Support CAS!

By Valerie BarnesPosted on July 26, 2020January 3, 2021Posted in UncategorizedTagged donate

Greetings, members and friends of Conococheague Audubon Society,

We hope you are healthy and safe in this COVID-19 era. Another summer is on the wing as we approach a new season of lively birding activity. Some aspects of our planned activities remain tentative, but we are hopeful that all will proceed as planned. Check this website for updates.

Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel this year’s films due to COVID-19. Stay tuned for the 2021-2022 season!

~~We are offering three FREE high-quality nature films for your family’s viewing pleasure:~~

January 21, 2021: “Last Stand of the Great Bear,” (National Geographic), Great Bear rainforest of British Columbia; brown, black, “spirit” bears, wolves, and salmon fishing.
March 25, 2021: “Saving Songbirds,” (PBS), international efforts to save songbirds.
April 8, 2021: “Return of the Clouded Leopards,” (National Geographic), a tale of two orphaned cubs. (This was originally scheduled for March 2020.)

All films will begin at 7:30 PM at Chambersburg Area Middle School South, with pre-show musical entertainment at 7. While the films are free, we still need your support and will accept donations at the door.

Your contributions are what keep us operating as a fully volunteer organization. All our activities are FREE to participants. Thanks to your donations, we give Audubon Adventures, an interactive science newspaper, to area third- through fifth-grade classrooms. Our Beginning Birders’ Workshop in June introduces both children and adults to the skill and thrill of identifying colorful local birds. We offer scholarships to local youth and adults interested in birds and conservation. This spring we gave Michaux State Forest a supply of native seeds for habitat restoration.

Your assistance allows us to provide the community with current educational and conservation programming through our scheduled monthly meetings (second Mondays at 7 PM in Norlo Park Community Center). Bring your family and friends – all are welcome. During the October and November meetings, we hope to see many entries for our annual youth birding contests – Longest Bird List and Best Bird Photo of the year.

Other ongoing projects that your contributions fund are the Norlo Park Native Plants Garden; Christmas bird count citizen science; educational, interactive exhibits and presentations; the Naturally newsletter; and other conservation efforts. We need your help to continue our conservation and educational outreach, and we thank all of you for joining us in being good stewards of the earth in our daily lives.

We appreciate your support. Please make a generous gift. Complete this form and send it with your check by September 30. Thank you.

We hope to see you at some of the 2020-2021 Conococheague Audubon events. Please wear a mask to keep us all safe. Please check this website to confirm the status of the event you plan to attend.

Thank you for your help,

Terri Kochert, President

July 2020 From the President

By casbirdsPosted on July 12, 2020July 14, 2020Posted in Monthly MessageTagged birds, flowers

Greetings fellow nature lovers,
I trust that now that Franklin County has gone “green” that you are getting out more frequently to enjoy all life has to offer. It feels so good to be able to get your hair cut again. I do not think I will ever again take my hairdresser’s “essential services” for granted! Like many of you, I am still waiting to have face to face encounters with my dentist and doctors. Hopefully, this too shall pass despite spikes of the coronavirus in neighboring states. I encourage you all to be careful and be safe.

Unfortunately, our nation has seen its share of upheaval and destruction this past month, scarring our beautiful Spring migration months. As a wildlife conservation group, the Conococheague Audubon Society, affirms that ALL lives matter no matter the color of one’s skin, ethnicity, or any other persuasion. Nature is for ALL to enjoy! I trust that we each acknowledge, greet, and smile at ALL fellow birders we encounter along the way. I personally have found bird watchers to be friendly, kind and most helpful when birding. It is part of our DNA to share our “newest” bird find with others. We want ALL to enjoy and preserve the beauty of this world. That is as it should be.

With June now behind us and the full brunt of hot weather ahead of us, there are less reports of birds being seen. I am grateful for the gloriously happy songs of the Indigo Buntings, Cardinals, and Goldfinches. When in the woods, I still hear the strong admonition of the Oven Bird and the ethereal trill of the Wood Thrush. A visit to the woods would be considered incomplete without hearing the Eastern Towhee reminding me “to drink your tea!”

Locally, there are still warblers being seen. There have been sightings of Magnolia and Kentucky warblers, a Blue Grosbeak, and Willow Flycatchers.
There are still Grasshopper Sparrows and Dickcissels being reported along local farm lanes.
There are still reports of our local population of Eurasian Collared Doves at the Greencastle Reservoir.
The Mountain Laurel is now beginning to fade. I do hope you all took the opportunity to drive through Michaux State forest to see it.

May you have a Happy Fourth of July, celebrating safely the freedom we Americans enjoy living here in the United States of America. Bob and I will be celebrating with our children’s families and our daughter’s mother-in-law, now a widow, who will be celebrating her arrival to the USA from Ukraine 71 years ago as a nine-year old girl on July 4. To her this is one of the most meaningful of the holidays we celebrate.

Good birding to you all!