Ten of us meandered around Black Lake Park this morning -- a nice cold walk with a few birds scattered here and there; nothing to write home about.
Among the seventeen species were at least one Brown Creeper, five Pied-billed Grebes, and several Dark-eyed Juncos. Surprisingly, no Northern Cardinals appeared on our walk, but two flew in front of Charlie's truck as he was leaving.
Photos by Carol Cooper:
November 18 Meeting and Program
( See Sidebar for Time and Place Details )
Birding in West India
Steve and Angie Hamberg
The country of India has a number of habitats and a good diversity of bird species. In Thursday's audio-visual program, Steve and Angie Hamberg will concentrate on the more arid western portion of India, largely following its border with Pakistan. They start north in the Punjab region where a manmade wetland attracts wintering species from even further north, then south into Rajastan, land of palaces and fortresses where isolated natural areas provide a refuge for local wildlife. Next they go into the Thar Desert to look for a couple of endangered birds. This is followed by a visit to the great salt flats bordering the Arabian Sea. Their program ends at a forested reserve northeast of Mumbai to find a rare owl.
Steve and Angie Hamberg are from Holland, Michigan. Steve is a practicing physician, though soon to retire. Angie is a retired elementary school music teacher. Together they have been to 85 countries around the world and have birded in most of them. Steve keeps a list of all of the birds he has seen and is presently at 7,211 species on his world checklist!
Field Trip
Black Lake Park, Etc.
November 20, 2021
We will meet Saturday morning at 8:00 in the parking lot of Black Lake Park (on the west side of Wood Road about a mile south of Pontaluna Road). At 8:15 we will begin our slow clockwise walk around the park heading south to the creek, west to the first viewing platform, north to the second viewing platform, east to the meadow and south back to our cars. The entire distance is about a mile.
Depending on time and the group's desire, we may then drive to the west side of Black Lake to look for birds there or at the adjoining Hoffmaster State Park. The trip will end around noon.