BirdingGirl

On the advice of my neighbor John ( Bird Man of Bridgewater ) I recently joined the South Shore Bird Club . I attended their annual member's dinner last night, held in Norwell. It was a lot of fun to meet other South Shore birders, and it was certainly inspiring to watch the slide shows of the pros. There was a short presentation from Joan Walsh , Coordinator of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2 , and I have to say her speech was motivating- I would love to participate and help them finish the breeding atlas. I'd definitely need to go out with a pro and have some coaching on how to look for breeding behavior, but the biggies (like if they're carrying sticks/nesting material, and obviously if you see them going back and forth to their nest) I think I've got down. Has anyone participated in a breeding atlas before?

This is a continuation of my interview with Dave Scarpitti , an Upland Game Bird Biologist with MassWildlife who will be speaking about habitat management at the Mass Audubon Birders Meeting Saturday March 15 th at Bentley College. There are three primary types of land conversation for birds, breeding habitat, wintering habitat, and migratory corridors. Can you give examples of birds in Massachusetts requiring these types of habitat. Breeding Habitat : A lot of different groups breed in Massachusetts- hawks, owls, warblers and sparrows breed in forests, while the Massachusetts coastline is very appealing to shorebirds and wading birds like herons, and egrets. Wintering Habitat : There are many wintering birds in Massachusetts, such as black ducks and eiders attracted to Nantucket Sound. The type of wintering habitat requiring management is earl successional habitat- maintaining open tracts of land. Migratory Corridors : Most birds migrate; the ones in Massachusetts that require ma...

I have yet another update on my Nation Audubon Society membership saga. It started back in mid-January when I was charged right away, didn't receive any materials until a few weeks later, and as of yet I still haven't received a copy of the magazine. All along I've suspected that national membership does not cover my local chapter membership (which happens to be Massachusetts) because there is such a high discrepancy in membership dues ($20 vs. $44). I decided to get on the phone Monday, as I posted , spoke with a very nice woman from the national office and then waited to hear back from my local chapter. Then I got a call on Tuesday explaining that the National Audubon Society is not affiliated with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. So now I have a national membership that offers me no value (except for the magazine) and I have to start from scratch in getting a MassAudubon membership. I hate to complain so much, especially when I know the funds I've donated still g...

Massachusetts Bird Conference Saturday, March 15, 2008 Bentley College, Waltham, MA The theme is "Massachusetts Birds: Our Common Wealth and Natural Heritage." Here's a brief description: "Whether you feed birds at home, seek birds with binoculars, spotting scopes or hunting gear, you are sure to find topics that appeal to your interest in Massachusetts birds including: research findings, waterfowl identification, youth bird clubs, conservation stamps, bird calls, habitat management techniques for birds in decline and many other bird related topics." I'm seriously considering going to learn more about birding and get some ideas for the blog and things I'd like to start doing. Here are the prices (they go up $10 after March 10): $48 Mass Audubon members $58 Non-members The prices may seem steep, but all proceeds go toward Mass Audubon’s Important Bird Area (IBA) program and Mass Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. There are 3 morn...

I decided to start investigating the issue since I'm still waiting to receive my first issue of the the Audubon Magazine and Audubon Society membership materials (I'm assuming a card and a sticker for my car). They deducted $20.00 from my card January 16th but I still haven't gotten anything in the mail. There is a disclaimer on the website that it may takes 4-6 weeks for the magazine to arrive, but I'm more interested in the membership itself. I'm sure I'll enjoy the magazine of course, but it would be nice to have access to members-only birding areas and other perks. I decided to do a Google search on "audubon membership" to see if I could start making sense of things. The first listing was for Audubon.org but the link was broken. The second listing was for the Massachusetts chapter, specifically the Benefits page. This helped clear things up tremendously. This membership was $44 by contrast and clearly stated the four primary benefits: Free admiss...