September 2004 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society

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Volume XXXIII Number 7September 2004

MONTHLY MEETINGS Audubon meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the OWCC

Niceville campus, Student Union, Building K, Room K-151.September 2: Ross Hamilton, a member of the

Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, will speak aboutChoctawhatchee Bay. He will give an update on the condi-tion of the bay and future plans to improve this importantecosystem.

October 7: Chapter President, Brian Monk, an avianveterinarian, will share his experiences and sightings(mainly birds, but other exciting animals too) on two pelagictrips he led out of Destin.

November 4: Back by popular demand this month isMary Ann Friedman, president of the Choctaw chapter of the North American Butterfly Association. She will showmore butterfly pictures and share her knowledge of butter-flies and how to attract them to backyards.

December 2: Don Ware, our bird count coordinator,will show slides of birds in preparation for the annualChristmas Bird Count.

January 6: A district representative of the NorthwestWater Management District will talk about alternative

drinking water sources as well as other timely water issues inNorthwest Florida.February 3: Dr. Robert Larson, a local lecturer and

sculptor, will give a presentation, "Sculpting, Planting aVision." He will explain about the Shoal Sanctuary andSculpture Trail, land near the Shoal River he and his wifepurchased to preserve the natural environment. He mayshare some of its interesting history.

CHAPTER WALKS & FIELD TRIPSSeptember 11: Jean Williams will lead a bird walk to

the Fort Walton Beach spray fields and holding ponds.Meet in the Coach-n-Four restaurant parking lot at 7:30 a.m.Bring water and insect repellent.

September 18: North American Fall Migration Count- all day. Call Don Ware, 862-6582 to volunteer.

October 2: Dr. Brian Monk leads a Beginner's BirdWalk to the Destin west jetties and coast guard woods.Meet at the Uptown Station at 7:30 a.m. to car pool or in theDestin Bridge (West) parking lot at 7:50 a.m. This walk ismoderately difficult and boots and water are recommended.We should finish by 10:30 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.

October 16: Lenny Fenimore leads a Beginner's BirdWalk and Field Trip to Ft Pickens. Meet at Uptown Stationat 7:00 a.m. to car pool or in the Battery Worth parking lot at8:00 a.m. Walking will be easy to moderate; bring water andsnacks. We will stop for lunch and return about 2:00 p.m.

October 30: Thelma Phillips leads a beginner's birdwalk to Ferry and Marler parks and the Okaloosa Islandbeach and sound area. Meet at Uptown Station at 7:30am. Itwill be easy walking, but usually warm and humid. Weshould finish by 11a.m.

November 13: Bird walk in Niceville / Valparaiso area- more info to come.

December 4: Don Ware leads a beginner's bird walkto FWB/Okaloosa County spray fields and holding ponds.Meet in the Coach-N-Four Restaurant parking lot at 7:30 a.m.This easy walk will last until about 10 or 11 a.m.

December 20: Christmas Bird Count - all day. CallDon Ware, 862-6582 to volunteer.

January 8, 2005: Beginner's bird walk to the Destinwest jetties and Coast Guard woods. Meet at the UptownStation at 7:30 a.m. to car pool or in the Destin Bridge park-

ing lot at 7:45 a.m. This walk is moderately difficult andboots and water are recommended. We should finish by10:30 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.

February 5, 2005: Beginner's bird walk to the FortWalton Beach spray fields and holding ponds. Meet in theCoach-N-Four Restaurant parking lot at 7:30 a.m. This easywalk will last until about 10 or 11 a.m.

February 19-21, 2005: Choctawhatchee AudubonSociety Weekend Annual Retreat to St. Marks / WakullaCedar Key.

OTHER WALKS & EVENTS

September 24: Environmental Forum hosted by theWalton County Nature Based Tourism Committee. Seepage 4 for details.

October 8-10: Alabama Ornithological Society week-end fall meeting at Dauphin Island, AL. Go towww.bham.net/aos for upcoming details.

October 15-17: Back to Nature Festival , SouthWalton County. Includes birding, hiking, boating, exploringlakes and beaches, kayaking, biking & more! Sponsored bySouth Walton Community Council - more info to come!

The deadline for Shorelines is the 15th of each month. Articles, letters and notices of upcoming events from members are welcome.

E-mail newsletter input to Shorelines editor Kendra Addington at [email protected] or call (850) 862-1282.

Meetings, Bird Walks & Events

Dedicated to the protection of bird and wildlife habitat and a greater appreciation of Northwest Floridas natural beauty.

S HORELINES


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"The only constant is change," is a truism we have all heard;and the idea that nothing stays the same for very long is an ideafamiliar to all of us, especially in this 21st century. How odd,then, that we don't seem able to mark these changes in ourworld, or at least hold them in our mind's eye for very long.

