april 2009 flicker flashes birmingham audubon society newsletter

8/9/2019 April 2009 Flicker Flashes Birmingham Audubon Society Newsletter

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Volume LXI, Number 7 April 2009

The Birmingham Zoo and the Birmingham Audubon SocietyInvite you to an Early Bird Breakfast and Bird Walk~ a fun-filled outing suitable for the entire family!

Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 7:00 A.M.The Birmingham Zoo

This outing will combine two fun-filledevents into one fabulous occasion for your entire family!For years the Birmingham Audubon Society has held abird walk in memory of long-time member Tom Imhof.This year we will pair the walk with a new zoo offering:an Early Bird Breakfast with the birds! Please visit thezoo web site at http://www.birminghamzoo.com/ for up-to-date details about the Early Bird Breakfast. The costfor breakfast is $5 for zoo members and $8 for non-members and includes all day admission to the zoo.Please reserve your place by calling Stephanie at theZoo, 397-3859.

The bird walk will take place immediately fol-lowing the breakfast, with members of the BirminghamAudubon Society and Birmingham Zoo bird curatorsserving as our expert bird guides to help with bird identi-fication. The route will take us through the zoo, stop-ping in the Alabama Wilds and the water retention basinarea where we are likely to see a variety of spring mi-grants and resident birds. The resident birds are sureto be in full song and with any luck some of the mi-grants will too.

Trip Leaders: Greg Harber, 251-2133, Harriett Wright,967-0955 and Elberta Reid, 879-1935.

April Field TripSaturday, April 25, 2009

Greenebriar Treasure Forest

This months full-day field trip will be to theGreenebriar Treasure Forest near Eutaw. Last sum-mer owners Robert and Kathy Loper contacted usabout the possibility of BAS visiting them for a fieldtrip. After a mid-July 2008 reconnaissance effort, wedecided that the diversity of the habitats found on the

property and the Lopers gracious hospitality wouldmake this an ideal field trip destination in the spring and so here we are!

Greenebriar Treasure Forest is a 522-acretract bordered on the north by the Sipsey River. Habi-tats include a cypress swamp, extensive pine andhardwood forests, and open fields. Birding possibilitiesduring migration seem almost limitless! Visit their web-

site at: http://greenebriar.com/treasure_forest/consproj.htm and see their photo gallery at http://flickr.com/photos/28707705@N05/sets/.

Travel Plans: We plan to meet at the Galleria McDon-alds on US-31 in Hoover and depart promptly at 7:00

a.m. If you plan to get breakfast there, please arriveno later that 6:30 a.m. In addition to a sack lunch andfull tank of gas, bring your snacks, plenty of water, bugspray, binoculars, and scopes. Our hosts have offeredto provide beverages for lunch!

Trip leaders are Greg Harber and Jessica Germany. Ifyou have questions, contact Jessica at [email protected].


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SoSo for the Record

Sightings February 6 through February 21, 2009

According to Greg Harber the Tree Swallows were positively gleaming at Lake Purdy on the 21 Februaryfield trip. Louise Ayer Tommie was the trip leader.

A brief stop was made at Chelsea Recreational Park. Two male Eastern Bluebirds attacked Gregs side-view mirror and left obvious evidence of their opinion about this invasion of their privacy.

The next stop was the Girls Scouts Kanawahala Program Center near Chelsea. A brief introduction wasgiven (by Greg) about common birds that could be found there because some of the girls were working on their meritbadges.

Continuing on to Tanyard Road and Sun Belt Turf Farm other bird highlights were: Bald Eagle; NorthernHarrier; Long-billed Dowitcher(noticed by Larry Gestra); Wilsons Snipe; Field, Chipping, and Savannah Spar-rows.

A beautiful sunny bird watching day was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone thanks to Louise Ayer, Greg, et al.

Other sightings were:

Contributors:

Please submit sightings for May/June FFat least five days before April 1st deadline to Ann Miller, 520 York-shire Drive, Birmingham, Al. 35209.

