EARTHSTAR NEWS LETTER OF THE MACOMB AUDUBON SOCIETY

http://www.macombaudubon.org Volume 37 Number 4, July-August 2011

Programs

July 11th 2011 - Annual Summer Potluck Pic-

nic 6:30 pm, Stony Creek Metropark, West

Branch Picnic Area, Area A (note Change to 2'nd

Monday) our annual summer picnic at Stony, this

feast will feature delicious, delectable, and

mouth watering treats. This is always one of

everyone's favorite events of the year. Bring

your place setting, a beverage of your choice and

a dish to pass. Time permitting we will walk and

look for Bluebirds, Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo

Buntings and other avian friends we've seen in

past years. See you there! August 1st 2011 - Ice Cream Social

7:00 pm, Metro Beach Metropark Nature Cen-

ter. A great way to enjoy a hot August evening

with good friends and good ice cream. Bring your

own bowl and spoon and a topping to share and,

of course, your sweet tooth.

September 12th 2011 - Seventh Annual

September Bonfire

7:30 PM, Location Sterling Heights Nature

Center, 42700 Utica Rd, Sterling Heights.

Note Change to 2'nd Monday)

Return with us to those nostalgic days

of yesteryear as we enjoy Macomb

Audubon Society's 8'th Annual Fall

Bonfire, starting at 7:30 p.m. Dress

for the weather, grab your lawn chair,

roasting forks and hot dogs/buns,

s'mores fixins', singing voice, guitar

or harmonica and your favorite ghosty

stories as we forget the daily grind

and get lost in the magic of the fire

circle. Hot dog fixins' and our usual

assortment of beverages and pot luck

desserts will be available for all to

partake.

In case of rain, we will retire to the

Nature Center. Bring a Friend!

Frequently Asked Questions - Birds Can feeders or bird baths make birds sick?

Bringing birds together like we do at feeders and

bird baths is unnatural, and increases the chances

for them to spread disease, or for waste to accumu-

late and breed diseases. By spreading out feeders

and providing several sources of water in different

parts of the yard, you not only decrease the concen-

tration of disease and wastes, but the reduced com-

petition is less stressful on the birds.

It is also critically important to clean feeders and

bird baths regularly to not only remove old seed and

bird waste, but to also disinfect them with a weak

bleach solution.

Hey everybody - how you doin’?

What a wild and crazy spring. Here it is the middle

of June and we are just finishing up our first time

through our client’s gardens, unbelievable. At least

the weeds are big so they are easier to pull. I kept saying to myself, “All these

showers ain’t bringing in the dollars, but they sure are great for the trees and

shrubs.” Our woods are so lush and green this year, perennials are huge, just

like the weeds. It’s all good.

Sure am happy that we do not mow lawns because “mow, blow and go” were

in it up to their knees, literally. Too wet to do anything for weeks on end. I

must admit that is was rather jolly good fun seeing all those weedy gardens

and lawns totally out of control in the “HILLS”. Unheard of, lawns filled with

dandelions and unmowed in the HILLS, oh my. Some of the communities

were allowing contractors in on the weekend, aaaaargh. The dandelion po-

lice were put on full alert, pandemonium broke out ---- Okay, okay

So, what a fabulous year for spring migration, eh. Our trip to Magee Marsh,

the first weekend in May, we didn’t even have to get out of the car and we

saw several species of Warbler. There were people there from as far away as

Japan, and from all over the U.S. including Alaska. The place was packed. We

had such an awesome time.

The following weekend it was up to East Tawas for the birding festival.

Stayed at the Bambi Motel, as always and it was full of birders Friday. I was

fortunate enough to finally meet Wendy Tartar from Michigan Audubon on

this trip. She was at the Bambi also and came over to the bonfire to say hel-

lo. What a pleasant surprise. We had several people reporting their sightings

to us for the Joe Rogers Bird-a-thon weekend count. (If you have not sent in

your pledge, like me, please do so.) The only glitch was the weather on Sat-

urday. It was wet, windy, and cold. So what do birders do under these condi-

tions? We head for Tuttle Marsh of course, where we can bird from the car.