Examine the past 100 years. This is not a long time -- all of ushave lived through part of it, some more than others, some near-ly all of that last century. Indeed,many of our grandparents werealive in 1904 - only a blink in the grand scheme. What was sodifferent then?

The greatest difference: our society was based on a localagricultural economy, and only on the cusp of our modern,urban-industrial complex. Old growth hickory-oak forests stillexisted in the flood plains of the Mississippi, the Everglades wasstill a river of grass, and all of North America's major rivers andtributaries flowed free and undammed. Cars and trucks did notlitter the highways like ants; there were no highways or vehiclesin numbers such as we know.

Our wildlife was truly wild. Our lifelists would have bene-fitted and been fatter. Huge condors sailed through ceilingless

western skies from California to Arizona. WarblingProthonataries sought accompaniment from the Bachman's insouthern canebrakes. Fiery-headed Carolina Parakeets flockedand chattered back and forth in fields as far north as Virginia.Eskimo Curlews were still filling the barrels and bellies of

prairie settlers during spring migration. And huge black-and-white woodpeckers with bills of ivory ghosted between enor-mous sweetgums, quietly "yanking" to their partners a dozenyards back. All doomed.

Even then, the bell had tolled for some. The Great Auk -original penguin - gone, with the Labrador Duck, and HeathHen. The only way to see a living Passenger Pigeon, once bil-lions strong, was to journey to Cincinnatti to see Martha, thevery last of her kind, dead by 1914.

All gone in less than 100 years. All changed in 100 years.During the lifetime of your parents, or your grandparents.Maybe during your lifetime. What will come next? What duringthese next 100 years? These decisions need to be made now, byus. We can choose, we can make this right - so that your grand-child is not writing this same article in 100 years.

At the recent CAS Board meeting, the group received abriefing on plans for the Kellogg Property from ErinLaGrosse of the Walton County Tourist Development Center.For the benefit of new members; Ms. Pat Kellogg deeded tenacres of property on Nursery Road to Walton County. Thedeed contains a restrictive covenant requiring that the prop-erty be used as a wildlife preserve and education center with-out commercial activities. It further grants perpetual access to

the property to the Chowtawhatchee Audubon Society.In its current state, the property is virtually unusabledue to a very heavy understory. The Walton County TDC wasasked by the County Commission to develop a proposal foruse of the property, with input from the CAS. The proposalpresented by Ms. LaGrosse calls for dual usage as a place tohike and bird, and as a location for a maritime museum.

A controlled burn coordinated by the Division of Forestry is planned for the November/December period.Once that is done it will be possible to design and build aninterpretive trail with emphasis on the identification of birds.

This trail will connect to a boardwalk leading to the shore of the Bay.

The basis for the maritime center is for the visitor to seehow the Bay is and was used commercially, and to highlightthe wildlife that depend on the Bay for survival. The museumwill be centered in the existing building on the East end of theproperty and will be surrounded by a display of various fish-ing vessels.

The expectation is that this facility will be heavily usedby local schools for field trips. At some point, it will be nec-essary to develop a corps of volunteers to help run the facili-ty.

These plans are being developed by the Nature BasedTourism Committee of the Tourist Developement Center. TheTDC will also provide the financial resources necessary todevelop the property. If you have any questions or sugges-tions, please call me on 835-4620 or e-mail me [email protected].

Choctawhatchee Audubon Society ShorelinesPage 2: September 2004

Kellogg Property UpdateNews

George Russell, CAS Member

Donations Appreciated!

Chapter News

Presidents Message Brian C. Monk, DVM, CAS President

Please keep Choctawhatchee Audubon Society ( your local Audubon chapter) in mind when theCombined Federal Campaign forms are distributed by your employers this fall. You may includeCAS as a recipient of your CFC donations, and you KNOW the funds will be put to wonderful usehere locally ! We thank you in advance for your support.


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In summer you may not attract a great variety of birds,only nesting ones. Most commonly: cardinals, chickadees,titmice, mockingbirds, thrashers, carolina wrens, housefinches, bluejays, mourning doves, woodpeckers, and possi-bly towhees. If you don't feed in too open an area, you mayavoid the House (English) sparrows! But, if you look sharp,you may spot an indigo bunting or two as I did. Most of thelittle brown-striped birds, some with red on them, will behouse finches. However, look carefully for touches of blue of

an immature or female indigo!While the common red bellied woodpecker may be

attracted to seeds, the red headed woodpecker seems to pre-fer the suet. Gorgeous, but less common, you will be lucky tosee one. Hummingbirds either on your flowers or feeders area welcome sight, but erratic.

However, fall is coming. Things are changing. Soon,northern nesters will be migrating and then anything is possi-ble! Some have already been seen.