The Birmingham Audubon Society gratefully acknowledges the following gifts and memorial donations:

In memory of Russell Bailey: Bobbie Bailey, Donna Bailey Dye and Frank Reid

In memory of Renee McDonald: Gregory J. Harber, Katherine Myatt, Joyce Benington, J. M. Nabors, Jr. andElberta G. Reid

In memory of Dr. Dan Holliman: Sheila Bancroft and Elberta G. Reid

In memory of Charles M. Hunter: Maureen Shaffer

Gifts: George C. Cusick and Robert G. Tate (2)

2/6 Pacific Loon; Ring-billed Gull (15,000); the ever faithful Lesser Black-backed Gull; Fish Crow (8); andalso present a femaleshelduck, probably Australian or Paradise, not wild. Guntersville (GJ).

2/7 Long-tailed Duck (female); Guntersville (SMcC).

Fox Sparrow; Tannehill (MC,RC).

2/12 Purple Martin (8 males, early) Colbert Co (DS)

Bald Eagle; Black Vulture (200); Great Egret (25); Killdeer; PectoralSandpiper; Wilsons Snipe; Tuscaloosa County, near Fosters (MS et al).

2/15 Blue-headed Vireo; White-breasted Nuthatch;Golden-crownedKinglet; Pine Warbler; Rebecca Mountain, east of Sylacauga (GH).

2/18 Laughing Gull; Guntersville (DS,JM,JaM,RJM).

Gussie ArnettMartha CoghlanRhonda CorrettiLarry GestraGreg HarberSue Hutchison

Greg JacksonPeggy KingHelen KittingerSteve McConnellAnne G. MillerJames Mitchell

Jason MitchellR.J. MooreMaureen ShafferDamien Simbeck


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April Monthly MeetingThursday, April 23, 2009 at 7:00 P.M.

Birmingham Zoo AuditoriumCALLING ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS!

Members Favorite Photographs

Its time for the April meeting and so this call

goes out to all the photographers in our ranks! The rea-son for this is simple: it is time for our annual membersfavorite photographs program!

Dig into your collection of photographs, whetherthey are digital images or slides, and bring a few to theApril meeting. Everyone is invited, BAS members andguests, to share with us their favorite photos of birds,flowers, scenic sights, animals and other images of na-ture at her finest. Your photos can be from vacations ortrips you have taken, either here in Alabama or abroad,or from your own backyard. Perhaps you have a inter-esting image to share of the birds at your feeders duringthe recent snowstorm? Or of a serene sunset at the

beach or lake? This is a great opportunity to share witheveryone your experiences with nature, and what in-sights you may have gained in the process. Let yourimagination move you and turn it into a multimedia pres-entation!

We ask you to limit your presentation to 5 min-utes so that we may give everyone a chance to show hisor her slides/images. A laptop computer and projectorwill be available; please bring your digital image files ona portable storage device, e.g. a thumb drive. For those

who shoot slides, a slide projector and extra slide trays

will be available. Please contact our Master of Ceremo-nies Hans Paul (871-0666; [email protected]) inadvance and let him know if you plan to bring digital im-ages or slides, how many and any special equipmentrequests you may have. Please come a little early toallow time to arrange the order of the presentations.

As an added bonus, members of the BAS Edu-cation Committee will be on hand to tell us about thevarious educational programs BAS offers. One of theoutcomes of the BAS board retreat in January was a re-commitment to your chapters efforts to bring educa-tional programs to the entire Birmingham community.Once the committee summarizes the current programs

BAS offers wed like to hear your suggestions as to howwe might improve on them and expand our programs inthe future.

Please note that the meeting date is theFOURTH Thursday in April. This date was selected toavoid conflicts with the AOS meeting in Dauphin Islandon April 17 19.

