The
Hushwing HERALD
Blackbrook
Audubon Society
Volume 44 Number 1
September/October,
2007
Spreading
the Love of Nature in
The
Hushwing HERALD
Blackbrook
Audubon Society
Volume 44 Number 1
September/October,
2007
Spreading
the Love of Nature in
DATE: TUESDAY, SEPT. 18th , 2007
PROGRAM: “National Honey Month”
SPEAKER: Lucy Wellhausen
TIME:
PLACE: Penitentiary Glen in Kirtland
Celebrate Ohio
Honey Month with Blackbrook Audubon Society as we welcome Lucy “The Bee Lady” Wellhausen to join us for our September 18th
program at Penitentiary Glen. Lucy and
her husband, Charlie, have been beekeeping in Kirtland since 1998 and maintain
beehives throughout
As a cottage-based apiary, Ohio Honey
Company keeps their bees’ products in RAW form, which retains all of the
healthy benefits, such as vitamins, minerals, flavinoids,
amino acids, anti-oxidants and most of all, FLAVOR! Ohio Honey harvests honey many times
throughout the season to insure many varieties.
From the early spring tree honey, sunflower, strawberry, dark berry,
herbal, holly blossom, wild aster, goldenrod, etc.
You may have seen the Ohio Honey Company at Shaker Square North Union Market, Eton Square North Union Market, Geauga Fresh Farmer’s Market and Lake Farmpark Market and other events during the summer months.
Lucy will take us through the life cycle of the three castes of honeybees: Queen, Workers and Drones. If you’ve ever considered beekeeping as a hobby, this is the program for you. We’ll discuss if beekeeping is expensive or dangerous and if the local bee population has been affected by Colony Collapse Disorder. Lucy promises we’ll have a “sweet” time!
DATE:
PROGRAM: “Beauty at the
SPEAKER: Guy Denny
TIME:
PLACE:
Geauga Park District
Becky
Thompson and Jim McConnor will lead a walk along Blackbrook’s IBA trail
beginning at
Guy Denny, retired chief of the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources Division of Natural Areas and current board
member of the Ohio Environmental Council, will join us at
According to Guy, a well-known naturalist and
author, people see plants and flowers from their cars on the way to and from
work or school and wonder what they are.
Although most of us haven’t pulled over on the highway for a closer
look, our September speaker has done it for us.
We’ll see the “beauty at the berm” throughout
the growing season, beginning with coltsfoot in the early spring and ending
with the aster family in the fall. Guy
will help us identify the plants and we’ll discuss the natural history of the
native and naturalized plants alongside our highways and byways.
ACTIVITIES
SEPTEMBER ACTIVITY
DATE:
SUN, SEPT. 16th , 2007
ACTIVITY:
TIME:
PLACE:
Join us for our first walk of the season at our newly
dedicated IBA in
Directions:
September 15,
As summer turns to autumn, experience one of
Located west of
For more info visit:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Sites/odnr/dnap/dnap/discovery/tabid/2020/Default.aspx
OCTOBER ACTIVITY
DATE:
ACTIVITY:
TIME:
PLACE:
We are making our second trip to this newer wetland area. We visited this spot a couple of years ago , and felt in time this would become a premier birding site, so we are going to see how it has matured. Rumor has it this should be an excellent area. Bring your birding stuff and let's have some fun.
Directions: Take I90 West
(cleveland) to I271 South (Cleve-Columbus) to I480
West (
More info? Check the web site at loraincountymetroparks.com or call Jim McConnor at 440-257-2507. We can carpool for anyone interested.
National Solar Tour 2007
The
There will be at least 11 sites on
the
Blackbrook Audubon Society
2007 – 2008
Schedule
Big Creek IBA walks every
month on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at
September
Program: Tues.
Sept.
National Honey Month with
Field Trip: Sun. Sept.
Meet at the trailhead
October
Program:
Field Trip:
Meet in the main parking
lot
November
Program:
Perry Peskin - “Lost Habitats”
Morley Library Meeting
Rooms
(Location tentative –
check to confirm)
Field Trip:
Check web sit for details
December Christmas
Bird Count
Sat. Dec. 22 call
Anders at
(440) 257-7611 for more
information
January
Program:
Gary Meszarous
– Topic TBA
Field Trip: Location TBA
February
Program:
Speaker and topic TBA
Field Trip: Location TBA
March
Program:
Jim McCarty – Plain Dealer
Columnist
Field Trip: Location TBA
April
Program:
Diane Valen - Smoky Mtn.
Wildflowers
Field Trip: Magee Marsh
Check web site to confirm
exact date and time
May Program:
Speaker and topic TBA
The
Birdathon: Mid May
Exact dates TBA
June Picnic:
Gather starting at
Eat at
Aspen Grove – Big
For more information check
our web site at www.blackbrookaudubon.org,
e-mail blackbrookaud@aol.com or call
All Programs
and Field Trips are free and open to the public!