Choctawhatchee Audubon Society Shorelines September 2004: Page

A Little Bird Told Me...Bird Watching

By Gee Oakman

Educational Opportunity

The Walton County Nature Based Tourism Committee hasinvited Choctawhatchee Audubon Society to attend theEnvironmental Forum, the first conference uniting environmen-tal efforts throughout Walton County. Chapter President, BrianMonk will be speaking about our chapter and CAS will have adisplay.

The Forum will be held Friday, September 24th at theHilton on the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort from 9:00am to4:00pm. Lunch will be provided for conference attendees.

Early registration is $15. Registration received afterSeptember 10th at 7:30pm and day of registration is $25. Theconference is open to the public; pre-registration is highly rec-ommended.

The Environmental Forum will give attending individualsthe chance to meet and work together for the benefit of Walton

County.Contact for this event is Erin LaGrosse - (850) 267-1216 orvia email [email protected].

Walton County Environmental Forum

Volunteers Needed!

There are many volunteer opportunities in a wide variety of programs avail-able at Jackson Guard. In addition, anyone who would like to watch a seaturtle nest dug-up for evaluation, post hatching time is welcome.Please contact: Erica Schnarr, Volunteer Coordinator at Jackson Guard,(email preferred) [email protected]

Back to Nature Festival

Highlighting the warm days and cool nights of October isthe third annual Back to Nature Festival sponsored by the SouthWalton Community Council (SWCC). Festival activities beginFriday evening, Oct. 15, and end Sunday, Oct 17. Events arespread out over the dunes and forests, lakes, river and bay. Theyare varied--some energetic and adventurous, some easy andrelaxing. Most are educational as well as fun.

The Festival has something to appeal to everyone, and pastparticipants agree it's a wonderful way to spend a perfect fallweekend.

An opening get-together with entertainment and refresh-ments will kick off the Festival at Eden State Gardens pavilionon Friday evening. The next two days are filled with suchevents as hiking, boat trips, birdwatching, biking, kayaking, bustours and many others.

For full information about the SWCC Back to NatureFestival--events, pricing and a registration form--go to the website www.southwaltoncc.org and click on B2N Festival. A com-plete brochure will be available in August. To contact SWCC orits Festival call (850) 314-3749 and leave a message.


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President Brian Monk: 586-2473, [email protected]

Vice president Bill Burke: 678-0440, [email protected] Pat Gross: 609-0059, [email protected]

Recording secretary Carole Goodyear: 897-2666, [email protected]

Corresponding secretary Pat Baker: [email protected]

Bird count coordinator Donald M. Ware: 862-6582, [email protected]

Conservation committee chair Mathilda Ravine: 243-2298, [email protected]

Education Nonie Maines: 862-9588, [email protected]

Field trips Charlie Parkel: 678-4728, [email protected]

Hospitality Gertrude Oakman: 729-2656

Membership & newsletter circulation Bob Miller: 678-4278, [email protected]

Publicity Scott Addington: 862-1282, [email protected]

Programs Lois Gilman: 651-5408, [email protected]

Shorelines editor Kendra Addington: 862-1282,[email protected]

Shorelines is published 10 times a year by ChoctawhatcheeAudubon Society, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It is sent to 500members and community leaders. To become a sponsor, callKendra Addington at 862-1282. Your contributions will be tax-

deductible.

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage PAID

Fort Walton Beach, FLPermit No. 110

Choctawhatchee Audubon SocietyShorelines, September 2004P.O. Box 1014Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32549

2003/2004 OFFICERS

Printed on recycled paper

Introductory Audubon Society Membership (E-11):Current members: Please do not use this form for membership renewals.Name:__________________________________________________Address:________________________________________________City:__________________ State:__________ Zip:_____________Phone: ________________ E-mail: _________________________

Introductory membership is $20/individual or $15/student or seniorcitizen to join national, state, and local Audubon groups and receive

Audubon magazine and the Shorelines newsletter. To join, mail thisform and a check, payable to National Audubon Society, to NASMembership Data Center, P.O. Box 51005, Boulder, CO 80323-1005.

Chapter Code: E-11 7XCH

2004 by Choctawhatchee Audubon Society. All rights reserved.

Make sure you renew your local CAS membership when yourenew your national Audubon membership. Please indicate thatyoure affiliated with Choctawhatchee Audubon Society when yourenew to ensure your subscription to Shorelines.

Newsletter sponsors: Charlie Parkel, NicevilleIn memory of Ken Proteau, Hamiliton and Renee WilliamsPam McKenzie, Los Lunas, NMJulia Sublett, Shalimar Business World, Fort Walton BeachElizabeth Milum, M.D., Dermatologist, Destin/Niceville

Wild Birds Unlimited, Destin

Documents

September 2004 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society