Come Early for Refreshments and Conversation

Audubon Teaches Nature

Blooming into Spring ~ Enjoying the Wildflowers Around UsPresented by Jan Midgley

Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 2:00 P.M.Alabama Wildlife Center at Oak Mountain State Park

Our final Audubon Teaches Nature seminar ofthe season is sure to be of interest to many of our mem-bers. Who doesnt enjoy a walk in the woods when theforest floor is awash with the colors ofspring wildflowers? Stretches of open fieldcarpeted with brilliant colors are a memo-rable sight too. Indeed, wildflowers add a

splash of color to all of Alabamas land-scapes.

Some species are commonlyfound in all parts of the state, while othersare quite rare and confined to unique habi-tats. Jan Midgley, our speaker, will showus which species are found within OakMountain State Park, which might readily grow along theroadside, or maybe even your own backyard.

One thing is certain: attend this seminar andyoull learn about which wildflowers you can expect tosee where.

We will gather for refreshmentsprior to the program, in the front Observa-tion Room at the Alabama Wildlife Center.

After refreshments and some social timetogether, we will move to the Oak MountainInterpretive Center auditorium for the pro-gram. Door prizes will be awarded but youmust register and be present in order towin. The programs are free but park ad-mission is $3.00 per person.

Come early for fellowship andrefreshments in the

Observation Room at The Center!


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February Field Trip SummarySaturday, February 21, 2009

We began the morning at Lake Purdy wherethe usual assortment of birds was seen. Several TreeSwallows were positively gleaming in the bright morninglight near the boat launch facility and deer swimming inthe lake were an unusual sight. Louise Ayer Tommie,

our trip leader, led us south from there to Chelsea, stop-ping for a time at the Chelsea Recreational Park on CR-39 south of town. Two male bluebirds were either over-come with passion at the sight of my bright blue HondaFit or they were upset at the presence of the overgrowncompetitor. Either way, the side-view mirror attack epi-sode was amusing to watch. Whilst I wasnt looking,however, one of the little buggersleft me a whitewash reminder ofwhat he thought of the encounter.

The Girl Scouts Kanawa-hala Program Center outside ofChelsea was the next destination,where the girls were given a briefintroduction to the common birdsthat might be found there. Sincesome were working on meritbadges we included the bird callsin the program too. They have tobe able to identify five birds bysight and five by their songs/calls.We split into groups with the girlsand hit the trails to see what wecould find.

Following lunch on the back deck of the lodge

(in the glorious sunshine!) the caravan continued southto Harpersville, to Tanyard Road and the Sun Belt TurfFarm. Highlights from Tanyard included a female North-ern Harrier and multiple Chipping and Savannah Spar-rows and one Field Sparrow. Several meadowlarkswere brilliant against the brown grasses - when theyfaced us. Otherwise, with their backs turned to us, theymelted into the carpet beneath them.

We stopped our caravan of four cars at theBaptist church in order to avoid driving onto the sodfarm. Its a good thing we did; as soon as we got out anadult Bald Eagle launched itself out of a pine tree at the

parking lot and flew over the turf in the direction of theriver. The attack response from three crows flying past

was immediate. Many Killdeer and pigeons decided itwas time to exercise their flight muscles and practicetheir evasion maneuvers! Thankfully the eagle landed atthe large puddle closer to the river near the back of thefarm. The crows landed too but did not dare approach

the eagle. About 10 minutes later the eagle flew awayto the west.

Louise Ayer reminded me that while on thescouting trip a few days prior she had seen two Com-mon Ground-Doves near the juncture of AL-25 and AL-76, so we crept along the dirt road adjacent to AL-76 at

the edge of the farm. We stoppedat the last large puddle nearestthe intersection to view severalWilsons Snipe probing in themud. Multiple Killdeer were alsocompeting for our attention soseveral people asked around ifanyone was seeing anything otherthan these two species. LarryGestra piped in with a Heres twothat look different. Sure enough,two Long-billed Dowitchers werestanding in the water and wewatched them for over 10 minutesas they probed and poked in themud and waded through the shal-low water. I had initially thoughtthey might be short-billed but, af-

ter reviewing several guides while at our cars and backhere at home, Ive come to the conclusion that their

overall grayer breast and flanks pointed more towardlong-billed. They never did call, and only took one verybrief flight as I bent over to peer through Larrys scope.Unfortunately, I didnt catch them in time in my binocu-lar view before they settled back down in to the water.So much for hoping their tail pattern might offer a betterclue!

