May 2002 Apalachee Audubon Society Newsletter

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Apalachee AudubonThe Newsletter Of The Apalachee Audubon Society, Inc.

May, 2002Vol. 102, no. 8 www.apalachee.org

Presidents Column

April is the month of JohnJames Audubon s birth and oneof Apalachee Audubon s busiest

months. In addition to our regu-lar monthly program and field-trips our chapter participated inthe Welcome Back Song Birdsand Wakulla Wildlife Festival atWakulla Springs State Park onApril 27th and we conducted theApalachee Audubon Birdathon.Birdathon is Audubon s mostimportant annual fundraisingevent and the world s largestbird-watching competition.Every year, thousands of peoplenationwide join Audubon tocount birds, have fun, and raisevital funds for Audubon s mis-sion of environmental conserva-tion, education, and advocacy.Here s how a Birdathon works:participants sign up pledgesfrom supporters, go out at aspecified time and count speciesof birds, and then collectpledges based on the number ofspecies they see.

Last year s Apalachee Bir-dathon helped raise over $6,000in support of Audubon s mis-sion toconserve and restorenatural ecosystems, focusing on

Program HighlightTuesday, May 21st(This is the 3rd Tuesday of the

month due to Memorial Day onthe following weekend.)

Natural Gardens of the BigBend: An Introduction to the PlantCommunities of the Florida Pan-handle with Gil Nelson

Gil Nelson is an outstandingnaturalist and the author of severalexcellent books including Explor-ing Wild North Florida, ExploringWild Northwest Florida, The Treesof Florida, The Shrubs & WoodyVines of Florida, and, most re-cently, The Ferns of Florida.

These books are available atmost local bookstores as well aslocal nurseries and nature centers.Tell your friends and family thatthey don t want to miss this veryspecial program. Let s have agood turnout for our last regularmembership meeting until the fall.

birds and other wildlife. Wehope you ll join the fun withthousands of others in ourcommunity who helped makeBirdathon a success by send-ing in your Birdathon gift inthe postage paid envelope en-closed in this newsletter.

Good birding, Larry

by Bill Lowrie

Fred Bassett of Montgom-ery, Alabama, is dedicated tothe study of hummingbirds (or

Hummers) in south Alabamaand Florida. He is one of thefounders of The Hummer/BirdStudy Group, Inc, based inAlabama. If you look at therange maps in your field guideyou will see that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is theonly one native to Florida andthe eastern United States.However, there are several

other species native to thewestern United States that arefrequently seen in the Panhan-dle and Big Bend areas ofFlorida beginning in Augustand continuing through thewinter until late March orearly April. Fred regularlytravels through our region pur-

suing reports from friends andallies of hummers seen at back-yard feeders and other locales.He captures them in a clever re-mote controlled trap that lookslike a big bird cage and thenmeasures, weighs, photographs,and bandsthem for future identification.

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OfficersPresident: Larry Thompson [email protected]: Harvey Goldman [email protected]: Jim Crews 567-8795 [email protected]

Board Members Marvin Collins [email protected] Hans Van Tol [email protected] Bill Lowrie [email protected]

Committee ChairsConservation: Hans van TolBirdathon: Larry ThompsonEducation: Ellen SheltonHospitality: Ed Gartner 386-6543Membership: Harvey Goldman

Newsletter: Val Weeks [email protected]: Judy RicePopulation: Harvey GoldmanField Trips: Marvin CollinsPrograms: Marvin CollinsPast President: Jim Shelton [email protected], Sierra Liaison: Grayal Farr 385-5732

The Apalachee Audubon newsletter ispublished 8 times yearly (Sept. May, except Dec.) by the ApalacheeAudubon Society, Inc., P.O. Box1237, Tallahassee, FL 32302-1237.

This newsletter is printed onpartially recycled paper.

Mission StatementProtection of the environment

through education, appreciation

and conservation

(Hummingbird banding, from page one)

In his summary of his activities for the winter of 2002 Fred madethe following observations.

