Salem County Nature Club

Correction!

2012-01-13T15:43:00.001-08:00

Please note that the correct date for the Eagle Festival is Saturday,February 11th.
Mark it on your calendar!

2012-01-08T05:30:00.001-08:00

January 2012 Meeting of the Salem County Nature Club

The December Meeting of the SCNC was a roaring success. Not only were there loads of good things to eat, the slide show was amazing. Thanks to all of you who contributed your wonderful photos to the show. There sure is a lot of wildlife in Salem County.

The Board of Directors held their annual meeting Tuesday January 3. Here are some of the things that we discussed:

1. Coming up with special incentives for people who join as members, (Getting your dues early enables us to plan better for paid speakers.) One suggestion was to have a member’s newsletter.

2. Holding three or four Serious Bird Walks, open to members only. These walks would be longer and might cover areas outside of Salem County.

3. How can we get more children or young people involved with the Club?

4. Plant or animal to use as our symbol on a logo. Suggestions were: vulture, hawk, butterfly, Great Blue Heron or tree frog. We would appreciate member input. We are looking for a symbol that will be recognized in silhouette and is not used by any other local organization.

Minutes from this meeting will be available shortly.

Activities:

January 14 and 15: The 2012 Eagle Count will take place. Anyone who would like to join me on the count for a few hours can contact Marilyn at 856-935-2384.

January 21: Veteran Eagle Watchers Jeff and Cathy White will be doing an “Eagle Watch” on Sunset Drive in Mannington. They will be there with their scopes from 8am until 11am. You will be treated to great company and hopefully lots of Eagles. This is an Eagle hotspot where you should see a number of mature and immature eagles. If you have Eagle questions, the Whites are the people to answer them.

February 18: Don’t forget the 2012 Cumberland County Eagle Festival which takes place at the Mauricetown Firehall in Mauricetown, NJ. The indoor part of the Festival runs from 8:00 am. until 4:00 pm. There are lots of speakers to be heard and walks to be taken. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. We will have a booth there and would appreciate your stopping by. For more information go to www.co.cumberland.nj.us

The following is the schedule for the first six months of 2012.

January and February are film months. This is done in case we have to cancel due to bad weather.

January:
We will be showing the film, “A Murder of Crows-Birds with an Attitude”. Most of us see crows as a spooky addition to our environment. Join us to watch the film and learn more about them. Did you know that a group of crows is called a murder? Were you aware that crows are considered to be among the most intelligent creatures in the world? Did you know that they mate for life and raise their young for five years? Would you be surprised to learn that crows can use tools to get their food? This film will teach us to see the crows we normally ignore in a new light.

February:
We will be showing the film “Life in Cold Blood” hosted by David Attenborough. “Amphibians and reptiles ruled the world for nearly 200 million years, and today there are well over 14,000 species. Ranging from some of the largest, most deadly creatures on Earth to the smallest and strangest, these are some of the most fascinating and dramatic animals on the planet.” Join us to learn about some of these amazing creatures.

March:
Famed author and naturalist, Pete Dunne, will be doing a reading from his newest book. Pete is the Director of Cape May Bird Observatory. Mr. Dunne is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of birds as well as his sharp sense of humor. Hearing Pete speak is both educational and entertaining. As of this writing his latest books include, “Bayshore Summer-Finding Eden in a Most Unlikely Place” and “Arctic Autumn-A Journey to Season’s Edge”. Pete is such a prolific writer that he might just have something new to share with us by March. This is a “don’t miss” meeting. We are lucky to have a writer and speaker of Mr. Dunne’s caliber speak to a small club such as ours.

April:
David Lord will do a Power Point Presentation entitled, “Migrants and How to Find Them”. David is an associate naturalist with Cape May Bird Observatory and first mate on the nature boat the “Osprey”. David has a way breaking down hard to remember information and linking it together in a whimsical way so that we cannot forget what he has taught us. This presentation will try to make finding migrants a little easier and much more fun.

May:
Salem County Nature Club member, Brynn Rielleywill do a presentation on wolves and coyotes. Brynn spent last summer working with wolves and is sure to have some fascinating stories to tell us. She will also be telling us about the Coyotes that are found right here in Salem County.

June:

Jeff Kiger is what I would call a “friend” of Salem County Nature Club. He is always willing to help us out with bird identification. He has loaned us images for some of our past programs. Jeff will be showing his amazing photographs taken at Fort Mott, Finns Point, and Supawna Meadows. Jeff spends a lot of time at these sites taking photos and just enjoying nature. He is always willing to share his special birding hotspots with other photographers. Jeff’s photos show us what a great natural treasure can be found right next door.

Money Island Walk

2011-11-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

Our Saturday evening walk at Money Island was a great success. We had 35 folks show up, members were new to the Salem County Nature Club. It was a lovely evening but birds were few and far between. We saw a number of hawks but no owls.

While looking for owls in the darkness of the observation platform, we noticed a bright light in the sky. After first thinking it was an airplane we realized that it was in fact a planet. It was amazing to discover how well we could see Jupiter and its four moons when using our spotting scopes. Keep this place in mind when you want to go stargazing. There is little man-made light to interfere with seeing the stars and planets. I know I will be going back.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2011-11-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

Salem County Nature Club is hosting an evening bird walk with David Lord on Saturday November 12 at 3:30pm. The walk will take place at the PSE&G site at Money Island Road, Elsinboro. We will meet in the first parking lot. We will be looking for sparrows, hawk and owls.

Roork's Farm Supply, Inc. is hosting Pat Sutton for a Wild Bird Seminar at on Saturday November 19th at 1:00pm. Make a reservation at Roorks at birds@roorks.com It is free and Pat is always both informational and entertaining.

2011-07-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

SCNC Butterfly Festival

September 10, 2011 Butterfly Festival

Join us at the September 10, 2011 Butterfly Festival. The Festival will take place at the Alloway Township Municipal Complex, 49 S. Greenwich Street, Alloway,NJ 08001. The Festival will run from 10:00am until 3:00pm.

We are lucky to have Pat Sutton, renowned naturalist and author as our speaker. At 10:00am Pat will give a presentation and book signing entitled "How to Spot a Butterfly".

Pat Sutton, with over 30 years of experience as a professional naturalist and author will present a program relating her fascination with butterflies and convey the excitement of searching for, studying, enjoying and attracting these winged jewels - just as she and her husband have in their book by the same title (Houghton Mifflin, 1999). She will uncover mysteries about their life cycle, relationships to the plant world, odd behaviors, survival in a world filled with hungry predators, the spectacular migration of some species, and the restricted ranges of others. Field identification can often be enabled by understanding all these aspects of a butterfly's annual life cycle. She will share some of their butterfly watching adventures on their home turf of Cape May and throughout southern New Jersey and afar, an Arctic wilderness trip in northern Alaska, a winter trip to THE Monarch roost in Mexico, butterflying in the tropics and more.

At 12:00pm Pat will lead a paid walk at five local butterfly gardens. The gardens range from a tiny raised bed to a butterfly meadow. What these gardens all have in common is that they attract lots of butterflies. The fee for this walk is $10 per person and the number of participants will be limited. Contact Marilyn at 856-935-2384 or email Patterson606@aol.com to sign up.

The following activities will occur throughout the day.

Butterfly and wildlife plant sale.

Tour Alloway Municipal Butterfly Garden

Visit the artwork display including Butterfly Photos and Alloway Kindergarten Butterfly Drawings

Visit the Alloway Township Green Team Booth to test your recycling IQ

Visit the South Jersey Land and Water Trust to learn how to save water by building a rain barrel

Noon 'til 3:00pm there will be face painting for children.

10:00am-3:00pm - Have your photo taken as a butterfly!

11:15am-noon - Monarch Butterfly Tagging. Once the Monarchs are tagged you can help release them!

Free Tropical Milkweed seeds and butterfly coloring pages. Free drawing for a nature basket.

