This e-newsletter issues spotlights the work of our Audubon Centers this past summer. For hundreds of children each year, lasting memories of spending time outdoors are made at summer camp. Whether it is getting a chance to spend more time with friends, or touching a turtle for the first time, a week of summer camp led by talented camp counselors stays in the minds and hearts of campers. Pickering Creek has been connecting with kids at summer camp for over 15 years. Today, we get reports that some of those same campers are working as Environmental Specialists, Educators, Researchers and more. Patterson Park has been leading summer programming for over five years in partnership with Recreation and Parks summer camps, and is just beginning to see lives being impacted when children spend recreational time outdoors. I hope you enjoy the reports below as well as other highlights from the field.
Happy Birding!
Jacquelyn Bonomo, Executive Director
A Summer Full of Fun in the Sun at Pickering Creek EcoCamp
Pickering Creek Audubon Center held six weeks of summer camps for students entering grades K through 6 this year. Each week of EcoCamp was filled with hikes, canoeing, bird watching, ponding, seining, games, crafts, and scavenger hunts. There were more than 80 campers that attend camp over the six one-week sessions. In addition some campers repeated up to four weeks of camp totaling more than 100 filled spaces at camp. It was the first summer trying Fledglings EcoCamp for K-1st graders. It was a huge success among parents and students. Each half day students explored, played games and made a craft such as paper bag puppets, animal masks, and butterfly clothespins.
Feedback surveys from EcoCamp revealed the canoeing, seining, and touching the snake to be the highlights. Students canoed under the dock to see baby barn swallows in their nests and caught Atlantic Silversides, sea nettles, blue crabs, mud crabs, and grass shrimp in their seine nets. In addition to the campers, we also hosted 19 middle and high school students as Assistant Naturalists who each participated in eight volunteer hours prior to camp, ten hours of training, and at least one full week of volunteer service during camp.
In addition to camp, during the summer Pickering held three reptile programs and three tiny tot programs at the Talbot County Free Library and one canoeing program for families.
Fishing Fun and More with Partners Galore at Patterson Park
Patterson Park Audubon Center had another successful summer full of more than 50 programs in partnership with the City of Baltimore Department of Parks and Recreation. Over 600 participants of all ages took part in the fun. Summer programs kicked-off with Family Fishing Festival held at the Boat Lake in Patterson Park in early June. Dozens of families came out to fish and took home fabulous fish print t-shirts they made with Audubon. Throughout July, PPAC teamed up with the Department of Parks and Recreation again to lead nature hikes and fishing fun around the Boat Lake with campers from Recreation centers across Baltimore. On the hikes, children spied a wide range of animals, from reptiles to birds.
Each Friday in July, Audubon staff met with high school students from Banner Neighborhoods. Students participated in hands on activities directly related to the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay watershed, such as seining, fishing, birding, storm drain stenciling, picking up trash around their local watershed and many more activities. During the last weeks of summer a dozen children, ranging from rising Kindergarten to 2nd grade, met PPAC staff and volunteers in the Park for a week-long camp full of plant focused fun! Through observations, experiments, games and crafts, the campers realized how important plants are to humans and other wildlife.
Staff also led 6 tiny tot programs in the park, 3 bird walks, one ladies night (the basics of vermicomposting) and a family program: Creatures of the Night –a night hike in the park looking for bats and chimney swifts, followed by games and bat trivia.
IRA Rollover Gifts Can Support Audubon Maryland-DC-
2009 is the last chance to use this method to make a donation
Unless congress acts to extend the current provision, 2009 will the last year in which people can make tax-free gifts from their traditional and Roth IRAs. If you or a loved one is 70 1/2 years of age or older, this is a great way to support Audubon activities in Maryland!
For those of you not familiar with this provision, a donor who is 70 1/2 or older may donate up to $100,000 to a charity of their choice from his or her IRA. The Charitable IRA Rollover permits taxpayers to make donations directly to charitable organizations from
their IRAs without counting them as part of their Adjusted Gross Income, and consequently, without paying taxes on them.
In effect this is an opportunity for donors to remove the most highly taxed assets from their estates and support Audubon Maryland-DC's work to to restore the natural ecosystems of Maryland and the District of Columbia, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.