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FROM the DESK of the
PRESIDENT
by Nancy Dilgren
I would like to begin this article by
thanking our two outgoing officers. Mary Ann Wagner has served as President for
the past three years. These have been very active ones for Blackbrook. Friends
of Blackbrook has gone from an idea that was discussed on the way home from a
meeting in
Although we have a very active and
committed board, we could use a few more members. Two of the jobs that are
currently open are Hospitality Chair and Publicity Chair. The Hospitality Chair
is responsible for arriving a bit early for each meeting and starting the hot
water and/or coffee. This person also coordinates people offering to bring
refreshments and if there are not enough volunteers, buys (at Blackbrook’s
cost) something to serve. The Publicity Chair is responsible for getting
information on our meetings and programs out to local libraries and parks and
trying to get notices in newspapers or on the local channels on the different
cable systems. This does not take a great deal of time as the other board
members stand ready to help deliver the materials. If anyone would be
interested in either of these jobs, please let anyone on the board know. And if
you would like to attend a board meeting first before committing to a job, feel
free to attend. They are generally held the first Tuesday of the month at
Elsewhere in this
issue of the Hushwing, you will read about the upcoming Solar Tours sponsored
by Green Energy
In
each of the next few issues of the Hushwing, I plan to discuss global warming
and things we can do to hopefully help minimize its impact. Not everything will
apply to everyone and some of the things will be actions you are already
taking. But maybe some of my suggestions will spark ideas as to how you can
help. You have all heard the slogan
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. And of the three, “reduce” is the most important. If
something is not ever used, energy and resources are not needed to either make
it or recycle it.
One item that can be targeted for
reduction is plastic grocery bags. Most of us receive many of these each week.
But do we really need them – or at least all of them? Although most of us
probably reuse and recycle the ones we receive, we would save more resources if
we never used them at all. Have you ever bought just one or two items at a
store and said “thanks, but I don’t need a bag”? This won’t work if you are
making several stops, but if you are returning directly to your car, it’s easy
and a bag is saved. And have you ever used reusable bags? I have always taken
cloth bags to the West Side Market and places like Mustard Seed. But I rarely
used them at local stores. Then, on Earth Day, Heinen’s
was featuring their reusable bags. I purchased a couple and have been using
them ever since. Since Heinens gives me a “bag
credit” each time I use them, the bags have already paid for themselves and are
now earning me a few cents each week!! Several more bags saved. You might think
that saving a bag or two doesn’t matter much. Maybe it doesn’t. But a few bags
times 52 weeks a year times 500 Blackbrook members….. And so I challenge each
of you reading this article to try and save a few bags a week. It won’t affect
you lifestyle at all, but it could help a little in protecting the lifestyles
of the birds we love.
Happy Autumn and Remember the Solar Tour,
Birdathon 2007
May 2007 saw another successful Birdathon. Our species count was outstanding and we raised more money than last year. In previous years, Mary Ann Wagner has obtained a generous donation from the company where she works, Pinkerton Insurance Agency. This year, instead of making a cash donation, they gave us 4 club seats to an Indians baseball game. We decided to raffle these off and include the money with our Birdathon dollars. Some of our previous Birdathon donors chose to purchase the raffle tickets this year plus we attracted some new people who were interested in the tickets. We raised a total of $620 from the raffle, which more than doubled Pinkerton’s previous donations. We added about $600 to that from regular Birdathon donations (money is still coming in so we don’t have a final total yet) bringing the total from the two fundraisers to about $1200 which will be used for Audubon Adventures. We are adding additional classrooms this year, so the money will all be put to good use. Thanks to all who participated, both birders and donors. And a special thanks to Mary Ann and Pinkerton Insurance Agency Inc.
IBA Dedications
Two IBA dedications were held Saturday June 23 in
We then moved to the Mentor Lagoons for the dedication of
that area as part of the Grand River Watershed IBA. Kurt Krause and George
Maier represented the city of
We would like to offer special thanks to John Ritzenthaler for attending these two events and for all of those at Blackbrook Audubon who have participated in the IBA walks over the past year and who attended the two dedications. Be sure and look for the IBA signs when you visit these two areas.
Serviceberry
or Sarviss ?
By Anders Fjeldstad
When we in Blackbrook Audubon (along with the folks from
The Sarvissberry
tree is a member of the Rose Family,
one of the largest Families of Plants in the world. The very showy flowers of ‘Roses’ are found
all over the world whether they are on trees, shrubs, or herbs. And just like Roses, Raspberries, and
Blackberries, Serviceberries are easy to
identify as Serviceberries but it is often difficult to identify which species
you have! Not every botanist agrees, but there are about 18 species of
Serviceberry trees ( some are really more shrub than tree ! ) in
In the Spring, just before the tree’s
leaves come out, the showy white, long-petaled flowers appear.
