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8/9/2019 March 2006 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon
Society
1/4Dedicated to the protection of bird and wildlife habitat and
a greater appreciation of Northwest Floridas natural beauty.
ShorelinesThe newsletter of the Choctawhatchee Audubon Society
Volume XXXV Number 1 February 2006
CAS monthly meetings
First Thursday of each month at 6:30PM at OWC Learning
ResourcesCenter (LRC), Room 131.February 2: Dr. Jonathan
Bryan,Professor of Earth Science at OWC willaddress the possible
relationship ofdinosaurs and birds, laying out some ofthe
information and myth-informationon the subject. Can evidence of
hollowbones, feathers, and hard shelled eggsbe proof that dinosaurs
are more like
birds than reptiles? Can it be possiblethat we are looking at
the last survivingdinosaurs through our binoculars?March 2: Paul
Moler, a Florida Fish andWildlife Conservation Commission
her-petologist will give us an introduction tothe natural history
of Florida frogs andgive each of the 30 species an opportu-nity to
introduce itself and say a few"words".
April 6: FWC fisheries and wildlife biol-ogist Bradley Smith
will present resultsfrom 2005 survey of rooftop nestingseabirds in
NW Florida with a specialfocus on Okaloosa and Walton
coun-ties.
Chapter Walks and Field TripsFebruary 4: FWB spray fields
andholding ponds. Meet at 7:30 am, atCoach & Four parking
lot.
February 17-19: CAS Annual Retreatwill be the Rally for the
Rivers festival inPalatka FL. CAS carpool leaves FridayFeb. 17th at
noon. Go to www.flade-fenders.org for more details.
For Chapter Walk or Field Tripinformation, please call
Bob Penhollow, 729-2602
Calendar of Events
February is here and its time for our annuaretreat. It will be
held Saturday, February 18th andSunday, February 19th at Ravine
State Gardens forOcklawaha River Rally in Palatka, FL. The Board
hasreserved some sleeping accommodations and weplan to carpool to
Palatka because of the distance.We will need to leave around noon
on Friday,February 17th.
Several walks, hikes, boat trips, and other out-ings are
available. For instance, on Saturday morningthere are over twenty
possible field trips ranging fromdriving/walking tours to birdwalks
to canoe/kayaktrips. Saturday evening and Sunday morning are
alsofull of possibilities.
We must have a firm count of those who wishto attend, especially
those who wish to be housed withthe group. We must also make
reservations for anyorganized field trips. Sponsored by the
PutnamCounty Environmental Council, most events are freeand all are
open to the public. For details go
towww.fladefenders.org/riverrally.html, also check the
CAS website www.choctawhatchee-audubon.org. Ialso have a copy of
the list of "Field Trips and PlacesTo Go" for the event and can be
contacted by phoneat 729-2602. I, for one, am looking forward to
thisevent. See you there!
Choctawhatchee Audubon Annual Retreat
By Bob Penhollow, Field Trip Coordinator
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February 2006.......Page 2
On 19 December, 31 participants in the Choctawhatchee Bay, FL
Christmas Bird Count found16,603 birds of 146 species. Five species
were new, not found before on 27 previous Christmascounts: Cackling
Goose, Wood Stork, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Ovenbird, and
Black-headedGrosbeak. The Cackling Goose, found by me at the
Okaloosa STF holding pond, and the Lesser
Black-backed Gull, found by Merilu and Rufus Rose in Shalimar,
were both first county records. Fourspecies were seen or heard on
16 December that were not found on count day, so they are
recordedas Count Week species; King Rail, Common Ground-Dove,
Barred Owl, and a Black-chinnedHummingbird at Blake Hardisons
feeder. Two hummingbirds were seen on count day; a Rufous aMaryann
Friedmans in Niceville and a Ruby-throated seen well by Jim
Kowalski in FT. Walton BeachThis was the third lowest number of
individual birds counted, with a maximum of nearly 26,000 in
1999,yet only three times has this count produced more species.
