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Jamie Montague giving a binocular lesson 
Caleb Basa teaching about Poison Parsnip 
Josh Phillip’s group heading out 
A Gray Catbird 
Here’s a closer look 
Looking in the Quest box 
Ron Payne’s group 
A sawfly found by a young participant 
Snacks!
On Saturday, June 22, OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land Trust held our annual Beginners Birding Walk at Wright Park in Middlebury. Beginning birder’s of all ages, many equipped with OCAS’s binoculars, broke into three groups led by OCAS President Ron Payne, birder and former MALT director Josh Phillips, and MALT Executive Director Jamie Montague and searched for birds around the various trails of the Park. Birding highlights were many singing Cooperative Catbirds and Red-eyed Vireos, singing Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts, and Eastern Kingbirds acting flashy.
If you missed the walk, remember that beginning birders are always welcome at our Monthly Wildlife Walks at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland on the second Saturday of every month. And another dedicated walk for beginning birders will take place during Dead Creek Days in Addison on October 5th. Please see our Calendar of Events for more information.
Veery
Craig Zondag’s group heads out.
Carol Ramsayer organizing us at the parking lot
Young birders learning binoculars
Jamie Montague gives a lesson
Ron Payne returns with now veteran birders
On Saturday, June 23, OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land Trust held our annual beginning birder’s walk at Wright Park in Middlebury. Beginning birder’s of all ages, many equipped with OCAS’s binoculars, broke into three groups led by OCAS President Ron Payne, board member Craig Zondag and MALT Executive Director Jamie Montague and searched for birds around the various trails of the Park. Birding highlights were Read the rest of this entry »
Veery
Playing “Who’s Nest is This?”
Ron Payne fielding questions
Craig Zondag’s on a bird
Getting a close look at the nests
Josh Phillips with some small participants
Amy Clapp handing out Naturally Literate
On Saturday, June 17, OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land Trust held our annual beginning birder’s walk at Wright Park in Middlebury. Beginning birder’s of all ages, many equipped with OCAS’s binoculars, broke into three groups led by OCAS President Ron Payne, board member Craig Zondag and former MALT Executive Director Josh Phillips and searched for birds around the various trails of the Park. Birding highlights were a Merlin zooming over the parking lot as we get started, an up-close look at some Veerys, and two groups seeing a usually elusive Black-billed Cuckoo. Read the rest of this entry »
Baltimore Oriole
Josh Phillip’s group
Craig Zondag’s group
Ron Payne’s group
Barb Otsuka displaying mammal stuff
Katherine Branch and Theresa Phillips setting up snacks and a spotting scope
A moth takes a liking to Josh
Carol Ramsayer teaching about bird nests
On Saturday, June 25, OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land Trust held our annual beginning birder’s walk at Wright Park in Middlebury. Twenty-four beginning birder’s of all ages, many equipped with OCAS’s binoculars, broke into three groups led by OCAS President Ron Payne, board member Craig Zondag and former MALT Executive Director Josh Phillips Read the rest of this entry »
Josh Phillips group starting off through the fields
Gray Catbird
Ron Payne’s group looking for Swallows from the crooked bridge
A Virginia Ctenucha Moth caught the eye of several photographers
Learning about feathers with Carol Ramsayer
Craig Zondag leads his group through the woods
Last Saturday, OCAS and MALT held our annual beginning birders walk at Wright Park. With around thirty people of all ages in attendance, we broke up into three groups led by Josh Phillips, Ron Payne and Craig Zondag, and headed out along different trails around the park. On our way we did our best to spot birds, listened to bird songs, and pointed out the various bird habitats we were moving through. All paths crossed at the Wright Park Quest goal box where we were treated Read the rest of this entry »
Borrowing binoculars
Getting ready to go
Viceroy
Carol with a mystery bird
Yellow Warbler & Red-tailed Hawk study skins
Examining the Hawk tail
Owl’s feet
Hawk wing
Yellow Warbler
Craig Zondag leads his flock
Pausing for a lesson
Widow Skimmer
This past Saturday, OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land trust collaborated to hold a Beginner’s Birding walk at Wright Park in Middlebury. 35 people of all ages attended, some borrowing our binoculars, split into three groups led by OCAS President Ron Payne, board member Craig Zondag and former MALT Executive director, Josh Phillips. The groups headed out on three different paths, all converging on the Quest goal birdhouse where we enjoyed snacks and people were invited to leave messages for future Read the rest of this entry »
Beginning birders
On Saturday, June 15, over 50 people of all ages participated in a beginning birders walk at Wright Park in Middlebury, a joint event held by OCAS and the Middlebury Area Land Trust. Participants broke up into three groups led by OCAS Board members Ron Payne and Craig Zondag, and former MALT executive director, Josh Phillips taking various routes around the Wright Park trail system. Along the way we looked for both live birds and wooden bird silhouettes seeded along the way by Craig. Some of the species seen Read the rest of this entry »
A young quester starts on her trek
The second annual Wright Park Quest Walk was held on Saturday, July 7, again showcasing a unique side trail that winds its way to the banks of Otter Creek. Nine OCAS members set up six stations – providing Quest walkers the surprise of coming upon a variety of hands-on activities along the trail. All the stations were new this year so repeat Questers had different opportunities for discovery. Milkweed plants were examined, revealing a newly hatched Monarch caterpillar. Another station provided binoculars to search for Read the rest of this entry »
Otter Creek Audubon Society 