The Pine Warbler. May Meeting Joshua Hodge. May and Summer Field Trips & Events Diane Lafferty. May 5 Biennial Officer Installation

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1 May 2016 The Pine Warbler Volume 2015/ Officers President Vice-President Kelly O Neal Secretary Larry Basden Treasurer Lin Harper Newsletter Larry Basden Committees Field Trips Diane Lafferty Education Diane Lafferty Conservation Joshua Hodge Hospitality Jerri Simmons Membership Kelly O Neal Historian Linda Basden May Meeting Joshua Hodge May 5 Biennial Officer Installation Join us at the Golden Corral at 6pm for our biennial officer installation. Every 2 years a new slate of officers is elected and the chapter celebrates by holding the last meeting of that year as a social event at a local restaurant. Join us for good foods, good conversations, and time spent with good friends. See you at the Golden Corral. May and Summer Field Trips & Events Diane Lafferty May 7 Birding at Lux Road area. May 14 Annual Painting Bunting search at the Hattiesburg Sewage Lagoons. Meet at the lagoon gate at 8am. May 21 Annual butterfly count at Honey Island Swamp. Contact Diane for more information including meeting place. May 28 PWAS has been asked by Desoto NF staff to conduct a bird count on several tracts in the forest. Details for this count are still to be defined. If you would like to participate, let Diane know. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month (September through May) in the Education Building at the Hattiesburg Zoo. Refreshments at 6:30 pm. Meetings begin at 7:00 pm and are open to the public. Pine Woods Audubon Society is a chapter of National Audubon Society, Inc. June 18 Annual Hattiesburg butterfly count. Contact Diane for more information including meeting place. July 16 Annual Delta National Forest butterfly count. This will be an overnight trip to north MS. Contact Diane for more information. Note: While summer in south MS might be considered prime birding season, it can still result in a pleasant (even if hot) experience. Birds are more active in early morning and late afternoon hours which is also more palatable for us. The variety of birds who breed here during the summer gives us the chance to observe birds other than the normal year-round residents. So, keep birding! These, as well as other events, are included in the calendar pages included with the version of the newsletter. This can also be seen (and downloaded) at the PWAS website.

2 The End of Another Meeting Year May 5 marks the end of another meeting year for Pine Woods Audubon Society. It does not, however, mean the end of activities for the chapter. There are 3 birding events scheduled for the month of May and 3 butterfly count events are also on the schedule the Honey Island Butterfly Count in May, the Hattiesburg Butterfly Count in June, and the Delta National Forest Butterfly Count in July. The K&B meat and eat in May is an opportunity to give voice to what types of programs and field trips you would like to see for the meeting year beginning in September. It is not the only opportunity, however. Post something on our listserv, post something as a contact on our web page, post something on our Facebook page, or contact someone in the chapter (officer or not) to let them know what activities you would like the chapter to pursue. The only way the chapter can provide the type of activities you would like to see is if you communicate. Have a safe summer and we ll see you in September. Now that sounds like a song lyric. When nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast. John Burroughs Question about Nyjer seed The following question/answer about Nyjer seed was found in the May/June 2016 issue of Bird Watcher s Digest: Q: When I read that Lois had purchased ten 10-pound bags of Nyjer (aka thistle) seed (July/August 2015 BWD), I wondered how long this seed would actually stay fresh, even sealed in the original bags. I ve heard from what I think is a reliable source that because the seed is primarily oil on the inside and the seed is so small, the oil will eventually dry out, thus rendering the seed useless. Is this true? If it is, folks should know this about thistle seed, which is expensive, in addition to knowing to look for mold and insects in old batches of black oil sunflower seeds, which you mentioned in your response. A: You ve made a good point. I don t know exactly what happens to thistle seed as it gets older, but I do know that birds stop coming to my thistle feeders if the seed is old. I once bought a 50-pound bag of Nyjer at a bargain price, only to compost about two-thirds of the bag after about 6 months, when the birds began to shun it. I suspect your explanation is exactly right. Whatever the reason, when birds don t come to the seed anymore, it s time to get fresh seed. The birds know best. We re all better off buying quantities of seed that our birds will finish within a few months. This exchange started me thinking. I bought a 10-pound bag of Nyjer early last fall. I had a small amount left over from the previous year and started using that immediately. I have not opened the most recent bag yet. Will it be OK for next fall? Another issue not addressed above is, if the seed can degrade in the bag it is packaged in, how do we know that buying a new bag yields fresh seeds from this year s crop? I have looked at the bag I bought and can find no indication of when it might have been bagged nor any best used by message. The only thing I found on the bag was a series of numbers (lot number?, inspection number?, plant number?, or what?) with one series being Does that mean it was bagged in August of 2015 or August 15th of SOME year? No way to tell. It could simply mean it was bagged at 15:08 (3:08 pm) on SOME day. I did notice that my thistle seed feeder was getting only sporadic action this winter. I didn t consider that unusual as the birds eating thistle seed (Goldfinch and Siskin) have always seemed picky about whether they would consume thistle or sunflower seeds. It seems they usually pick sunflower first and thistle second. And they WERE eating the sunflower seeds. Page 2

3 Spring Migration at Dauphin Island Here are some pictures taken during the Dauphin Island spring migration weekend. Good weather (but not for fallout), good food, and good friends. Start planning to attend the fall migration weekend in October (tentatively October 14-15). Page 3

4 We re on the Web! The Pine Warbler Pine Woods Audubon Society 544 West 4th Street Hattiesburg, MS Address Service Requested Bird Sightings & Field Trips The Dauphin Island spring migration weekend was a success. The group tallied a total of 121 species seen (and perhaps a few more). While there didn t seem to be large numbers of any migrant species and fallout was a word not spoken, the variety was there. Warblers were represented by 18 different species. If you missed this DI experience, mark your calendars for the fall migration weekend in October (tentatively 3rd weekend). We were out of the area for about a month and missed all of the excitement of migration through the area. We tried to keep abreast of what was happening as reported on the listserv, but we didn t find that quite so satisfying as watching to see what was appearing in our own yard. We are back home with EMPTY feeders and a very quiet backyard. I fear we have missed all the action. While birding field trips are rapidly coming to a close until the fall, the butterfly count field trips will be taking center stage. Seeing birds during these counts is a side benefit of participating. Diane is the lead person for the butterfly counts. If you would like more information or have questions about them, call Diane. If you see any out of the ordinary sightings, send an to newsletter@basdenfamily.com or use the contact form on our website to let us know so we can include them in this section of the newsletter.

5 May 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday PWAS Social 6pm Golden Corral Lux Road 8am Keg & Barrel 5:30pm Painted Bunting Sewage Lagoon 8am Butterfly Count Honey Island DeSoto NF Bird Count Notes: June 18 Hattiesburg Butterfly Count July 16 Delta National Forest Butterfly Count