Hello fellow nature lovers, 

I trust that you are doing well. The shore birds have largely passed through the area. We have had reports of Stilt Sandpipers at the Greencastle Antrim Ponds, a Merlin, a Northern Harrier and of course, a Eurasian Collared Dove, at the Greencastle Reservoir. There have been sightings of Canada Warblers, Mourning, and even Connecticut, Warblers at the Heisey Orchard in Scotland area and along the Stillhouse Hollow Road. Flocks of various warblers, Chimney Swifts, vireos, and Common Night Hawks were located along the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail by Tom Dougherty.  Please let me know if you still have any Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at your feeders. My husband, Bob, and I saw our last “hummer” at our feeders on Sunday. Sadly, they too are migrating on their long journey south to the Amazon region for the winter.  

I have two bits of breaking news, though I will confirm in a later message to you all about the hopeful Zooming of our October 12 meeting.  In my September letter I announced our breaking news about Conococheague Audubon having its own Facebook page. There are now 21 members.  Dave Cooney has recently posted some great photos of a female Blue Grosbeak, a Palm Warbler along Portico Road, and an Eastern Phoebe. https://www.facebook.com/groups/647514482542153 (Copy and paste into your browser for viewing.) 

• Breaking News: Our intention is to make our Monday, October 12, 2020, 7PM general meeting with Bob Keener presenting his Birds of Ecuador available to those staying home, desiring to see it via Zoom. I will forward the Zoom link as we approach the date. The plan is to still meet at the Community Center as usual. The program will be available via Zoom for those who desire to see it that way. We intend to make the link available too via our website.  

• Don’t forget! The two coinciding Youth Contests exhibits are due October 12, 2020 at Norlo ParkCommunitycenter at 6:45 PM. We are inviting the young people to stay for our presentation on the Birds of Ecuador. Due on October 12: Best Bird Photos from Dec. 1, 2019 -Oct. 12, 2020 and/or your Longest Bird list from the same dates, Dec. 1, 2019-Oct. 12, 2020. Please visit our website for the details.  http://www.ConococheagueAudubon.org    (Copy and paste into your browser for viewing.) 
• Youth Contests Awards: Awards will be presented before our Nov. 9, 2020 general meeting: Chesapeake Bay: Saving a National Treasure. 
   
  Other dates of interest to our members:  
• Announcing: The Big Sit Day, Oct. 10, 11. You, a family member and/or friend, choose an area, a 17’ circle, to observe the birds within that area. Tally the species, numbers, etc. and hours spent on this project. Report this to eBird.org.  
• Announcing: Get Out and Count on eBird’s October Big Day    On October 17, join birders across the globe by participating in October Big Day—a 24-hour opportunity to count and celebrate the birds both near you and around the world during migration. Visit eBird’s October Big Day page to learn more about this event and its role in the inaugural Global Bird Weekend. (To get to this link, you will have to highlight the link, right click on it, and click “Open Hyperlink.”)

• For your viewing pleasure watch this short 1:05 video of “Three Hummingbirds Share One Feeder Port in west Texas” on September 3, 2020 during migration https://youtu.be/jUw2QM3qFDg (To get to this link, you will have to highlight the link, right click on it, and click “Open Hyperlink.”) 

May you have some good birding days ahead. Look forward to my email about a future Zoom link to view our October 12, 2020 general meeting. 

Terri Kochert