Then in the evening we move our pot luck dinner into one of our motel

rooms. We had a blast.

The common denominator for both trips? The people. Hundreds of people

with so much in common it blows your mind. That’s what I truly love about

these trips.

We’re not here for a long time we’re here for a good time, and to hopefully

take the time to sit and watch a butterfly take nourishment from a Sweet Wil-

liam. AAAAAH!

Peace, Colleen

Frequently Asked Questions - Birds From( AubonConnect@audubon.org)

How do I keep squirrels and raccoons off my feed-

ers?

Squirrels not only jump well, they are quite acrobat-

ic and can climb over almost anything. There are

feeders you can buy that close under a squirrel’s

weight. These sometimes work unless a squirrel

figures out how to bypass the closure system. There

are also feeders enclosed in a cage that allows

smaller birds through that work reasonably well.

The only sure way to keep squirrels off of a conven-

tional feeder is to place it atop a pole, 20 feet or

more from a branch or roof, and attach a metal

“squirrel guard” (stovepipe-like tube or cone-

shaped baffle) just below the feeder. Raccoons

can’t jump as well, but are great climbers and need

a similar guard to keep them from climbing up the

pole. A stove-pipe type of raccoon guard needs to

be a little longer than one for squirrels. Many

people also put out food for the mammals to reduce

their interest in feeders.

When should I start and stop feeding birds?

You can feed seed-eating birds year-round. They

get their food from a variety of sources throughout a

day, so starting or stopping your feeding won’t have

much of an impact on those birds. The only excep-

tion is if there is a bad snow or ice storm and natural

food is buried for a period of time. In that event,

the seed you put out could be life-saving for some

birds.

Nectar-eating birds, such as hummingbirds and ori-

oles, begin their migration north from the tropics in

January. Hummingbirds may arrive in southern

states as early as January, the middle states in

March or April, and northern states in May. They

rely on natural foods for their survival, so a feeder’s

purpose is solely to attract the birds to our yards so

we can watch and enjoy them.

You can stop feeding whenever you want. Since

birds don’t depend on human-provided food, and

since many of them migrate on their own schedule,

it doesn’t matter whether we put food out or not as

to when they leave. Audubon 225 Varick Street, New York, New York 10014 (212) 979-3000 | AudubonConnect@audubon.org

Meetings are held the first Monday of most

months at 7:30 PM at the Sterling Heights Na-

ture Center in The Sterling Heights Nature

Center is located on the NE side of Utica Rd,

east of Van Dyke and North Of 18 Mile Rd.

The street address is 42700 Utica Rd.

The officers and members of the Macomb Audu-

bon Society would like to thank the following

members for Joining or renewing on the contribu-

tor level. Jeanette Panigay, Marjorie Hogan,

Cheryl McKeever, Patricia Lange,

Wild Bird Center of Chesterfield

The Ultimate Backyard Nature Store 50750 Gra-

tiot –Near Kmart at 23 Mile Rd. Ph. 586-949-

9453. No Waste Seed, Optics, Feeders, Baths,

Nest Boxes, Books & More. Bring in this ad to

receive 20% off any one regular priced item.

Dave Tipton, Member of MAS

Refreshments

The following members brought refreshments for

our enjoyment. Thank You

May

.Tammy Hooton, Walter Peters, Alice Forton, Mary

Markesino, Betty Ebert. Barb Baldinger.

June

Alice Forton, Angela Slayton, Betty Ebert, Marge

Oelsner, Carol & Currell Pattie,

Welcome to our new members: Paul McCarty,

Ray & Diane Lalorde, Marlene Klebba, Louis

LaFave,

The Green Heron Written by Sharon Salamon With the consent of Pat Secen who told me the story. 5/06/11 My friend, Pat, and I were sitting at a pickle ball tournament, waiting for our call to hit the court and begin our turn at play. I mentioned my efforts to get all my birdfeeders cleaned and work-able this time of year because, as I said, “The birds are so spectacular in their spring plumage and I enjoy watching them.

