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NORTH SHORE AUDUBON SOCIETY
SERVING THE WESTERN NORTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND,
N.Y.
Our mission is: to promote, protect and preserve
the environment and the birds that inhabit it through education,
advocacy and leadership.
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This site maintained by Herbert Roth at Email Me
Last updated:
April 27, 2013
All Rights Reserved |
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MONTHLY
PROGRAMS
Evening Programs
at the
Manhasset Public Library
30 Onderdonk Ave. at Northern Blvd. 7 p.m.
Open to the public and free of charge
Handicap accessible
http://www.nassaulibrary.org/manhass
Membership meetings are the 4th Tuesday of the month, unless
noted. Bring your used batteries to the membership meeting.
Secretary Lindy Nielsen will recycle them.
Bring your used toner & ink cartridges,
or old cell phones to the meetings. Barbara Garriel will donate
them to a green recycle program, Recycle4Education to benefit
the Wolf Conservation Center.
Join
us on our friendly walks
Tuesday, May 28
Come Dive with Whales
By Paul Mila
A view of the undersea world of whales and sharks will be featured
at this meeting. Paul Mila has been filming sharks and diving
with whales in the Caribbean and Pacific for many years and
will provide us with a special vantage point for watching whale
behavior.
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66th Annual NYSOA Meeting
November 1-3 in Uniondale, NY.
Contact: nysoainfo@gmail.com
Mark your calendars now for the 66th Annual
Meeting of the New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA)
on November 1-3, 2013 at the Long Island Marriott Hotel and
Conference Center in Uniondale, western Nassau County, New York.
Hosted by the Queens County Bird Club, the meeting will feature
keynote speaker James Currie of Birding Adventures TV, exciting
field trips, stimulating workshops and research papers, and
the NYSOA business meeting and Awards Banquet. To celebrate
the first NYSOA conference in southern New York State since
1994, we are calling this weekend The New York Birders Conference.
Papers and talks throughout the weekend will
appeal to birders of all levels as well as scientific audiences.
Presenters include Dr. Mark Hauber, speaking about his research
on recognition of brood parasites, John Turner, discussing the
ecological importance of the Long Island Pine Barrens, and Susan
Elbin, Director of Conservation and Science for NYC Audubon,
presenting the latest findings from the NY Harbor Herons project.
The conference will also feature photography
and bird identification workshops, including a Digiscoping Workshop
with Clay Taylor of Swarovski Optik, and an introduction to
bird photography with celebrated photographer Lloyd Spitalnik.
Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle, authors of the forthcoming
book, The Warbler Guide, will present a workshop on “Using
Often Overlooked ID Points to Identify Confusing Warblers”.
Field trips are always one of the highlights
of NYSOA meetings. This year, participants will be selecting
from field trips to Kissena Park, Alley Pond Park, Jones Beach,
Robert Moses State Park, Fort Tilden, and Frances Purcell Preserve
(all trips dependent on site condition).
Keynote speaker James Currie’s presentation,
“Not Your Grandmother’s Audubon,” is scheduled
for the annual banquet, Saturday evening.
The meeting is open to NYSOA members and non-members.
For more information and to register for the 66th Annual NYSOA
Meeting/New York Birders Conference please visit our web site
at http://nybirdersconference.org. Questions? Contact Seth Ausubel
and our Planning Committee at NYSOAinfo@gmail.com.
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USEFUL WEBSITES
BIRDING RESOURCES
North Shore Audubon www.northshoreaudubon.org
South Shore Audubon http://www.ssaudubon.org/index.html Huntington/Oyster
Bay Audubon http://www.huntingtonaudubon.org/ Audubon NY http://ny.audubon.org/
LI Birding www.libirding.com
Garden City Bird Sanctuary http://www.gcbirdsanctuary.org/
American Bird Conservancy http://www.abcbirds.org/
American Birding Association http://www.aba.org/
Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/
E Bird www.ebird.org
Birding on the Net http://www.birdingonthe.net/
INJURED WILDLIFE
Volunteers For Wildlife, www.volunteersforwildlife.org
STAR Foundation, http://www.savetheanimalsrescue.org/
LI GROUPS AND ACTION ISSUES
Preserve Plum Island www.preserveplumisland.org
Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee http://hempsteadharbor.org/
Manhasset Bay Protection Committee http://www.manhassetbayprotectioncommittee.org/
Friends of the Bay http://friendsofthebay.org/ (Oyster Bay)
PW Green http://pwgreen.yolasite.com/
WE
WANT YOU FOR NSAS
You've already joined - how about getting more involved?
