Dear Fellow Nature Lovers,

Because our events start immediately on Saturday, May 1, 2021, I decided to send out my monthly letter a little earlier than usual. That will give you the opportunity to contact the trip leaders in advance of the event.  

This is the exciting time of the year when we get to see many migrants passing through. Keep me apprised as to what you see this spring, please. Here are a few migrants/birds already seen. We Kocherts had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit our nectar feeder on April 23, 2021. There have been sightings of a Baltimore Oriole along Creekside Trail, Menno Haven, by Bill Oyler and Ruby-throats at Heisey Road Orchard by Bob Keener. Bob also has seen Black-throated Blue Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, and Black-and-White Warblers at Heisey Road. Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Pine Warblers have also been spotted. There was a Barred Owl family camped out at Falling Spring Church parking lot.  There was a Scott’s Oriole (western bird) in Kirkwood, PA starting in January 2021. There’s been a pair of Trumpeter Swans on Burnt Mill Rd. pond, seen by Bob Koontz, Bill Oyler and Bob Kiley. Jefferson Shank had a Grasshopper Sparrow on their farm and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers at Heisey Road Orchard.

Here is a list of upcoming CAS activities:

• May 1, Saturday. FIELD TRIP 6:30 AM Horse Valley for SPRING MIGRANTS.  Meet at North Pointe Center, US 11, north of Chambersburg.  Bring scopes, binoculars, CBs (if you have one) and lunch.  Contact Valerie Barnes, 717-352-4397 or Donna Hocker, 717-401-0604.
• May 1, Saturday. 9:30 AM WORK-DAY at Norlo Park native garden.  Bring garden tools and gloves.  Contact Josh Donaldson, 717-264-6920.
• May 6, Thursday. FIELD TRIP 6:30 AM Path Valley for SPRING MIGRANTS.  Leave from Bob Keener’s home, 5207 Heisey Road.  Bring scopes, binoculars, CB, and lunch. Bob Keener, 717-532-9723 or 717-658-8765.
• May 7, Friday. FIELD TRIP 6:00 PM Lehman property for SPRING MIGRANTS.  Meet at 750 Tallow Hill Road, Chambersburg, to walk around a pond, meadows, and woods.  Larry Lehman, 717-263-7203.
• May 10, Monday. 7:00 PM ZOOM MEETING:  Invasive Plants: Not for the Birds by Kimberly Bohn, Penn State Mont Alto.  Arranged by Ron George.
• May 15, Saturday.  WORK-DAY at Norlo Park native garden.  Bring garden tools and gloves.  Contact Josh Donaldson, 717-264-6920.
• May 22, Saturday.  FIELD TRIP 5:30 PM Edenville area for WHIP-POOR-WILLS and BOBOLINKS. Leave from Sunnyway Foods parking lot, 49 Warm Spring Road, Chambersburg.  Bring scopes, binoculars, and CBs.  Eric and Rhetta Martin, 717-597-8675.
• June 5, Saturday.  Beginning Birders Workshop.  CANCELLED.

Since this is spring gardening time, I thought I should again include the link to National Audubon’s Native Plants information. That way you can attract birds and butterflies to your own garden. All you have to do is to click on the link, put in your zip code and up pops a list of native trees, shrubs, plants and flowers.

Also, for anyone interested, there will be a Zoom session, Thursday, May 13, 2021 on planting a Bird-Friendly Design, presented by Patterson Park Audubon Center for Wildlife Gardening Workshops. “This virtual session explores how our gardens can benefit birds and butterflies, including recommended plant species and garden management for Mid-Atlantic gardens. No matter how small your space, you can grow habitat for birds (even in containers)! There is a limit to the number of participants per session, so Patterson Park asks you to register only if you plan to attend.”

Many of us are heart-broken that our favorite birding festival, Biggest Bird Week Festival, at Magee Marsh, OH is canceled due to Covid-19. CAS had a planned field trip to attend May 3-5, 2021. It is open to residential Ohioans via a lottery system only. If you would like to read about the devastating economic effects of Covid-19 in Clinton, OH area, click on the following link: https://www.audubon.org/news/canceled-birding-festivals-deal-host-towns-major-economic-blow 

In addition, Cornell Lab of Ornithology wants you to be aware of the Global Big Day and World Migratory Bird Day, May 8.  Please go birding, keep track of where you are and what you see, and report your findings in eBird.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Spring! Enjoy the fresh air, the beautiful flowers, and the phenomenal birds!

