Join friends for informal walking and birding programs for all.
Before Old Man Winter blasts onto the scene, get out and enjoy nature with some birding friends. SMAS offers several options, including a stroll on November 8 at Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary with the group Walk Charles County. In late November and early December, we will be monitoring the newly arriving ducks at Mattawoman Creek. Keep an eye on the SMAS Group on Facebook for a late-breaking “flash” outing along the George Wilmot Trail in Indian Head. In previous years we have seen hundreds of ducks of many species! Finally, we welcome birders of all levels to join us on Christmas Bird Counts taking place in various counties on December 14, 21, 27, and January 4. Check out our Events calendar for more details.
Partnerships yield great results! But what is a bird sit?
Southern Maryland Audubon Society (SMAS) joined forces with the Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership (MBCP) for an unusual event at Chapman State Park on October 11. Pam Brumbley, a director on the SMAS board, led a bird walk to the Potomac River with eighteen participants. Lynne Wheeler, SMAS interim president, kicked off the walk with an introduction to the site’s unique ecology. That much is typical of a birding field trip! But here’s the unusual part: at the front porch of Mount Aventine, the park’s historic hilltop home, Margaret Poethig, a board member for the MBCP, led a bird sit.
What is a bird sit, you ask? There are many ways to do it! The general idea is, when folks sit still and remain quiet outdoors, birds usually resume their normal activity within ten minutes or so. In this way, bird sits offer opportunities to observe birds and their natural behavior. (During group walks, birds are sometimes startled and seek cover, or they are foraging high up in trees or far out in the water, requiring binoculars.) Bird sits can suit a greater range of birding skills and physical abilities than walks. You don’t need binoculars, and you can even do a bird sit solo at your home window or nearest park. In stillness, you can practice your listening and observation skills, becoming more attuned to the natural world. Depending on your purpose or the approach of a guide, bird sits can be contemplative and meditative too.
Lynne reported that the count on the October 11 bird sit was not as high as we tend to see on a walk—just 21 species—but she found joy in learning about birds with other enthusiasts and partnering with like-minded organizations. Special thanks also go to the Friends of Mount Aventine for helping to facilitate this event.
Meet Scott Harris at our monthly Zoom lecture, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
Join Scott as he shares his seventeen-month journey to find all 53 of the raptors that call the Lower 48 states home. In his presentation he shares his adventures, misadventures, successes, and failures—from minus 36-degree days to one over 100, from barely missing a bird to just arriving in time. If you are on our Osprey newsletter list, you will receive the Zoom link via email. You can join the mailing list by using the form at the bottom of this page.