“Well,” Pat said, “I don’t know anything about birds and I don’t really pay any attention to them, but that reminds me of a bird story I should tell you about some time.”

“Go ahead,” I said, “Tell me now, we have time, and I am curious. What happened?”

“It was just something that happened last spring. It was kind of a funny thing”

“Please, Pat, go ahead and tell me.” I couldn’t imagine what this woman had in mind,

since she really doesn’t have much interest in watching or understanding birds. “Well, we had

this nest of birds in a tree in our yard. They were herrings. You know those birds with the

long, skinny legs like toothpicks.”

“Do you mean, maybe they were herons, like a great blue heron?” I wasn’t sure where

we were going with this.

“I think they were green herrings: they had shorter legs then those tall birds. Their legs

were skinny and kind of short. We looked them up in the bird book.”

I let her talk, because she was presenting a very interesting scenario as far as I was

concerned. “Anyway, there were five of these baby herrings and they were hopping all over, up and down and along all the branches of the tree on those skinny legs. They squawked all the time and their noise was driving us crazy. One day see one of the babies under the tree hopping around on those thin, scrawny legs and I knew it was a goner if it stayed on the ground, so I told my husband I would go out there and put it back up in the tree with the rest. I set a step ladder by the tree and proceeded to catch that baby bird.

No way was I able to grab that dang thing. It jumped all over the place away from me. Finally, I just gave up and figured if it got eaten by some animal; it wouldn’t be because I didn’t try. So, I went back inside and a few minutes later I looked out my door waif window and there was that baby herring, on the ladder jumping from one rung up to the next, all the way to the top on those skinny legs. There it perched. I went back out, climbed the ladder, grabbed those toothpick legs, and put that little bird on a safe branch. It was the funniest thing to see that bird springing up that ladder one rung at a time, all by itself so it could get back to its family.”

“I’ve never before heard of such a thing,” I said. “It’s amazing!” We went for pickle ball. Later we had a good laugh about her calling them herrings.

BIRD-A-THONERS NAIL 152 SPECIES FOR THE WILDLIFE RECOVERY ASSN.

By Mike Mencotti

Macomb Audubon joined this year by Oakland Audubon held the 14th Annual bird-a-thon, raising money for

Joe Rogers’ Wildlife Recovery Association (WRA) with much success in 2011.

A Bird-a-Thon is like a Walk-a-Thon, but it is much more fun to do. During the weekend of May 13-15, birders

hit different areas: Crane Creek in Ohio, Tawas area, Pt. Pelee in Ontario, , Macomb County as well as Oakland

County. The results were pretty good as we tallied 152 species in some wet weather. Some notable ones

were: Peregrine Falcon, Grasshopper and Henslow’s Lark sparrows, Trumpeter Swan, Pileated Woodpecker,

Kirtland’s, Connecticut and Kentucky warblers,

A special thanks has to go out to some fine birders who helped make this a success: Tom Heatley, Barb Baldin-

ger, Jim Stevens, Colleen Traylor and Mike Mencotti. Other birders contributed as well.

Your pledges of either cents-per-species or flat donations help WRA. If you pledge 10 cents a species, you

would owe somewhere like $15.20. But feel free to round up!

In past years, we have raised more than $500 annually for this worthy cause. In the 13 years we’ve had the

fund-raisers, MAS has raised an astounding total of more than $7,500 for WRA

The WRA is an organization devoted to helping injured raptors, in hopes of releasing them in the wild. Also,

Joe Rogers, WRA’s director, had devoted much of his life to educating in his unique, high-energy way many

students of all ages.

As with many nonprofit organizations, the WRA is walking that fine line of insolvency and solvency. School

funds for these programs have all but disappeared, The WRA needs your help to keep his programs going.

Please pledge either by mail or at the monthly membership meeting.

It is certainly not too late to donate or pledge. Your pledge is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Name ____________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________

Phone ______________________

Amount of pledge._____ per species, or a flat donation of_________

Make your checks payable to Wildlife Recovery Association, and mail c/o

Mike Mencotti, 25378 Wykeshire, Farmington Hills, MI 48336