Recent Posts

Noble's are reporting a Rufous Hummingbird hanging around their front yard feeder.  Charley

Hello All,

The Noble's had a computer burp, and are rebuilding their new one.  They now have a new email address cbnoble1@att.net.  Also, they are, for the second year in a row, being visited by a Rufous Hummingbird.

The new news letter is now on-line for you to all view, and read.  Please note our upcoming September 21, meeting with David Ringer as our speaker.  This is a combined MDC, and GOAS meeting to take place in the auditorium.  Registration is required, so please call as quickly as you can to reserve your seating.  There is a block of seats for GOAS, so let them know when you call that you are a GOAS member.

Note:  The September newsletter is the last newsletter that will be mailed out in bulk.  Future newsletters will be delivered on our chapter web page, but you need to sign up to be notified when the newsletter is on line.  Just go the our web page to sign up, it is an easy task.

Charley

Howdy this morning.  I am forwarding Dean's email using my list which means several of you will receive it twice, but numerous people not on his list would have missed his original.  To Dean;  You did a great job of keeping the records for several years, and we wont let you get too far away from us.  Looking forward to continuing to chase a bird or too with you now and in the future.  We all know Greg will do a great job too with the recording, and we are excited about expanding our record data base by using the eBird system.

Charley

Message from Dean


Dear Friends,
I said I wanted to look for a replacement as recorder and one found me instantly. Greg Swick wants the job this fall. I said OK. He plans to get all my records on e-bird. Certainly my Thayer software is based on Windows Access. If anybody else wants my data base and is a good enough computer person to get it off my computer you are welcome. I never considered this proprietary.
I have enjoyed being recorder and am quitting simply because I want to simplify my life. In my first year of mourning I don't want to make any major decisions but at the end of that time I want all my options open.
Dean

Here are a few of the assortment of shorebirds visiting Aldrich on August 25.  Good numbers....

Charley Burwick and I found 6 Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the Aldrich Arm of Stockton Reservoir today.  Other good birds included 1 Little Blue Heron, 2 Caspian Terns, and other shorebirds.   Mudflats on T Hwy are expanding, but most of the birds are at a greater distance.  Spotting Scope is necessary.   The access on the south side of the lake where we observe Cormorants has now receded enough to expose significant mudflats there.

Complete list and poor quality photos below of Buffies, Semipal. Plover, and Little Blue :



Location:     Stockton Lake--Aldrich Arm
Observation date:     8/22/10
Notes:     Observers:  Charles Burwick, Greg Swick
Number of species:     44

Canada Goose     76
Wood Duck     7
Blue-winged Teal     2
Double-crested Cormorant     19
Great Blue Heron     27
Great Egret     19
Little Blue Heron     1
Black Vulture     1
Turkey Vulture     45
Red-tailed Hawk     2
Semipalmated Plover     1
Killdeer     120
Spotted Sandpiper     1
Solitary Sandpiper     4
Semipalmated Sandpiper     2
Least Sandpiper     12
Buff-breasted Sandpiper     6
Ring-billed Gull     17
Caspian Tern     2
Mourning Dove     18
Yellow-billed Cuckoo     1
Belted Kingfisher     2
Downy Woodpecker     1
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Eastern Wood-Pewee     1
Red-eyed Vireo     1
American Crow     15
Purple Martin     1
Tree Swallow     4
Bank Swallow     2
Barn Swallow     15
Carolina Chickadee     1
Tufted Titmouse     1
Carolina Wren     1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
Eastern Bluebird     3
European Starling     8
Prothonotary Warbler     1
Yellow-breasted Chat     1
Summer Tanager     2
Indigo Bunting     12
Eastern Meadowlark     2
Baltimore Oriole     1
American Goldfinch     12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Many Great-tailed Grackles are congregating near the HwyCC/65 intersection.  I saw 25 today near James River Assembly, 4 yesterday at Bull's Eye, and 6 the day before at PriceCutter parking lot.

Greg

I observed a single Mississippi Kite soaring above the neighborhood NE of the Stewart Street/Seminole Ave. intersection in Springfield this morning at 11:00 am.

Good birding,
Greg

Hi all,
I already mentioned our luck at Aldrich on 8-5!  Today, 8-9, we had 2 Caspian Terns, 2 Black-bellied Plovers, and 4 Black Terns, 9 Stilt Sandpipers, all among the regular Leasts, Pectorals, and Spotted Sandpipers.  Below are some of my photos of the two days.

Good birding,
Greg

I think they are great!  What a day!

Thanks for sharing,

Thursday August 5, after a nice rain and helped by cloudy skies, Charlie, Greg, and I scouted Aldrich for shorebirds.  We found some great birds, including sandpipers of various sorts, a Willet, 2 Godwits, and several American Avocets, not to mention a Piping Plover.  A few pictures are attached.  We also had to struggle with the mud and both Charlie and I fell down in the mud.  What we won't do to get as close as possible to the birds.  I think a kayak might be a better approach.  We also saw several varieties of Terns and Gulls, not to mention many Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and a Snowy Egret.  Greg has a list if you want it. 

The sun finally came out and cooked us.

I'm sorry about the quality of the photos, but struggling through the mud in the heat and humidity not to mention not bringing my tripod, did not for good pictures make.  Right now Aldrich is a good birding spot if you have been confined by the heat this summer.  Go early.