Meetings

Unless indicated otherwise, all SMAS Programs are held at the Adams County Agricultural Resource Center, 670 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg, PA at 7:30 pm (refreshments at 7 pm). A room number for the SMAS meeting will be posted on the front lobby entry inner door.

Bonnie Portzline (profile - courtesy of The Gettysburg Times) is happy to give her presentation ‘Birds with a Gettysburg address’ to interested parties. The presentation is based on her wonderful photographs of local birds.

Bird Arrivals and Departures

The Fall 2020 competition has started. We are counting the first arrivals of Winter residents, last sightings of Summer residents, and continuing the competition of pass-thru migrant observations from the Spring. If you are interested in joining the competitions, or just want to better understand the state of the bird populations in Adams County, contact Mike Bertram at 717-352-7936.

The state of Adams County sightings can be found in the Arrivals and Departures page. The progress of migrations can be seen at eBird.org by going to the explore section and looking at the species’ recent sightings.

Saturday 19th December, Christmas Bird Count

January & February Backyard Bird Count

February Spring Migrants Competition starts (both Woodcocks and Phoebes start appearing this month)

The Society works towards those aims with meetings, birding trips, and conservation activities.

There are 2 Important Bird Areas locally:

• South Mountain
  
• South Adams County Grasslands

Click here to join National Audubon and the South Mountain Audubon Society. Please select U17 as the Chapter code from the drop down menu on the form.

If you only want to join the South Mountain Audubon Society only then sign up at the next event you attend. The annual membership is $15.

The Society can be contacted in the following ways:

email: SMAS@southmountainaudubon.org

Tel.: 717-809-3911

Mail: SMAS, P.O. Box 3671, Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Local Bird Sightings in 2019

There were a number of new and rare species recorded in the area in 2019, although they have been previously recorded in adjacent areas:

South Adams Grasslands Important Bird Area (covering part of Adams County) -

New sightings for area: White-winged Scoter, Common Gallinule, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, American Avocet, Short-billed Dowitcher, Whimbrel, Barn Owl, Prothonotary Warbler.

Rare birds: Surf Scoter, Yellow-throated Warbler, Common Redpoll.

South Mountain Important Bird Area (covering parts of Adams, Franklin, and Cumberland Counties)

New sightings: Red-necked Grebe, Golden Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs, Peregrine Falcon.

Rare Birds: Redhead.

Adams County (excluding sightings in the IBAs already noted)

Rare birds: Rough-legged Hawk, Semi-palmated Plover, Cerulean Warbler

Further details including lists of all the bird sighted can be found on the Bird Lists page. See map for the definition of the IBA areas.

Field Trips

FIELD TRIPS - Field trips will be planned on an annual basis and a tentative list will be sent in late December to those on our email list. Details for day trips will be announced in the monthly email blasts, and details for overnight trips will be announced a few months in advance. Also, information can be found on this website. Each monthly email will list a contact person and a meeting place and time for the upcoming events. If you are not on our email list, you can contact Mike Bertram at mike@the2nomads.org or call 717-809-3911 (please leave a voicemail) if you have questions or need other details. Field trip cancellations will be announced by email as soon as possible and also on this website.  

State Gameland #242

On the 2nd October SMAS members birded the State Gamelands near Dillsburg. 40 species were observed including Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Nashville, Tennessee, Black-throated Blue, Palm, and Magnolia Warblers.

Devil’s Den area, Gettysburg NMP

On the 17th October, 12 members birded in the area of Devil’s Den in Gettysburg Military Park. 33 species were observed on a beautiful Fall morning. They included first of season Golden-crowned Kinglets

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Great Blue Heron
photos by Evan Vaeth and Linette Mansberger

Camp Michaux

On the 31st October 12 members birded the Camp Michuax area. 20 species were observed.

Strawberry Hill

On the 14th of November the Society visited the Strawberry Hill. 25 species were observed

Golden-crowned Kinglets
photos by Evan Vaeth and Linette Mansberger

Duck Drive

On the 21st November a SMAS group took part in a Duck Drive, visiting all the easily accessible ponds and lakes in Adams County. 41 species were observed, one of the highlights being Hooded Merganser males displaying.

photo by Linette Mansberger