Margaret Watson Bird Club

Margaret Watson Bird Club The Heart of Virginia Chapter of the Virginia Society of Ornithology

"Expedition to Antarctica: Penguins, Pelagics, and other Sightings in the Southern Hemisphere.Thursday, April 3rd 2025 6...
03/24/2025

"Expedition to Antarctica: Penguins, Pelagics, and other Sightings in the Southern Hemisphere.

Thursday, April 3rd 2025 6:30 pm

The Margaret Watson Bird Club invites the public to a very special live presentation on Thursday evening, April 3rd. Two of our members, David Spears and Damien Fehrer will present highlights of their epic journey to and from Antarctica. In early 2024 they embarked on a cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to the Antarctic Peninsula with stops in South America along the way. The return trip took them to the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, ending in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During this adventure, they saw nearly a hundred species of birds, including penguins, albatross, and petrels. They also encountered whales, dolphins, and seals.

The public is welcome at the Prince Edward County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive, across from Lowe's in Farmville on Thursday, April 3rd. Light refreshments at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. A short business meeting will follow the free program."

10/25/2024

The Margaret Watson Bird Club welcomes the public to our Thursday, November 7th meeting and remote evening presentation on the regional endemic birds of Guatemala. Nearly one-third of the country of Guatemala is designated as Important Bird Areas. Guatemala is rich in diversity, with over 730 species of birds. Rob Cahill and his son John Cahill have lived in Guatemala since 2001 and direct Community Cloud Forest Conservation, a not-for-profit NGO and are eBird reviewers for Guatemala. Rob Cahill will join us virtually from his home base in Guatemala with a presentation that focuses on regional endemic birds, cloud forests, and conservation.
The meeting will be held at the PE County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive, across from Lowe's in Farmville. Light refreshments start at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. A short business meeting will follow the free program.

Bobwhite Quail's Field of Dreams. The Margaret Watson Bird Club welcomes the public to our October 3rd meeting and even...
09/30/2024

Bobwhite Quail's Field of Dreams.

The Margaret Watson Bird Club welcomes the public to our October 3rd meeting and evening presentation on Bobwhite Quail. Claire Helmke is the Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologist serving South-Central Virginia. She will discuss the perfect habitat for a Bobwhite Quail which might not be as neat and tidy as a baseball field, but they still need three habitat "bases" before they can get a home run. Come learn about Quail life cycles, the habitats they need for each one, and other species that benefit from the same habitats.

Ms. Helmke is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Wildlife Science and an M.S. in Biology from Western Illinois University. Originally from Fairfax, VA, she has worked on many conservation projects including black-footed ferret surveys in Wyoming, Ring-necked Pheasant study in Nebraska, red fox and Piping Plover research in New York, and bobcat research in Illinois. Most recently she was a Private Lands Wildlife Specialist in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa.

The meeting will be held at the Prince Edward County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive, across from Lowe's in Farmville. Light refreshments start at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. A short business meeting will follow the free program. The public is invited to join us.

Wilson’s Plover from Grandview Nature Preserve in Hampton, Virginia3/21/2024 PC Ty Smith
07/01/2024

Wilson’s Plover from Grandview Nature Preserve in Hampton, Virginia

3/21/2024 PC Ty Smith

04/30/2024

The Margaret Watson Bird Club is excited to share two exciting and unique presentations from our own membership at the next evening meeting on Thursday, May 2nd. The meeting will be held at the Prince Edward County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive, across from Lowe's in Farmville. Light refreshments start at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. A short business meeting will follow the free program. The public is invited to join us.

Dr. James Arieti will speak on birds and classic literature - titled “A Smattering of Matters about Birds in Antiquity.” This illustrated talk will focus on the relationship of the Greeks and Romans with birds. As the Greeks and Romans observed the nighttime sky and were familiar with a multitude of stars to a degree impossible for us, so the air they breathed was crowded with far greater numbers of birds than ours is. Just as the starry sky played a more prominent part in their lives than it does in ours, so also did the air with its myriads of winged creatures. Professor James Arieti taught classics at Hampden-Sydney College since 1978 (retired in 2021) and previously taught at Stanford University, The Pennsylvania State University, and Cornell College. He was a member of the Ornithology Club in High School in New York City and is a member of the Margaret Watson Bird Club since 2022.

