{"id":1884,"date":"2021-06-08T09:36:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T13:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conococheagueaudubon.org\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2021-06-08T09:36:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T13:36:55","slug":"june-2021-from-the-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conococheagueaudubon.org\/?p=1884","title":{"rendered":"June 2021 from the President"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello Fellow Nature Lovers,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I write this letter many of us are celebrating a holiday surrounded by family, food and fun.  I hope you all took the time this chilly weekend to remember those brave Americans who \u201cgave it all\u201d that we might enjoy the freedoms we have today.  My heart goes out to those of you who lost a Grandfather, Uncle, Dad, brother, or Mother, sister, Aunt, etc. protecting our freedoms.  Freedom does not come without cost.   May we always remember their sacrifice and remain eternally grateful to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a lighter note, May is now behind us.  Many of us saw some terrific birds this past month.  I believe all would recognize the fact that though we may have seen many different species, there seem to be fewer birds.  We have expressed many times before the reasons for our seeing fewer birds. The main one is loss of habitat.  We need to keep our beloved felines inside, as they are natural predators.  Windows kill thousands of birds each year.  The ramifications of climate change are diminishing the world-bird populations.  Other ways to help the birds:  plant more native gardens, use less pesticides, reduce your dependence on plastic, and report your bird sightings to ebird.org.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the Spring migrant warbler species sighted in our locale were the Pine, Palm, Black and White, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Kentucky, Chestnut-sided, Cape May, Bay-breasted, Canada, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Mourning, and Cerulean Warblers.  Also sighted were Louisiana Waterthrush, American Redstarts, and Yellow-breasted Chats. That\u2019s quite a list! In Texas, Bob and I saw a MacGillivrays\u2019s, Nashville, and Yellow-throated warblers.  There may have been other warblers seen in our area, but those are the ones I am aware of.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our May Field Trips were quite successful, Donna Hocker reported data for two recent field trips: In Horse Valley, nine participants saw 71 species (164 species are the overall trip total); and in Path Valley, 15 participants in nine cars saw 88 species (145 species for that trip). Four new species seen were Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Rusty Blackbirds and Wild Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Donaldson reported a total of 37 species seen on the Friday, May 7 trip to Larry Lehman\u2019s pond and field. When he and Dave Ebbitt returned on Saturday, they saw warblers \u2013 among them Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided and Cape May warblers, as well as Redstarts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the May 22 field trip Bobolinks were sighted along the Burkett Road. They also saw the Whip-poor-wills and the allusive Barn Owl, plus many other species.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the beloved Indigo Bunting, Eastern Towhee, Wood Thrush, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles have returned and are nesting.  Of course, our chatty House Wrens are delighting us with their happy little song.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the events for this June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n