfinch___American Robin___Black-capped Chickadee___Blue Jay___Brown-headed Cowbird___Carolina Wren___Common Flicker___Common Grackle___Dark-eyed Junco___Downey Woodpecker___European Starling___Gray Catbird___Hairy Woodpecker___House Finch___House Sparrow___Mourning Dove___Northern Cardinal___Northern Mockingbird___Red-bellied Woodpecker___Red-breasted Nuthatch___Red-winged Blackbird___Rock Dove___Rufous-sided Towhee___Shap-shinned Hawk___Song Sparrow___Tufted Titmouse___White-breasted Nuthatch___White-throated Sparrow___Yellow-rumped Warbler___Other ________________

There are three ways to participate:

1. Mail the survey to:

Feeder Survey c/o John McNeil168 Lexington RoadShirley, NY 11967

2. Send your information via the internet

go to: easternlongislandaudubon.org

and

1) Click on: Chapter Projects2) Click on: Feeder Statistics

3) Click on: To submit via the internet and follow the prompts

3. Email the results to: birdwchr@gmail.com

John McNeil

The Survey will be conducted the first fullweek of the month starting on Sunday andending the following Sunday.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FEEDER SURVEY

n Define an area containing feeders thatyou can see all at once from a window.The area should be one you glance atfrequently during your daily routine.

n Don't include birds seen off premises.

n Predators perching in or swoopingthrough the count area (not just flyingover) may be counted if you feel thatthey were attracted by the birds at the feeder.

n Record the largest number of eachspecies that you see in your count areaduring the eight-day count period.

n Do not add counts from previous daystogether. Be specific with the speciesname, e.g. we can't use just the nameSparrow, Blackbird or Gull.

n At the end of the count period, recordyour final tallies and send in the formimmediately.

Personal observations and comments arewelcome as are suggestions to improvethe surveys and reports.

Feeder Survey

In clear view now, and looking very percarious,last summer’s Oriole nest is still hanging like achristmas ornament from a back yard tree.Not even Irene took it down!

If you would like to submit a photo of bird(s)at your feeder, please send them to: eliasosprey@optonline.net.

THE OSPREY January-February 2012 11

Chapter Renewal & Membership

For $15 a year, you will receive 6 copies of

this newsletter. You will be supporting our

local education and conservation activities.

(Members of National Audubon who are

not chapter members receive one copy of

this newsletter per year.)

This is a

m Renewal m New Membership

Name____________________________

Address __________________________

________________________________

City/State ________________________

Zip ______________________________

Email __________________________

Please be sure to include your email. You

will receive an email confirmation, a pdf

of the first newsletter and occasional

important updates and program updates.

Although we try not to cancel or change

event dates and times, it does happen.

This list is not shared.

Make check payable to:

Eastern Long Island Audubon Society

and mail to:

ELIAS Membership, PO Box 206,

East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

If you are a member and not on our email list

please email

birdwchr@gmail.com

to be added. You will receive reminders of programs, and

program changes, or cancellations. This is only an ELIAS list.

Published by: Eastern Long Island Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 206East Quogue, NY 11942-0206

Address Service Requested

EASTERN LONG ISLAND AUDUBON SOCIETYFrom the Barrens to the Bays

Serving Eastern Brookhaven, Western Riverhead & The Hamptonswww.easternlongislandaudubonsociety.org

ELIAS Officers & DirectorsPresident: Eileen Schwinn 631-728-8342

Past President: Alfred Scherzer 631-728-2898

Vice President: Byron Young 631-821-9623

Recording Secretary: Chris Schmitt 631-727-2860

Corresponding Secretary: Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Treasurer: Tom Moran 631-849-4434

Board of Directors:

Bob Adamo 631-369-1958

Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

MaryLaura Lamont

Catherine McCluskey 631-399-4782

Matthew McCluskey, Jr. 631-399-4782

Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Dan Wilson

Committees/ProjectsMembership, Mailing, Field Trips & Feeder Stats: John McNeil 631-281-2623

Program Chair and Nature Chat Open

Liaison - Kaler's Pond Audubon Center: Alfred Scherzer 631-728-2898

Hospitality: Ridgie Barnett 631-288-3628

Conservation & Bluebird Restoration:Gigi Spates 631-765-1436

Education: Evelyn Voulgarelis 631-727-0417

Webmaster: Annette Oliveira 631-833-4451

Newsletter Editor & Publicity: Sally Newbert 631-281-6008

eliasosprey@optonline.net

Mark Your CalendarsSat., January 7, 2012 Nature Walk

Wintering Waterfowl: Patchogue Lakes

John McNeil, leader (see page 3)

Sat., February 4 Nature Walk & Day Trip

Teatown’s Hudson River EagleFest 2012

John McNeil, leader (see page 3)

Mon., February 7 Nature Program

Birding by Car A presentation by Ken Thompson (see page 1)

Sat., February 18 Nature Walk

Montauk Point Bird Walk

Carl Starace, leader (see page 3)

Sat., March 3 Nature Walk

The South Lakes and Ponds Heading to Robert Moses State Park

John McNeil, leader (see page 3)

There is no meeting scheduled for January.

If there are any changes in programming, it will be announced on the website & on Facebook.

If you are on our email list you will receive email reminders and any last minute program changes. Join ELIAS on Facebook, click on like.

Please check the date on your label.If your membership is about to expire please use the membership/renewal form on page 11 to keep your membership current.