Salem County Nature Club

2011-07-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Special Events:

August
Don’t forget to sign up for the Purple Martin Spectacular August 12 and 13th. This is an amazing event when thousands of Purple Martins congregate in the marshes surrounding the Maurice River. I took the cruise last year and loved seeing the Martins from the river. It was a great ride and the desserts were delicious. Alan Jackson, the Martin Man, will be on board to answer any questions. I plan to go on Saturday and hope to see many of you there. The fee is $35 per person. To make reservations contact Jane Morton Galetto at 609-774-5853 or http://cumauriceriver.org/donate/index.tpl

Our Annual “Big Sit” will take place at my house once again on August 20th. We will start at 8:00am and continue until Noon. Drop in any time you like. You are sure to see lots of birds and butterflies as well enjoy the company of other Nature Club members. For more information call me at 856-935-2384

August 10, 11, and 12th is the Salem County Fair. We will share a booth there with the Alloway Green Team. (They are funding the booth to support the Butterfly Festival.)

Upcoming Meetings
As we decided last fall, we will continue to have meetings through the summer but will show movies instead of having speakers.

The July movie is, “Pale Male”. It is the story of a Red Tailed Hawk that decided to nest in a very unlikely place- New York City. It is narrated by Joanne Woodward.

The August movie is, “Journeys and Transformations-The Monarch Butterfly Story”. “It’s about taking care of Monarchs, taking care of people, and taking care of the land that sustains us all.” This should get us in the mood for our September 10th Butterfly Festival. This film is produced by the Monarch Teacher Network.

For our September Meeting we will have a speaker from NJ Audubon talking about Grassland Birds and their habitat.

For the October Meeting our speaker will be Jane Morton Galetto President of Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries, Inc. She will present a photo essay entitled, “Eggs to Flight”. This power point presentation depicts the maturation process of an osprey from egg to fledgling.

The November Meeting will feature a presentation by Salem County Nature Club members, Cathy and Jeff White. They will discuss their duties as Eagle Nest Watchers. They will also show us slides of the Eaglet banding they attended. Salem County is Eagle Central in the winter and has a growing number of nests. With the help of people like the Whites, Eagles have been brought back from the brink of extinction.

Our December Meeting is party time!! We will have our annual Christmas Party complete with a slide show entitled, This Year in Salem County. Start gathering your photos; it will be December sooner than you think. We will have are usual wonderful array of cookies and punch. We will also elect new board members.

Volunteer Opportunities:
We need volunteers to man our booth at the Salem County Fair on August 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. The booth must be manned from 3:00pm to 9:00pm daily. Any time you can contribute will break up the time for us. All you have to do is hand out literature for us and the Alloway Green Team and answer questions about the Nature Club. (The Alloway Green Team is paying for the booth as a way to support the Butterfly Festival.)

Sandhill Crane Sightings!

2011-03-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

In the 1990's I was working at a local gun store. One of my customers told me about a big bird that was spending the winter in his fields and horse pasture. He said that it was a stork. I figured that it was a Great Blue Heron and I never took him up on his offer to show it to me. Early that spring he came back into the store and said boy was he glad that that bird had left. He said the carloads of birders was driving him crazy. That's when I knew that I blew it!

A few years later a friend said that he had a huge bird eating his dog's food. He took a photo. It was a Sandhill Crane! I have since been able to piece together the history of this bird. According to Clay Sutton's book, "Birding Cumberland" in 1993 a Common Crane was seen in Cumberland County. It was believed to be an escapee from some zoo. By 1995 it had attracted a Sandhill Crane as a mate and was bearing young. This little tribe of the Common Crane, the Sandhill Crane, and their hybrid young attracted more pure Sandhill Cranes. This mixed flock spread throughout Salem and Cumberland Counties. They are now seen in the fields around Bostwick Lake, near Husted's Landing and at the Rt. 45 Salem River Wildlife area.

This time of year the ones at the Salem River Wildlife Management area are highly visible. They are easy to find if they are calling. Their calls sound like a really loud woodpecker drumming. The call carries a distance. As you can see Jeff White has gotten some wonderful photos of the local pair. Once the mating season passes they will be almost impossible to find. When they are quiet and hold their necks upright, they look exactly like phragmites. Also once the reeds start growing you won't be able to see past them.

So keep your eyes and ears open when visiting anywhere there are fields or marsh habitats. Please remember that this special bird only stays around if it feels safe. Harassing it will make it become secretive or make it leave the area. - Marilyn Patterson

Upcoming Events for the Salem County Nature Club

2011-03-01T12:20:00.000-08:00

Updated Salem County Nature Club meeting schedule:

March 2011
Meeting: Tuesday Mar. 8th, 7:00pm.
David Lord, Associate Naturalist for Cape May Bird Observatory will share a presentation of Birds and Bird Songs. David is renowned in birding circle for his skill at identifying birds by their song. He will share his favorite mnemonics used to identify bird song. The mnemonics that he uses are short, sometimes silly but always easy to remember. David will also be leading a spring bird walk, the time and place yet to be determined.

April 2011
Meeting: Tuesday April 12, 7:00pm.
On April 12th the Salem County Nature Club will host Ron Kegel to share his insights into how to create the perfect wildlife habitat in you own backyard. By choosing the correct trees, shrubs, and plants you can maximize the number and variety of birds and other wildlife you attract. Planting for nature gives you a front seat to watch all of the wonders of nature. Your yard will become the favorite stopover for all of the flashy spring and fall migrants. Ron's expertise in trees and shrubs comes from his years working for Dean's Evergreens. Horticultural is both his avocation and his vocation. Ron will give us selection and planting tips as well as share his amazing yard bird list with us.

May 2011
Meeting: May 10th, 7:00pm.
Jack Mahon will be presenting a slideshow and talk about shorebirds in New Jersey. Fortescue, NJ is one of the premier sites to see migrating shorebirds in May. People come from all over the world to view this phenomenon. Jack will prepare us for what we will see on our Shorebird Caravan. Time and date for the caravan to be announced.

Eagle Caravan

2011-01-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

The Eagle Caravan was held on Saturday January 22nd and it was a great success! Despite the very cold weather there was a good turn out of hearty souls. Jeff & Cathy White led the caravan to several sites where we were able to observe mature and juvenile Bald Eagles.

On our way to view eagles, Jeff also pointed out Red-tailed, Coopers and Red-shouldered hawks. Also, ducks were spotted in the waterways, including Greater Scaups, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Pintails and Black Ducks.

December Meeting Recap

2010-12-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the December Meeting. We had lots of beautiful photos to look at and delicious cookies to eat. We put on a slide show of the Four Seasons of Salem County using images supplied by a number of club members. Everyone agreed that the slide presentation is something we want to make a tradition.

Next Meeting and Eagle Caravan: January 2011
Meeting: Tuesday Jan. 11, 7:00pm. We will be showing the film, “World of Raptors” by Morley Nelson and narrated by Joanne Woodward.
This film will get us in the mood for the annual Eagle Caravan to take place on Sunday January 16th. This caravan will be led by “Mr. and Mrs. Eagle”, Jeff and Cathy White. Time and meeting place to be announced.

Purple Finch Sightings!!

2010-11-04T13:41:00.000-07:00

We are all used to seeing lots of House Finches at our feeders but have you noticed some that don't look quite right?

These may be Purple Finches. I find the female of Purple Finches and House Finches easy to tell apart. The female Purple Finch appears much darker and on closer look she has much darker streaks on her breast and her head is patterned with brown and white. House Finches have a lightly notched tail while Purple Finch have a deeply notched tail.

Now for the hard part! The males! Male Purple Finch are said to have Red or Rose tinting their entire body with extensive color on the back of their head. His back is finely streaked with a faint pink wash. The House Finch has most of its color (more orange red than rosy red) on the top of its head and on its breast. Its flanks are heavily streaked. The best way to learn the difference is to see both together. It looks like this year is a great one to learn the differences.

Below are photos of female Purple House Finches:

Marilyn Patterson

Holly Hills Clean Up - October 30th

2010-10-28T16:53:00.001-07:00

Please don't forget the clean-up of the old Holly Hills Golf Course on Saturday. It is located on Friesburg Road, Alloway. This is a great way for our club to help keep this great NJ DEP Fish and Wildlife site clean. What we will be doing is picking up trash from the front of the site around the parking area and from the area around the ponds. The more people helping the better. People will be there from 8:00am until 11am this Saturday October 30th. We appreciate any time you can give us. Even a half hour is a great help.

