September 2005 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society

8/9/2019 September 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 7 September 2005

CAS monthly meetings are held on the

first Thursday of each month at 7:00PM. Refreshments, conservation topicsand a monthly wildlife slide show tobegin at 6:30 PM. At OWC LearningResources Center (LRC), Room 131.The LRC is next door to Building Kattached to the Library by a coveredcourtyard. The new room is equippedwith tables, comfortable chairs and mod-ern equipment needed for program pre-sentations. We hope to see you there.

September 1: Rebecca Rushing,Wildlife Manager at Hurlburt Field willbe our speaker. She will tell us howsome air fields, including Hurlburt, aredealing with the problems of birds andother wildlife on the runway.October 6: Vernon Compton, ProjectDirector for Gulf Coastal PlainEcosystem Partnership will present aprogram about trees. He will talk about

the best native trees to plant in highwind areas such as those prone to hur-ricanes. He will also discuss the impor-tance of a good tree ordinances, andthe importance of trees to stormwatermanagement. (continued on page 2)

Chapter WalksSeptember 10: We will meet at the Ft.Walton Beach Coach & Four parking lot(7:30am) for a bird walk of the FWB

spray fields and ponds. The public isinvited and families are encouraged to

join us.September 17: Fall Migration Count,volunteers are needed for eight loca-tions throughout Okaloosa county andsix in Walton County.

For information, please call DonWare862-6582 or [email protected]

Calendar of Events

All things worthy that are in peril, as the world nowstands, those are my care. Tolkein

After the storm, nature is recovering just fine. I wasout in the semi-stormy (depending on where youwere) weather on my usual east pass jaunt and wasenjoying the little Leatherjacks schooling around me.I was also enjoying a nice number of Willets doingsuch ravenous feeding that they looked likeSanderlings on steroids. When what to my wanderingeyes did appear... it sure wasn't a Pelican that hadlearned to fish with webbed feet, and it wasn't theexpected Osprey... No. This was quite likely a RedTailed Hawk complete with huge talons. He flewalong the island from the direction of the Matterhornright over the water's edge and turned only when hehit the west jetty to follow the water through the pass.He made one unsuccessful attempt at catching a fishbefore disappearing out of sight. This made for a nicechange of pace what with those huge talons and all.He sure got my attention as I was in the gulf and sur-

rounded by his potential next meal.The tidal flats area which is slowly in the process ofbeing filled in by mother nature, has reshaped herselffrom sandy bands separating different ponds, to a sin-gle larger pond with a tiny sand island in the middle.A small group of gray gulls has taken over here. Theherons are on the jetties and along the beach asexpected. Also along the beach and in general ignor-ing those endangered species signs altogether are100-150 terns entirely the 'little guy' variety. They flyand land as one. They are sitting below the high tide

line and they don't sit still at all. There have been adozen or more 'regular' large terns but they're not mix-ing in anymore as they were after the storm and theblack skimmers have disappeared all together. Thereis still some great shelling here, eventhough thestorms have taken so much sand off the island andleft it in the gulf. The dune storm damage has madea larger flat area from the jetty all the way along thebeach. Take care all, and do yourself a favor and getoutside.

Bird Watching:

Timothy Mahar


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Review current and past newsletters for the Choctawhatchee Audubon

Society online at our new website:

www.ChoctawhatcheeAudubon.org

November 3: For a break from our traditionallectures, CAS will feature Dr. Dave Gowan;Florida State Universitys Spider Guy. Dr.Gowan will present a slide show on TheArachnids Among Us. If you have spidersaround the house that you would like to identify,feel free to bring them in (using suitably securecontainers of course). After the program, Dr.

Gowan will show us how to track down theoctipedal beasts outside in the courtyard sobring your flashlights.

December 1: Dr. Bobby Harrison who teachesart and photography at Oakwood College inHuntsville, Alabama will be our speaker. OnJune 9, 2004 he reported seeing an Ivory- billedWoodpecker flush from near the base of a bald-cypress about 15 meters in front of him. As thebird swooped up to land, the broad white trailingedges of the wings were especially visible.

After 20 years of searching, his dream of findingthe Ivory-billed Woodpecker came true in theBig Woods of Arkansas.

September 2005.......Page 2

Audubon Eventures is planning a night walk at Anderson Pond August 26 at 7 PM.

Anderson Pond is about 1 mile north of the Mullet Festival site on Hwy 85 in Niceville.Directions: Turn right at the second sign, follow the dirt road to the pavilion.

This site has lots of bugs, so wear your repellent!

The next Audubon Eventures on September 30 will be at Oak Tree Nature Park in Mary Esther at6:30 PM, once again wear your bug repellent!

Please RSVP to Nonie Maines at (850) 862-9588.

FUTURE CAS MEETINGSFrom Page 1

This year CAS is going to minimize the Audubon Adventures program which will be offered byrequests only. To replace this program we would like to create a traveling "Birding Box". The birdingbox will be hand delivered to local schools by request. It may even accompany a seasoned birder!

