Apr 2009 Apalachee Audubon Society Newsletter

8/9/2019 Apr 2009 Apalachee Audubon Society Newsletter

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Apalachee AudubonTe Newsletter o the Apalachee Audubon Society, Inc.

April 2009 www.apalachee.org Vol. 107, No. 7

April Program Meeting: Tursday, April 23rd

Historic Amtrak Station, 918 Railroad AvenueHear Dr. David Redeld, FSU Proessor Emeritus

Birding & Mammaling Around the World7:00 PM Social, 7:30 PM Program

Since his retirement in 1992, Dr. Redeld has become internationally renownedor his quests or rare species o mammals and birds, which he has observed worldwide. Perhaps heis most well know or an expedition to a remote Laotian village in 2006, organized by the World

Wildlie Fund. Tere he captured the rst images o a live Laotian Rock Rat, a small, urry animalbelieved to have gone extinct more than 11 million years ago. Tis rodent has been described as anexample o the Lazarus eect, a reerence to the Biblical character Lazarus who returned rom the

dead. Biologists use the term to reer to those rare instances when animals long thought to be extinctturn up alive and well in some remote habitat. Tese Rock Rats have bodies about a oot long, with abushy six-inch tail. Davids video o the rodent shows an animal clearly not adapted to climbing trees rather, it waddles with its hind eet splayed out at an angle to its body like a duck.

David will share video and photos with us o a ew special birds and mammals rom recentexpeditions, including the Laotian Rock Rat. We hope you will join us or a ascinating evening oconversation and viewing.

Birdathon April 11th 26th = Audubon AdventuresFor Our Children & Local School eachers

Audubon Adntursis a teaching series designed to help students achieve prociency in language

arts, science, and environmental literacy. Created by National Audubon, kits get new topics each yearand are designed to serve children in grades 3 to 5. Basic and scientically accurate acts about birds,

wildlie, and their habitat are presented. Packaged as a Classroom Kit that serves 32 students, thereare ideas or teachers, classroom posters and individual reading material or each student. Contento the kits is aligned with state academic achievement standards in 14 states including Florida. Tecurrent kit entitled Fats of Naturexplores how animals deend themselves, migrate, and build, andhow plants rule the world. Cost o each kit is $45 and last year we purchased 77 kits that were placedin 30 schools, upon request by teachers in Leon, Wakulla and Jeerson counties. Te number o kits

we can purchase is dependent on how much money we raise through Birdathon.With the goal o environmental literacy in mind, we ask or your help in making Birdathon

a big success this year. In riendly competition, Birdathon teams will record the number o avianspecies observed during a 24-hour period o their choosing. Please pledge and contribute to supportthis eort. You can contribute a xed dollar amount, or contribute based on the number o speciesrecorded by a team, or recorded by all teams combined. You may pledge on behal o one team orsimply on behal o the chapter as a whole.

One suggestion rom a chapter member this year is to create a Birdathon Armchair eam. Tiswould organize calls to chapter members or local businesses to solicit contributions. Since moneyis tight or everybody right now, encouraging manysadonations may be the best way to go. Iyou are willing to help with this idea, let us hear rom you. Contact Judy Goldman 385-5222 orBen Fusaro, 297-2052. We would love to have more Apalachee Audubon members involved withBirdathon. Look inside to nd a Birdathon pledge card!


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Celebrate 7th AnnualPinewoods Bird Festival

Te 7th Annual Pinewoods Bird Festival on Saturday,April 11, 2009, promises wonderul activities or areawildlie enthusiasts. Oering something or visitorso all ages, the estival eatures the birds, butteries,and beauty o the southern longlea pine orests.Te Childrens Activity and Education area willhave numerous opportunities or hands-on learning.Wildlie vendors and other exhibitors will be onhand that day to provide educational resources oneverything rom butteries to bird eeders. Biologistswill lead guests on guided eld trips throughout the

day to the mature pine orests o historic Pebble HillPlantation and other o-site locations. Certain eldtrips require pre-registration and additional ees.Abbreviated tours o the Main House at Pebble Hill,lled with extensive art collections eaturing sportingart and wildlie scenes, will be available or adults andchildren 6 years and older.

