May 2006 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

8/9/2019 May 2006 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society

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May Meeting:Thurs., May 4th @ 7 pmRonald Cave will present a programon invasive insects & biological

control.

May Field Trip:Saturday, May 6th @ 10 am at

Oxbow Eco-CenterDetails on back page.

Laughing GullThe Newsletter of the St. Lucie Audubon Society

VVlP.VoVO. Box 12474, Fort Pierce FL 34979 P.O. Box 12474, Fort Pierce FL 34979 P.O. Box 12474, Fort Pierce

FL 34979Volume 30 No. 8 P.O. Box 12474, Fort Pierce, FL 34979 May 2006

Do the GreenThing and help ourchapter save printingand mailing costs bygetting your newslet-ter by email. Sendyour name & emailaddress [email protected] to sign up.

Oxbow Eco-Center5400 NE St. James DrivePort St. Lucie, FL 34983

(772) 785-5833

Costas Basdekis

Tina Erling

George

Fernandez

John Flanagan

Barbara Hayslip

Greg Heller

John Labrake

Elayne Mazie

Zeta Neff

Joseph &

Roberta

Richards

Donna Smith

Rachael Thomas

Lee Vickstrom

Dorothy Cowden

!"!"!"!"Are you looking for ways tovolunteer to a worthy cause andorganization, from home? Do youhave basic to average computerskills? Do you have a couple extrahours each month? St. LucieAudubon would love your help asits Newsletter Editor! Please contactMisty at 785-5833 for more info.

The season is about over! We have hadsome great field trips, special events, andinteresting speakers. Thanks to everyonewho contributed time and energy to makingthis year successful!

My only real disappointment is the smallattendance at the general meetings. A fewenthusiastic folks have asked for rides, butwe could arrange pickup for more. TheOxbow Eco-Center is a terrific venue forour evening presentations. It is veryaccessible as there are no stairs!

Please mark your calendars for the firstThursday of the month beginning again inOctober. We begin at 7:00 pm and are

usually finished by 8:30pm. Everyone whocares about birds and our environment iswelcome.

If you are looking for a little something todo, you might consider helping the societynext season.

Enjoy your summer!Al Parmentier, President

#$#$#$#$The Treasure Coast EnvironmentalEducation Cooperative (TCEEC) is arecently formed organization madeup of environmental educators,teachers, scout leaders and scientists

from both the public and privatesectors. The group is in its infancybut has big plans to participate incommunity wide environmentaleducation projects. New membersare welcome. Contact WrenUnderwood for more information:[email protected].


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Dryer Balls; a natural way to soften yourlaundry

Here is another idea for being more green in yourlaundry room which I discovered hanging on theimpulse buying rack near the cash register atWalMart. Dryer Max Dryer Balls are two spikedblue balls about the size of tennis balls.The package claimed softer and fluffier fabricswithout chemicals. After a month of trial, I amhappy to report they seem to work just fine (though

I havent really noticed a decrease of drying timeas advertised). Fabrics are just a bit less soft thanwhen using dryer sheets, but definitely much nicerthan no softener at all. My neighbors wereconcerned the spiked balls would cause piling, butI have observed none. If you do try them out,please let me know how they worked for you.Thanks. Gale Parmentier; [email protected] or772-489-6176.

It has been estimated that the Albatross hassurvived in the harshest marine environment for 50

million years. However, these magnificent birdsare now unable to cope with man-made threats,such as long line fishing. The albatross are facingextinction, so dire is the situation that 19 of the 21species are in trouble. The albatross are attractedto feed on squid and other fish used to bait thehooks of long line fisherman. Just as the cardinalis attracted to feed at our garden feeder, thealbatross is attracted to feed on the bait of the longline fisherman.

Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenboroughis giving his backing to a Birdlife Internationalproject that will train fisherman in albatrossfriendly fishing techniques. The fisherman, whilehunting for tuna, marlin and other large fish, settrail lines that can be as long 80 miles with baitedhooks every few feet. An estimated 100,000albatross die each year on the hooks of long lines.Marine animals such as turtles are also accidentallysnared on the hooks. The birds swoop down topick up bait from the hooks, become snared, and

drown. The rescue program called OperationOcean Task Force hopes to place trained personnelaboard long line fishing boats to teach fishermansimple techniques that will weight the lines belowthe surface, and will have floating trailing stream-ers which will scare the birds away. The fishermanwill also benefit as less of their bait will be wasted.You can assist and help in this project and seeaction pictures of albatross in flight atwww.savethealbatross.net.

Closer to home, the Gulf Stream coral reefs nearDelray Beach are dying. The cause has beenfound; partly treated sewage has been documentedspewing from a pipe in the ocean off Delray Beach.It is now more than four years since this illegalpollution was reported. Scientists and divers havebeen reporting their findings but they have yet tobe acted upon. Coral reefs in Florida are fastbecoming a dead zone.