Bring gloves, and a plastic trash bag. If you want to make a trash pick up stick you can use an old broom stick and put a finishing nail into the end. Then you cut off the head of the finishing nail. I will be bring a few pick up sticks and grabbers to share with you.

If it rains we will cancel and move it to the next Saturday.

Thanks, Marilyn Patterson, President, Salem County Nature Club

October Meeting

2010-09-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday October 12, Michael Hogan of South Jersey Land and Water Trust will talk about how to conduct a stream assessment. This should prove to be very interesting especially since Michael will be using some of his magnificent photography to illustrate what is found in a healthy stream.

September Meeting

2010-09-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

Our next meeting is Tuesday September 14th at 7:00. Jack Mahon will be presenting a talk on raptors, how to identify them, where to look for them, and how their populations have increased or decreased.

Jack has been organizing the Salem County Raptor Count for many years and has seen first hand the impact on raptors as local land use changes from farmland to residential.

The meeting will provide a great opportunity to brush up on your raptor ID skills just in time for the raptor migration. We are lucky that a large number of raptors will migrate through this area and many will spend the winter here.

July Meeting

2010-07-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

Naturalist Paul Taylor presented a video at our July meeting entitled “Exploring the Natural World". It was both fun and informative.

Most of you know Paul from the many years that he served as the biologist for Parvin State Park. He leads their weekly nature walks and continues to write a newspaper column called, “The Artist’s Eye”. Paul has encyclopedic knowledge of all critters that inhabit the woods, swamps, ponds and streams of Salem County.

Below is a schedule of nature walks that Paul leads at Parvin State Park. For more information on these and other activities at Parvin, call the park at 856-358-8616.

Sat July 24
1:30 Wild edible plant walk. Meet at the Nature Interpretive Pavilion

Sat July 31
1:30 Indian lore & fossils. Meet at the Nature Interpretive Pavilion

Sat Aug 14
1:30 Guided walk. Meet at Fisherman's Landing

Sat Aug 21
1:30 Walk to see turtles. Meet at Fisherman's Landing

Sat Aug 28
1:30 Guided walk. Meet at Second Landing.

May Nature Walk

2010-06-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

Those of you who attended our May walk at Finn's Point and Supawna Meadows NWR with Jeff and Cathy White know what a great day we had.

Cathy and Jeff are a great spotting team. They were seeing birds and animals everywhere. Because of their superior spotting abilities all of us were able to get good looks at even quick moving warblers. We were treated to sightings of Indigo Buntings, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Cedar Waxwings, Great Blue Herons, and Great Egrets. A number of Bald Eagle flyovers keep the excitment level high.

For those of us trying to learn bird songs we heard the sneezy call of the Willow Warbler, the "Whitchety Whitchety" of the Common Yellow Throated Warbler, and the "Sweet sweet a little more sweet" of the Yellow Warbler. Some of our quickest photographers got nice shots of them.

I want to thank Cathy and Jeff for their wonderful leadership. Any time you get an opportunity to go nature hunting with them, take it. You won't regret it.

Summer Events

2010-06-02T18:42:00.001-07:00

June Meeting
We are doing something a little different for the June Meeting of the Salem County Nature Club. We will start the meeting in the parking lot with a plant swap and sale. If you have extra plants, especially those that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, bring them to the meeting and swap them with other club members. It would be helpful if you could tag the plants with their common name.

After the plant swap we will go inside for a short talk on turtles. During the month of June turtles are everywhere. It is their breeding time and they are wandering around looking for mates and places to lay their eggs.

July Meeting
Naturalist Paul Taylor will put on a program entitled “Exploring the Natural World”. Most of you know Paul from the many years that he served as the biologist for Parvin State Park. He led their weekly nature walks and continues to write a newspaper column called, “The Artist’s Eye”. Paul has encyclopedic knowledge of all critters that inhabit the woods, swamps, ponds and streams of Salem County. This should prove to be an exciting and fun evening.

August Meeting
We will be showing the movie, “Hooked on Hummingbirds” by Thomas H. Kaminski. While we are all familiar with our local Ruby Throated Hummingbirds there are many other varieties of hummingbirds and this video will show us 20 of those species.

The annual “Big Sit” will take place on Saturday August 21st from 8:00 am to noon. Bring your coffee and a snack, then pull up a chair in the shade and watch the wildlife. The “Big Sit” takes place at a 2.3 acre wildlife area I call home. There are gardens for butterflies, hedgerows for birds and grassy areas for other critters. The pond is filled with fish, frogs and dragonflies. Bring your camera to capture the wide variety of wildlife you will see. If you are feeling adventurist you can walk the 70 acre Natural Lands Trust preserve surrounding my place. The “Big Sit” is a relaxing way to enjoy nature without working up a sweat.

2010-05-01T14:28:00.001-07:00

The Salem County Nature Club will meet on Tuesday May 11th at 7:00pm in the Municipal Building on East Greenwich St., Alloway Township.

This month’s topic with be presented by members Jack Mahon and Marilyn Patterson. We will discuss how to distinguish those confusing warblers by both field marks and song.

In May millions of warblers make their annual migratory trip to their breeding grounds. We are lucky that they pass right through Salem County. Many of them will stop and nest here.

Come to the meeting and learn about these lovely, long distance flying, tiny birds.

For more information contact Marilyn at 856-935-2384, email salemnatureclub@aol.com or visit our blog at www.salemcountynatureclubnews.blogspot.com.

May Meeting Info

2010-05-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

The Salem County Nature Club will meet on Tuesday May 11th at 7:00pm in the Municipal Building on East Greenwich St., Alloway Township.
This month’s topic with be presented by members Jack Mahon and Marilyn Patterson. We will discuss how to distinguish those confusing warblers by both field marks and song.
In May millions of warblers make their annual migratory trip to their breeding grounds. We are lucky that they pass right through Salem County. Many of them will stop and nest here.
Come to the meeting and learn about these lovely, long distance flying, tiny birds. For more information contact Marilyn at 856-935-2384, email salemnatureclub@aol.com or visit our blog at www.salemcountynatureclubnews.blogspot.com.

March 2010

2010-04-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

I have been getting lots of positive feedback about our March meeting and speaker Renee Brecht. I don’t think any of us realized how many rare and endangered plants live exist here in Salem County. Renee has supplied us with links to great native plant sites as she promised.

Our walk with David Lord was a rousing success. I was skeptical that many people would get out of their warm beds to go on a cold walk at 7 am. Much to my surprise we had a really good turnout. We saw or heard 35 species of birds. I hope you will be able to join us the next time David leads a walk.

Our April meeting will take place on Tuesday 4/13. If you ever wondered what frog is making that sound, this meeting is for you. We will show images of the frogs and match the sounds with them. This time of year the evenings are alive with frog songs as they call for mates.

After that short program we will be showing a presentation that I am working on for school children. It is called “Litter Harms Wildlife”. I am trying to make children understand the link between the litter we create and its impact on the natural world. I started making this presentation when I noticed the mounds of trash dumped monthly at the “DOD”. The “DOD” is a wonderful place to bird and kayak but some people miss that and see it as a dumpsite. I realized that I couldn’t change the habits of the adults that did the dumping, but their children could. If we can get them to be the protectors of wildlife the parents will follow. After all, every parent wants to be a hero to their children.

Once again we need volunteers to do a clean-up at Holly Hills. We also need volunteers to plan a couple of nature workshops for children. We plan to have them assemble and paint a bird house and at a second workshop to make jewelry and a pencil holder from seashells and self-hardening clay. Let me know if you are interested in running or volunteering to help with either of these workshops.

Don’t forget to look at the Hummingbird map link on the left to follow the little fellows as they fly north. FINALLY-SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Marilyn Patterson - President

Links from Renee Brecht from Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River.
The native plant website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nativeplantexchange/
The natural heritage website: http://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/natural/heritage/

Upcoming Events in March

2010-03-02T17:46:00.000-08:00

The February meeting of the Salem County Nature Club was cancelled due to snow. I don’t know about you but I am sure sick of snow. I received an email that sums up my feelings. It said “Whoever is praying for snow – STOP! Oh well, spring can’t be far away.