As it was now 4:00 p.m. and the temps weredropping rapidly in the brisk wind, we decided to endthe day with a brief stop at the swamp on Dead HollowRoad South. The calls of Red-winged Blackbirds andone Phoebe pumping its tail were all that awaited us so

we headed home.

Field trip participants:

* Trip Leader

Louise Ayer Tommie*Jean FolsomLarry GestraJeanette HancockGreg Harber

Beverly LynchEllen McLaughlinAnne G. MillerCathy and Lee NickPelham Rowan

Donna ShookJohn SwanBob and Ann TateHarriett Wright


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Birding Basics Part One

Youve noticed birds flying through your yard,soaring in the sky and singing their hearts out! Maybeyouve been watching birds at your feeders. Now, youwant to know more about the birds. There are twoitems that will help you identify birds - a field guide andbinoculars.

Field Guides

There are so many field guides (books) thatyou can buy. Beginning field guides have fewer birdslisted in the books, large pictures and less words. Youwill want a field guide specific to your part of the coun-try. A field guide for the Eastern US or Southeastwould include the birds that you would probably see inAlabama. One of the better beginners field guides isThe Young Birders Guide to Birds of Eastern NorthAmerica (Peterson Field Guides). The latest editionwas published in 2008. This guide is easy to bring out-side to use, too.

Of course, you can always use the adult ver-sions of the field guides. There are more bird speciesin the guides. It can be overwhelming to searchthrough the field guide when there are twice as manybirds to look at.

A fun field guide to use at home is found onthe Internet - Enature guides. http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/ This link will take you totheir list of field guides, including spiders, mammals,insects and fish. Click on birds for photos, informationand sounds.

Binoculars

Binoculars will magnify the birds so you cansee the details (field marks) better. When looking atbinoculars there are always two numbers used. Thefirst number is the magnification power. The higher thenumber, the closer the bird appears. The second num-ber is the diameter of the lens. You might think, sowhat, but the larger the lens, the more light it gathers.So, at dawn and dusk, you will better see the bird ordetails of objects you observe. The down side to thelarge magnification and lens diameter is the weight ofthe binocular. The bigger the numbers, the heavier the

binoculars. A 6 X 30 is 6 times the magnification andthe lens diameter is 30 mm.

Any outdoor store or department store willhave binoculars for sale. A 6 X 30 or 7 X 35 might bea good starting place for binoculars. They will let youhold them and look through them. Binoculars range inprice from inexpensive to VERY expensive. You couldalso go on a BAS field trip. Members will be happy toshare their binoculars and give you information aboutthem.

Some other considerations for binoculars:

Childrens binoculars are generally waterproof andshock resistant. These can take some droppingand water will not ruin them. This helps when youare birding and it starts to rain! If you wear glassesyou will want the eye pieces to fold down.

You will want to make sure the eyepieces cometogether close enough for both eyes.

With binoculars and a field guide,youll become a better birder!

Next month we will go over identification of birds and

field journals. If you have questions or drawing ofbirds, send them to: Birmingham Audubon Society,P.O. Box 314, Birmingham, AL 35201

FINISH THE PICTUREDraw a bird on the tree branch.


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Here follows a summary of issues addressedby the BAS Conservation Committee, any actiontaken, some updates from previous stories and somethings that are current:

For January, the Conservation Committeediscussed the ramifications of the coal ash breech of aTVA coal ash holding pond, logging in the Westernstates and the status of the wilderness bill, the Shep-herd Bend's mine permit and a proposal to designate

critical habitat for the endangered Alabama sturgeon.It was decided that a letter would be sent to the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service on behalf of BAS supportingthe proposal.