To complete an IRA gift for Audubon Maryland-DC, you must provide written instructions to your plan sponsor to make a charitable distribution to the National Audubon Society under the terms of the Philanthropy Protection Act of 2006. The plan sponsor should make the check payable to Audubon and remit the check to you. You then send the check to the address below with a letter informing us that the gift is a gift from your IRA. What an easy way to make a great big difference! Read more.
Award Winning Harvest Hoedown Set for October 11, 11 AM- 4PM
Pickering Creek’s Annual Harvest Hoedown is set to take place Sunday October 11, 2009. This year’s award winning event will have a bevy of attractions, with great music, hayrides, boat rides, food, activities and local craftspeople.
The ever-popular Pickering Creek Kid’s Area will have the exciting sounds of Slim Harrison’s Sunnyland Band and well as the Rock Candy Cloggers. Both groups offer an engaging mélange of music and dance that gets kids up to the stage for singing and dancing. Each child becomes a formal member of the Sunnyland Band!
The Kid’s Area also features nature crafts and presentations delivered by Pickering Creek Naturalists and Assistant Naturalists. The Center’s Assistant Naturalists are middle and high school students who also serve as summer camp leaders and important volunteers at the Center year round. Little Train rides zip, rattle and roll kids around the farm and garden.
The Main Stage, framed by Pickering Creek’s historic corncrib will have great blues and bluegrass music again this year. Four acts will play throughout the day including local bluesman Rick Forrest, the Muskrat Lovers and headliners Bitter Creek. Bitter Creek has been playing there own brand of Eastern Shore bluegrass for over 25 years, it is always a treat to kick back on a straw bale and stomp your feet to there entrancing tunes.
Some great local artisans will be on hand to demonstrate their skills and offer their wares for sale. Kilby Creamery from Cecil County will have their homemade ice cream on hand, a real treat that is made right here on the shore. Old favorites Accokeek Creek Baskets and Flower Moon Soaps will be on hand amongst many others.
The Easton Lions Club, featuring classic fair food at great family friendly prices, will bring this year’s food to us. The Pickering Garden will feature organic salads and soups. The Chesapeake Bay Herb Society will be on hand to talk about their great herb gardens as well as offer advice to novice to expert herb gardeners.
Hay wagon rides to the waterfront are provided thanks to the help of Atlantic Tractor of Queen Anne. Atlantic Tractor has been providing tractors for the event for the last ten years. Our volunteer drivers work tirelessly through out the day to bring happy hoedowners back and forth to the waterfront throughout the day.
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Mister Jim, a replica of a classic Chesapeake Bay Buy boat, anchors the Pickering Creek waterfront. Rides are offered at a nominal fee and include narration from an Audubon guide and question and answer session. Local conservation organizations and artisans round out the waterfront; smart guests take a time out to relax on benches overlooking the creek to take in the view and reflect on all that makes the Eastern Shore great. The Farm to Bay Trail returns guests to the farm along a mile long hike through mature hardwoods along a branch of Pickering Creek. Worn out Hoedowners can also ride the wagons back down to the farm.
Hoedown means fun for all ages! Mark your calendar, dig up your overalls, boots and hat and make your way out to Pickering Creek on October 11.
On Saturday September 26, fifteen neighborhood youth and their parents converged in Patterson Park to give back to a park they love. In celebration of National Public Lands Day, Patterson Park staff lead volunteers in planting trees and native plants near the Castle Playground in the Park. After doing a bit of work on the beautiful fall morning, youth enjoyed snacks and participated in a leaf craft to help them remember the day.
National Public Lands day celebrates the spirit of the Civilian Conservation Corp, the powerful action of a team working together and the lands that are free and open to the public to enjoy. National Public Lands day is celebrated each year at both Audubon Centers in Maryland.
Read the latest from Allegany & Garret Counties
CA$H for Lawn CLUNKERS
Lawnmower Trade-In Event
AND Native Plant Sale –
two ways to save and go green!
Trade in your old, noisy, gas-guzzling lawn mower for a coupon worth up to 1/3 off the cost of a brand new battery-powered, cordless, rechargeable, electric mower.
Sunday, October 18, Noon to 4:00 pm
@ Herring Run Nursery
6131 Hillen Rd., Baltimore in the Mount Pleasant Golf Course
Help clean up the air and local water, make your community a healthier (and quieter) place, provide for birds… and save money at the same time!