In south Alabama and Florida, I banded 156 new hummers of

eight species including 89 Rufous, 37 Black-chinned, 19 Ruby-throated, 3 Calliope, 3 Broad-tailed, 2 Allen's, 2 Buff-bellied, and 1Broad-billed. I have also caught 24 banded Rufous, two bandedBlack-chinned, one banded Calliope, and one banded Ruby-throated returning to the same home for the second year. In addi-tion, I recaptured 6 hummers banded in other locations. The numberof hummers I banded this winter is down a bit from last winterwhich I think has been caused by the warm weather. Last winter'sextended stretch of freezing weather in December and Januarybrought hummers to feeders in unprecedented numbers whereas wehad only a short periods of freezing weather this winter. Compari-

sons with previous seasons are:98/99 - 43 banded and 10 returns/recaptures99/00 - 47 banded and 16 returns/recaptures00/01 - 188 banded and 10 returns/recaptures.01/02 - 156 banded and 34 returns/recaptures.

Fred s report continued with some local sites he visited including:

12/19/01 - At Ila Roose's home in Pensacola FL, I caught an immaturemale Black-chinned I banded on 11/10/01 at Nell Lunsford's home inApalachicola FL.

1/13/02 - At Mary Louise Ellis' home in Tallahassee FL, I caught an adultfemale Rufous banded 4/6/00 in Ingram TX 75 miles northwest of SanAntonio by Hanna and Artie Richard. This is the farthest west a hum-mingbird has been banded and then recaptured in the eastern UnitedStates.

The recapture of hummers banded in other locations is importantto expanding our knowledge of the migratory patterns of winteringhummers. These recaptures are proving our theory that winteringhummers tend to move south with increasing cold weather and thenmigrate west toward their nesting grounds.

Fred also banded an Allen s Hummer at Jack Dozier s feeder inhis back yard on Bald Point on January 11th. The Hummer/BirdStudy Group is a not-for-profit membership organization with aweb site at www.hummingbirdsplus.org. They are located in Clay,Alabama and can be called at 205/681-2888.

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In April our board put together a proposedslate of new officers and directors for the upcom-ing elections at the May 21st membership meet-ing. Our President, Larry Thompson, is justcompleting the first of his two-year term. Allother positions are up for election to a one-yearterm beginning July 1st. Several of the currentboard members and officers have agreed to servefor another year if they are elected.

We still have a number of vacancies and it'salso important to add new blood. Please consider joining us as a director or officer, or nominatesomeone you think would do a good job. We alsoneed chairs for key committees, such as member-ship. To nominate someone or volunteer yourself,contact one of the current officers (telephonenumbers on page 3) or make your nominationfrom the floor May 21st.

The final slate will be presented on May 21st. '977 0 Td( )Tj2.75977 0 Td(T)Tj7.31939 0 Td(o)Tj5.51954oneh1kT7Td(aVTj 0 Td(l)Tj3.i(i)T9965 0 0 Td(c1954 0 Td45.5e tnno c2nrt


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Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PaidPermit No. 30

Tallahassee, FL

Apalachee Audubon Society, Inc.P.O. Box 1237Tallahassee, FL 32302-1237

To check membership status, or to change address, call the National Audubon Society Office at 1-800-274-4201

Monthly Meetings, field trips, conservation activities and bird walks

Audubon CalendarMonthly meetings are free and open to the public. They are held at the Unitarian Universalist Church in

Tallahassee, 2810 North Meridian Road. The evenings begin with an informal social at 7:00 p.m., followed bythe program at 7:30. Unless otherwise stated, field trips will depart from the First Union Bank at 3400 S. MonroeStreet (opposite the Fairgrounds). Note the time of departure for each trip. For more info check out our web site at

http://www.apalachee.org/calendar.html.

Saturday, May 4 - Saturday, May 4 The scheduled Bird Walk is canceled due to various con-flicts.

Tuesday, May 21 - Tuesday, May 21 -Membership Meeting. Gil Nelson - Natural Gardens of theBig Bend: An Introduction to the Pl Td(e)Tj 6.71944 0 Td(d)Tj6.71944 0gTd (P)Tj 8.03933 0 2 0 Td To sc3Gtedy,vavddy

Documents

May 2002 Apalachee Audubon Society Newsletter