You don't need to
be an expert birder to serve on a committee or on the Board.
Are you good with
computers, writing, meeting people, publicity or organizing?
Our Board meetings
are friendly and informal. We welcome your talent and time.
Please call Peggy
Maslow at 883-2130 or e-mail pmaslows@gmail.com
If you have not yet joined,
JOIN NOW!
Click here for membership application form
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WHAT'S NEW?
SAVE THE DATES FOR OUR FESTIVALS
Join us at our booth
for family friendly outdoor events:
ECO FEST
Displays, kids crafts, live music and
animals
April 27 - 28
Clark Botanic Garden
193 I U Willets Road, Albertson
HARBORFEST
Displays, craft vendors, art show,
children’s games, food
Sunday June 2
Port Washington Town Dock
HELP RESTORE GARVIES PRESERVE
Removing invasive plants from the Preserve is an important
way to restore the natural balance. We’re targeting three
invasive plants this spring
GARLIC MUSTARD
Sat. April 27
Easy - even small kids can join in
ROSA MULTIFLORA
Sat. May 18
Tougher - it has thorns
MILE-A-MINUTE VINE
Sat. June 15
This new to LI vine lives up to its other commmon name,
Devil’s tear thumb.
Wear long pants and closed shoes, bring heavy work
gloves. Pruners and shovels for the roses and vines will
be helpful. Call Veronica Natale at Garvies, 571-8010
for more information.
GARVIES POINT SUMMER PROGRAMS
Garvies Point Museum & Preserve, 50 Barry Drive,
Glen Cove, NY is offering our popular Children’s
Summer Workshops, hands-on activities for children
ages 5-7 and 8-12, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and
Thursdays in July and August.
Visit the Garvies Point website
www.garviespointmuseum.com
for fees and schedule, and to print out an application form.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT SANCTUARY SPRING PROGRAMS
For an interesting set of bird programs, contact Genna Tudda
at the Sanctuary (922-3200).
HYDRAULIC
FRACTURING
Governor
Cuomo is in the process of deciding whether to permit
Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydro Fracking) for natural gas
in the Marcellus Shale in New York State.
While
we’re conserving water, this process uses millions
of gallons of fresh water for each well. The water and
sand and toxic chemicals are pumped into the ground at
high pressure to crack dense rock formations and release
the gas. Waste water returned from these wells contains
these toxic chemicals. In states where fracking has already
taken place, there have been many leaks of this toxic
mix into the air and ground water, poisoning livestock,
making people sick, and damaging agriculture and the economy.
People have been unable to sell their homes because of
the contamination.
Food
& Water Watch, an international organization
concerned with public health and the environment, has
chapters on Long Island and New York City. Check the website
foodandwaterwatch.org for additional information.
F&WW
and other environmental organizations are working to educate
people about the dangers inherent in this process and
are asking Governor Cuomo to ban fracking.
We
support this effort and encourage you to call the governor
at (518) 474-8390 Albany office or (212) 681-4580 New
York City office to urge him to ban fracking.
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Audubon New York Selects Erin Crotty
as New Executive Director
Audubon New York, the 50,000 member state program
of the National Audubon Society, announced today that Erin Crotty
will be the organization’s Vice President and Executive
Director and first woman leader. Ms. Crotty, who was the first
woman to lead the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC), currently directs Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute’s State and Community Relations program.
Audubon’s mission is to conserve and
restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife,
and their habitats, for the benefit of humanity and the Earth’s
biological diversity. Audubon New York achieves this by engaging
people in bird conservation through science, policy, education,
and on-the-ground conservation action. Through an extensive
grassroots network including a staff of more than 30 professionals,
8 Audubon Centers and Sanctuaries, and 27 local Audubon Chapters,
the organization works to advance sustainable solutions to the
state’s environmental problems, and continues to educate
future generations on the importance of protecting birds and
the environment.
