Greetings To All,

The River Region Bird Club, in cooperation with The Hummer/Bird Study Group
and The Alabama WildBird Conservation Association, is sponsoring a “Bird Banding
Workshop”. These are the details:

Location: The Conservation Lake Hunting Camp near Greenville, Alabama.

Schedule:

9:00 AM - 12 Noon - Bird Banding Workshop.
12 Noon - 1:00 PM - Lunch (bring your own).
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM - Bird Walks led by experienced field trip leaders.

Directions: Exit I65 at exit 128 (Highway 10) and proceed west toward Pineapple.
Travel app. 2.3 miles to County Road 183 (AKA: High Road) and turn right.
Continue
a short distance to Conservation Road and turn right. Travel to the end of the
pavement on Conservation Road and turn right on to the gated pasture road. The
gate will be opened at 8:45 AM. Follow the pasture road to the hunting camp
house and lake. As you approach the old wooden barn keep to the right and go
down the hill. This is a one lane road. Proceed slowly and carefully.

If it is raining or threatening rain on the 18th the workshop will be cancelled.
If the weather conditions are such that you are uncertain about cancellation
you can call (334) 437-2900 for information. You can also call this number if
you have any problems finding Conservation Lake. This is a cell phone number
and the person carrying the phone will be at Conservation Lake. Please do not
call the number before 7 AM.

There are restrooms and kitchen facilities available at the Conservation Lake
Camp House.

Birders often call sparrows “little brown jobs”. This name is actually not a
fitting description for many members of the sparrow family. A few species of
sparrows are regular visitors at bird feeders but most are secretive and spend
the better part of their lives in thickets, grassy fields and other places that
make them difficult to observe. The fleeting glimpses they afford us are indeed
quite often a flash of brown but when they surprise us with a close look it
is quickly apparent that they are not “little brown jobs”. In fact they wear
coats of many colors including rich browns, shades of tan, black, white and
yellow. Many are even outstanding singers, changing their winter squeaks and
peeps to spring songs that rival those of the “thrushes” the champion singers
of the bird world.

On February 18th you will have the opportunity to see sparrows (and other
species)
closer than you ever imagined. You may even get to hold a sparrow in your hand.


The Bird Banding Workshop will be conducted by Master Bird Bander Fred Bassett.
Fred will be assisted by Jayne Rushin.

Fred Bassett lives in Montgomery, is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy,
and a retired fighter pilot. He is a member of the Hummer/Bird Study Group,
the organization that operates the Fort Morgan Bird Banding Station in April
and October each year. HBSG also conducts banding research projects and presents
workshops across the country. Fred will be presenting a “Hummingbird Program
at Auburn University in Montgomery on February 25 at 10:30 AM. The program
will be presented in room 112 in Goodwyn Hall on the AUM campus.

During the winter Fred travels throughout the Southeast banding and collecting
research data on wintering hummingbirds. His dedication to this task has added
a wealth of information to our knowledge of the occurrence and distribution
of winter hummingbirds in Alabama. Until about 1985 it was assumed that there
were only two species of hummers that occurred in Alabama in the winter. We
now know there are nine. The most recent addition to the list was a Costa’s
Hummingbird which Fred identified and banded in Montgomery this winter. This
was the first documented occurrence of this species in Alabama and probably
the first east of the Mississippi River.

Jayne Rushin lives in Auburn and is an attorney. Jayne has traveled widely in
the study and pursuit of birds and is an active member of several birding and
bird research organizations in Alabama. She is experienced in the procedures
and practices of bird banding and a member of the HBSG team of trained
volunteers
who assist in operating the Fort Morgan Banding Station and other HBSG banding
projects. Jayne is also a talented artist. Her specialty is artworks created
from various metals.

Hope to see you at Conservation Lake on February 18.

Charles Kennedy
President - Alabama WildBird Conservation Association