Adults $7.00 Kids $3.00www.PinewoodsBirdFestival.com

229/226-2344 (Tomasville) or850/893-4153 ex 241 (allahassee)

Saturday, May 2nd: Field ripNature Photography Forest Walk

With Panhandle PhotoNaturalist Bill Boothe

See carnivorous plants and other localora and auna while learning about naturephotography rom Bill Boothe, an award-

winning photographer specializing in plant

and insect macrophotography. Bill hasbeen photographing Floridas wildlie andwildowers or the past twenty years. Sampleso his work are at http://natureinfocus.com/

Meet at: 9:30 AM at the school parking lot westo allahassee near Hosord at the corner oHwy 20 and 65.

Expect to be done by: 12:30 ES (or stayaterwards and lunch in Sumatra at T FaiyCoasta Rstaurantbeore heading home).

Cost: FreeLevel o diculty: Moderate, but your eet mayget wet.

Be sure to bring: Binoculars, eld guide, camera,insect repellent and snacks, i desired. Wear

water-resistant ootware.

Further inormation, contact:Bill Boothe viahis web site http://natureinfocus.com/

BIRD BISo Fallout or Not!By Harry Hooper

Fallout? Te loss o ones hair?Not in the avian world.

Fallout in the avian world is not so good or birds,but absolutely enchanting or birders. But what is

a allout? North American birds that migrate southo the border in the all return to their breedinggrounds rom March through May. Generally,these avian wonders bypass us coastal olks, yinghigh overhead beore coming down 40 to 60 milesinland. Gauthreaux (1972) and others have usedradar to map spring migration along the Louisianacoast. Tese studies revealed that peak migrationsin April exceeded 30,000 birds crossing a given mileevery hour between Lake Charles, Louisiana andCorpus Christi, exas. Gauthreauxs calculations

suggested that or ve hours o mapped migration,150,000 birds per mile crossed the coast. With300 miles o coast in the study, approximately 45million birds were estimated to y inland over a 5hour period.

During spring, large mixed ocks o birds generallytake o in the evening rom the Yucatan Peninsulaand points south and use southerly winds to assistin completing their 600 mile journey over theGul. Large species such as thrushes are estimatedto reach the Gul coast by mid morning. Smaller

species such as warblers are expected to arrive bymidday. Prior to attempting this long ight overhostile waters, migrants double their body weightby attening up on insects and berries to provide theenergy required to complete the crossing.

Te allout occurs when a strong cold ront pushesdeep into the Gul during the morning hours.Migrating birds that y into these rontal systemsght rain, cold temperatures, and strong northerly

winds. Fat reserves that birds depend on to makethe crossing are rapidly depleted. Tus, thousands

o birds may be lost to the Gul. Te lucky onesdrop to the rst land that they can nd, generallybarrier islands. Some perish at landall while othersattempt to nd much needed ood.

The natural habitats of these barrier islands arerapidly being lost to development. And the birdsare losing their last fragments of habitat neededfor survival. Fallouts are great for birders. Butremember, the birds face an uncertain future as aresult of our actions.


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Calling All Cooks! AAS Seeks Your Prize Recipes! Tose o you who have attended our potluck dinners in the past know what delicious treats ourmembers prepare. We are in the process o compiling many o these wonderul recipes or inclusion inour own Potuck Cookbook, a undraising eort tentatively scheduled to go on sale next all.

We would love to have one or more o your avorite originarecipes. Please bring recipes to anyo our meetings or send to: [email protected]. Contact Lynn Reynolds or more details: 421-1074.