The March meeting of the Salem County Nature Club will be held Tuesday March 9th at 7:00pm. Renee Brecht will be putting on a presentation entitled, “Rare and Unusual Wildflowers of South Jersey”. For those of you who don’t know Renee, she is an Associate Director of Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River. She co-ordinates volunteer and special events for CU as well as trains Swamp Pink Survey Volunteers for US Fish and Wildlife.

While Renee has expertise in a wide range of natural topics, her special interests are botany and herpetology. Renee will be sharing her extensive knowledge of unusual local plants with us. Renee has created a calendar of blooming plants. This will serve as a guide to the flowers that we are likely to encounter on our walks each month. The Swamp Pink is one of the plants covered in Renee’s presentation. Swamp Pinks are a Federally Endangered plant found here in South Jersey but in few other places in the world. Renee’s photos are beautiful and her enthusiasm for wildflowers is contagious. Mark March 9th on your calendar as this is a “don’t miss it” presentation.

As if Renee’s presentation isn’t enough excitement for March, there is more. David Lord, NJ Audubon Volunteer and Naturalist on the Osprey will be leading a bird walk on March 27th. This walk will be held at Supawna Meadows and will start promptly at 7:00 am. We are starting early because that is when the birds are singing. David will share his expertise in bird identification through their song. This walk will be worth the early start. Email Marilyn at Salemnatureclub@aol.com if you are going to attend. We will cancel if there are fewer than 10 people signed up.
Marilyn Patterson

January Meeting a Success!

2010-01-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

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.

January Meeting - Pat Sutton "How to Spot an Owl"

2010-01-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

At the January 12th, 7:00pm meeting of the Salem County Nature Club; Pat Sutton, renowned author and naturalist, will be presenting her new updated digital version of "How to Spot an Owl". Pat will also be selling and signing her books at this meeting. The Salem County Nature Club meets at the Old School/Municipal Building, 49 Greenwich Street Alloway, NJ. Members are free, non-members $2.00. Contact Marilyn at 856-935-2384 or Salemnatureclub@aol.com for more information.

"How to Spot an Owl," program and book signing by Pat Sutton. Pat Sutton has studied owls in the wild for 30 years. She lives near Cape May, a world renowned migratory crossroads that is famous for its hawk and owl migration. In her program she will relate her fascination with owls and convey the excitement of searching for, understanding, and enjoying these illusive and mysterious creatures -- just as she and her husband Clay have in their book by the same title (Houghton Mifflin, 1994, now out of print). Owling basics, owling on your own, various clues to follow-up, special places and habitats, helpful equipment, and backyard owling will all be covered. Owling etiquette and how to spot owls without disturbing them is emphasized. Pat will remove some of the mystery of owl finding, while simultaneously conveying the excitement of searching for and studying these illusive nocturnal predators. Bring your binocs . . . so you can find some hidden owls in the program.

PAT SUTTON BIO
Pat Sutton lives near Cape May, New Jersey, the world renowned migratory crossroads that is famous for its hawk, owl, songbird, shorebird, and Monarch butterfly migration. She has keenly studied the natural world for 30 years. Pat and her husband Clay’s landmark book, Birds and Birding at Cape May (Stackpole Books, 2006, 568 pages), is the in-depth result of their efforts over many years documenting and protecting the migration and the hometown that they so love. Pat and Clay Sutton together have co-authored How to Spot Butterflies (1999), How to Spot Hawks & Eagles (1996), and How to Spot an Owl (1994), all published by Houghton Mifflin. Pat has been a working naturalist since 1977, first for the Cape May Point State Park and then for 21 years with New Jersey Audubon Society’s Cape May Bird Observatory, where she was the Naturalist and Program Director. Today, Pat and Clay are free-lance writers, naturalists, lecturers, and tour leaders. Pat is a founding Board Member of the North American Butterfly Association. She coauthored, with David Wright, CMBO's "Cape May County Butterfly Checklist" and the Cape May County butterfly site guide in Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies Through Binoculars. She is a passionate advocate and wildlife gardener for and photographer of butterflies, moths, birds, and other critters. Articles and photography by Pat & Clay have appeared in New Jersey Audubon, Peregrine Observer, New Jersey Outdoors, Sanctuary, American Butterflies, Wild Bird, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birder's World, Birding, Living Bird, Defenders, and others.

November

2009-11-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

At our November meeting, Kenneth Strait from PSE&G, gave a great presentation about the work they are doing on the Delaware River Estuary. An Estuary is the birthplace of all life in the river and bay. A hundred years ago the marshes were diked to dry up wetlands and create uplands for salt hay farms. The invasive marsh plant Phragmites took over the remaining marsh driving out the native marsh grasses. Phragmites dries up the wetlands by creating its own soil. Fish, crabs and small invertebrates could no longer breed among the roots of the native plants.

PSE&G purchased the salt farms and surrounding marshes and set about using science to return the estuary to its natural state. Their goal was to increase the number of fish raised in the estuary. They have succeeded in drastically increasing the number of young fish leaving the marsh but the number of returning adults is decreasing. Scientists are trying to find out what happens to them between the Delaware Bay and the Carolinas.

December

2009-11-21T16:12:00.000-08:00

Salem County Nature Club

Meeting: Tuesday December 8th

2009 Photo Contest
1. All photos must be taken in Salem County.
2. All photos must be 4 x 6.
3. You can enter two photos in each category.
4. The categories are as follows: Insects and Butterflies, Plants, Birds, Animals and Reptiles, Scenic, Nature Babies and Uncommitted. Uncommitted is the catch all for photos that don’t fit into the other categories.
5. All Photos must be delivered to Marilyn by Friday December 4th.
6. At our December Meeting Club members will vote for their favorite photo in each category.
7. Then you will vote to choose the best from among the 7 category winners.
8. The Grand Prize is a $25.00 gift certificate to Rushes Restaurant. The winner in each category will get to choose a prize from a selection of nature books.

In order to make this meeting a little more festive, we will break the no food rule and serve cookies. I ask that you bring your own beverage to eliminate a lot of mess and expense.
If you would like to bake some cookies for the meeting please let me know.

Note: No walks scheduled this month.

OCTOBER

2009-10-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday October 13thPresident, Marilyn Patterson will be putting on a slide show entitled “Butterflies of Salem County”.
Marilyn will show her own photos as well as images taken by other SCNC members. We all enjoy the beauty of butterflies and now we have a chance to learn more about their habits and lifestyle. Bring in your photos for identification. Marilyn will have a number of butterfly books with her to help with identification.
Do you know the names of all of the butterflies in your garden? Do you know how to tell a moth from a butterfly? Do you know who the LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) of the butterfly world are? Do you know what “hill topping is”? Do you know why the Viceroy Butterfly mimics the appearance of the Monarch Butterfly? What about why are most tiny caterpillars black and white? All of these questions, and many more, will be answered during the presentation.

No nature walks scheduled this month

August

2009-09-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

The August meeting of the Salem County Nature Club was a great success. Jeff White and Garry Baldwin taught us a lot about photographing wildlife. They also shared many of their awesome photographs. A number of our members said that the photos made them want to get right out and take lots of photos.
The weather gods co-operated for the Wednesday Big Sit. It was just as hot as you would expect in August.
The big question of the Wednesday Big Sit was: “Did a Pileated Woodpecker make those holes in the tree on the edge of Marilyn’s yard?” Our “Whatisit” bird turned out to be a female or young Indigo Bunting. The caterpillars that Carolyn Howell brought over have emerged and I released two female and two male Monarch Butterflies.
The Saturday Big Sit was cancelled due to the torrential rain storms. It did clear later and a few people that lived close by showed up. We took pictures of everything that moved and many things that didn’t. Even though the early morning was miserable we still had a good time. Let’s hope that next year the weather co-operates a little better.

Butterfly Month

2009-08-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these butterfly photos from our members!

