Archive for the ‘Directors’ Category

Coming this Wednesday, Jan. 15 @6:30 p.m.! Charles County Community Climate Action Plan Interactive Webinar 

Please join an interactive webinar designed to provide information and gather ideas for Charles County’s Climate Action Plan.

During this 1.5-hour meeting you will have the opportunity to learn more about climate change inventories and forecasts, as well as participate in open discussion related to Climate Action Plan strategies.

Register here. Please note that this meeting will be recorded.

Southern Maryland Audubon’s Molly Pinkas offers background here: 

Charles County is in the early stages of developing a Climate Action Plan (CAP)! The Office of Climate Resilience and Sustainability has spearheaded the effort based on the recognition that there is a critical and urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect our natural environment, and safeguard our communities against the effects of climate change. The Climate Action Plan will serve as an important roadmap to help Charles County achieve these goals.

The current phase of the CAP process involves obtaining stakeholder feedback and conducting public outreach on CAP goals and strategies. Which is where YOU can get involved!

The Charles County Government is currently conducting community outreach and hosting webinars to help inform the Climate Action Plan contents and priorities. If you are interested in participating in the Climate Action Plan process, there are a few simple steps that you can take now to get involved. Two surveys are currently active on the Charles County Engage page related to public outreach scheduling and soliciting general input on climate action planning priorities. Both surveys should take no more than a few minutes of your time to complete: Charles County Climate Action Planning

In addition to the surveys, a recording of the first public webinar (held on November 13, 2024) is available to view on the Charles County website and provides an overview of climate change basics, an introduction to the CAP and planning process, and reinforces the desire for community engagement: Climate Action Plan

Upcoming webinars will be held in early 2025 regarding the below topics. Make sure to join the Climate Action Mailing List to be notified of these future meetings!

·        January 15, 2025: Where are we Heading? Inventories, Forecasts, and Initial Strategy Discussion

·        February 26, 2025: Deep Dive on Mitigation and Resilience Strategies 

·        March 26, 2025: Climate Action Plan Strategy Analysis Results

This is a great opportunity to show support for the Climate Action Plan and to advocate for goals and strategies that will protect the environment for our feathered friends.

We welcome you to join the 125th Christmas Bird Count!

Southern Maryland Audubon conducts four counts in different locations on different days. Find one—or more—that fits your schedule.

New to birding? No problem, we’ll match you with experienced teams.

Check out our dates, places and count leaders: 

Point Lookout, Saturday, Dec. 14

Compiler: Bob Boxwell, 410-231-1251 or robertboxwell1@outlook.com

Port Tobacco, Sunday, Dec. 15

Compiler: Gwen Brewer. Coordinator Contact Mike Callahan, 240-765-5192 or raptorsrulemc@gmail.com

Patuxent River, Saturday, Dec. 21

Compiler: Ben Springer, 443-771-6636 (text preferred) or ben.springer@comcast.net

Additional location: Saturday, Dec. 21. Lexington Manor Progressive Park, Lexington Park, MD. Contact Molly Moore @ president.somdaudubon@gmail.com

Ft Belvoir, Maryland Shoreline

Saturday, Jan. 4

MD Sector Coordinators: Lynne Wheeler, 301-751-8097 or somdaudubon@yahoo.com and/or Bob Lukinic, 301-283-6317 or rdlukinic@gmail.com

For more information about Christmas Bird Counts see https://www.audubon.org/community-science/christmas-bird-count

Learn how you can join the 125th Christmas Bird Count at a hands-on workshop Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Lexington Park Library in St. Mary’s County. Southern Maryland Audubon leaders will share how to participate in the count and demonstrate how the data you and thousands of other volunteers collect is used to help guide conservation for birds. Beginners and experienced birders welcome.

Presentation may qualify for continuing education hours for Master Naturalists.

Register here: https://stmalib.libnet.info/event/10750810?registration=true

Lexington Park Library, Meeting Room B, 21677 FDR Blvd., Lexington Park, MD 20653

Join us on Zoom Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. for a virtual journey through “The Chesapeake Watershed: History, Birds & Insights for Conservation” with Dr. Wayne Bell, senior associate and former director of the Washington College Center for Environment and Society.