Event presented by Together Green, Audubon Maryland-DC, Herring Run Watershed Association, Herring Run Nursery, Neuton Mowers, and Baltimore City Department of Public Works.
Need to know:
• Only push mowers will be accepted, no riding mowers at this event.
• Your mower must be drained of all oil and gas – recycling facility and assistance provided onsite if needed. Or drain in advance and properly dispose of fluids (such as at Baltimore City Household Hazardous Waste event October 10 -11, www.baltimorecity.gov/government/dpw/recycle/hhw.php).
• Coupon is for $110 off of a specific brand and model of Mower plus free shipping.
• Limit one mower/ coupon per household.
Need more information?
Lawnmower Event: email aahmaryland@audubon.org or call (410) 271-2481 Native Plant Sale including inventory and prices: www.herringrun.org
Neuton Mowers: www.neutonpower.com/cleanair
If you haven't already gotten your birdseed to feed the feathered friends this winter, purchase birdseed from your local Audubon Chapter!
Central Maryland Audubon Society- Pickups offered in Clarksville and Mt Airy
Information is coming soon on the Chesapeake Audubon Society Birdseed sale for pickups in and near Baltimore.
Annual Chili Dinner
Neighborhood Nestwatch--Citizen Science in Your Own Backyard
Saturday October 24, 2009, 6:00 PM
Featuring
Bob Reitsma,
Research Technician at the
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park
The Smithsonian's Neighborhood Nestwatch program provides an opportunity for anyone to be a biologist in their
own backyard. Bob Reitsma will discuss this innovative program and explain how participants learn more about
the birds in their neighborhood and also help scientists solve critical questions regarding the survival of backyard
bird populations.
Where: St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, MD
Cost: $8.00/$11.00per person
Call
(410) 203-1819 and leave a message with your name, telephone number and number of people you will be
bringing. Specify if you prefer vegetarian chili. for more information visit www.chesapeakeaudubon.org
OCTOBER 7 – WEDNESDAY – 7:30 PM
Potomac Branch Library, Charles County
“Goshawk: Driven by Its Prey”
DAVE BRINKER, Central Region Ecologist, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Admired by people for its aggressiveness, courage, flight prowess, and hunting ability long before the dark ages, the Northern Goshawk is an ultimate avian forest predator in the northern hemisphere. What makes these birds tick? Why are they important to us? Learn about the ecology and natural history of this fascinating inhabitant of the forest around us. Are goshawks still increasing in the Central Appalachians? Do breeding adults migrate? What drives the massive goshawk incursions from Canada and might we experience once in the near future? Come find out!
October 17th, 9 AM to 11 AM
What could be better than a cool, crisp autumn day? One can expect to see numerous birds on their way south for the winter, many of them feeding on the seeds of the tall warm-season grasses that fill the meadows. With luck, some hawks may be seen soaring overhead.
Meet at 9 a.m. at the Sanctuary entrance, which is on the east side of Boyer's Mill Road just one mile north of Rte. 144 in New Market. There are no rest room facilities at the Sanctuary, and the walk will be canceled in the event of inclement weather. For more information, contact Bob Schaefer at 301-831-5660 or robert.schaefer@gmail.com.
Black-headed Gull on the Anacostia River
DC Audubon board member Peter Vankevich went canoeing on the Anacostia River this past Sunday and found a Black-headed Gull. It was standing on a dock at the Anacostia boathouse, across from Anacostia Park. The red legs made it stand out from the others since Laughing Gulls do not have red legs except in full adult breeding plumage.
This is clearly a hooded gull in winter plumage because a remnant of the hood is still visible behind the eye. It also appears to be an adult since there are no visible dark markings on the bird's tertials or upperwing coverts. The red legs and the dainty red bill with a dusky tip fit Black-headed Gull the best. The upperwing and underwing patterns seem to fit that identification as well.
This is a rare sighting for Washington, DC, where even Bonaparte's Gulls are pretty unusual. The only previous record of Black-headed Gull in eBird's database for DC is from 2004. The MD/DC Records Committee also has records of three previous sightings in the two decades before that. Peter's Black-headed Gull was among thousands of Laughing Gulls.
23000 Wells Point Rd.
Bozman, MD 21612
Phone: (410) 745-9283
Fax: (410) 822-5041