Dr. Jimmy Gates will take us to Iceland, where he has photographed some of the most fascinating birds: "Birds of Iceland". Dr. Gates will share photos and interesting aspects of his recent trip, including Puffins. The pictures of were taken in June of 2023 during a cruise around Iceland. There were daily shore visits to cultural, historical and nature sites. He also visited an Eider down farmer, dodged Artic Terns as they attacked the visitors, and braved inclement weather to visit Puffin and Fulmer nesting sites. Dr. Jimmy Gates is a retired Farmville veterinarian and avid birder.

The Margaret Watson Bird Club welcomes the public to our April meeting and evening presentation on “Bird Nests” by Farmv...
04/02/2024

The Margaret Watson Bird Club welcomes the public to our April meeting and evening presentation on “Bird Nests” by Farmville’s own Dr. Mark Fink. On Thursday, April 4th, Dr. Fink will discuss the fascinating world of avian nests, reproductive ecology and nesting behaviors. His talk will include interesting facts and details about avian reproduction in general and he will share some of his legally collected bird nests. The meeting will be held at the Prince Edward County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive, across from Lowe's in Farmville. Light refreshments start at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. A short business meeting will follow the free program. The public is invited to join us.

Dr. Mark Fink is a Professor of Biology at Longwood University. A native of the Midwest, he came to Longwood in the fall of 2001 after completing his PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri. Dr. Fink obtained an MS in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Texas A&M University and a BS in Biology from the University of Missouri.

His research interests include wildlife biology, conservation biology, ecology, and ornithology. His work has included studies on habitat associations and reproductive success in populations of declining migratory songbirds as well as biodiversity assessment of living shorelines of Chesapeake Bay. At Longwood, Dr. Fink enjoys teaching Ornithology, Conservation Biology, Ecology and Evolution, and Senior Seminar.

In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, dogs, and goats on their property in rural Virginia. He enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, and gardening. He is an active supporter of the Southside SPCA and currently serves as President of the Board for that organization.

02/27/2024

We know spring is near once American Woodcocks start flying in(to windows 😢)!

If you find a bird grounded under a window or see it directly hit a window, here's what you can do to help:

1. Contain the bird ASAP by SLOWLY approaching it and placing it in a large paper bag (fold or paper-clip the top shut) or a cardboard box. You can also toss a piece of fabric (towel, t-shirt) over the bird before scooping it up.

2. Take note of the address where the bird was found, or at the very least the intersection of two streets where it was found.

3. Call a wildlife rehabber for next steps. In DC between 9a-5p, call City Wildlife at 202-882-1000. After hours, you can leave a message with us and hold onto the bird in a WARM, DARK, QUIET place with NO FOOD OR WATER until you can bring them to us the next day. If you cannot hold onto or bring the bird to us, call Humane Rescue Alliance/DCACC 202-723-5730 for 24/7 rescue services.

Outside of DC, look up the nearest rehabber in your state at www.ahnow.org. Outside of the states, visit theIRWC.org.

If the bird is dead:
-In DC, email a photo of bird with the location/date/time to [email protected].
-Elsewhere, submit the finding to your local Lights Out group, www.dbird.org, or the window strike project on iNaturalist.

02/20/2024

The Margaret Watson Bird Club is excited to present “The Ghost Bird” documentary by Scott Crocker on March 7th 2024. Described as spellbinding, profoundly moving, and stunning, we will learn how this phantom Ivory-billed woodpecker, changed a Southern town forever. The public is invited to join us.

This story explores a small town in Arkansas which was overrun by birders and scientists all hoping to confirm a glimpse of the largest woodpecker in NA after being presumed extinct for over half a century. Destruction of its old-growth forest habitat in southeastern U.S. caused severe population declines in the 1800s, and only very small numbers survived into the twentieth century.

In 2004 the Ivory-billed woodpecker was seen flying through the swamps and bayous of eastern Arkansas by scientists who pronounced the Ivory-bill’s incredible rediscovery. Unfortunately, after years of searching, a second sighting has not occurred, and the bird’s fate remains a mystery.

This witty, intelligent documentary brings the Ivory-bill’s blurry rediscovery into focus, and the hope and disappointment that it brought with it.

The meeting will be held at the Prince Edward County Extension Office at 100 Dominion Drive; across from Lowe's in Farmville. Light refreshments start at 6:30 pm and the program starts at 7. Runtime is approx 1.5 hrs. A short business meeting will follow the program: We will have a complete list of this year's field trips, plus membership information.

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Farmville, VA
23901

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