At Home – SIB

Bird feeder set-up ideas

The marsh is a very dynamic environment. Its beauty is ever changing with the tide and the season, and it’s home to many species of birds and other wildlife. It’s also Mark & Valerie Doane’s backyard and Valerie has created quite the paradise for the local birds.

Valerie Doane with one of her feeder systems. Photo by Gina Sanders.

She started providing feeders back in 2016 and has put together a great system. Perched on the rail of their second floor deck Valerie has strategically mounted a customizable pole system from Wild Birds Unlimited. It allows for multiple arms and various mounting options giving her the flexibility to provide various types and styles of feeders.

She also uses a no-mess blend of food, making clean-up underneath the feeders much easier. She has one bluebird feeder, one cylinder peanut feeder, one large cylinder feeder filled with the no-mess blend, one large dish feeder filled with safflower and another large dish feeder filled with sunflower chips. She also has a hummingbird feeder which she keeps up year round. She completes the setup with a shallow bird bath on the deck so a clean water source is always available to the birds as well.

And what about the squirrels? They have no chance of robbing her feeders – her deck is 21′ off the ground and has no steps leading up to it, so the squirrels are out of luck! It’s a private oasis just for the birds.

The beautiful birds and the simple joy of observing nature provides much entertainment, photo opportunities, and a peaceful, relaxing environment. What more could you ask for!

For more information about the feeder system pictured:

https://order.wbu.com/order/search/?searchTerm=APS%20Hanging%20system

Submitted by Gina Sanders

Join SIB: February Movie Matinee

February Movie – Register Here

Scott Weidensaul, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Location: Zoom Only

Watch the replay of the Zoom event featuring Scott Weidensaul, a renowned bird migration expert, and author of more than two dozen books on natural history. These include New York Times bestseller “A World on the Wing,” and Pulitzer Prize finalist “Living on the Wind.” He’s a contributing editor for Audubon and is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society. An active field researcher, his studies of migration have taken him all around the world.

Even as scientists make astounding discoveries about the navigational and physiological feats that enable migratory birds to cross immense oceans or fly above the highest mountains, go weeks without sleep or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch, humans have brought many migrants to the brink. Based on his newest book “A World on the Wing,” author and researcher Scott Weidensaul takes you around the globe — with researchers in the lab probing the limits of what migrating birds can do, to the shores of the Yellow Sea in China, the remote mountains of northeastern India where tribal villages saved the greatest gathering of falcons on the planet, and the Mediterranean, where activists and police are battling bird poachers — to learn how people are fighting to understand and save the world’s great bird migrations.

Movie Matinees

Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) hosts Movie Matinees each month on the second Tuesday at 4pm. The events are now often being held both in-person and virtually.

Please register for each event to let us know how you want to attend. After you register, you will receive an automatic confirmation with a link for Zoom, which will be resent the day of the event. If you requested to attend in person, you will receive a email reminder the day prior the event. Please let us know if you need to cancel. Water and snacks will be provided at in-person events. Feel free to bring your own beverage.

Watch: SIB Launched 2023 with Worldwide Bird Migration, author, naturalist and ornithologist

Scott Weidensaul was the guest speaker, via Zoom from his home in New Hampshire, at the first gathering of Seabrook Island Birders for 2023. We met at the Oyster Catcher Community Center for some social time and discussed his book “A World on the Wing” published in 2021. We had 37 people present in-person and 21 via Zoom. Scott joined early enough to hear Bob Mercer update us on the activities of our own Shorebird Steward Program and then he presented a 50 minute program on worldwide bird migration. This was followed by questions on the use of technology in monitoring migration, the physiological changes in birds around migration and if there will be information gathered that can be applied to human medicine, and whether we understand how a young bird learns to migrate.

Scott is a naturalist and ornithologist involved in many projects researching bird migration. He is also a writer, having published many books and articles on birds and the migratory process. The recording of the program is available on our YouTube Channel for one month if you are interested in viewing it. If you prefer, SIB will feature Scott’s presentation during our next Movie Matinee (only virtual) at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. Register to watch it with us on Zoom.

