November 18th Program: THE ORDINARY, EXTRAORDINARY JUNCO

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Junco

 

  • Program to be presented in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm
  • Come early to socialize
  • Come earlier to sit in on the Board Meeting
  • Program is free and open to the public, and starts at 7 p.m.

This film was screened recently, at the joint meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union and the Cooper Ornithological Society.  It has received outstanding reviews and in July, it won first place in the non-commercial film division and was named “Film of the Year” at the 30th annual Animal Behavior Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado. This amazing film captures the beauty of the bird while offering fascinating details on biology and natural history.  If you think the Junco is a common bird and you don’t give it a second thought -well you won’t make that mistake again!

Tuesday, October 21 Program: Flavor of Australia: Birds and More

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Blue-faced Honeyeater 1114

  • Program to be presented in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm
  • Come early to socialize
  • Come earlier to sit in on the Board Meeting
  • Program is free and open to the public, and starts at 7 p.m.

Experience Australia as Marie Jordan shares her Australian travel and birding experiences in the areas around Cairns, Queensland, and the Northern Territory.  Her piquant presentation will fuel our minds as she takes us down under to see beautiful unique birds – Honeyeaters and Parrots as well as Kingfishers and Kookaburras. We will also view the unique scenery and Aborigine rock paintings in Kakadu National Park and hear the haunting sound of the didgeridoo.

Sept 16, 2014 Program: All about Bluebirds

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bluebird MJ 3JRogers14bluebird MJ

  • Program to be presented in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm
  • Come early to socialize
  • Come earlier to sit in on the Board Meeting
  • Program is free and open to the public, and starts at 7 p.m.

John Rogers has maintained a trail of bluebird nest boxes for 4 decades and has fledged over 13,000 Bluebirds in boxes he personally monitors.  His presentation includes the life history of the Eastern Bluebird, other birds that nest in Bluebird boxes, and nest box management. The focus is on Bluebirds, but John also shares his passion for the natural world.  The program has variety, feeling, and is thought provoking.  With beautiful photographs, sounds, and an enthusiastic presentation style, this program is of interest to anyone who appreciates nature.

 

Please visit our Facebook Page

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Our Facebook page provides our latest photos of local bird sightings and other posts of interest.  It will also often have updates regarding our Wednesday morning bird walks and other events.  If you wish, you can “Like” our page to be sure to catch any updates that are posted.

Saturday morning Summer Bird Walks

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Join us at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm every other Saturday this summer starting June 14th, for a guided bird walk around the Reserve property.  Beginners are welcome.  Please bring binoculars if you have them; if not, you can borrow some. These walks are free and open to the public.  We meet in the parking lot, and reservations not required.  Future dates are 6/28, 7/12 and 7/26, 8/9 and 8/23.

Get Out and Bird!

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Join York County Audubon birders for 7 a.m. bird walks…

  • 5-14 Wednesday: Rotary park, 550 Main Street, Biddeford
  • 5-15 Thursday: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Beach Street (Route 9), Saco.
  • 5-24 Saturday: Hattie’s 109 Mile Stretch Rd, Biddeford Pool

YCAS announces Hog Island Scholarship for 2014

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YCAS will again be awarding a scholarship for the Educator’s Week program, July 20-25, 2014 on famed Hog Island. Check the Scholarship Programs link under the Community Involvement heading above for more information.  The application deadline is March 15th.

Program: Monitoring Maine’s Great Blue Herons on Tuesday, November 19th at 7 at the Wells Reserve

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The great blue heron is often touted as one of the most widespread and adaptable birds in North America. Here in Maine they are certainly widespread, but recent data has suggested a decline in their breeding population especially along the coast. Concerns over a population decline prompted the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to conduct a comprehensive survey of breeding colonies in 2009, and to begin a statewide adopt-a-colony program called the Heron Observation Network. Join Danielle D’Auria, a wildlife biologist with MDIFW’s Bird Group, to learn more about Maine’s largest colonial wading bird as well its close relatives.

Savage Preserve, July 13, 2013

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The leader (Sue Bickford) and three observers came together for nearly 3 hours of “winged jewel” searching. With some netted and others photographed, we were able to identify these species:

Odonata

  • Ebony Jewelwing
  • Variable Dancer
  • Twelve-spotted Skimmer
  • Green Darner (?)
  • Widow Skimmer

Lepidoptera

  • Little Wood-Satyr
  • Eyed Brown
  • Aphrodite Fritillary (?)
  • American Copper
  • Summer Azure
  • Eastern Tailed Blue
  • Common Wood-Nymph
  • Cabbage White
  • Northern Broken-Dash
  • Broad-winged Skipper (?)
  • Silver-spotted Skipper

Field Trip: Hills Beach

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Join Doug Hitchcox for a shorebird extravaganza.  Meet and park at Buffleheads restaurant at 122 Hills Beach Road in Biddeford

Contact: Doug 207-671-0185.