We had all 14 areas covered. Our team leaders were Virginia
Spisak, Don Ware, Merilu/RufusRose, Peggy Baker, Alan Knothe, Lois
Gilman, Ann Forster, Pat Baker, Bob Penhollow, BobReid/Betsy Clark,
Carole/Phil Goodyear, Bob/Lucy Duncan, Charlie Saleeby, and Jim
Kowalski, withBill Bremser as a rover.
Other species that were represented by a single bird were:
Black-crowned Night Heron,Peregrine Falcon, Greater White-fronted
Goose, Wild Turkey, Great Horned Owl, Red-cockadedWoodpecker,
White-eyed Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Nashville
Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Summer
Tanager. Our most numerous species this yearwere 1,437 Laughing
Gulls, 1,370 European Starlings, and 1,256 Mourning Doves.
I thank all participants for their time, effort and expertise.
The complete database can beaccessed at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.
The count code is FLCB. Please mark your calendars forour next CBC
on 18 Dec 06 and the next migration count on 13 May.
A Little Bird Told Me...
by Gee Oakman
2005 Christmas Bird Countby Donald Ware, Bird Count
Coordinator
A little bird told me that January is a poor time to be looking
for birds. There are some water birds tobe seen - ducks, geese,
loons, pelicans, cormorants, herons, coots, plovers, some of the
other shore-birds and gulls, and some of the hawks. Next month is
the month to be prepared for with the return ofspring and summer
birds. Ruby-throats will be moving through so get your feeders
ready. There wilbe some early warblers and others too so keep a
sharp lookout.
Great Back Yard Bird Count
by Linda Daugherty, CAS Publicity Chair
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) returns for its ninth
season February 17-20, 2006. TheNational Audubon Society and the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology encourage everyone to COUNTBIRDS
WITH A BUDDY! Bird enthusiasts of all ages can share their love of
birds with a friend, a child,a scout troop, a class, or a
co-worker-opening new eyes to the joy of birding and the fun of
creating aunique snapshot of winter bird abundance and distribution
across the continent. Every pair of eyes isneeded and everybirdy
counts, whether in a backyard, on a high-rise balcony, in a park,
or on any ofthe 730 million acres of public lands.
Year-round, anyone can view results from past counts and learn
how to participate by visitingwww.birdsource.org/gbbc. There is no
fee or registration for the event, which is sponsored by Wild
Birds Unlimited.
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Imagine the government weakening, then eliminating, highway laws
that set speed limits onmotor vehicles. "After all," supporters
would argue, "these laws aren't working. Thousands of peo-ple are
still dying on our highways because of speeding." Imagine doctors
withholding medicine
from all but the gravely ill patients, explaining. "We shouldn't
treat patients until they actually beginto die." Imagine police
departments compensating criminals for every thwarted crime, on
thegrounds that the perpetrators were being robbed of potential
income. Arguments akin to these areamong those offered in support
of a bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives
(HR3824, passed by a vote of 229 to 193). If enacted into law, this
bill would starve-and ultimatelydestroy-the single most important
act of environmental legislation in history.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA), signed by Richard Nixon in
1973, declared that the govern-ment and citizens of the United
States shall do what is reasonably within our power to keep
anynative species from going extinct in our country. Over the
ensuing 30 years more than 1,300species were officially listed as
Endangered and Threatened, and populations of more than half
ofthese have either remained stable or begun to increase since
listing. Even more important, and con-
trary to statements often made by opponents of the ESA, the
process works extremely well. Morethan two thirds of the species
that have been on the Endangered Species list for 12 years or
moreare showing signs of recovery. Only 44 listed species (3
percent) are now classified as extinct.
The American public overwhelmingly supports retention of the ESA
(more than 80 percent accord-ing to some polls). Nevertheless,
HR3824 contains a sunset clause that would end the law in 10years.
It also removes restrictions on pesticide use that threatens rare
species, erects copiousbureaucratic hurdles to the listing and
recovery process, deletes designation of "critical habitat,"
lim-its the amount of time provided for review of land use
proposals, and gives political appointeesauthority to declare how
species are (or are not) protected. The new rules would remove most
ofthe current protection afforded species designated as
Threatened---thereby allowing them to declinefurther until they get
reclassified as Endangered (i.e., the gravely ill patient). Indeed,
the proposedlaw would remove "recovery" from the stated goals of
the ESA altogether, making mere "survival"the standard for success.