The Federal Clean Water Act is well written and issupposed to ensure the quality of ourWaters. However, the commitment of the State andlocal government to enforce it is lacking.

To finish on a positive note, a large development was

submitted for approval in the Miami area recently. Itwas denied because the applicant did not provide anyinformation about how water would be supplied forthe project. In 2005, the Florida Senate passed Bill444 requiring plans for new major development toinclude plans for water re-use, water conservation,and alternative plans for water supply. Miami-DadeCounty requested a large water allocation from theBiscayne aquifer, over and above their presentallocation. With several new towns being proposedin our part of the Treasure Coast it is time to require

specific details of water needs and for the applicantsto show how they plan to provide an adequate andlong term water supply for each project, includingwater re-use and conservation.


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Membership Renewals

Chapter memberships extend from October through

December. Chapter members may use the coupon at

right to renew membership for 2006.

Please mark RENEW on your check.

SLAS is now offering a Chapter-only annual membershipoption for those who want to financially support their localchapter. The annual cost is only $15 per year, which includesmonthly subscription to our Laughing Gull newsletter.Please make checks payable and send to:

St. Lucie Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 12474, Ft. Pierce, FL 34979

Name____________________________________________Address__________________________________________City_____________________________________________State___________ Zip______________________________Phone___________________________________________

The internet is a great resource for finding places

to watch birds in Florida and elsewhere. One ofour favorite websites is www.birdingonthenet.com. The site has links to many websitesthat would be of interest to birders. There areseveral Florida subscription email lists that willdeliver informative notes into your mailbox aboutbirds being seen in the state. FLBIRDS postingsare from birders around the state with directionsto where the birds reported can be seen. Inaddition, there are regional mail lists such asBirdbrains, FLAbirding, SWFLbirding,

NFLbirds, and Eastbirders. There is also aFlorida Rare Bird Alert that can be deliveredthrough email subscription. Any of the listsabove can be found by doing an internet searchfor the name of the list.Subscribers can post theirsightings to the list and it will be emailed to allsubscribers. If you are signed up on one of themore popular lists, you will probably receiveseveral email notes per day. Members of the listcan post notes on these lists as long as they meetthe criteria the list owner has set. Rules are given

to subscribers upon joining.

Ebird is another internet site where birdsightings can be posted and placed in a nationaldatabase. This site is used to monitor thenumbers and distribution species in our country.

We are the list owners ofEastbirders, which is alist for posting birds seen in SE Florida. We aredisappointed in the small number of postingsfrom our area. Surely there must be other birdersbesides us on the Treasure Coast who are out

looking at birds!Happy birding over the summer!

Saturday Wake Up Call Lecture Series

Saturday, May 6th, 11:00 am

Dr. Brian LaPointe from Harbor BranchOceanographic Institution (HBOI) will be speakingabout the current diagnosis of health of our mostlocal precious resource, the Indian River Lagoon.Weve all heard about the problems it faces;pollution, discharges, impacts of hurricanes,wildlife diseases, sea grass decline, etcbut didyou know that YOU can do something to help?Come find out more,!

FL Native Plant Society Meeting

Tuesday, May 9th

General mtg. 6:00 pm; Speaker 8:00pm

Guest speaker Greg Kaufmann, Biologist forSavannas Preserve State Park, will presentManaging Natural Areas in the Wildland-UrbanInterface. He will discuss some of the issuesrelating to managing preserves and natural areas

within urban settings, and how the decisions peoplemake within their own back yards impact adjacentnatural communities. The presentation will useSavannas Preserve State Park and the North Fork ofthe St. Lucie River as case studies.


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Laughing GullSt. Lucie Audubon

P.O. Box 12474

Fort Pierce, FL 34979

Please Remember to

Recycle!

Non-profitOrganization

U.S.POSTAGE

PAID

FortPierce,FL.

PermitNo.442

May 4 MeetingRonald Cave

Indian River Research & Education Center,

University of Florida

Invasive Exotic insects and Biological controlDid you know that exotic insects arrive into the state at the rate ofapproximately 1 per month? Come learn about the non-native pestspecies, the damage they cause, their cost to society and efforts tomanage these species with biological control agents.

May 6 Field Trip

Join others for a walk on the trail at Oxbow Eco-Center. Migratingsongbirds will be making their spring journey northward. Meet at

Oxbow Eco-Center at 10:00 A.M. at 5400 N.W. St. James Drive inPort St. Lucie. 772-785-5833.

Documents

May 2006 Laughing Gull Newsletters St. Lucie Audubon Society