 

Program: Monitoring Maine’s Great Blue Herons

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  • Meeting to be held at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm
  • Come early to socialize
  • Come earlier to sit in on the board meeting

The great blue heron is often touted as one of the most widespread and adaptable birds in North America.  Here in Maine they are certainly widespread, but recent data has suggested a decline in their breeding population especially along the coast.  Concerns over a population decline prompted the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to conduct a comprehensive survey of breeding colonies in 2009, and to begin a statewide adopt-a-colony program called the Heron Observation Network.  Join Danielle D’Auria, a wildlife biologist with MDIFW’s Bird Group, to learn more about Maine’s largest colonial wading bird as well its close relatives.

Program: The Holy Grail of North American Birding

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  • Meeting to be held at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm
  • Come early to socialize
  • Come earlier to sit in on the board meeting

In 2012 five YCAS members ventured off to Attu…an Island birding mecca 1500 miles from mainland Alaska which some may recall from the movie The Big Year.  Robert and Anne Watson, Pat Moynahan. Marian Zimmerman and Doug Hitchcox will share their adventure into the Eastern Hemisphere for rare birds. They saw colonies of over 2 million birds, Song Sparrows the size of robins, 20+ foot seas en route, and a bird recently back from the edge of extinction. Come hear the story of how these birders went from making a day trip to see a bird in New Jersey to traveling across the world together.

Program: Birds Do the Darndest Things

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Meeting to be held at Kennebunkport Conservation Trust

Birds Do the Darndest Things

One of the great pleasures of birding is observing the intimate snippets of birds’ lives.  Usually the birds we see are either perched, flying, or feeding.  But every so often, we glimpse less obvious behaviors, which hold us spellbound—a meadowlark fleeing a falcon, an oriole constructing a complex nest, or a jay surreptitiously stashing away seeds.

Observing bird behavior carefully often leads us to ponder some puzzling questions: Why do Yellow Warblers naively devote themselves to feeding cowbird fledglings twice their size?  How do Black-capped Chickadees remember where they have stored thousands of seed-caches?  Do birds play for the fun of it or do they play to develop certain skills necessary for survival?

Join naturalist and birding tour guide Lena Senko as she explores a slew of intriguing bird behaviors and the insights of biologists who devote their lives to studying them.

A great description of Lena can be found here:  http://www.fieldguides.com/guides/lena-senko

 

Kennebunk Plains, July 6, 2013

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Nine of us took a tour of Kennebunk Plains. It was a very hot and humid day, 75 degrees at 7:00 turning to 85 by 10:00 am. We still saw a wide variety of birds. Excellent looks and clear songs of the Upland sandpiper, Grasshopper sparrow, and Eastern meadowlarks. One of the group reported that he added 4 “life birds” to his list. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

1 Mile, 150 Minutes

Observers: 9

  • 1 Turkey Vulture
  • 2 Red-tailed Hawk
  • 6 Upland Sandpiper
  • 4 Mourning Dove
  • 1 American Kestrel
  • 1 Eastern Phoebe
  • 2 Eastern Kingbird
  • 2 Red-eyed Vireo
  • 2 Common Raven
  • X Tree Swallow
  • 1 American Robin
  • 1 Gray Catbird
  • 2 Northern Mockingbird
  • 1 Brown Thrasher
  • 12 Cedar Waxwing
  • 2 Common Yellowthroat
  • 1 American Redstart
  • 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • 3 Prairie Warbler
  • 2 warbler sp. (unidentified)
  • 1 Eastern Towhee
  • 8 Field Sparrow
  • 4 Vesper Sparrow
  • 4 Grasshopper Sparrow
  • 1 Song Sparrow
  • 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • 8 Eastern Meadowlark
  • 1 Purple Finch

Bird Walk at Laudholm Farm

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Join a guided, relaxed Bird Walk at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm.  The diverse habitat allows for many possible sightings from shorebirds to warblers.  Summer residents include Brown Thrasher, Bobolinks, Eastern Towhee and many others.  All skill levels welcome.   Meet in the Parking Lot at 7:30 a.m.

YCAS OFFICERS & DIRECTORS SLATE ANNOUNCED

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Officers:
President:  Bill Grabin
Vice-President:  Anne Watson
Treasurer:  Linda Eastman
Secretary:  Monica Grabin

Directors:
David Doubleday
Ellen Doubleday
June Ficker
Pat Moynahan
Marian Zimmerman
Joanne Stevens
Bob Watson
Scott Richardson
Doug Hitchcox
Ken Janes

At the June 18th Annual Meeting, the chair of the Nominating Committee will present the slate, ask for any nominations from the floor, and request a vote of the membership.