This tree flowers before the Dogwood does and many people mistake it for
a Dogwood. But remember, Dogwoods have four fat petals and Serviceberry has
five long, skinny petals. Like Dogwood, Serviceberry is a very common understory tree in
The ½” or so dark purple fruits appear
from June to August and were a favorite with the colonials and the early
settlers. The fruit could be made into pies, jams, and jellies. Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, and
the Native Americans even used them in their trailside ‘snack’, Pemmican! That is, if they could get to the fruit
before the Birds did. Wildlife of all kinds just love the sweet, tasty,
apple-like fruit. You might want to plant this tree in your yard !
And it has lots of names ---
Serviceberry, Shadblow, Shadbush, Juneberry, Sarviss,
It seems that the name ‘Serviceberry’
was a later refinement by 19th
Century English teachers and snooty botanists who wanted to ‘correct’ what they
thought was the less gentile ‘Sarviss’ that
the back country settlers used for this small tree. Actually, Sarviss
or Sarvissberry is pure Elizabethan English, you
know, the kind Shakespeare used! Sarviss is an Anglicization , but done in Shakespeare‘s
time, of the classic Latin word Sorbus, the
name for the related European Mountain-Ash and nowadays still used as the
generic ( or scientific ) name for Mountain-Ashes.
Later, when modern people tried to make
sense of the word ‘Serviceberry’ , they
came up with the stories and folklore that this tree flowered at the same time
that the pioneers held memorial services for their friends and relatives who
had died during the Winter. The reason
being that they could travel a lot easier in the Spring or the ground was no
longer frozen then or whatever. Anyway,
there are a lot of stories going around about the name Serviceberry !
The names ‘Shadbush’ and ‘Shadblow’ are often used on the eastern seaboard but not
much around here in the midwest. Those names refer to the fact that the tree
flowers when the Herring Shad make their spawning runs up the eastern rivers.
Therefore, when the tree flowers is when you (as a Pilgrim or early English
settler) would take your nets down to the river to catch all the fish you and
your family could eat.
The name ‘Juneberry’
merely means that the fruit ripens in June and the name ‘Saskatoon’
is a Indian name for a Serviceberry that was extremely common up in Canada,
in the province of Saskatchewan and originally growing all over the site of the
now large city of
But I like to think that the name ‘Serviceberry’ is very
appropriate for the years of service that our friend Joe gave to local
organizations like Blackbrook Audubon,
How to Join Blackbrook Audubon Society
Many of you
reading this are already members of Blackbrook. But for those of you who aren’t
and would like to join, there are two ways you can do so. You can join the
National Audubon Society and if you live in our territory –
Or, if you prefer
not to belong to the national organization, you can join Friends of Blackbrook
as a Chapter member so that 100% of your donation goes to the local
organization. (See form below) We are a 501(c)3 organization and your donation
is tax deductible. (Consult a tax advisor for details.)
And if you wish
to belong to National Audubon and also provide additional support to
Blackbrook, you can do both.
Friends of Blackbrook Audubon
Name ____________________________
Address __________________________
_________________________________
Amount of Donation: ___ $20
____ $30
___ $40 ____ Other
Please
make checks payable to: Blackbrook Audubon Society and mail to: James
McConnor
Or
call Jim at (440) 257-2507 for more information on the benefits associated with
each kind of membership.
Least
Bittern :
On Saturday, July 21st of this year, several local birders, while looking east in to Mentor Marsh, noticed an unusual bird during an early
morning bird walk at Mentor Lagoons in
“Iks-so-BRY-kuss ECKS-sill-liss”
is a small, buffy and butterscotch brown marsh bird
about 12” long with a 17” wing span. For comparison, a Blue Jay is 11” long with a 16” wingspan.
But Least Bitterns have much longer legs and can stretch their
necks out almost as long as the rest of their body. But with their neck
retracted, they appear to be not much larger than a chunky Red Wing
Blackbird. And like the Blackbird, these
tiny Herons live and breed in marshes and wetlands that have a lot of dense
vegetation. In
And so, this summer, for several weeks at the end of July and the
beginning of August, we went down to
Mentor Lagoons in the evenings ( remember, they are nocturnal birds and sleep a
lot during the day ! ) and saw one and sometimes two Least Bitterns from the
bridge that leads us into the Parking Lot there. We’d see them clinging to the Reeds and
Cattails at the edge of the water and creeping silently through the Reeds and
along the ground where they could.
What a pleasure it was for us to watch them
and much better in real life than a special on Animal Planet ! And you’ve
wondered if it is possible to go Birding in the Summer !
BLACKBROOK AUDUBON SOCIETY
Nancy Dilgren - President
A true conservationist is a man
who knows that
the world
is not given
by his fathers
but borrowed
from his children.
-- John James Audubon