August Notes

2009-08-03T15:41:00.001-07:00

At the July meeting, Larissa Smith spoke to the Nature Club about the American Bald Eagle Restoration Program. It was wonderful to hear about the comeback of the Bald Eagle right here in Salem County. Let’s hope that humans continue to be vigilant in protecting their habitat and their nest sites so that our grandchildren can also experience the majesty of a soaring Bald Eagle.

You have all heard the expression, “the dog days of August”. Well they are here. It is hot and humid and the weeds are growing so fast it feels like I live in a tropical jungle. For those of us into photography the growing weeds and wildflowers present some interesting photo opportunities. They also attract one of the great joys of August, butterflies.

Since I am officially naming August “Butterfly Month” I need you to send us your butterfly photos for the Nature Club Blog. If you aren’t sure what kind they are we will identify them for you. Even though it is “Butterfly Month” photos of other insects are also welcome.

If you come out to the “Big Sit”, you will be treated to an abundance of butterflies, hummingbirds, dragonflies, flowers and weeds to use as photo subjects. Of course, there are tons of birds here too. The Wild Cherries and Blackberries are in fruit and the birds are active harvesting them. The Gnatcatchers, Flycatchers, and Hummingbirds are zooming around catching the insects the fruit attracts. It’s a fun time to be a nature lover. I will provide chairs and cold drinks, iced tea, soda, and water. Bring your own snack and we can sit in the shade and enjoy nature or for those more motivated we can walk the trails or go back into the woods.

At our next meeting we will be treated to the great nature photography created by SCNC members, Jeff White and Garry Baldwin. Even if you are not into taking wildlife photos you will enjoy their beautiful pictures. Those of us who enjoy photography are anxious to find out how they got some of those amazing photos. These two are serious trophy hunters. Not with guns but with cameras. Join us as they share their “hunting” techniques with us.

2009-08-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

June Notes

2009-06-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Steve Eisenhauer of Natural Lands Trust spoke at our June Meeting. He talked about the Burden Hill Forest, what it is and why its preservation is so important. He also talked about the tax implications of preserving land versus letting it be developed. He outlined some of the many children's programs Natural Lands Trust put on. He is correct in stating that the future of our wild lands lies in the hands of our children.

Don't forget that June is "Turtle Month". This is prime turtle nesting season and they are seen crossing the roads everywhere. If you are near brackish water you will see Diamond Backed Terrapins, if you are in upland areas you will see Box turtles, in freshwater areas you may see painted or red-bellied turtles. If they are in the middle of the road please help them safely cross the road. Make sure that you take them in the direction they were heading or they will just recross the road when you are gone. Make sure you are concerned with your own safety while helping the turtles. Also remember the old adage,"no good deed goes unpunished" when approaching a Snapping Turtle. He will bite you if he can.

If you find a "friendly" variety of turtle, turn it over and look at the shell. If the bottom of the shell is flat it is a female and if the bottom of the shell is concave it is a male.

Thus far this month I have 11 turtle assists. Ten of them were Box Turtles and one was a Painted Turtle. I am amazed that all of these Box Turtles were the orange variety not the yellow variety. It is great to see so many Box Turtles since they are are Species of Concern in New Jersey.

Send Elyce O'Malley your turtle pictures and we'll put them up on this page.
Marilyn Patterson

May in Salem County

2009-06-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

The May meeting of the Salem County Nature was a rousing success. Pat Sutton did a wonderful presentation on "How to build a Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden".

We changed our May walks to Finn's Point Cemetery next to Fort Mott. There were four of us on the Wednesday walk. We walked the Finn's Point nature trail. This trail takes you from meadow to woodland. We saw a number of different warblers including Yellow and Common Yellow-Throat, we also saw a Baltimore Oriole, Blue Gray Gnat Catcher, Towhees, Flicker, Cardinals, Catbirds, Indigo Buntings, Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, and Red Bellied Woodpecker.

The highlight of our walk was when Stephanie Gardner (a new birder) was trying to locate the fast moving Gnat Catcher and instead found a hummingbirds nest! That is some binocular work when you can see a nest that tiny! The babies had fledged but I suspect it will be used again as it looks like it has been rebuilt in the past. Hummingbirds often re-use the last year's nest.

There were six walkers on the Saturday walk. Some of them saw Scarlet Tanagers, Summer Tanagers, Blue Gray Gnat-catchers, Yellow and Common Yellow-throat warblers, little Blue Heron, Baltimore and Orchard Oriole males and females, Indigo Buntings, Towhees, Catbirds and a host of other birds. I got there early and saw two short eared owls as well a two Opossum. The opossum spotted me and one went on one side of the stone fence and another went on the other side of the fence. That is why in the picture he is standing up trying to get her scent. I also saw the Common Red Start in the pictures.

Judy Oshipp and I went to Supawna and found the Yellow-breasted Chat singing its heart out. One of their calls sounds like a duck quacking. The deer and wild rose are pictures I took on another trip to Supawna.

The photos of the shore birds are only a tiny snapshot of the number of migrants that used Fortescue as a resting and refueling stop. I was glad to see some Red Knots among their numbers. I watched as a female horseshoe crab tried to come ashore to lay her eggs but was stalked by about a hundred shore birds as she cruised along.

May is the month that all nature lovers wait for. Lots of birds are migrating through and those that just arrived are setting up their territories by singing their hearts out. Those of us trying to learn their songs are driving ourselves crazy sorting through the amazing symphony of bird song. The songfest will end in early June but then the birds will be nesting and feeding their young providing us with lots of opportunities to watch and photograph them.

You will notice the photo of the female Pileated Woodpecker. I found her on the Natural Lands Trust property behind my house. There was one Pileated reported on the Salem County Christmas Bird Count this year. They are normally not seen in Cumberland or Salem Counties. Judy Oshipp identified the call of one at Finn's Point Cemetary and also at Supawna just before I found the female here. I have since heard that one is visiting a suet feeder in Pennsville. Welcome to Salem County Pileated Woodpeckers. We hope you will make your home here.

Our members have been busy this month. Judy Oshipp, Ava Harvey and I participated in the filming of a commercial for Salem County. You will see us pointing and asking the ranger for advice on the birds we supposedly see. The County is promoting birding to encourage tourism and asked the nature club to help. They contacted me to have Salem County Nature Club members participate. I gave them a long list of names but many of you had other plans or were crafty enough to get out of it. I can't say it was fun but we roasted in the sun for a good cause.

Ava Harvey and I put in a Butterfly Garden on the side of the Salem Library. Alloway Township has approved our putting in a Butterfly Garden in front of the building where we meet. We will start work on that next week and are looking for volunteers to help us.

Steve Eisenhauer will be speaking at next week's meeting about The Burden Hill Forest. This unique woods is right here in Salem County. I hope to see you there.

Marilyn Patterson

2009-05-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT: -- LOCATION CHANGE FOR MAY NATURE WALKS
We are changing the walk for this Wednesday 5/20 & Saturday 5/23 from the DOD to Fort Mott. We will still start at 8:00 am. When we went to the DOD last week we found that the road would be difficult for a normal car to travel. It is full of pot holes and wash outs.
We walked the new trails at Fort Mott and found some really neat birds. Orioles, Indigo Buntings, Warblers, Thrashers etc. I think you will enjoy Fort Mott. We will meet in the parking lot near the bathrooms. We may be able to carpool. Email me at Patterson606@aol.com or call me at 856-935-2384 if you are coming. The walks will begin promptly at 8:00 so it's important that you contact me to let me know you will be attending.

2009-04-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

We're proud to announce that two of our nature club members are exhibiting their work as part of Salem County's 'Arts in Bloom'.

Salem County Nature Club Member, Sina Kurman, will be exhibiting her wood carvings, including wildlife sculptures, at the home of Molly Sanger Carpenter,465 Kings Highway, Mannington. The detail of Sina's carving has to be seen to be appreciated. The feet of her ducks are so perfectly carved that you expect the duck to walk off of the table. Her work is so lifelike that I witnessed a taxidermist bet $100 that her merganser was stuffed not carved. When he touched the duck he willing paid the bet, shaking his head in amazement.