Terri Kochert

Hello fellow nature lovers, 

I hope you are warm and cozy, enjoying this beautiful snow.  With the second month of 2021 upon us I do have some good news to share with you. The Short-eared Owls did indeed make their long-awaited appearance along Bigham Road, just off Pumping Station Road in the Gettysburg area.  Bob and I took eight different people to see them.  Bob and I were there three times seeing the owls.  While we saw only two at dusk the first time, the second time we were rewarded with quite a show of six SEOs early, around 4:15 PM.  The third visit we saw four of them also around 4:20 PM.  That was quite a chilly visit!  Our visits were January 14, 16, and 18. 

I also want to introduce you to our own CAS Feb. 8, 2021 meeting at 7 PM via Zoom.  Our speaker for the evening is John Greer, presenting his Birds of the Far North: an Icelandic Adventure.  Again, to participate in our Zoom presentation, you need to download “Zoom” onto your computer, tablet, or cell phone. You do not have to establish a Zoom account to watch our programs. Once you have Zoom installed, save the monthly email or access this post on Feb. 8, 2021.  If you save the email you might want to set a reminder on it so that your email program reminds you.  On that date, at about 6:50, open the email, press the link, and you will be admitted by our tech guru, Val Barnes close to 7 PM.  You may choose to be connected via “video” where we will see your face, or you can connect via “audio only”.  If you choose audio, you/we will see your name, but not your face.  You will be able to see and hear the presentation without being seen.  Once you have been invited, I ask you to kindly “mute” yourself until the end when John will entertain questions.  At that time, you will need to “unmute” yourself before speaking.  Too many unmuted voices at the same time create echoes and sound distortion.  So, please, mute yourselves until you have a question to ask.  I thank you in advance. For your information, there will be NO interruption this time in the presentation as we had last month.  

Here is information for our Zoom link: Topic: CAS Feb. 8, 2021 Birds of the North by John Greer. Time: Feb 8, 2021; connect a little before 7 PM. Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7211203928?pwd=RXNwMjZpQVNvSHJGRld3cWZFQjJiZz09

Meeting ID: 721 120 3928; Passcode: cardinal20. Note: you won’t need this information if you click on the link.

Speaking of owls, I would like to share with you that Gettysburg College through Professor Ryan Kerney will be zooming a presentation by Jonathan Slaght, PHD about fish owls from Russia on Wednesday on February 10, 2021 at 5 PM.  Jon spent four years studying these birds from 2006-2010.  He has written a book about his experience called Owls of the Eastern Ice.  The complete title of his presentation on Feb. 10 is Owls of the Eastern Ice: Negotiating Blizzards and Eccentrics in Pursuit of a Conservation Degree.  Since you already have Zoom downloaded onto your computer now, press the following Zoom link at 5 PM:

  https://gettysburg.zoom.us/j/98422749544  The meeting ID is 9842274+544.  

Get ready and excited for the Great Backyard Bird Count on Feb. 12-15, 2021!  You have four days to record how many birds of each species you see within 15-minute intervals.  You can report as often as you’d like during the four days.  Then, you should report your responses using e-bird.  There’s a lot of information about this great birding event on this link:   Great Backyard Bird Count  Once you get onto that site, there is a short video about this event on the first page, plus other kinds of information. 

Thus, here are all the February events: 

• Feb. 8, 2021 at 7 PM.  Zoom meeting with John Greer presenting his Birds of the Far North: an Icelandic Adventure 
• Feb. 10, 2021 at 5 PM.  Jon Slaght, PhD presents his Owls of the Eastern Ice: Negotiating Blizzards and Eccentrics in Pursuit of a Conservation Degree 
• Feb. 19, 20, 21, 2021.  CANCELLED overnight auto trip to Blackwater NWR, Maryland for waterfowl has been cancelled.  
• March 6 field trip to Middle Creek WMA, led by Eric & Rhetta Martin.  We meet at 6:30 AM at the Park & Ride, Scotland, Exit 20, I-81 northbound.  Bring scopes, CBs, and lunch.  Contact Eric and Rhetta if you intend to go (717-597-8675).   

Birds that have been seen in the vicinity:  Ruddy Duck at Greencastle Reservoir; Common Redpoll, Short-eared Owls in Gettysburg; Snow Bunting, Horned Larks, and Lapland Longspur along Church Road near Pleasant Hall; and a Wilson’s Snipe along Rowe Run by Bill Oyler.   

If interested in helping out with the 2021 PICK UP PENNSYLVANIA campaign March 1- May 31, 2021, please see the flyer with registration information/links.     

Stay safe and healthy!

Terri