Sunday, January 17, 2010

January Meeting a Success!

The January monthly meeting was a roaring success. Pat Sutton delivered a fantastic presentation on "How to Spot Owls". I am sure that all attending are now looking for "whitewash" and "owl pellets". As usual Pat's presentation was both entertaining and informational.

Instead of a walk this month we decided to host an "Eagle Caravan". Twenty two people turned out condensed into 8 vehicles. Jeff and Cathy White led us on a ride through their favorites Eagle haunts. It was wonderful. I have been inundated with emails from participants asking if we will be doing this again next year. If Jeff and Cathy are willing, you can be sure we will. It was great to share Eagle Spotting with so many people knowing that they could come back to these sites on their own without disturbing the eagles. Even long time Salem County residents were astonished by the number of eagles that are visible in our County during the winter. It is hard to understand that when I first came here in 1976,seeing an eagle anywhere in the State would have made the front page of the newspaper. They were that rare. What a wonderful change!

At the February 9th. Meeting we will show some of the great raptor photos taken by our club members and then we will air the film, "World of Raptors" by Morley Nelson and narrated by Joanne Woodward. The film lasts about an hour.

At the March 9th. Meeting Renee Brecht, of Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River, will put on a presentation entitled, "New Jersey's Native and Rare Plants." Renee teaches plant identification for CU as well as how to count Swamp Pinks for US Fish and Wildlife. She has spent long hours in the fields searching our locations of rare and unusual New Jersey Plants. She will focus on plants that we are likely to find in Salem and Cumberland Counties.

Our March walk will be led by David Lord a young Cape May County expert on Songbirds. We are going on a search for migrating birds with an emphasis on finding warblers. The date and time to be announced.