Salem County Nature Club Member Alex Alampi will be exhibiting his work at his "Studio of Fine Art", 157 Harrisonville Lake Road, Pilesgrove. The theme of the his transparent water color paintings and prints is, Our Rural Heritage. Alex's work captures the quickly disappearing South Jersey way of life. It speaks of a simpler time. He produces beautiful art work that tugs at our heart as we remember how New Jersey used to be. A farmer told me that only one thing kept Alex's painting of Dale Smith Crossing the Cows from being perfect. You couldn't smell the cows. After staring at the painting for a while he said, "that painting sure makes you remember exactly how it was."

Arts in Bloom will take place on Sat. May 30th and Sun. May 31st. For more details call(856) 935-7510 ext. 8532 or go to www.visitsalemcountynj.com

Marilyn

Holly Hills Butterfly Meadow

2009-04-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

Latest Update on Holly Hills Project: Ava Harvey and I put in the Butterfly Meadow. We did it ourselves since the weather wasn't co-operating and we were running out of time. Let's hope that the deer don't eat it and the 4 wheelers don't run over it . If all goes well, in another month it should be covered with butterflies.

Bluebirds are nesting in one of our houses. I will check them for eggs on our walk Wednesday.
Marilyn

2009-04-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Our computer whiz, Elyce O'Malley, has done it again. Check out the neat blog she has created for her husband's business. (See link below) http://omalleyremodelingphotos.blogspot.com/
It sure makes me want to go to him for my carpentry work. Elyce has been a real asset to the Salem County Nature Club. She created our blog and keeps it up to date and looking great.
Thanks Elyce,
Marilyn

2009-03-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

March Meeting:
We had a great turnout at our March Meeting. Pat Sutton was our speaker. She held us spellbound as she described the birding diversity in Cape May. She pointed out that while Cape May has vast numbers of each species of birds migrating through it, Salem County has the same variety but in smaller numbers.
She also emphasized the importance of preserving natural areas as birding habitat. Huge expanses of lawn with no native vegetation are of as little use to wildlife as the stone lawns down the shore. Pat describes them as deserts. Birds need mature native trees that provide fruits and berries to sustain them during migration. They also need weed seeds and insects. None of these things are found in sterile landscapes. If we want to keep the birds we must preserve the natural places they require.

Holly Hills Clean-Up Day:
Saturday March 28 dawned rainy and gloomy. I was sure that we were going to have to cancel the whole day. I didn’t count on the toughness of the Salem County Nature Club Members. Fifteen people pulled up in the parking lot minutes after the rain stopped.

While we canceled planting the Butterfly Garden we did complete all of our other objectives. We put up 11 Bluebird Houses, and one Wood Duck House. We gathered bag after bag of trash. Today we focused on the front half of the property. We plan to pick up the trash on the balance of the property and plant the Butterfly Garden sometime in the next few weeks. I will email everyone when that is scheduled.

I would like to thank Ranch Hope and Shop Teacher, Ted Sheppard, for making 7 Bluebird houses for us. Oak Gandy built us 2 Bluebird Houses and the Wood Duck house. Alex Alampi gave us two Bluebird houses.

Jeff White was the crew boss for the bird houses. He cut all of the metal posts, pre-drilled the Wood Duck House pole, and mounted all of the houses. He and Cathy were loading up the poles this morning while the rain was still coming down. While I was mentally cancelling the day, Cathy and Jeff were celebrating that it wasn’t getting worse. They were just what we needed to get the job done – enthusiastic optimists. We couldn’t have done it without them.

The people earning the Trash Picker Merit Badge were: Ava Harvey, Elyce O’Malley, Helga and Gene Seabright, Lillian Rhubart, Paula and Larry Sinclair, Janeen and Andrew Buirch. Those earning the Raise the Bird Box without Falling down Badge were: Jeff and Cathy White, Alex Alampi Jr., Judy Oshipp, and Don Rhubart. Don won the Special Events Badge for his pole vaulting skills while Alex Alampi won for the wettest participant. I won for standing around and walking back and forth. All in all we got a lot done and had a great time.

March Meeting - Pat Sutton on "Birding Cape May"

2009-03-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

MARCH MEETING
Tuesday March 10th - 7:00 pm
Speaker: Pat Sutton
Topic: Birding Cape May
Location: Old Alloway School
Dues/Fees: Members $2/Non-members $5
Register and get directions:
mailto:directionsSalemnatureclub@aol.com
Marilyn Patterson Phone: 856-935-2384

Hi Guys, This is an early reminder of our next Salem County Nature Club Meeting on Tuesday March 10th. We are very lucky to have Pat and possibly Clay Sutton present their program "Birding Cape May". Pat and Clay are naturalists who have spent a large portion of their lives researching and documenting the wildlife in Southern New Jersey. They have recently produced a book entitled, "Birding Cape May", it is considered the bible of bird migration in New Jersey.

Cape May is famous for the quantity and variety of birds that pass through it each year. Salem County shares much of that diversity as the birds of the Eastern Fly-way also pass through here on their way south. Young birds often turn back from Cape May after seeing the size of the body of water they must cross to continue south. They follow the river north until the crossing is easier. That brings them right into Salem County. What I am saying is that what happens in Cape May happens here on a smaller scale. The people who understand that better than anyone are the Suttons.

I met Pat some years ago, when Jim Dowdell (another renowned naturalist), asked if he could bring some people up to my house to go butterflying. I said fine and then he said one of the people was Pat Sutton. I almost died. I knew how famous Pat was. I also knew that while I love my home it wasn't very fancy. I was afraid that it wouldn't meet Pat's standards. Boy was I wrong. She turned out to be as down to earth as a person could be. We have become good friends who share a love of all things natural. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Pat has written books on Butterflies, Owls and now "Birding Cape May" co-authored with her husband Clay.

Clay has authored and co-authored many books on birds in Southern New Jersey. Locally he has done many wildlife and plant surveys for Natural Lands Trust and New Jersey Audubon. I believe he knows more about the wildlife in Salem County than any other single person. Like his wife Pat he has enthusiastically championed conservation. His knowledge of snakes, plants, lizards, insects, butterflies and birds is encyclopedic.

We are so lucky to have such great speakers come to our little club. I hope you will invite all of your friends to attend. I am hoping for a really large turnout. Non-members will be charged $5.00 (or they can join that night) while members pay $2.00. I have asked the Suttons to bring some of their various books for sale. They have offered to sign them and any others you may already own. So bring your Sutton books and all of your friends and join us for an amazing evening.

Thanks, Marilyn Patterson, President Salem County Nature Club

February Meeting and walks

2009-02-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

Everyone had a good time at the February meeting watching the short film on Mollusks. We have all walked the beach picking up seashells but most of us never understood the life-cycle of the living shells. Now we know that gastropods are the snail-like shells while bi-valves are the two half shells such as clams, scallops and cockles. We learned how they filter the water looking for food and most fascinating of all, how they move. Most members took home a collection of shells that I gathered in Florida earlier this year. People were happy to get them and I was thrilled to share them. Stephanie Smith just told me that she used the shells as a teaching tool for an entire week. That by itself made it worth the effort of hauling them home.

Jeff White, Ava Harvey, Elyce O'Malley, Stephanie Chapman and I attended the Wednesday "walk". It really was a drive and stop since the weather was so cold. We followed Jeff on his normal Eagle watching route. We saw numerous nests, some with mothers sitting on eggs. We also had some pretty good looks at immature eagles. Next to one of the nests was a Great Blue Heron Rookery. That is a collection of a large number of Great Blue Heron nests. There were probably 40 or 50 nests. Ava and Jeff had to leave us but the rest of us were still in "eagle hunt" mode. We visited the Jill Road nest and saw an adult sitting in a tree near the nest. After seeing that nest we reverted to our second passion, eating. The three of us went to the new little restaurant in Woodstown called Sweet Tomatoes. The food was great. My guess is that after lunch we all went home to take a nap. It was a wonderful day.