2009 Audubon AcademyBy Karen Wensing and Elizabeth Platt

Te annual spring event, Audubon Academy, brings together Floridas chapter leaders to learnabout new issues, share ideas, and enjoy the out-o-doors together. From March 27-29 we attended thisyears 5th anniversary event, held at FFA* Learning Center near Haines City, representing the Apalachee

Audubon board and membership. We met lots o impressive people at both inormal gatherings and onour eld trips. It is inspiring to nd out what others are doing, and amazing to learn o the diverse nature

o issues and habitats that Audubon chapters are dealing with across the state.Shortly ater we arrived we were treated to close up views o a sandhill crane amily on Catsh

Creek that runs into Lake Pierce. One o the young was limping to keep up with his sibling and parents;we hoped it would survive the night. Tat evening we also saw two limpkins on the lakeshore, a treat orus limpkin-starved North Floridians.

On Saturday morning we enjoyed a hayride out to the scrub area in the Catsh Creek WildlieReuge State Park where we got a close-up experience o a dry, sandy place with vegetation that strugglesto survive by putting out tendrils that reach down into the sand or moisture. Only the call o a scrub jaylet us know it was out there. Back at the Center, Eric Draper, Director o Policy or Audubon o Florida,gave the keynote address Inspiring th powr of grassroots Consration Poicy. With examples rom his ownlie experiences, he challenged us to remember and share our own lie experiences to remind all o what

we risk losing i we arent vigilant. In the late aternoon a pontoon boat ride on the lake rewarded us withviews o hunting ospreys, turkeys, cormorants and anhingas. A native plant sale promoted the planting ohearty species in our yards and reminded us to work more closely with the local Native Plant Society soas to learn more ways to attract birds, butteries, and other insects to our yards.

One particularly interesting presentation was by National Audubon sta scientist, Rob Fergus,who introduced us to some o the new eatures on the Audubon web site and encouraged us to expandoutward rom backyard birding to include neighborhood conservation and other wider eorts. His ideasconnected well with what we have done with our backyard wildlie tours; we hope to implement hissuggestions, made easier to ollow with various new e-tools such as e-bird, as Fran Rutkowsky has urgedus all to use. *Formerly known as:Futur Farrs of Arica

Apalachee Audubon Society Birdathon Pledge CardI am happy to pledge $___________________ From: ___________________________________________Per species in support o Birdathon. Name

___________________________________________

My tax-deductible git o $_________________ AddressIs enclosed payable toApalachee Audubon ___________________________________________Society. City State ZipPledged in support oBirdathoner or eam: ____________________________________________________________________

Mail your pledge OR your contribution to: ________________________________________E-mail

Apalachee Audubon SocietyPost Oce Box 1237 ________________________________________allahassee, FL 32302-1237 telephone

HANK YOU FOR SPONSORING BIRDAHON & SUPPORING eNvIRONmeNAl eDUCAION IN OUR SCHOOlS


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Native Plants - Wildlife GardeningBird Shop - Herbs - Organic Gardening Supplies

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www.nativenurseries.com

AUDUBON ON HE WORLD SAGE:INERNAIONAL FAMILY PLANNING AND RESOURCE MANAGEMEN

By Ruth Ann Wiesenthal-Gold*

Did you know that the National Audubon Society is about people as well as birds and wildlie? It makessense, since birds, wildlie and people all share the same earth with its nite area o suitable habitat. Humanpopulation growth creates one o the greatest adverse impacts on habitat both wildlie and human. Teoverwhelming majority o population growth is occurring in the developing world. In conjunction with the Nationa

Audubon Society and Sierra Club, I was ortunate to travel on a 10-day study tour to Ethiopia in November, 2007.We saw rst-hand the problems o rapid population growth. We attended the International Population, Health, andEnvironment Conerence, sponsored by the United Nations. Tere I met people who had survived genocide and hadought each day to survive, and yet still remained positive and hopeul. Tis was a prooundly humbling experienceor me. Our group learned that 80% o Ethiopians subsist on climate-dependent agriculture, as orests are convertedto arms and pastures, and households use unsustainable agricultural methods to eke out a living. Once the mostorested country in Arica, Ethiopia now retains only 2% o its orested habitat.

Education, healthcare, and amily-planning are essential to solve the problems o Ethiopia and the rest othe developing world. Birthrates drop dramatically when education is available. Family planning is necessary tooster present community well-being and ease pressure on the uture o natural resources. I believe that I must helpdeveloping countries control their population growth while also seeking cooperation rom developed countries too.