During the program, Scott Weidensaul mentioned a few websites you may want to explore:

www.motus.org – The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network that uses coordinated automated radio telemetry to facilitate research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals. Motus is a program of Birds Canada in partnership with collaborating researchers and organizations.
https://www.projectsnowstorm.org/ – Dedicated to the study and research of the movement of Snowy Owls

Additional information on Scott, his prior publications, interviews and his current activities is available on his website, scottweidensaul.com.

Join Seabrook Island Birders and be the first to know about our upcoming programs and activities, seabrookislandbirders.org.

Change of Plans! Join us for Woodpeckers: The Hole Story

January Movie – Register Here

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the movie has been changed. If you already signed up, no need to register. If you no longer wish to attend, drop us an email at: seabrookislandbirders@gmail.com

Woodpeckers: The Hole Story
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 4:00 pm (In Person & Zoom)
Location: Zoom & Oystercatcher Community Center

Get an intimate look at what makes woodpeckers so special. Explore their unique abilities and intimate stories from around the world. Narrated by Paul Giamatti.

Watch the Trailer: https://www.pbs.org/video/about-woodpeckers-hole-story/

Join In-Person or Virtually for SIB’s January Movie Matinee

Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) hosts Movie Matinees each month on the second Tuesday at 4pm. The events are now being held both in-person and virtually.

January Movie – Register Here

A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 4:00 pm (In Person & Zoom)
Location: Zoom & Oystercatcher Community Center

This is a recorded program hosted by the sponsors of the Space Coast Birding Festival. We hope you will also join SIB members as we encourage you to read “A World on the Wing” and join us as we host Scott Weidensaul on Sunday, January 22, 2023. Our guest will join via Zoom, and you will have a choice to be in person with other SIB members or joining on Zoom. Registration for this event coming soon!

Watch the Trailer: not available

In Person SIB Movie Matinees Return: Hummingbirds

Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) plans to continue our Movie Matinees each month on the second Tuesday at 4pm.

Please register if you would like to attend. You will receive an automatic confirmation with a link for Zoom. It will be resent the day of the event.

We will also offer in-person event held at the Oystercatcher Community Center on Seabrook Island. Please indicate on your registration you plan to attend in-person and we will confirm with you two days before the event.

December Movie – Register Here

Hummingbirds
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 from 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: Zoom & Oystercatcher Community Center

David Attenborough takes us into the remarkable lives of hummingbirds via stunning slow motion photography. Everything about these tiny birds is superb and extreme. They have the highest metabolism, fastest heart beat and most rapid wing beat in the avian world. They evolved to feed on flowering plants but are now a crucial part of wider ecosystems. How do they mate, raise their young, and live? (2013)

Watch the Trailer: Hummingbird Trailer

Join or Renew Your SIB Membership for 2023

We are pleased the implementation of online payment using Credit Card / PayPal was well received this past year. The Seabrook Island Birders Executive Committee (SIB EC) met recently to review the budget for the coming year. In our first seven years of operation, we were able to maintain membership dues at $10/person. In order to cover increased expenses, offer quality programs, support the Shorebird Steward and the Bluebird Trail programs, the SIB EC has voted to increase dues to $15/person/year.

We hope you will renew your membership today and it is valid through December 31, 2023. SIB membership is open to anyone interested in birds; residents, renters and guests to Seabrook Island. Benefits of SIB membership include the opportunity to go on bird walks, participate in bird counts and learn about the many birds that frequent our island each season of the year. In addition, SIB members will receive a discount on bird food purchased at Wild Birds Unlimited in West Ashley, SC.This past year, more than 290 members enjoyed the various in-person and virtual SIB events. We encourage you to renew your 2023 membership today! These funds will help us offer great programs in the next year!

We have a two step process to renew by credit card.