Charlie Parkel and others have agreed to meet groups for fieldtrips! The birding box will containbinoculars, field guides, audio compact disks and classroom activity suggestions. At this time weare actively soliciting donations to stock our briding box. We will accept any new or used binoculars,field guide or audio compact disks. We will also accept monetary donations to supply these kits.Ideally the kit would contain 25 binoculars, 10 field guides and 1 CD or tape. We have contactedbionocular companies asking for discounts or donations. If you have items to donate please callNonie at (850) 862-9588. If you would like to make a monetary donation send it to CAS P.O. Box1014 Ft Walton Beach, FL 32549.

Education update

Audubon Eventure


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Your help is needed to save the Arctic Refuge!The fight over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is heating up.YOUR HELP IS NEEDED IN AUGUST & SEPTEMBER!Audubon is making a big push to save the pristine wilderness in Alaskafrom destructive oil drilling, and you can help!

After 25 years of fighting, our last best chance to protect the refuge will be in the House ofRepresentatives on a vote quickly approaching in September.In August, members of Congress that will be casting deciding votes will be back home talking withtheir constituents like you! All Audubon chapters and Audubon members around the country willbe using this opportunity to weigh in with their members of Congress and fight at this critical timefor one of the most pristine places left in America!Write or e-mail your elected officials today!Every member of Congress will be voting on this measure and right now, it's too close to call.Log on to Audubon's special "Protect the Arctic" website - accessed via www.audubon.org , orcontact Desiree Groves in Audubon's public policy office in Washington, DCat 202-861-2242 ext. 3038 ([email protected]) to find out more about how you can help!

The North American Migration Count provides a snapshot of where each bird species is

during the peak of the migration in Massachusetts. In Florida the fall migration is on the leadingedge for many species. CAS meets twice a year for a bird count. Our goal is to set up eight bird-ing parties in Okaloosa County and six in Walton County. In addition to experienced birders begin-ners are welcome too. This is a great opportunity to fine tune your birding skills.

Don Ware would appreciate both team leaders and recorders/spotters to call him at 862-6582 or email [email protected] to volunteer. It is a good excuse to spend a day in the fieldgetting to know other birders while observing our beautiful feathered friends. We hope you can

join us!

September 2005.......Page 3

The festival will be held on OCTOBER7-9, 2005 at the PRESERVES CENTER.Located at 3915 Hwy C-30, just 4 miles south-east of Port St. Joe, Florida located on the Gulfof Mexico, in Northwest Florida.The festival will feature professionally led fieldtrips on a variety of public lands, lectures, and

a vast array of educational exhibits will beavailable to the public.

Come and join guided tours of the St.Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserves, St. VincentIsland National Wildlife Refuge, ApalachicolaNational Estuarine Research Reserve,Department of Forestry Box R Ranch, St.

George Island & St. Joseph Peninsula StateParks, and the Apalachicola National Forest,as well as bay & river trips. While specializedbirding trips are a highlight of the festival,botany, bats, and archaeology trips are alsofeatured.

Attend the 2005 Florida Panhandle

Birding & Wildflower Festival. Come explorethe public lands of the Florida Panhandle insearch of migratory birds and endangered andthreatened species of plants and animals andprehistoric history.For more information call:850-229-1797

THE 5TH ANNUAL FLORIDA PANHANDLE BIRDING & WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL

Volunteers needed

Environmental Awareness


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Donations are welcome, please contact CAS treasrerKaren Newhouse 678-0440. All contributions aretax-deductible. Feel free to specify a particularfund/event that you wish to sponsor.

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 senior

citizen to join national, state, and local Audubon groups and receiveAudubon 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.

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.

THIS MONTHS DONATIONS

Patricia Swennes donated to our EnvironmentaEducation Fund. Thank you Patricia for youdonation.

Nonprofit Organizati

U.S. Postage PAID

Fort Walton Beach, F

Permit No. 110

Printed on recycled paper

Choctawhatchee Audubon Society

Shorelines, September 2005

P.O. Box 1014

Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32549

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

Vice president: Bill Burke: 678-0440, [email protected]

Treasurer: Karen Newhouse: 897-3745, [email protected]

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

Corresponding secretary: Pat Baker: 678-2953, f [email protected]

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

Conservation: Josh Barbee: 218-0573, [email protected]

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

Field trips: Charlie Parkel: 678-4728

Hospitality: Gertrude Oakman: 729-2656

Membership & newsletter circulation: Bob Miller: 678-4278

Publicity: Karin Barbee:729-3733, [email protected]

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

Shorelines Editor: Karin Barbee: 729-3733,

Email: [email protected]

CHAPTER

REPRESENTATIVES

Notes from the Editor

We are always looking for new submis-sions to Shorelines.

Articles, letters, and notices fromupcoming events from members areencouraged. Please send in your sub-

missions early. Remember the deadlinefor publication is the 15th of eachmonth.

Send your mail electronically to our newaccount:

[email protected]

Documents

September 2005 Shorelines Newsletter Choctawhatchee Audubon Society