I urge you to learn more about the Audubon and Population program at http://www.audubonpopulation.org/ .Share what you learn with amily, riends and ofcials at all levels. By inorming ourselves, we can be more eectivein dealing with population growth problems and with protecting the uture or people and the wildlie that we love.

*Apaach Audubon br Jan Bordon rqustd that w rprint this artic. Ruth Ann Wisntha-God, ofPa Bay, is a pubic-wfar actiist and counity ountr. Jan and Ruth t and bca frinds on th NationaAudubon-sponsord ethiopian trip ntiond by Ruth in th artic. Both Jan and Ruth ar ddicatd to pubicizing issussurrounding popuation growth. Spac constraints rquird substantia diting of this story. T fu-txt wi b aaiab aApaach Audubons wb sit atwww.apalachee.org.

David Copps Landscape designer~ bringing nature home ~

876 M cl 850/385-6548

Tllh, FL 32312 [email protected]


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Apalachee Audubon Society (AAS)

2008 2009 Ocers and Board MembersPresident Ben Fusaro 297-2052Vice President Ed Gartner 386-6543Secretaryposition opnreasurer Harvey Goldman 385-5222

Board MembersMelissa Forehand 510-4877Harry Hooper 668-0498Past President Elizabeth Platt 385-9043Lynn Reynolds 421-1074Karen Wensing 386-7766

Apalachee Audubon Society, Inc.P.O. Box 1237

allahassee, FL 32303AAS is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.

All contributions are tax deductible.

Newsletter Editor Ann Bruce 766-3061Newsletter is published 8 times yearly

(Sept.-May, except Dec.).

Web Master John Boutelle 656-3346www.apalachee.org

Mission StatementProtection o the environment through education,

appreciation, and conservation.

Join National Audubon Society andApalachee Audubon!

For just $20 a year you can be a member o

both National Audubon and our local ApalacheeAudubon chapter. Your membership will includeAudubon, our bimonthly agship publication. Eachissue o this award-winning publication eaturesbeautiul photography and provocative journalism.Our chapter newsletter will keep you inormed olocal and statewide Audubon and othernature-related events.

You can pay or membership using a credit card bycalling Audubons toll ree membership number.(Please mention our chapter ID E19 for us to gefull credit for a new membership).

1-800-274-4201I you preer to pay by check or an annualmembership, send your $20 check made payable toNational Audubon and mail to address below:

National Audubon SocietyPO Box 422246

Palm Coast, FL 32142-2246Allow 4 - 6 weeks or arrival o your rst issue oAudubon. Te cost o membership is tax deductibleexcept or $7.50 (which is allocated toAudubonmagazine).

Presidents Message April 2009

Many Exotic Invasive plants have cute, attractivenames and are esthetically etching but there are nosweethearts among them. Here is a small sample:Cora ardisia A stately, upright shrub with pleasant greenleaves and beautiul red berries.lantana caara Beautiul golden orange owers nestled ina host o green leaves.miosa, Sik r Tis member o the locust amily has

beautiul purple owers.Nandina, Hany Baboo Tis shrub has strikinglybeautiul leaves and leaets, and beautiul red berries.

Well-meaning gardeners all or the Ardisia, Lantanaand Nandina, oten on the advice o a commercial nursery.Tese our are among the worst o 22 imported invasiveplants that are disrupting the Big Bend ecosystem. Tey areall resilient, ast growers and insidious spreaders. T habitatdaag don by such psts is xcdd ony by irrsponsibdopnt. Tey crowd out native plants and even threatentheir gene pool. An important consequence is diinishd foodand cor for arady strssd nati and naturaizd widif.