Step 1: Tell us Who You Are

Complete this form

Step 2: Pay Your Membership to Us

pay with paypal or credit card

OR

If you prefer to pay by check or cash, place a check made out to Seabrook Island Birders for $15/person in an envelope and include the name, email, and phone number of each member and bring to an event or drop off/mail to: Seabrook Island Birders (SIB), 1202 Landfall Way, Seabrook Island, SC 29455

Thank you for your support! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Volunteers Needed

We would love to have you join our team of volunteers! Don’t worry if you are a beginning birder, we are looking for diverse skill sets, including experience or willingness to learn the following: communications, marketing, organizing, strategic planning, leadership, financial, technology/digital media, etc.

The committees shown with an asterisk ( * ) indicate they can be done remote from Seabrook Island. So even if you are only in the area for part of the year, you can still assist us in many areas!

Activities *: Plan & coordinate workshops, bird walks, movie matinees and bird count activities for members. Committee meets via Zoom for no more than 1.5 hours about every other month.
Bluebird Monitoring: Monitor Bluebird Houses located throughout Seabrook Island for one of three 6-week periods between March and August.
Communications *: Write stories to be used in SIB Blogs, Tidelines and The Seabrooker. Update Facebook posts, Instagram and Twitter. Share photographs with our members of activities and birds you see.
Shorebird Steward: The steward program needs volunteers two-hour shifts to help educate people about the importance of our tiny piece of the world to the shorebirds that visit. This is not an enforcement effort, but an educational effort.
Hospitality: Set up chairs and tables prior to meeting, register members and guests, provide and set up refreshments and clean up after each of the SIB events.
Membership: Recruit and retain members.
Programs & Speakers *: Plan & coordinate SIB Quarterly Programs for membership.
Executive Committee *: Join the SIB board to assist with the overall strategy for our organization, take a role as President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, lead and/or participate on committees. Committee meets via Zoom for no more than 1.5 hours every month.

Please let us know your interest by filling out this form.

SIB Movie Matinee Returns: Birds of the Gods

Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) will host a virtual Zoom Movie Matinee next Tuesday, November 8, at 4pm.

Please register if you would like to attend this Zoom event. You will receive an automatic confirmation with a link for Zoom. It will be resent the day of the event.

We plan to return to an in-person option to be held at the Oystercatcher Community Center in December. Watch for news about this at the beginning of next month.

November Movie – Register Here

Birds of the Gods
Tuesday, November 8, 2022 from 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: Zoom

Living in the depths of the New Guinean rainforest are birds of unimaginable color and beauty. To find these birds in New Guinea is not easy, and to witness their extraordinary mating displays is even tougher. David Attenborough introduces a young team of New Guinean scientists on a grueling expedition to find and film these Birds of Paradise; the holy grail of wildlife filmmakers.

Watch the Trailer:
https://www.pbs.org/video/nature-birds-of-the-gods-2/

Movie Matinees to Return!

Hello all bird movie fans! After a seven month movie matinee hiatus, SIB is ready to begin showing Movie Matinees!

The first movie will be a virtual movie using Zoom on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 4 pm.
The second movie, Tuesday, December 13, 2022, will be a hybrid showing, meaning we will show the movie virtually on Zoom but we will also have an in-person option at the Oystercatcher Community Center on Seabrook Island, SC.

Now we need your help!!!

We are looking for several volunteers to make this happen. You don’t have to have any special skills, just a willingness to give your time and take on some of the responsibilities listed below:

All Volunteers
- Participate in selection of the movies
- Determine the Movie Matinee schedule for 2023
Virtual Volunteers
- Operate the Zoom portion including sharing the videos
- Introduce the movie and host the event
In Person Volunteers
- Pick up and return key for Oystercatcher Community Center
- Set up and take down chairs
- Set up hospitality station
- Set up a computer to view movie on the TV screens
- Co-host the event

Please let us know if you have questions or are interested to join our SIB Movie Matinee team by sending us an email using the button below. Thank you!!!

I want to Help SIB’s Movie Matinee team