With experience in the private, public, and
not-forprofit sectors, Ms. Crotty brings decades of experience
to Audubon New York. Ms. Crotty was Commissioner of DEC from
2001-2005, leading a professional staff of over 3,300 and managing
an annual budget of approximately $1 billion. “I am honored
to lead Audubon New York at a time of tremendous growth and
opportunity,” said Erin Crotty. “Audubon’s
strategic plan is an inspiring call to action for hemispheric
conservation of migratory fl yways. I am looking forward to
working with the talented and dedicated Audubon staff, unparalleled
network of centers, sanctuaries, chapters, members, and partners
to build on Audubon New York’s impressive conservation
track record in new and creative ways for the protection of
Atlantic Flyway birds,” Crotty continued. “I am
excited about the important work ahead”. |
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From the President
Jennifer Wilson-Pines
The cover of the March April issue of Audubon magazine asks,
“Why Do Birds Matter?” If you are reading this I can pretty
well assume you would agree that yes they do and I’m preaching
to the choir. However, the inability to understand the integration
of humans with the environment and other living things on this planet
spouted by many allegedly educated people continues to astonish me.
In a Facebook post, someone (not one of my friends) complained about
being kept off a beach for Piping plover protection, and said, “I
suppose it’s nice to spend money on the environment and all
that but it could be better spent on people.” To which I snarkily
replied, “Since you are not living in a hermetically sealed
capsule in outer space, guess what… You too live in the ENVIRONMENT,
and unless you can figure out how to do without clean water, air and
untainted food, you’d better care about it.”
I recently had an email exchange with someone who
styled herself as a long time Audubon member and science teacher,
but who was in reality a cat nut. Why she chose me I do not know,
but she was demanding an apology for an article in a newspaper in
which contributing Audubon Magazine writer, Ted Williams, made some
very blunt comments on the problem of feral cats. I refused to apologize
and pointed out the inconsistencies in her championing of feral cats,
i.e., her total lack of any sympathy or empathy for the painful deaths
suffered by millions of small birds and animals at the claws and fangs
of cats every year vs. her horror at a proposal to euthanize feral
cats. Her complete lack of a solution (because Trap Neuter Release
does not lower cat populations or prevent cats from hunting) and her
choice to ignore sound scientifi c studies in favor of anthropomorphizing.
With some people you will never win because their heads are firmly
planted - well, someplace I’d rather not have mine.
But let’s enjoy some of the wonderful quotes
that Audubon Magazine had in the article….and keep believeing
that we will make a difference in the long run.
And just
in case you wonder, I do like cats - we have five formerly feral cats
- who never, ever go outside. JWP
You can
reach us at www.northshoreaudubon.org
Voicemail at 516-671-5725
North Shore Audubon on Facebook |
Birds make any place a chance for discovery, they
make a garden seem wild, they are a little bit of wilderness coming
into a city park, and for a bird watcher every walk is filled with
anticipation. What feathered jewel might drop out of the sky next?
David Sibley, Author
Birds
are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate
plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back
into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the
passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring
us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this
earth.
Melanie Driscoll, Director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico
and the Mississippi Flyway
Conjuring
a world without birds is a thing I don’t dare imagine, like
the death of a child. Their fate is our own.
J oel Sartore, Photographer
Birds
are wherever we are. They are our companions. Birds are mediators
between heaven and earth.
Terry Tempest Williams, Author, When Women Were Birds
Why
do birds matter? It’s a funny question. Imagine asking a cardinal,
“Why do humans matter?” He would sing if he could, from
the top of a telephone pole, “They don’t! Not at all!
Look at me!” Every species basically thinks we’re the
real one, and all others are food or set decoration. If you could
step back and register all our noise at once, you might get a glimpse
of the real deal: life on earth.
Barbara Kingsolver, Author, Flight Behavior
Birds
remind us that there are angels.
Jane Alexander, Actress
Birds
matter because they give us wings. And because if we save the birds,
we will save the world.
Pepper Trail, USFWS forensic ornithologist
In
an age when we experience so much of our world through glass—screens,
windows, windshields—birds are a vital connection to the wild.
They reach across any barrier, flitting, surprising, and dazzling,
always there to refresh my sense of wonder.
Thor Hanson, Author, Feathers, The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
Without
birds, nature would lose her voice and the planet its most engaging
envoys. Birds matter precisely because they matter to us. Environment
is a concept. Nature a label. Birds are real, elements that live within
our sensory plane. They spread their wings and bridge the gap between
our world and the natural world.