You will learn how land use practices have impacted the Chesapeake from pre-colonial times to the present and how habitat restoration and conservation are now addressing the 30% decline in Northern American bird populations for the future. The lecture may qualify for continuing education for Master Naturalists.

The Zoom link to join the meeting will be emailed to our Osprey email list prior to the talk. If you aren’t on the list, you can join here at the bottom of our homepage.

Huge thanks to the Natural Resources Management class at Forrest Career and Technology Center for their hard work moving mountains of compost and mulch to create the Gateway Native Garden at the Lexington Manor Passive Park Community Garden. The students in Dorothy Birch’s class have adopted our native garden as one of their projects for this year. They’ve planted more than 400 natives in two large beds. We at Southern Maryland Audubon couldn’t be more grateful for their efforts and their interest in learning about the value of native plants in home and public landscapes. We received a grant from National Audubon to build this garden. (Photos by Molly Moore)

Eight-year-old Aurora Huhman, avid birder and fisher, faced a quandary. She was catching more blue catfish than she knew what to do with. Learn how a chance encounter connected one of our youngest members and her passions with a rescued Bald Eagle in the  latest edition of “The Osprey” newsletter here: https://somdaudubon.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/12225241/2024-December-January-Osprey-final.pdf

(Photo by Brett Huhman)

Learn from the experts how to transform your garden into a haven for pollinators, birds & wildlife Tuesday, Nov. 19 @ 6 p.m. in person at the Lexington Park Library!

Southern Maryland Audubon President and Master Gardener Molly Moore also will take you on a visual tour of the Gateway Native Plant garden now being created at the Lexington Manor Passive Park to help you get inspired to build your own! Leave with the tools needed to design an outdoor oasis that attracts and supports our native pollinators, birds, & wildlife!

Register here: https://stmalib.libnet.info/event/11775636?registration=true

Lexington Park Library, 21677 FDR Blvd., Lexington Park, MD

Join our monthly nature Zoom talk on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. to witness new discoveries about the fascinating lives of terns in the Chesapeake Bay. Southern Maryland Audubon Vice President Ben Springer will share details of previously unknown staging areas where flocks of Common Terns rest and feed to fuel their migration flights, and the extraordinary research he helped conduct that has given scientists new insights into these long-distance fliers.

To receive Zoom link please sign up for our “Osprey” newsletter at the bottom of this homepage. If you are already signed up, you will receive the Zoom link several days before the talk.

Presentation may qualify for Master Naturalist continuing education hours.

(Common Tern chick by Ben Springer)

“SLOW BIRDING: EXPERIENCE BIRDS DIFFERENTLY” with Audubon President Molly Moore. Slow birding offers a different approach focused on fine tuning your birding skills and forging a deeper connection with birds and their habitat. Join us for a relaxing meander along the paths of this beautiful park with its stately trees, open fields, woodland edges and fascinating history. We welcome beginners wanting to ease into birding, nature journallers seeking an opportunity to sketch, and experienced birders looking for a closer connection to birds and nature. Easy terrain, much of it on paved paths and pedestrian roadways. Loaner binoculars available if you do not have your own. We will provide sketch books and pens. Restrooms in the park near our starting point. Set GPS to above address and look for parking lot with colorful Lexington Manor Passive Park mural. We will meet in parking lot. (It’s across from Three Notch Theatre and past U.S. Post Office. Open to all ages. Please register here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0844A8A923ABFFC70- 50697781-slow

Join us for our Monthly Meeting Zoom talk: Raptor Quest: Chasing America’s Birds of Prey on Wednesday, Oct. 2 @ 7 p.m.

Author and wildlife photographer Scott Harris takes us on his journey find all 53 raptors that call the Lower 48 states home. It took 17 months and more than 100,000 miles across 34 states, but Harris found them all and chronicled his adventures and misadventures in a book, “Raptor Quest: Chasing America’s Raptors.” He shares his tales with us, along with what he learned about these amazing birds and the people he met along the way.

If you are not already on our “Osprey” newsletter list, you can sign up at the bottom of our home page www.somdaudubon.org and we will send you the Zoom link prior to the talk.

Talk may qualify for continuing education hours for Master Naturalists.