Fall Meeting Report

Gregory J. Harber

            Oftentimes we hear or read the words “birding community” without really giving them much thought.  The phrase can be so ambiguous, and we rely on its context within the sentence to define its meaning.  At the AOS meeting this past fall I came to appreciate several new meanings, if you’ll allow me to elaborate.

            On the day prior to the meeting I was working in the lab at UAB when I received word that there had been a tragic automobile accident on the interstate near Atmore.  Eloise Rafferty had been seriously injured, and Van Chaplin – dear, sweet Van – had died.  Eloise and Van have long been members of our AOS community and news of the accident cut deep into our hearts.  Bob Tate and Harriett Wright offered poignant remembrances of Van at the Friday night gathering and we observed a communal moment of silence in Van’s memory.  Thank you, Bob and Harriett, for giving voice to our silent recollections of a beautiful lady.

            The Friday night display of member’s favorite slides provided the perfect treat to begin the weekend.  Shirley Farrell began the occasion with a collection of images from regional birding trips she and Frank had taken in the past year.  Seeing the “Autaugaville Swallow-tailed Kites” brought back pleasant memories for several in the audience.  Dee Patterson’ photographs from Panama and Floyd Sherrod’s photographs from Africa captured images of some truly spectacular bird life from far away lands.  I closed with a few slides from my own recent travels to Florida and more shots of those splendidly acrobatic kites.  Rick West, coming in just under the wire, gave a brief recap of the Alabama Breeding Bird Atlas.  I think I speak for everyone when I say that even though this was most definitely a group effort, we never could have completed this project without Rick’s careful and ongoing oversight.  Thank you, Rick.

            Birding throughout the weekend was about as good as it gets for the protracted fall migration season.  While the numbers were not overwhelming by any stretch of the imagination there was a steady supply all weekend long, with enough to satisfy everyone.  Word of the next wonderful sighting was never more than a fellow birder’s “heads up” or cell phone call away.  It’s funny how members of a community support each other that way; deciding where to go next was often determined by the most recent “bulletin” – no plans, no cares, and birds aplenty!

The West End and Sand Island provided ample opportunities to study shorebirds, gulls and terns (thank you Terry Hartley and John Stowers for the boat rides to and from the island) and the airport was the scene of some memorable sightings of Peregrine Falcons and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.  The Black-throated Blue and Nashville Warblers at the Shell Mounds were elusive at times but the Bay-breasted and Wilson’s Warblers were most accommodating.  The Black-billed Cuckoo at the Goat Trees, and later at the Shell Mounds, was arguably the best bird of the weekend.

Even more stunning, perhaps, were the untold thousands of Monarch and other butterflies cloaking the island.  Their fluttering shapes appeared wherever one cared to look, and the oak trees near John Stowers’ home were draped with their tiny bodies, heaving delicately as they opened and closed their wings in the warm sunshine.  I think many others enjoyed the butterflies too, for the butterflies proved to be popular photography subjects as they fed on the blossoms at the Shell Mounds.

            The saying goes, “The third time is always the charm.” Never was this more true than in the case of our guest and featured speaker, Jon Dunn, for this was the third consecutive time we have tried to host Jon at our fall meeting.  The previous two attempts were ‘hurricaned out’ due to Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina.  Birding with Jon throughout the weekend was a delight for many, and his Saturday night treatise on sparrows gave us a new insight into the beauty and complexity of this under-appreciated group of birds.   We were grateful for the reprieve from the hurricanes and for Jon’s good nature. 

            The winter meeting, as you will note in this newsletter, will be held near St. Mark’s NWR, one of my favorite places on God’s green earth.  Be sure to join us as we share together the wonderful birds and sights of the Florida Gulf Coast.  The quiet stillness and solitude will be the perfect cure for your wintertime blues.