The status of the Shepherd Bend's mine is asfollows: In July, 2008, the Alabama Department ofEnvironmental Management (ADEM) issued a permitto allow strip mining along the Mulberry Fork of theBlack Warrior River which would discharge pollutantsnear the intake for the area's drinking water. SouthernEnvironmental Law Center filed a suit on behalf ofBlack Warrior Riverkeeper in December 2008. Thesuit asserts that ADEM violated state law and its' own

rules by issuing the permit without notifying the publicor providing a plan to prevent or mitigate pollution. Anadministrative appeal was also filed pursuant to staterequirements for challenging environmental permits.The remainder of these issues will be addressed in thebody of this article.

For February, a recent decision by the Bir-mingham Water Works Board to build a pump stationon Upper Holt Lake for water intake as opposed toconstructing a dam on the Black Warrior River waschosen for the subject of the February Writing Table.A thank you note in the form of a post-card was pre-sented at the February meeting. Other issues dis-

cussed were the three vacancies on the board ofADEM and needed regulations for coal ash disposal. Itwas decided to address these issues at a later date.

On February 26th, a BAS member, MarjorieHill, observed contamination in the water at the Ses-sions Sanctuary (BAS property) in Shades Creek.Staff from ADEM came to the site and put absorbentfloats in the Creek to contain the contaminant. It waslater determined that a fuel spill at the WalMart rede-velopment at old Eastwood Mall had flowed into astorm water drain, which funneled the gasoline towardShades Creek at Elder Street. John Swan, BAS Pub-licity and Conservation Committee member, walkedalong Shades Creek after the report was received. He

observed several small "rainbow" slicks and patchesof contaminant flowing on the water's surface. Pressreleases were sent to the media, including the Bir-mingham News and local television stations. A re-porter for the News and staff for several television sta-tions contacted a member of the Publicity committeefor comment and clarification.

Also of interest, the main threat to the Ceru-lean Warbler (a species on the Audubon Watch Listnoted as declining or rare) is habitat degradation in

both summer and winter ranges. Ceruleans breed asfar north as Ontario, as far east as the Atlantic Sea-board, south to Arkansas, with some records in Ala-bama and as far west as Iowa. The Mississippi AlluvialPlain, which at one time was old growth bottomlandhardwood (no longer in existence), is ideal breedinghabitat. As these forests have disappeared, so havethe broad-leafed evergreen forests of the westernslopes of the Andes (removed for coffee and cocaplantations). The Nature Conservancy, the State ofMissouri and the Missouri Conservation HeritageFoundation have recently purchased an 80-acre tract(Horse Creek Tract) on the shores of the Current River

(along with the Ozarks, it is designated as a high prior-ity area for conservation.) This tract is composed offorests of sycamore and cottonwood with layered can-opy and canopy gaps, preferred breeding habitat forCeruleans.

Across the state, U.S. Fish and Wildlife hasannounced a proposed revised rule to designate criti-cal habitat for the Alabama sturgeon, a species listedas endangered, plus a public hearing on January 28,2009. The designation includes one contiguous unit ofriver channel in portions of the Alabama River andCahaba River in the Mobile River basin. The unit en-compasses 245 miles on the Alabama and 81 miles

on the lower Cahaba. The Land Trust of Huntsvilleand North Alabama purchased two important parcelsof property in Madison County. The first was 97 acresnear the southernmost tip of Green Mtn., the secondwas 5.67 acres on the west slope of Monte Sano.

On a local note, the city of Trussville an-nounced its' intention to buy 1,472 acres of as-yet-undeveloped property along the Cahaba River. Planshad called for the construction of 2,000 homes plusthe shaving off of the ridge to allow for additional de-velopment. The land will serve as protection for theriver, the mountain range and add to Trussville's citypark holdings.


