Inside/Out & About

David Lang's Northern Cardinal in Winter

Just a reminder! 

Today, January 15, until 2, and also January 22. 

See the article at For the Birds for details… Click HERE.

For more Inside/Out & About, CLICK HERE.

.

With Hurricane Earl bearing down on the Atlantic Coast this week, all eyes are turned on the coast and the weather affecting its fragile ecosystem.  Fayette County Master Gardener Maureen Hennessey took a vacation at the Jersey Shore this summer.  It was the perfect setting for reading Pete Dunne’s new book, which offers a “birds-eye view” of that precious place….

Bayshore Summer: Finding Eden in a Most Unlikely Place

by Pete Dunne.         Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 272 pp $24       

 I loved this book.  Bayshore Summer: Finding Eden in a Most Unlikely Place is by Pete Dunne, a seasoned and entertaining writer, who presents his case for the shore well.  The second part of that title tells the story; Eden surely has gardens and birds and fish and forests. 

To read the entire Bayshore Summer review, CLICK HERE.

Want more Inside/Out & About posts? Look HERE.

The Audubon Society of Kentucky’s

Centennial Celebration : May 8    

 Tweet away all you want … You’ll never catch up with  the Audubon Society of Kentucky, which has been keeping up with avian twitter for 100 years.  Everyone is invited to join in their Centennial Celebration at McConnell Springs.  Birthday cake, a photo presentation, nature hikes, bird-centered activities, and even door prizes.  Maybe you’ll win a pair of binoculars, donated by Murphy’s Camera shop.  Here is a note and a bit of history authored by Audubon Society of Kentucky’s Rose Canon , and submitted by  Betsy Lang:        

Beginning at 8 a.m., some of ASK’s best birders will lead walks to observe and identify bird species in the park  Early May is the peak of spring migration, the best time to identify migrating warblers.  Groups may arrange in advance to schedule walks.  Along with the guided w2alks, birding equipment including binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras and software will be on display and their use will be demonstrated.  Slide shows of bird photography by Society members will take place all day.  There will be door prizes of bird and nature related books, magazines, bric-a-brac and a grand prize.  Of special interest to children will be a bird identification puzzle with pries. 

And what is a birthday party without cake?  Free cake will be ser4ved.  The celebration will go on rain or shine.  McConnell’s visitor center has a large covered shelter and indoor space.  Exhibits will be both indoors and out. 

When the Kentucky Audubon Society was formed in 1910 (the name change to Audubon Society of Kentucky occurred in the 1920s), Lexington had 35,000 residents in city limits that extended not much over a mile in each direction from the old courthouse.  Beginning in Massachusetts in 1896, state Audubon Societies had begun forming specifically to oppose the trad in bird feather on women’s hats that was dndangering large birds in Florida.  These state societies later joined in the National Audubon Society, as its purpose broadened to promote field birding and conservation.  Soon after its formation, the local society organized a Junior Society for children and began scheduling bird walks.  The first announcement of a “Spring Bird Walk” schedule appeared March 22 the following year.  That first schedule offers an intriguing glimpse of a very different Lexington from the one we know.  The birders used the Interurban Rail system to travel to the countryside, leaving from the “Car Center,” on a Satruday or Sunday afternoon.  They birded through “Mr. Roger Wilson’s woods” on to “Dr. Norwood’s”, and “Mr. Belmont’s woods,” ending up at Belmont chapel on Georgetown Pike.  Once they took the Nicholasville Interurban to Stone Pike, crossed the Q & C Railroad, and turned into Mr. Rakin Clemmon’s woodland.    Sometimes they stayed in town, birding at the Agricultural Experiment Station on South Limestone, the Lexington Cemetery (still a favored birding spot), Woodland Park, and the “State University” gate and Judge Mulligan’s place (now the University of Kentucky President’s residence, Maxwell Place.)  Leaders included Professor and Mrs. Gardner, Mrs. Victor Dodge, and Miss Clay. 

For most of its existence, ASK has participated in the Christmas Bird Count, which originated as an alternative outdoor activity to the then-popular Christmas hunts.  It has joined in the twice-a-year North American Migratory Bird Counts.  For many years, ASK has held a spring birding weekend at a state park during the first weekend in May.  It joins with the Buckley Hills Audubon group to sell bird seed twice yearly, in October and January.  This is the only fundraiser and source of support for conservation and education.  Although ASK has some birders as expert – and well-traveled=as you will find anywhere, the spirit of this local group has always been noncompetitive, emphasis has always been on enjoying birding and the outdoors, not in compiling the longest lifelist.  No novice should be afraid to join in.  come to our birthday party.    

Further information” contact Betsy Lang, 502.867.1118; betsylang@bellsouth.net.

And check out the list of other Spring Hikes scheduled on the ASK Website by