It is pretty clear that such plants cause harm to nativemammals but why wouldnt such berry-producers like Ardisiaand Nandina be benecial to birds? Some excerpts roma site (http://www.invasive.org/101/BirdWatcher.html)point out the drawbacks:Invasive plants replace native vegetation needed or ood,shelter and nesting. [Tey] produce ruit that is o lowernutritive value to our native birds than native shrubs,like owering dogwood. Invasive plants are likely to beunpalatable or even toxic to our native insects. What aectsinsects, in turn, will aect birds. Less ood or insects leads toewer insects; ewer insects may lead to ewer birds. Studies

have shown that predation o certain species o birds, suchas Northern robin and the wood thrush, increases whenthey nest in invasive, exotic shrubs, as opposed to nesting innative shrubs with which they have co-evolved.

Te Exotic Pest Plant Council has 67 o thesedisrupters on its Category I list or Florida. Every planton the Cat I list is a major threats to our Florida ecosystem.(Tere is also a Cat II list o bad actors but they are not soar major threats.) I you want to learn more, go to theEPPC site (http://www.feppc.org/index.cm ) and click onInvasives 101.

Te Big Bend is threatened by 22 o the 67 Cat Iinvaders. Tis includes the our plants listed above. woother very bad threats are the Chinese Privet and theso-called Boston Fern. Tese six plants are top candidates orthe worst exotic invasives in the Big Bend. All 22 should betaken out, branch and root, wherever they are encountered.

Te twenty-two plants were chosen by a Mastero Wildlie Conservation team, in consultation with stamembers o the Bureau o Invasive Plant Management. Iyou would like a list o the errible wenty-two, send me ane-mail at: [email protected].

Ben Fusaro 850/297-2052 [email protected]

Become a Member


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Non-ProtOrganizationU.S. Postage

PaidPermit No. 30

APALACHEE AUDUBON SOCIETY (AAS) CALENDAR April 2009, Vol. 107, No. 7

Monthly programs are held on the ourth Tursday o the month at the historic Amtrak Station, 918 Railroad Ave.Tey are ree and open to the public with a social at 7:00 PM and program rom 7:30 9:00. For details visit

www.apalachee.orgor contact Melissa Forehand 510-4877.APRIL

11-26: Birdathon Tis is our biggest undraising event o the year. Te proceeds will go to purchase AudubonAdventure Kits or local schools and to support a variety o chapter activities.

11: Related Event Pinewoods Bird Festival, Saturday, 9 AM 3 PM, Pebble Hill Plantation, Tomasville, GA.Lots o bird and wildlie tours and activities. Families welcome. Admission is $7 or adults, $3 or children. Fordetails visit www.pinewoodsbirdestival.com or call 229/227-5389 (Tomasville) or850/893-4153 ex 241 (allahassee).

23: Program Meeting Join FSU Proessor Emeritus David Redeld as he discusses and illustrates highlights romhis Birding and maaling Around th World.

MAY

2: Photography Field Trip Saturday, 9:30 AM 12:30 PM, with Bill Boothe, PhotoNaturalist.

9:Related Event International Migratory Bird Day, Saturday, 8 AM 4 PM at Okeenokee NWR VisitorCenter, Folkston, GA. Early morning bird walk, exhibits, & an evening Owl Prowl. For details, call912/496-7836 or see http://www.ws.gov/reuges/SpecialEvents/FWS_SpecialEventsCalendar.cm .

Dont Miss Our Annual Dinner Mark Your Calendar Now for Thursday, May 28th!

28:Apalachee Audubon Annual Dinner Tursday,6 PM Social, 6:30 Homemade Italian Dinner. Tespeaker is Pat Behnke, FL Fish & Wildlie Conservation Commission who will discuss Rd Knots Onth Brink of extinction; the meeting place is Laayette Presbyterian Church, 4220 Mahan Dr. Our Che

will be im Smith, 850/933-5979.

Apalachee AudubonP.O. Box 1237Tallahassee, FL 32302-1237

Sat.,April11

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BirdFestival

Tu.,Apr.2

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Sat.,May2,9:30

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Your membership expiration date is shown at top right above your name. For problems with membership, call the NationalAudubon Society Ofce at 1-800-274-4201. For problems with mailings, contact Pam Flynn at [email protected].

Please support our Birdathon this year by sending a contribution!

Documents

Apr 2009 Apalachee Audubon Society Newsletter