Welcome Back!​
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Monday, September 14, at 7:00 PM​
​Andy McGann presents:​
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​Wearables for Wildlife: Behind the Scenes with the Evolution of Wildlife Telemetry Technologies

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Andy McGann grew up birding in York County, and his early experiences ultimately led to a career in the field of Movement Ecology. His time in academia, non-profits, consulting, and ultimately to a wildlife telemetry tech company spanned a timeframe that saw the science advance from analog radio telemetry to "smart devices" with GPS, accelerometers, and global Internet connectivity. In his career, Andy combined his experiences in ornithology with his love of technology and appreciation for geography in order to help wildlife researchers and organizations around the world obtain the scientific information needed to help conserve some of the rarest birds we have left. Andy will discuss the evolution of the technology, the current state-of-the-art, and paint a picture of where we are going.
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Meetings are free and open to the public, and are held at​
​UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH of YORK​
​925 S. George Street, York, PA 17403​
(just north of York Hospital, on the right)
​https://www.uucy.org/​

YCP Native Plant Sale

When: Saturday, Sept 12 from 9 am - 2 pm

Where: John Rudy Park

Hope to See you there!

Volunteer Workdays at Graham Nature Preserve:

Located in Hellam, Graham Nature Preserve is Lancaster Conservancy's newest purchase in York County. Although the property is not yet open to the public, you can get an early look while helping the Conservancy restore its natural habitat by attending these workdays to remove invasive plants.

Select either date below to Learn More and Register:

Help Keep Our Bird Feeders Full This Winter!

We’re looking for volunteers to help keep bird feeders filled this winter at Pinchot State Park and Rocky Ridge County Park. We’ll provide the bird seed — we just need volunteers to visit a site about once a week to refill the feeders. Help for the whole winter or just for a month — whatever works for you!

Interested in helping our local birds through the winter? Click the button below to send us an email!

Volunteer to Help With the York Audubon Booth at Events:

Do you like birds? Do you like talking to people? Do you like talking to people about birds? Then you'd be a great fit for the York Audubon booth! You do NOT have to be an expert!

We’re looking for volunteers to help at community events such as the Native Plant Sale and PawPaw Festival. Again, no special expertise is needed—just an interest in birds and a willingness to chat with visitors about York Audubon and what we do.

Interested? Sign up at one of our monthly program meetings or click the button below to send us an email. There’s no commitment—we’ll simply contact you when volunteer opportunities come up.

Save the Date! YAS Bird Seed Sale Pick-Up Day will be: Sat, October 31, 9 am- 1 pm

@ Record Club of America lot - 4075 N.George Street, Manchester

Ordering info will be coming soon!

Lend a Hand at Our Bird Seed Sale!

We’re looking for volunteers to help with our upcoming Bird Seed Sale! Volunteers are needed to carry and load bags of bird seed, helping move seed from the delivery truck and load orders into customers’ vehicles.

If you don’t mind a little lifting and would like to lend a hand, click the button below to let us know you’re interested!

York Audubon Donates More Backpacks to Local Libraries

This summer, York Audubon donated two new Birding Backpacks to the York County Libraries system—one to the Arthur Hufnagel Public Library in Glen Rock and another to Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover. These are the fourth and fifth backpacks York Audubon has donated since beginning the program in 2022, joining backpacks already available at Mason-Dixon Public Library in Stewartstown, Martin Library in downtown York, and Dover Area Community Library.

Each backpack provides everything a family needs to head outside and start birding, including both youth and adult binoculars, field guides for identifying birds, a York Birding Backpack Guide to Birding, and birding bingo cards. Just like a book, the entire backpack can be checked out from the library and taken home.

The goal of the program is simple: make birding more accessible to everyone. Binoculars and field guides can be a barrier for children and families who are interested in birds but don't have their own equipment. By placing ready-to-go birding kits in local libraries, we hope to give more York County families the opportunity to explore nature together, discover our local birds, and perhaps inspire a new generation of birders.

Saturday, September 19, Rocky Ridge County Park

• Meeting location: Meet at the "Ball Field" at the first parking lot on the left. https://maps.app.goo.gl/zYBtLXmGBuX5daNR7​
• Time: 7:30 to 9:30 AM
• Notes: Highlights should be migrating fall warblers. Feel free to stay at the Hawk Watch after the walk!

All bird walks are free and open to the public. No registration required.

Those fading flowers can become natural bird feeders. Instead of deadheading everything, allow some flowers to mature and produce seeds. The dried seed heads of plants such as purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, sunflowers, and native grasses can provide food for seed-eating birds throughout fall and winter. Goldfinches are especially fun to watch as they cling to dried flower heads and pull out the seeds.

The benefits go beyond seeds. Dead stems and dried vegetation also provide winter habitat for insects. Many beneficial insects overwinter as eggs, larvae, pupae, or adults in or around plant stems, while some native bees use hollow stems for nesting. Protecting these insects helps maintain the food web that birds depend upon, particularly when they are feeding their young in spring.

You don't have to stop maintaining your garden altogether. Try a selective cleanup: remove diseased or troublesome plants, but leave healthy seed heads and stems standing wherever you can. As a bonus, dried flowers and grasses can add texture and interest to the winter garden.

This month’s simple action: Before automatically snipping off a fading flower, consider leaving it for the birds. You’ll have a little less fall yard work—and your garden will continue providing food and habitat long after the flowers have faded.

September is a fantastic time to get outside and go birding in York County! Fall migration is in full swing, bringing warblers, vireos, thrushes, and other songbirds through our forests and favorite local birding spots. Shorebirds may also turn up wherever good mudflat habitat develops, while overhead, raptor migration builds toward the spectacular Broad-winged Hawk flights of mid-September at Rocky Ridge Hawk Watch. As the month continues, summer residents begin to depart and the first fall and winter visitors arrive, making every outing a little different from the last. Check out our September Birding Guide to learn what to watch for, when to look, and where to enjoy some of the best birding of the month.

VISIT THE YAS BOOTH AT THIS GREAT EVENT!

THE WILD & UNCOMMON PAWPAW FESTIVAL

HORN FARM, 4945 Horn Road, York, PA 17406

Saturday, September 19, 9:00 AM -- 5:00 PM

THIS EVENT IS NOT FREE! See link below for tickets.