November 2005 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society

8/9/2019 November 2005 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 XXXIV Number 9 November 2005

CAS monthly meetings

First Thursday of each month at 6:30PM at OWC Learning ResourcesCenter (LRC), Room 131.November 3: For a break from ourtraditional lectures, CAS will feature Dr.Dave Gowan; Florida State UniversitysSpider Guy. Dr. Gowan will present aslide show on The Arachnids AmongUs. If you have spiders around thehouse that you would like to identify,feel free to bring them in (using suitably

secure containers of course). After theprogram, Dr. Gowan will show us howto track down the octipedal beasts out-side in the courtyard so bring yourflashlights.

CAS meetings continued on page 2

Chapter WalksNovember 5: Beginner's Bird Walk inValparaiso. Meet at 7:30am at Badcock

parking lot in Niceville (SR 20 & 85).Leader: Pat Baker, 678-2953December 10: Beginner's Bird Walk inFort Walton Beach at Okaloosa Countyspray fields and holding ponds. Meet at7:30 am, at Coach & Four parking lot.Leader: Don Ware, 862-6582December 18: Christmas Bird Count,all day event, multiple locations. Pleasecall Don Ware to participate, 862-6582January 14: Bird Walk, Destin and Fort

Walton Beach coastal areas. Meet at7:30am Uptown Station or 7:50amDestin Bridge to carpool.February 4: FWB spray fields andholding ponds. Meet at 7:30 am, atCoach & Four parking lot.

For Chapter Walk information,please call

Bob Penhollow, 729-2602

Ca lendar o f Events

In the 15 years that I have been a birder I havechased many rare birds, often with my friend CharlieParkel at my side. No matter what time of day, nomatter how far away or how bad the weather, Charliewas always ready to go. I first met Charlie around 9years ago when I offered my very first birding class.He was one of the first to sign up, and we becameinstant friends. Charlie always used to say, "No mat-ter what, I will always go out with you Alan," and healways did.

Charlie was always welcome in the manyclasses that I offered. His enthusiasm would spreadover the group like a wildfire over a dry prairie. Overthe years I taught Charlie about the birds, aboutnature and about astronomy, but he taught me farmore important lessons. Charlie was a leader, not aflamboyant, boisterous leader but a quiet man who ledby example. Charlie taught me about generosity andfriendship. Over the years he made several trips toCosta Rica donating his time as a skilled dentist toadminister to the poor. Whenever we went on birding

trips, he always insisted on driving, and he absolutelyrefused to take money for gas.Charlie was on the very first birding trip that I

offered through Nature Tours by Alan. It was a smalgroup on that trip, just Charlie, my mother, BarbaraKirby, and me, but we sure had a good time. We wentto all the famous hot spots in Southern Florida,Loxahatchee, Merritt Island, the Everglades, DingDarling, Corkscrew, and more, and we saw tons ofrare and new birds. I remember riding on the tramthrough the Everglades at Shark Valley. We were in

search of a rare bird that would be a lifer for all of us,myself included. We were hunting the Snail Kite, abird that is now restricted to central and southernFlorida, mostly in the Everglades. Apprehensions andhopes were high as we headed out on our adventure,bouncing along the trail in the backseat of the tram.We scanned the tall marsh grasses, and in a shorttime we all spotted the bird at the same time. "Stop!"

A Rare Bird Continued on Page 3

A RARE BIRDBy Alan W. Knothe


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Mark your calendars for theChoctawhatchee Audubon Annual Retreat, February 17-20th, 2006

The Rally for the Rivers will be held at theRavine Gardens State Park in Palatka, Florida

November 2005.......Page 2

On September 17th we conducted our 11th annual Fall North American Migration Count inOkaloosa and Walton Counties. The leaders in Okaloosa were; Charlie Parkel in the Baker area, BrettWilliams in Crestview, Don Ware in FWB North, Pat Baker in Niceville, Virginia Spisak in FWB Central,Alan Knothe in FWB South, and Jim Kowalski in Destin. The leaders in Walton were; Bob Reid atFoxhill near Paxton, Mary Theberge in the DeFuniak Springs area, Chet Winegarner in PleasantRidge, and Carole Goodyear in the Point Washington area. We lacked leaders for one area inOkaloosa and two in Walton County.

Though the weather was quite hot, we counted 4,584 birds in Okaloosa and 2,637 WaltonCounty. This is useful data for the snapshot of migrating species across North America. Okaloosabirders found 135 species, and birders in Walton found 87. However, Walton birders found 11 speciesnot found in Okaloosa: 3 Anhinga, 61 Wood Ducks, 1 Broad-winged Hawk, 5 Purple Gallinule, 3Yellow-billed Cuckoos, 4 Wood Thrush, 2 Gray Catbirds, 1 Blackburnian Warbler, 1 ProthonotaryWarbler, 8 Bachman's Sparrows, and 3 Baltimore Orioles.

