Submitted photos Members attended the yearly Emma Scott Garden Club Pot Luck Picnic.

ELKINS — Do you ever sit on your porch and listen to a bird’s song or call but cannot see or identify which one of nature’s feathered friends is hidden among the trees or bushes in your garden? The members of the Emma Scott Garden Club (ESGC) were enlightened how that can be made to happen by program presenter, Paula Doerr, during the club’s August annual pot luck picnic at the home of members Cynthia Bachorski and Earl Veil.

Doerr, a music teacher and an active contributor to Mountain State Birders, has developed a strong and enthusiastic interest in birding. She explained “my mother’s interest in birds inspired me along with my three sisters’ love of nature.” She added while wintering in the south, “the Floridian birds, which are larger and easier to see, have inspired my photography and birding as well.”

Doerr shared detailed and richly colorful photographs of her garden and the birds she has photographed there. The garden has become an inviting habitat for her subjects to perch and be pictured. She introduced the Merlin Bird ID App by Cornell Lab which can be downloaded to assist any bird enthusiast to identify birds by their calls and songs.

Doerr and other members expressed how they could apply English words or word sequences to help them recognize these calls and songs like “pretty, pretty, pretty” for the Northern Cardinal or “drink your teeee” for the Eastern Tohee. She said this adds an element of fun to bird listening and identification.

The remainder of the evening was spent in fellowship while catching up with former friends and members and meeting many new people who have recently joined the club.

Anyone interest in knowing more about the garden club or membership can contact membership chairperson BJ McKenzie at 304-614-3079.