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clip along dotted line

~ Membership Application ~

Birmingham Audubon Society/ ational Audubon Society

Name:_______________________________________________________Address: _____________________________________________________

City:_______________________________ State:__________ Zip:_______Phone: ( )

My check for $___________ is enclosed.

Please make check payable to: National Audubon Society

Mail this form and check to: Birmingham Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 314Birmingham, AL 35201

Birmingham Audubon Society *AOO7XCH8

Introductory membership ~ $20.00

Includes quarterly subscription to Audubonmagazine and 8 issues of Flicker Flashes, thechapter newsletter.Senior (62 & older) and student (full-time)memberships available for $15.00.

(Preferred method of payment for all new mem-bers is through the chapter, using this form).

Regular membership/Renewals ~ $20.00

The National Audubon Society handlesmembership renewals through theirMembership Data Center. Contact them at1-800-274-4201 or write them at:P.O. Box 52529,

Boulder, CO 80322-2529.

Forty-fourth Annual Spring Bird CountSaturday, May 2, 2009

All BAS members and friends are encouragedto join us for the 44th annual Spring Bird Count! Thisis a fun count, when we venture out to wel-come our returning neotropical migrants.The count provides a wonderful opportu-nity to spend some time outdoors andwatch the feathered parade as the birdsfollow their migration route north! Many ofthe local breeding birds will be well on theirway to raising young too.

This all-day count will cover partsof Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair and Blountcounties, and well need as many partici-pants as possible to adequately cover thearea. Even though this is an all-day count,you may join a party for any part of the day

if you only have a limited amount of time.It is essential though that you make ar-rangements now to join a party on count day. Feelfree to call me at 251-2133 for the names and phonenumbers of party leaders in your area. Or, you may

wish to count the birds at your feeders and call or e-mail your report to me later. Rose-breasted Gros-

beaks will surely reward those who takethe time to watch at home!

At the end of the day we willgather to compile our results, swap storiesand share our adventures of theday. Those fortunate enough to find a realrarity should expect to provide appropriatewritten documentation. Ty Keith and hiswife Kenny will host our compilation attheir home on Red Mountain, located at1416 Wellington Road, just up from Car-lisle Road (phone: 326-0433). Be sure tograb a bite to eat before we get startedaround 7:00 p.m. If you need detailed

directions, please call either Ty or me.

Greg Harber,For Bird Counts committee


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Flicker Flashes is published eight times a year bythe Birmingham Audubon Society.Editor: Bianca J. Allen (205) 854-5233Asst Editor: Greg Harber (205) 251-2133

Birmingham, Audubon SocietyA Chapter of the National Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 314Birmingham, AL 35201Business Office:

200 19th St. No.Birmingham, AL 35201(205) [email protected]

DATED MATERIAL

Please deliver by April 1, 2009

Birmingham Audubon Societywww.birminghamaudubon.org(205)879-7709

Printed on recycled paper

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 3794

Birmingham, AL

April 2009

1 Flicker Flashes articles due, May/June issue

4 Family Bird Walk - Birmingham Zoo 7:30 a.m.

17-19 Alabama Ornithological Society meeting -Dauphin Island, AL

23 Board Meeting, BZA, 5:45 p.m.General Meeting, BZA, 7:00 p.m.Members Favorite Photographs

25 BAS Field Trip, Greenebriar Treasure Forest,Eutaw

26 Audubon Teaches Nature,The Wildlife Center, 2:00 p.m.

May 2009

2 44th Annual BAS Spring Bird Count

7-10 32nd Annual Audubon Mountain Workshop Mentone, AL

June 20096 BAS Field Trip, Cheaha State Park

August 2009

1 BAS Field Trip, Black Belt Birding

8 BAS Field Trip, Black Belt Birding

april 2009 flicker flashes birmingham audubon society newsletter

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