Saturday only Carolyn Howell and I went on the "walk". We followed some of the route that Jeff showed us and saw a number of nests with moms sitting on eggs. We ran into Jeff and Cathy at Mannington Meadows and they told us they had seen five immature eagles on the ice near the bridge on 540. We headed up there and found six sitting on the ice around the remains of a Snow Goose. Carolyn asked me if I was sure they were eagles just as a mature Bald Eagle flew in and sat next to them. No question now, they were all eagles. Carolyn shared that her favorite bird is the Great Blue Heron. Boy, did I have a surprise in store for her! Much to my surprise we found the rookery thanks to the earlier encounter with Jeff and Cathy White. They gave us the name of the roads so we found it with ease. We watched four or five herons building their nests. It was a thrill for both of us. I also had a great look at a pair of Red-tailed Hawks sitting wing to wing. Spring is in the air! While our trip was shorter than the Wednesday walk we were both pleased with the day. Now if I can just get Jeff to mark a map with where he took us, I might be able to find all of the spots again. Marilyn

Cumberland County Eagle Festival

2009-01-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

As promised, we're posting the lastest info about the Eagle Festival on Feb 7th:
The speaker schedule is as follows:
10 AM Bald Eagles - Soaring in NJ by Kathy Clark, NJ Endangered Species
11 AM Seasons of the Maurice by Jane Galetto, Citizens United
1 PM The Art of Pishing, Pete Dunne, NJ Audubon/CMBO
2 PM New Jersey's Rare Wildlife, Margaret O'Gorman, Conserve Wildlife
3 PM Owls and How to Find Them, Don Freiday, NJ Audubon, CMBO
Admission: $10 for adults. Location: Mauricetown Fire Hall - Noble Street, Mauricetown, NJ. For more info call: 856-453-2177.

Photo Site

2009-01-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone
We've got the Salem County Nature Club Photo blog up and running. There are 2 new photos from Beth Graham & Jeff White. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. There's a shot of a perching bluebird snapped by Beth Graham at Carney's Point and an "action photo" of an eagle catching a fish at Mannington from Jeff White. Go to the photo blog by clicking on it under "Links" on this page or type in this address http://scncsightingsphotos.blogspot.com/
If you'd like to add some photos to the site, please email to salemnatureclub@aol.com

2009-01-15T15:36:00.001-08:00

Pine Siskin Alert!
There are Pine Siskins in the area. You may see them on your nyger feeders!
To get more info on Pine Siskins and other birds click on "What Bird" under Links on this page.

2009-01-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas Bird Count

Wow, what an experience! A number of Salem County Nature Club members had the opportunity to participate in the Salem and Elmer Christmas bird counts. We started the morning long before daylight by calling owls. We used a Screech Owl call and stirred up numerous Screech Owls and a few Great Horned Owls. It was both spooky and fun to be out in the woods in the dark.

The day was spent chasing birds all over our assigned territories. Eagles and hawks were numerous. We saw a Peregrin Falcon dashing in and out of some evergreens. Jerry Haag’s patience was tested on that one. I kept saying, “where, where”. It was moving so fast that I almost missed it but he was finally able to get me on it. We also saw Harriers, Sharp Shins, Coopers, and Kestrels.

There were lots of little birds in the thickets. We saw Purple Finch, White Crowned Sparrows, Golden Crowned Kinglets and lots of Juncos and White Throats. In the fields we found Horned Larks, and Meadow Larks. There were too many other birds for me to remember but what I do remember was that this was the most fun that I have had in a long time. Great company and lots of birds…It doesn’t get better than that!

Many thanks go out to club members Tony Geiger, Elyce O’Malley, and Ava Harvey for their help in my Salem Territory. Judy Oshipp did the Woodstown area. Carolyn Howell, and I went with Jerry Haag on his Elmer Territory. Next year I hope even more of you will join us. Marilyn

2008-12-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

Winners of the Salem County Nature Club Fun Photo Contest
Thanks to everyone for participating!

There were a number of ties so we decided to award the same place prize to each of the winners.

Grand Prize Winner – Jeff White with a lovely fall photo of trees reflecting in the lake. His prize was a $25.00 gift certificate to Rushes Restaurant.

First Place Prize Winners in each of the six categories.

Prize is 6 months free dues.

General Wildlife: Gary Baldwin with a picture of a buck in velvet

Plants: Gary Baldwin with a photo of flower with a skipper butterfly

Humor: Jane Gandy with photo of squirrels

Scenic: Jeff White with the picture also chosen as Grand Prize Winner

Birds: Sina Kurman with a photo of a baby swan

Insects: Cathy White with a close-up of a dragonfly

Second Place Prize Winners in each of the six categories.

Prize is 3 months free dues.

General Wildlife: Gary Baldwin with photo of an otter tied with
Jeff White’s photo of a snake in the grass

Plants: Marilyn Patterson tied herself with a photo of an Indian Pipe and a
White Fringed Orchid

Humor: Gary Baldwin with photo of cat and woodpecker tied with
Jane Gandy with squirrel on feeder

Scenic: Gary Baldwin with photo of building on Abbot’s Farm

Birds: Gary Baldwin with photo of Eagle

Insects: Jeff White with photo of Spicebush Swallowtail

Third Place Prize Winners in each of the six categories.

Prize is one month free dues.

General Wildlife: Marilyn Patterson with frog photo

Plants: Ava Harvey with mushroom photo tied with
Elyce O’Malley with bee on Cosmos

Humor: Marilyn Patterson with hummer photo

Scenic: Jeff White with L.A.C photo tied with
Gary Baldwin with melting ice photo

Birds: Sina Kurman with photo of Papa Swan tied with
Jeff White’s hummingbird

Insects: Eugene Seabright with photo of spider web

2008-11-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

November 2008

We had an exciting presentation on, “New Jersey Rattlesnakes” at our November meeting. Bob Bowers put on a power point presentation prepared by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. It was an educational and entertaining experience. It was good to see the lengths to which the DEP has gone to balance man’s desire to live in wild areas with the needs of rattlesnakes to use their historic homes. Even though these amazing creatures are currently endangered, there is still hope for their future.

The Salem County Nature Club is going to adopt the old Holly Hills Golf Course in Alloway Township. This golf course has been purchased by New Jersey Fish & Wildlife for hunting and fishing. We approached them with the idea that we would put up Wood Duck houses, Bluebird Houses and a Butterfly Meadow. We also offered to provide a presence on the Golf Course to help discourage trash dumping and four wheeler use.

Most of the golf course will be allowed to revert back to its natural state. Some of it will be planted in grasses to support field nesting birds and rabbits.

As you can see in some of the pictures in the slide show, the golf course is a great place for nature hikes. The golf cart paths make wonderful trails. There are four ponds on the property. The number of critters that we see will only increase as the fields grow up.

If you decide to take a walk out there make sure that you are considerate of any hunters. This is Fish & Wildlife land and hunters and fisherman have first priority in its use. It is closed to hunting on Sundays so that is a great day to walk. Most hunters leave the woods in the middle of the day so that is another good time to walk. Take a small trash bag with you to gather any trash that has blown onto the course. If you find that people have dumped trash on the course please contact me right away. DEP will come out promptly to pick it up and check it for materials that might identify who dumped it.

We will be looking for volunteers to help put up and monitor the Bluebird and Wood Duck houses. If you are interested give me a call.

Our walks for November were on the PSEG Wetland Mitigation Site on Money Island Road. The Wednesday walk was really cold and only a few of the very brave came out to walk. We saw lots of Robins, Song Sparrows, Juncos, White Throated Sparrows and a real surprise…Kinglets. We saw both Ruby Crowned and Gold Crowned. Those buggers were moving so fast in the cold that I could only get photos of their tails as they flew off.

Sunday’s walk was cold but beautiful. Only two of us made the walk but it was really worth it. We saw lots of Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, Red Tailed Hawks, Juncos, White Throated Sparrows, a Swamp Sparrow and a Common Yellow Throated Warbler. We took the loop that takes you to the blind and the observation deck and also walked what appears to be a maintenance road. Boy, was that productive. Loads of Cedar Waxwings!

The Roork’s Seminar by Pat Sutton was great. She encouraged us to plant our yards for wildlife. She showed a remarkable picture of one shore community that was devoid of planting and had stones for lawns. Then she showed Cape May with all of its trees, natural plantings and preserved land and asked which would you chose if you were a bird? I think everyone got the point.