Finally, the bill requires financial compensation to anyone
claiming to suf-fer an economic impact as a result of obeying the
law.
Study after study confirms the correctness of the ESA's
fundamental assumptions. As clearly stat-ed in its original
language (Section 2b), the act's purpose is to protect the
ecosystems upon whichendangered and threatened species depend.
Endangered species do not represent mere curiosi-ties to be
preserved by convenience, like so many museum specimens. Besides
being our mosteffective indicators of broad-scale environmental
damage and degradation, they also demonstrateour capacity as
managers of the earth to live side by side with natural systems.
The latter simplyrequires that we make the effort. The ESA can be
improved, most notably by adding incentive pro-
visions, but its principle features deserve canonization, not
damnation.
Reprinted with permission from BirdScope, newsletter of the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,www.birds.cornell.edu
February 2006.......Page 3
CONSERVATION CORNER
Endangered Species ActBy John W. Fitzpatrick, Louis Agassiz
Fuertes Director
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Donations are welcome, please contact CAStreasurer Karen
Newhouse at 678-0440. Allcontributions are tax-deductible. Feel
free to
specify a particular fund/event that you wish tosponsor.
A great big THANK YOUto all CAS sponsors.
General Fund Donors:Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Smith
Mr. M. C. Davis
Introductory Audubon Society Membership (E-11):
This form is to be used for new memberships only.
Name:__________________________________________Address:________________________________________City:____________________________
State:__________Zip:_____________ Phone:
_______________________E-mail:
_________________________________________
Introductory membership is $20/individual or $15/student
or senior citizen to join national, state, and local Audubon
groups and receive Audubon magazine and the Shorelines
newsletter. To join, mail this form and a check, payable to
National Audubon Society, to NAS Membership Data
Center, P.O. Box 51005, Boulder, CO 80323-1005.
Chapter Code: E-11 7XCH
2006 by Choctawhatchee Audubon Society. All rights reserved.
Nonprofit Organizati
U.S. Postage PAID
Fort Walton Beach, F
Permit No. 110
Printed on recycled paper
Choctawhatchee Audubon Society
Shorelines, February 2006
P.O. Box 1014
Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32549
President: Nonie Maines: 862-9588, [email protected]
Vice Pres.: Bill Burke: 678-0440,
[email protected]
Treasurer: Karen Newhouse: 897-3745, [email protected]
Rec. Sec.:Carole Goodyear: 897-2666, [email protected]
Corresponding secretary: Pat Baker: 678-2953,
[email protected]
Count coord.: Donald M. Ware: 862-6582,
[email protected]
Conservation: Josh Barbee: 218-0573, [email protected]
Education: Nonie Maines: 862-9588, [email protected]
Field trips: Bob Penhollow: 729-2602
Hospitality: Gertrude Oakman: 664-0312
Membership: Theresa Dennis: [email protected]
Publicity: Linda Dougherty:269-0665, [email protected]
Programs: Thelma Phillips: 651-0508, [email protected]
Editor:Karin Barbee: [email protected]
CHAPTER
REPRESENTATIVES
Thank you for donating to the
Charlie Parkel Memorial Fund:Phyllis Cheney
Mary HoodPat Gross
Laurie MackeyLenny Fenimore
Louise Birch
MEMORIAL REMINDER
We are still accepting donations for the"Lasting Memorial for
Charlie Parkel Fund". Weare anxious to decide what kind of
suitable
memorial we will be able to purchase, to beplaced in Rocky Bayou
State Park. Charlie was"special" so we want his memorial to be
too.
Send your donations to CAS P.O. Box 1014Ft Walton Beach, FL
32549
Thank you,The Memorial Fund Committee
Robin Stiles-Pat Baker-Karen NewhouseLenny Fenimore-Carole
Goodyear
