Hello First name / VFAS Member,

As the vibrant colors of fall begin to grace our landscapes, we are excited to bring you the latest edition of the VFAS newsletter! This season offers a unique opportunity to witness the changing habits and habitats that make autumn a special time for birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts alike.

 

Read on for updates about upcoming programs, our continued advocacy work, informational articles, and more! As always, thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission.

As always, VFAS has a full calendar of events for this fall and winter! You'll be able to catch us in places like Green Lane Park, Fischer's Park, and more.  Programs at the John James Audubon Center include a “Little Sit” for Birdability Week and an owl program during the winter.  We will make our usual excursion to Barnegat in January 2025, plus we will also host a winter hiking series.

 

Attention plant people: don't miss our Fall Native Plant Sale at Catov Park in Exton on October 26  from noon to 2 pm! The one we held in the spring was so popular, we brought it back for the fall.

 

Keep checking our events calendar as we add new events throughout the fall and winter season. Or, follow us on Meetup to get notified of new events as we post them!

 

 

At tabling events this spring and summer, bird advocates encouraged passersby to play a guessing game. A jar full of sunflower seeds sat on the table. How many seeds were in the jar? The person who guessed a number closest to the actual count would win a donated bird feeder.

 

At two public events in Swarthmore, the Fun Fair and Farmers Market, the game drew people of all ages to the tables who might not have stopped by otherwise. Some picked up the jar and tried to count layers of seeds, while others acted on hunches. One of the winners, whose guess was only 15 off from the correct count, said that nobody in her family had ever won a game like this.

 

At the Valley Forge Audubon Society Annual Meeting in August, the winner, Judy Obetz, was delighted with her hummingbird feeder. She recently reported that the birds love it and she’s been able to keep squirrels off it!

 

Encouraging people to help birds thrive is serious work. Advocacy Committee members share information and engage in conversations that promote planting native plants, making windows safe for birds, keeping cats indoors, turning outdoor lights off overnight, and supporting bird-friendly legislation at all levels of government. But this seriousness doesn’t preclude fun and games!

On Sunday August 18, 90 people came out to our social and annual meeting at the John James Audubon Center. One of the Center's education birds, Hopper the Broad-winged hawk, welcomed everyone. Participants were able to view a slide show by our photographer birders, ask questions of our advocacy committee, and play some bird games. Nancy Fraim from the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania gave a wonderful presentation - “For the Love of Bluebirds” - about how to welcome this endearing species to our yards.  After her presentation, VFAS President Chris Wells and John Werth from the VFAS Conservation Committee, led a bird walk around the grounds.

 

The Smithsonian Bird Friendly Coffee initiative is a certification and research program that allows consumers to make smart, science-based choices that are good for birds, biodiversity, and the environment with each coffee they drink. 

Coffee that is grown in a way that supports birds must be organic and shade-grown – but not all shade-grown coffees are created equal. The shade needs to come from habitat that supports robust bird life, which is not the case when the shade comes from row crops or non-native plants.  Developed by ecologists, Smithsonian Bird Friendly Coffee certification has the most robust habitat requirements of any coffee certification, including rules on the height and density of the canopy cover and the number and types of shade-tree species, and must also be certified as organic.  It is the only “shade-grown” coffee certification that truly protects bird habitat and therefore is the most bird friendly, and it makes up only 1% of the global coffee market.

 

Your choice of your daily cup of coffee really can matter.