Calendar

Saturday 5pm-7:45pm

St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Sibley, MS

Special Sundowner Field Trip (This is one of our most popular field trips)

Sponsored by JAS and St. Catherine Creek NWR at St. Catherine Creek NWR.  There are lots of birds at St. Cat this time of year. If the water levels are just right there will be hundreds of birds feeding in the 900 acres of ponds/shallow impoundments and then at sundown the spectacle begins with all birds lifting off and going to roost. Hundreds of Neotropic Cormorants, Wood Storks, 50’s of Roseate Spoonbills, and other long-legged waders (Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, a few Tri-colored Herons, White and dark Ibis, Black-necked Stilts, etc. Be sure to watch for both night-herons flying to roost at dusk. Bald Eagles, plus various shorebirds migrating through are possibilities. It is quite the show. It will be HOT but worth it! For some reason there seems to always be a breeze at St. Cats.  Bring a hat, folding chair, water, snacks, picnic, umbrella (just in case).  This will be a great show.  Don’t miss it!!  We look forward to seeing you.  The event is always fun! 

MEET: St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters Office Parking Lot at 5pm (Someone will be @ HQ to direct you to THE SWAMP VIEWING AREA.) Sunset will be about 7:30-7:45 when the birds start going to roost.)   

21 Pintail Lane, Sibley, MS 39165 (Natchez, MS) Refuge phone: 601/442-6696

DIRECTIONS:

From Natchez, take US Highway 61 South for 10 miles, then turn right at Sibley, MS (at the Dollar General Store) onto York Road and go 2 miles. You will see the large brown St. Cat sign. Then turn left onto Pintail Lane. Meet at Headquarters office which is the first building on your left. You will then be directed to “The Swamp,” which is marked on the refuge map. We strongly recommend you do not rely on an electronic navigation device to find your way around the refuge.  Also, there is very limited phone service after you leave the Headquarters. Visitor maps are available at the Kiosk at entrance of the refuge as well as the headquarters office. Be sure to grab a map.

LEADERS:  BILL & MARY STRIPLING (601 832 6788)

4^th Tuesday

Meet & Greet: 6:00PM

Business Meeting: 6:15

PROGRAM: “BIRDS OF A FEATHER…ARE DINOSAURS TOGETHER!”

Some 30+ years ago, we began to realize that birdwatchers are essentially ‘dinosaur hunters,’ in the sense that paleontology and evolutionary biology revealed that birds are descendants of theropod dinosaurs. Did all dinosaurs have feathers? Are all feathered dinosaurs birds? Have feathered dinosaurs been found in Mississippi? George Phillips, Museum of Natural Science Paleontology Curator, will talk about the latest research on feathered dinosaurs and how the topic might be relevant to Mississippi paleontology. So, let’s all ‘flock together’ and find out what George has to say!

SPEAKER:  GEORGE PHILLIPS, Paleontologist, MMNS

LOCATION:  Clinton Community Nature Center, 617 Dunton Road, Clinton, MS 39056. Phone: 601 926-1104

Saturday 8am-10am

LOCATION: Campground Entrance off Lakeland Drive, Jackson

Meet at Picnic area

LEADER: FRANK HENSLEY

$2.00 park entrance fee per person

TIME:  10am -12 NOON

LOCATION: LBSP

Campground Entrance off Lakeland

Meet at Picnic area at LBSP

LEADER: WES SHOOP Wes has identified and photographed about every spider that lurks in the park and he knows their hiding places.  Please join us for this special treat with Wes. Wes’ new book of photographs of flora and fauna of Mississippi has just been published by University Press of Mississippi.  Books are available online, Lemuria Books or the MMNS bookstore.  (He will also bring copies and be happy to sign them after the walk – $50.00).

$2.00 park entrance per person

Saturday 9am-12noon

 (Birding On Your Own! No Organized Leader)

Bring a lawn chair, lunch, and binos and watch the sky for migrating hawks passing over Fort Hill. This will be a come and go (sit) type of bird watch. Mid September is one of the best times for hawk watching. Hundreds of hawks and their young that breed north of us move through the state at this time of year. Most numerous is the Broad-winged Hawk, which at times can be seen in kettles, of hundreds, “boiling” high into the sky. The next most commonly seen September migrants are the feisty Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, Osprey, Northern Harrier and Turkey Vulture. Go to https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/birds/birds-of-prey/hawk-watching/fall-hawk-watching for a discussion on the best weather conditions for HawkWatching.

If the weather conditions are not optimal for this day; then you should try again on another day in mid Sep. Let us know what you see. Birding on your own!

OCT 5, 2024

Saturday 8am-10am

Campground Entrance off Lakeland Drive, Jackson

Meet at Picnic area

LEADER: LARCIE AND CLYDE BURNETT

$2.00 park entrance fee per person 

Saturday 8am-11am (7:30 for Early Birders)

LOCATION: This WMA lies northeast of Jackson in Madison County, just north of the Barnett Reservoir on Hwy 43 between the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Pearl River.  Pipeline Road is the gravel road that runs north along the marshes of the Pearl River. 

DIRECTIONS: At the intersection of the Natchez Trace & HWY 43, go east on Hwy 43. Just before the Pearl River Bridge turn left on the gravel road known as Pipeline Road.  SEE: sign “Pearl River Waterfowl Refuge and Wildlife Management Area.”  

MEET: Permit Check-in Kiosk at the start of Pipeline Road.  Remember to fill out cards provided at kiosk and return them when leaving the WMA.

LEADER: Dr. BENJI DILLARD (Benji will be at the check-in station at 7:30am birding around that area til 8am. The group will then proceed up the road – this should be a great time to catch migrants passing through and to see our early winter residents.)

IMPORTANT:  MDWFP requires everyone age 64 and under to purchase a WMA PERMIT to enter a WMA. Those 65 and older are exempt from this requirement. Call: MDWFP to purchase 601-432-2400 or see Links

4th Tuesday

Meet & Greet: 6:00pm

Business Meeting: 6:15pm

PROGRAM: SHOREBIRD RESEARCH IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA 

SPEAKER: DR. JASON HOEKSEMA, President of Delta Wind Birds and Professor of Biology, University of Mississippi. 

Jason will talk about shorebirds, also known as wind birds, and how the “Delta Wind Birds” organization is working with farmers and land owners in the Delta to create temporary stopover habitat for thousands of migrating shorebirds. Incentives for creation of these wetlands on agricultural fields during fall are available to qualifying farmers from Delta Wind Birds, and through Farm Bill programs. The benefits of these wetlands go beyond birds to conserving soil, keeping excess nitrogen out of our streams and rivers, and sometimes improving subsequent crop yield.  

LOCATION:  Clinton Community Nature Center, 617 Dunton Road, Clinton, MS 39056. Phone: 601 926-1104