Pete Dunne, Author, director Cape May Bird Observatory
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SPRING 2013 - BIRD WALK SCHEDULE
Walks are for beginners and experienced birders
alike.
Weather permitting, walks start at 9:30 a.m. unless indicated otherwise.
If in doubt, call the trip leader.
Please note: all phone numbers are code 516 unless otherwise
shown.
In most cases, your contacts are the trip leaders.
For directions, click sitefinder view.
We encourage carpooling where feasable.
| Wed. |
3/13 |
Bayard Cutting Arboretum 10:00 a.m. |
Leaderless Walk |
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| Sat. |
3/16 |
Stehli Beach |
Mike Henahan |
627-7018 |
| Wed. |
3/20 |
Jones Beach Coast Guard Station |
Wendy Murbach |
546-6303 |
| Sat. |
3/23 |
Twin Lakes Preserve |
Ralph Metragrano |
785-3375 |
| Wed. |
3/27 |
Hempstead Lake State Park, Field 2,3 |
Wendy Murbach |
546-6303 |
| Sat. |
3/30 |
Alley Pond Park, 76th Avenue |
Trudy Horowitz
Lenore Figueroa |
718-224-8432
718-343-1391 |
| Wed. |
4/3 |
Shu Swamp |
Lindy Nielsen |
628-1315 |
| Sat. |
4/6 |
Muttontown Preserve |
Ralph Metragrano |
785-3375 |
| Wed. |
4/10 |
Alley Pond Park |
Trudy Horowitz
Lenore Figueroa |
718-224-8432
718-343-1391 |
| Sat. |
4/13 |
Nature Study Center, Oceanside |
Ralph Metragrano |
785-3375 |
| Wed. |
4/17 |
Robert Moses State Park, Field 5 |
Ralph Metragrano |
785-3375 |
| Sat. |
4/20 |
Jamaica Bay |
Lenore Figueroa |
718-343-1391 |
| Wed. |
4/24 |
Roslyn Park and Bar Beach Nature Trail |
Mike Henahan |
627-7018 |
| Sat. |
4/27 |
Garvies Point Preserve |
Don & Joyce Bryk |
621-6678 |
| Wed. |
5/1 |
Muttontown Preserve |
Lindy Nielsen |
628-1315 |
| Sat. |
5/4 |
Alley Pond Park |
Stephane Perreaults |
423-0947 |
| Wed. |
5/8 |
St. Josaphat's Monestary |
Barbara Garriel |
628-9022 |
| Sat. |
5/11 |
BIG DAY 6:30 a.m.
Alley Pond Parking Lot, 76th Ave.
After lunch, continues at JAMAICA BAY
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Ian Resnick
NSAS leader: Ian Resnick |
917-626-9562 |
| Wed. |
5/15 |
Welwyn Preserve |
Lindy Nielsen |
628-1315 |
| Sat. |
5/18 |
Nassau Fine Arts Museum |
Peggy |
883-2130 |
| Wed. |
5/22 |
Jamaica Bay or your choice location |
Lenore Figueroa |
718-343-1391 |
| Sat. |
5/25 |
Bailey Arboretum/Upper Francis Pond |
Mike Henahan |
627-7018 |
| Wed. |
5/29 |
Planting Fields Arboretum |
Mike Henahan |
627-7018 |
| Wed. |
6/5 |
Nature Study Area, Oceanside |
see Note 1 |
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| Wed. |
6/12 |
Upland Farm |
see Note 1 |
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| Sat. |
6/15 |
Garvies Point Preserve (Mile-A-Minute Pull) |
see Note 1 |
571-8010 |
| Wed. |
6/19 |
Shu Swamp |
see Note 1 |
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| Wed. |
6/26 |
Welwyn Preserve |
see Note 1 |
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Note 1: Summer leaderless walk
Contact Wendy Murbach at 546-6303 for information.
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MONTHLY PROGRAM CALENDAR
These programs are held on Tuesdays at the the Manhasset
Public Library,
30 Onderdonk Avenue, Manhasset, unless otherwise stated, at 7 p.m.
| DATE |
TOPIC |
SPEAKER |
| January 22, 2013 |
Owls |
Joe Giunta |
| March 19 |
Binoculars and Photographing Birds |
Brad Berger |
| April 23 |
Warblers |
David Speiser |
| May 28 |
Whales and Sharks |
Paul Mila |
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