The 48 species not known to breed in these counties are; 137 Brown Pelicans, 2 Black-crownedNight-Herons, 1 Roseate Spoonbill found at the Timberlake Road cattle pond, 2 feral Egyptian Geese,6 Northern Shoverers, 2 Lesser Scaup, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Merlin, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1Virginia Rail, 1 Sora, 7 Black-bellied Plovers, 3 American Golden Plovers, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, 1Piping Plover, 6 Greater and 50 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 7 Spotted Sandpipers, 4

Ruddy Turnstones, 137 Sanderling, 13 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 7 Western, 39 Least, 17 Pectoral,and 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 640 Laughing and 2 Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Caspian Tern, 107Royal, 4 Sandwich and 5 Forster's Terns, 1 Least Flycatcher, 7 Tree Swallows, 4 Bank Swallows, 2House Wrens, 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 1 Tennessee, 2 Orange-crowned, 42 Yellow, 1 Blackburnian,

Bird Count Continued on Page 3

CAS MEETINGS From Page 1

By Donald M. Ware, Bird Count Coordinator

December 1: Dr. Bobby Harrison of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. On June 9, 2004 hereported seeing an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker flush from near the base of a bald-cypress about 15

meters in front of him. As the bird swooped up to land, the broad white trailing edges of the wingswere especially visible. After 20 years of searching, his dream of finding the Ivory-billed Woodpeckercame true. Come listen to his story.

January 5: Lisa Miller of the local Wildlife Rehabilitators Partnership will be presenting "When wildlifetruly need our help". Sometimes well meaning people "kill with kindness" not knowing when an ani-mal is in need of human interference. The challenge for those of us concerned about baby birds andother small creatures that seem to be in trouble is to balance our tendency to want to help them withan understanding of their needs. Animals are much more adapted for survival than most of us realizeand we should be aware that we may cause more harm than good when we stop to help.

FALL 2005 MIGRATION COUNT RESULTS


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we shouted in perfect harmony. To the surprise of all on the tram, including the birders in the lastcar, the tram came to a screeching halt, and we heard the tour guide's voice over the intercom,"There must be some birders on board."

On another trip we were birding at St. George Island State Park when a raptor flew by throughthe distant trees. Charlie spotted it first and alerted me to the bird. We only had a quick look."Peregrine," Charlie shouted, swearing he saw the dark helmet and pointed wings. "NorthernHarrier," I said, swearing I saw a white rump and rounded wings. We each argued our side, tryingto convince the other that we had the correct identification. Finally we laughed and decided that itmust have been the rare and never seen before "White-rumped Peregrine." For years after that day,whenever we disagreed on a particular identification, we would laugh and say, "It must have beenanother White-rumped Peregrine."

Yesterday in the morning I received a call from Lois Gilman. Charlie Parkel had been killedover the weekend in an automobile accident. How does one sum up the life of a man in simplewords on a lonely sheet of white paper? How do we describe those quiet heroes that drift into ourlives changing them forever, enriching them, and bringing us joy and friendship? The truth is thatno article, no story, no novel or movie can truly do that. For those of you that never knew Charlie,I cannot tell you what made him my friend, and for those of you that did know him, no explanationis necessary. Charlie was a rare bird, the rarest of birds, a true friend, and he will be missed. Good-bye Charlie, and Good Luck and Good Birding Your friend forever, Alan.

and 2 Palm Warblers, 1 American Redstart, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 1 Scarlet Tanager, 1 SavannahSparrow, and 3 Baltimore Orioles.

The most numerous species this fall were 1121 Cattle Egrets, 585 European Starlings, and545 Morning Doves. This is just a rearrangement of the most numerous species last fall. This datareflects the fact that the spray fields and holding ponds north of Ft. Walton Beach provide excep-tional habitat for birds, and that total party hours on foot was only 34 in Okaloosa 18.5 in WaltonCounty. Thank you to all the leaders and spotters who came out this fall. I am sure the weather willnot be so warm for the Christmas Count on December 19th, so please mark your calendars.

November 2005.......Page 3

BIRD COUNT

From Page 2

A RARE BIRD

From Page 1

The last beach clean-up was held on the same daythat Katrina hit. Volunteers from CAS, KenwoodElementary School and Emerald Coast Marine Instituterolled up the sleeves on their raincoats and went to work,despite the weather! We met at the parking lot on thewest side of the Destin Bridge for a Coastal Clean Up.

The parking lot was a disgraceful scene, and it wasespecially hard for me to see the children so upset bywhat they saw: so much trash discarded by locals and

tourists alike, blowing around in the wind, inevitably find-ing its way to the shoreline of our already battered beach-es. We have got to put a stop to the cigarette butts beingthrown out of car windows.

We were sponsored by Florida Coastal Clean Upwho provided the trash bags, snacks and t-shirts. Thankyou volunteers!!! From left to right Theresa, DaltonSkylar, Taegan, Karin, Co & Nonie. Tanya and Josh notshown.

CONSERVATION CORNERBy Nonie Maines, CAS President


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Donations are welcome, please contacCAS treasurer Karen Newhouse at 678-0440All contributions are tax-deductible. Feel free to

specify a particular fund/event that you wish tosponsor.

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

2005 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, November 2005

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: 729-2656

Membership: Theresa Dennis: [email protected]

Publicity: Linda Daugherty:269-0665, [email protected]

Programs: Thelma Phillips: 651-0508, [email protected]

Editor: Karin Barbee: [email protected]

CHAPTER

REPRESENTATIVES

ShorelinesUpdate:

We are going to try and save moneyand trees by offering our newsletter to mem-bers online. Some members have previouslyreceived Shorelines online as well as in printform. For the next two months we are going tooffer this service to all members. You can tryour print and our online service and chooseyour preferred method of delivery early nextyear. In addition to receiving Shorelines viaemail, past and present Shorelinesnewsletters

are available for your viewing atwww.choctawhatcheeaudubon.org .To try out this new service please send yourpreferred email address to the editor at:[email protected].

Thank you,

Karin Barbee and Theresa DennisShorelines Editor and Membership Chair

A great big THANK YOU to the followingCAS sponsors:

Publix SupermarketsPaul & Lenore Noffke

Documents

November 2005 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society