Join us on Zoom Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. for a virtual journey through “The Chesapeake Watershed: History, Birds & Insights for Conservation” with Dr. Wayne Bell, senior associate and former director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society.
You will learn how land use practices have impacted the Chesapeake from pre-colonial times to the present and how habitat restoration and conservation are now addressing the 30% decline in Northern American bird populations for the future. The lecture may qualify for continuing education for Master Naturalists.
The Zoom link to join the meeting will be emailed to our Osprey email list prior to the talk. If you aren’t on the list, you can join here at the bottom of our homepage.
Huge thanks to the Natural Resources Management class at Forrest Career and Technology Center for their hard work moving mountains of compost and mulch to create the Gateway Native Garden at the Lexington Manor Passive Park Community Garden. The students in Dorothy Birch’s class have adopted our native garden as one of their projects for this year. They’ve planted more than 400 natives in two large beds. We at Southern Maryland Audubon couldn’t be more grateful for their efforts and their interest in learning about the value of native plants in home and public landscapes. We received a grant from National Audubon to build this garden. (Photos by Molly Moore)
Eight-year-old Aurora Huhman, avid birder and fisher, faced a quandary. She was catching more blue catfish than she knew what to do with. Learn how a chance encounter connected one of our youngest members and her passions with a rescued Bald Eagle in the latest edition of “The Osprey” newsletter here: https://somdaudubon.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/12225241/2024-December-January-Osprey-final.pdf
Learn from the experts how to transform your garden into a haven for pollinators, birds & wildlife Tuesday, Nov. 19 @ 6 p.m. in person at the Lexington Park Library!
Southern Maryland Audubon President and Master Gardener Molly Moore also will take you on a visual tour of the Gateway Native Plant garden now being created at the Lexington Manor Passive Park to help you get inspired to build your own! Leave with the tools needed to design an outdoor oasis that attracts and supports our native pollinators, birds, & wildlife!
Join our monthly nature Zoom talk on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. to witness new discoveries about the fascinating lives of terns in the Chesapeake Bay. Southern Maryland Audubon Vice President Ben Springer will share details of previously unknown staging areas where flocks of Common Terns rest and feed to fuel their migration flights, and the extraordinary research he helped conduct that has given scientists new insights into these long-distance fliers.
To receive Zoom link please sign up for our “Osprey” newsletter at the bottom of this homepage. If you are already signed up, you will receive the Zoom link several days before the talk.
Presentation may qualify for Master Naturalist continuing education hours.
“SLOW BIRDING: EXPERIENCE BIRDS DIFFERENTLY” with Audubon President Molly Moore. Slow birding offers a different approach focused on fine tuning your birding skills and forging a deeper connection with birds and their habitat. Join us for a relaxing meander along the paths of this beautiful park with its stately trees, open fields, woodland edges and fascinating history. We welcome beginners wanting to ease into birding, nature journallers seeking an opportunity to sketch, and experienced birders looking for a closer connection to birds and nature. Easy terrain, much of it on paved paths and pedestrian roadways. Loaner binoculars available if you do not have your own. We will provide sketch books and pens. Restrooms in the park near our starting point. Set GPS to above address and look for parking lot with colorful Lexington Manor Passive Park mural. We will meet in parking lot. (It’s across from Three Notch Theatre and past U.S. Post Office. Open to all ages. Please register here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0844A8A923ABFFC70- 50697781-slow
Join us for our Monthly Meeting Zoom talk: Raptor Quest: Chasing America’s Birds of Prey on Wednesday, Oct. 2 @ 7 p.m.
Author and wildlife photographer Scott Harris takes us on his journey find all 53 raptors that call the Lower 48 states home. It took 17 months and more than 100,000 miles across 34 states, but Harris found them all and chronicled his adventures and misadventures in a book, “Raptor Quest: Chasing America’s Raptors.” He shares his tales with us, along with what he learned about these amazing birds and the people he met along the way.
If you are not already on our “Osprey” newsletter list, you can sign up at the bottom of our home page www.somdaudubon.org and we will send you the Zoom link prior to the talk.
Talk may qualify for continuing education hours for Master Naturalists.
Southern Maryland Audubon’s Bird Foto Fest is now open!
We want to fill our first annual bird calendar with photos that highlight Maryland’s amazing bird life and monthly tips for supporting birds and their habitat.
Winning photos will appear in the calendar.
Other great shots that don’t make the calendar will be highlighted in our social media, website and our “Osprey” newsletter with full credit to the photographer. Extra credit for birds captured on native plants, trees, shrubs and grasses!
Rules of the game:
Birds must be photographed in Maryland.
Photo should be accompanied by the following info:
Name of photographer
Age of all photographers 20 or below. (We want to highlight our youth photographers)
Email
Mailing address
Location and date of photo
Interesting anecdote about how the photo was captured
Contestants may enter up to 5 photos
Photograph format:
Photos must be submitted digitally in landscape (horizontal) format
Sized 8 inches by 10 inches in a .jpg format with a minimum file size of 6 megapixels.
We have one of our best line-ups ever of birding field trips for all ages and experience levels. We’re hosting workshops on making your windows bird-safe and collecting native plant seeds, and talks on bird calls and raptors coming up in the next few weeks. Check out our website calendar for all the details on how to sign up and where to go. Click the Events tab at the top of this page or go to @ www.somdaudubon.org/events/
Ranger Joshuah Emery kicks off our new season with intriguing insights into the power of bird language. What are birds saying and why are they saying it? Emery, a ranger at the Patuxent Research Refuge, interprets the various ways birds communicate with each other and their environment. This includes vocalizations, behavior, and body language. Talk may qualify for continuing education for Master Naturalists. Check out our full library of recorded nature talks at the link above.