Some of us took Pat out to dinner after the Seminar. She was very impressed with our club and the members commitment to nature here in Salem County. She has offered to help us whenever she can. Just think a renowned wildlife author thinks our little Salem County Nature Club is impressive! Marilyn Patterson

2008-11-22T16:14:00.001-08:00

October 2008
Jack Mahon and Jerry Haag put on a great Raptor Identification seminar at our October Meeting. They discussed the classes of raptors; Accipiter, Buteos, Falcons, Vultures, Eagles, Osprey and Harriers. Each of these classes of raptors has unique skills to enable it to capture and eat its prey of choice. The Falcons are built for the high-speed chase over large open areas. Their prey is often other birds. Harriers are built to fly low over marshes or meadows looking for rodents and other small mammals. Their flight appears un-hurried, often lazy. Accipiters are built for speed and maneuverability inside the forest where they chase smaller birds. Their rudder-like tails allow them to twist and turn inside of trees to capture their prey. Buteos use their long broad wings and fanned tails to catch the wind and soar high overhead. They prey on mammals and larger birds.Local examples of Accipiters are Sharp-shinneds and Cooper’s Hawks. It is my theory that if an Accipiter is cruising your yard, the birds will flush and leave the area. They know that he can pick them off of the feeder. If it is a Falcon such as an American Kestrel or Merlin, the birds will freeze on the feeder. They know that he can get them in the air but cannot maneuver around the feeders. Test this theory by noticing what kind of raptor causes your birds to either flee or freeze.Jack and Jerry also discussed the Christmas Bird Count. Many of our members signed up to participate this year. If any others of you are interested in helping out, please let me know. I will forward the information to Jerry Haag, the Christmas Bird Count Coordinator for Salem and Cumberland Counties. This Citizen Science gives ornithologists valuable information as to the health and distribution of various species of birds. The long history of Christmas Bird Counts allows them to make educated guesses as to the affects of Global Warming on Bird Migration as well as the impact of critical habitat loss. We all enjoy the birds and this is a way pay them back for the joy they bring us.We only had one walk this month with four of us walking the Christmas Tree Lane portion of Supawna Meadows. We walked the woodland trail around the beaver pond. We saw lots of fresh sign of beavers gnawing the trees. You will see some in our slide show. We saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, also affectionately known as Butter Butts due to the yellow patch on their rumps. We found a large snake skin probably from a Rat Snake. After a brief chase we got a good look at a Wood Thrush. It was a beautiful day for a walk and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I hope you can join us next time.I have included a few slides in the slide show that are from other walks I took at Supawna and other places in Salem County this month.I also attended the Fall Cape May Birding Weekend and had the privilege to walk with Ken Kaufman and his wife Kim (yes, Ken is the author of the Kaufman Birding Guide and many other books). The number and variety of birds was amazing. One thing I learned is that the Black Throated Green Warbler in fall is neither black throated nor Green as you can tell from the picture. I also learned that while Cape May is a funnel that brings huge quantities of birds together, they don’t cross the bay there. They move further up the river to cross where it is narrower. Many cross right here in Salem County. Marilyn Patterson

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2008-11-22T16:08:00.001-08:00

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2008-10-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

October 2008

Jack Mahon and Jerry Haag put on a great Raptor Identification seminar at our October Meeting. They discussed the classes of raptors; Accipiter, Buteos, Falcons, Vultures, Eagles, Osprey and Harriers. Each of these classes of raptors has unique skills to enable it to capture and eat its prey of choice. The Falcons are built for the high-speed chase over large open areas. Their prey is often other birds. Harriers are built to fly low over marshes or meadows looking for rodents and other small mammals. Their flight appears un-hurried, often lazy. Accipiters are built for speed and maneuverability inside the forest where they chase smaller birds. Their rudder-like tails allow them to twist and turn inside of trees to capture their prey. Buteos use their long broad wings and fanned tails to catch the wind and soar high overhead. They prey on mammals and larger birds.

Local examples of Accipiters are Sharp-shinneds and Cooper’s Hawks. It is my theory that if an Accipiter is cruising your yard, the birds will flush and leave the area. They know that he can pick them off of the feeder. If it is a Falcon such as an American Kestrel or Merlin, the birds will freeze on the feeder. They know that he can get them in the air but cannot maneuver around the feeders. Test this theory by noticing what kind of raptor causes your birds to either flee or freeze.

Jack and Jerry also discussed the Christmas Bird Count. Many of our members signed up to participate this year. If any others of you are interested in helping out, please let me know. I will forward the information to Jerry Haag, the Christmas Bird Count Coordinator for Salem and Cumberland Counties. This Citizen Science gives ornithologists valuable information as to the health and distribution of various species of birds. The long history of Christmas Bird Counts allows them to make educated guesses as to the affects of Global Warming on Bird Migration as well as the impact of critical habitat loss. We all enjoy the birds and this is a way pay them back for the joy they bring us.

We only had one walk this month with four of us walking the Christmas Tree Lane portion of Supawna Meadows. We walked the woodland trail around the beaver pond. We saw lots of fresh sign of beavers gnawing the trees. You will see some in our slide show. We saw Yellow-rumped Warblers, also affectionately known as Butter Butts due to the yellow patch on their rumps. We found a large snake skin probably from a Rat Snake. After a brief chase we got a good look at a Wood Thrush. It was a beautiful day for a walk and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I hope you can join us next time.

I have included a few slides in the slide show that are from other walks I took at Supawna and other places in Salem County this month.

I also attended the Fall Cape May Birding Weekend and had the privilege to walk with Ken Kaufman and his wife Kim (yes, Ken is the author of the Kaufman Birding Guide and many other books). The number and variety of birds was amazing. One thing I learned is that the Black Throated Green Warbler in fall is neither black throated nor Green as you can tell from the picture. I also learned that while Cape May is a funnel that brings huge quantities of birds together, they don’t cross the bay there. They move further up the river to cross where it is narrower. Many cross right here in Salem County. Marilyn Patterson

2008-08-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Salem County Nature Club Newsletter!

This is a bit of an experiment, so bear with us as we learn our way around the blog site. We chose this medium because it's easily accessible and allows us to post photos of events...and it's free!

Our goal for the newsletter is to provide a schedule of upcoming meetings and events, as well as summaries and photos of recent activities.

Thanks for checking in.

September 2008

Jerry Haag and Jack Mahon put on a Birding Identification seminar at our September meeting. They did comparisons of similar birds. That made it easy to remember their differences. Their birding anecdotes kept us entertained while their extensive birding knowledge kept us informed. We are looking forward to October's seminar on raptors and scientific birding surveys.

Our September walks took us back to Natural Lands Trust's property in Quinton. While the weather was perfect for walking the birds were not plentiful. We saw Peewees, Phoebes, Prairie Warblers, Pine Warblers, American Redstarts, Blackthroated Blue Warblers, Black and White Warblers, Bluebirds, an imature Red-tailed hawk,and as soon as Jack left us, we saw a mature Bald Eagle.

This months slideshow includes a few pictures from the walks. I learned a valuable photographic lesson this month - warblers move really fast!!! Of the six pictures I took of the Black and White Warbler the only one with a bird in it shows his butt disappearing into a hollow tree. I guess that is what makes nature photography so much fun. Don't forget to take some pictures for our December Photo Contest. If you took a nature shot in Salem County enter it in our contest. Shortly we will post the categories and requirements on our blog.

Three of our members attended the September 27th Littoral Societies walk of part of the Bayside Tract. Young eagles were plentiful. Palm Warblers, Catbirds, Snowy Egrets with their "golden slippers", Great Egrets, and Great Blue Herons filled the peaceful landscape. The antics of the Belted Kingfisher kept us entertained. Their rattling flights over the impoundment kept us scrambling to try to get photos. A snapping turtle and small peculiar crab kept us trying to watch our feet, the trees and the sky and water all at once. Keep your eyes open for future Littoral Society walks, they are great fun and free! The Littoral Society lobbies for preservation of waterways and wetlands. They are are powerful preservation organization worthy of any nature lovers support. Marilyn Patterson