october 2005 shorelines newsletter choctawhatchee audubon society

8/9/2019 October 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 8 October 2005

CAS monthly meetings

First Thursday of each month at 6:30PM at OWC Learning ResourcesCenter (LRC), Room 131.October 6: Vernon Compton, ProjectDirector for Gulf Coastal PlainEcosystem Partnership will present aprogram about trees. He will talk aboutthe best native trees to plant in highwind areas such as those prone to hur-ricanes. He will also discuss theimportance of good tree ordinances,

and the importance of trees tostormwater management.

CAS meetings continued on page 2

Audubon Eventure & Halloween FunOctober 25: 6-8 PM Fall Carnival atFerry Park. CAS will hand out candy toTrick or Treaters and the Eventurenightwalk will be held simultaneously atthis event. Volunteers will be needed to

assist in mini-walks along the creek.Please call Nonie Maines for details orto volunteer at (850) 862-9588.

Chapter WalksOctober 8: Beginner's Bird Walk to thewest jetty of Destin's East Pass.October 14-16:Alabama OrnithologicalSociety Meeting at Dauphin Island.October 22: Field Trip to Fort Pickensif August trip proves productive. If not,

visit to Fort Walton Beach's Ferry andGlenwood Parks.November 5: Beginner's Bird Walk inValparaiso.December 10: Beginner's Bird Walk toFort Walton Beach at Okaloosa Countyspray fields and holding ponds for win-ter ducks and migrants.For information, please call Charlie

Parkel at 678-4728

Calendar of Events

This past Saturday I returned to Ft. WaltonBeach to participate in the North American MigrationCount. Nonie Maines, Thelma Philips, and a highschool student named Devon all joined me for thecount. We started our day at the Destin Bridge at 7:00a.m. I was devastated to see all the destruction thehurricanes did to one of my favorite birding hot spots.Nearly all of the marsh and ponds are now gone, filledin with sand that came from the now nonexistent sanddunes.

My spirits were lifted, however, when we spot-ted a pair of Gray Kingbirds hawking over the remain-ing marsh. We decided to walk the beach to the west

jetty and were rewarded with some incredible birdsThere were many good terns (no pun intended)including Caspian, Sandwich and a lone BlackSkimmer. When we reached the jetty, we saw a longtidal pool filled with hurricane debris, both natural andmanmade trash. As we approached the pool, a GreatBlue Heron flew in and flushed a medium sized shore-bird that turned out to be one of our very best birds of

the day. The bird flew across the pool in our direction,Bird Watching Continued on Page 2

Bird Watching: Once More into the Breech

by Alan Knothe

Bird Watching: My Day on the Migration Count

by Donald Ware

Carole Goodyear and I are fortunate to havethe area with the most diverse habitats: FWB North,as our area on the spring and fall migration counts.Saturday, September 17th, was a balmy 72 degreeswhen we started up Timberlake Road into the EglinReservation at 0530 looking for night birds. It soon

became 95 degrees causing a 90 minute break dur-ing mid-afternoon, even the birds nap at that temper-ature. We flushed a Common Nighthawk as wecrossed the spray field. Then made many stopsplaying Screech and Great Horned Owl tapes start-ing at the power lines. We heard 9 Screech Owls,but no Great Horned. On our second stop, four owlscalled back, one from each direction, and they were

Bird Watching Continued on Page 3


2/4

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 secure

containers 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 trailing

edges 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.

October 2005.......Page 2

and I followed it with my binoculars. I immediately knew it was a large plover and YES, it had no dark"wing pits." It was an American Golden Plover, a bird I had never seen before in Okaloosa County. Anice chaser, a bit further down the beach, was a lone Snowy Plover. Snowy Plover is one of the tar-get birds in my area, and we were all worried that after the storms we might not find one.

Returning to the car, we headed across the road to the Coast Guard Woods. Nothing too excit-

ing was found, but we did add a few common birds. A stop at the sea wall produced almost nothingbut excitement was just around the corner. At the national seashore I was scanning a group ofSanderlings when I spotted a smaller bird with yellowish orange legs. It was very pale in color with asingle, pale breast band. You guessed it, a Piping Plover, a bird I'd seen only twice before in OkaloosaCounty.

The Par Three Golf Course was also productive. We found one of my favorite birds in its usu-al spot, a Great Horned Owl. Other great birds included a Peregrine Falcon, a Northern Waterthrush,two Prairie Warblers, and a Spotted Sandpiper.

Ferry Park added several birds including Great Crested Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, andEastern Wood Pewee. We ended the day with 66 species and countless fond memories.

CAS MEETINGS From Page 1

CONSERVATION CORNER: Maybe its Time to Leave the Beach to the Birdsby Josh Barbee

BIRD WATCHING: Knothe From Page 1

The ferocious landfall of Hurricane Katrina and the imminent arrival of Hurricane Rita on theGulf Coast bring to light many conservation issues that have been building for some time. Peopleoften choose to live in a manner that defies the forces of nature. We build our homes and cities onthe sands of barrier islands or near the shifting deltas of mighty rivers, yet there are those who areshocked and surprised when this results in tragedy. Nature has a way of discouraging people fromliving in areas subject to high winds and rising waters. When we move into these places, shecomes along and blows the roof off our house or washes it away. Birds and other wildlife live andperish by this same hand, yet plentiful food sources in coastal habitats have drawn them to the seafor ages. Humans were initially drawn to the sea for similar reasons: fishing and trade, but mostcoastal communities today do not exist out of necessity. Many of the early settlers to these placeshave stayed and raised families, and many more people have moved to dangerous coastal areas toenjoy the climate and the natural beauty.

Coastal populations continue to increase, and state and local governments encourage thisinflux by building infrastructure, and in the case of Florida, by subsidizing insurance rates in high-riskareas. It is clear that birds and other wildlife are rapidly loosing habitat to the current constructionboom in Florida, and much of the new construction has been in coastal areas and in wetlands

Conservation Corner Continued on Page 3


3/4

that had been previously left undeveloped.Today, the federal government is promising a massive rebuilding effort in the affected

areas, but before rushing ahead, communities should take this opportunity to reconsider the choic-es they have made. Returning some areas to a more natural state would result in a better situa-tion for both humans and wildlife. Our current situation is one where without governmentintervention, natural market forces could result in a better situation for wildlife and for future publicsafety. Few private insurance companies are willing to write policies in wind-prone areas, and

even fewer will insure against flood. Instead, the National Flood Insurance Program provides low-cost flood insurance, FEMA provides grants to rebuild, and the state-owned Citizens InsuranceCompany provides coverage to the uninsurable - mostly beachfront property owners. Withoutinsurance, banks are unwilling to lend money, and without loans there would be much less newconstruction. The Army Corps of Engineers has built miles of levies in New Orleans and along theMississippi with the promise of protection to the city and convenience to shipping, and thousandsof people have moved into former wetlands around New Orleans on land reclaimed by theselevies. The levies have prevented sediment replenishment in the delta and contribute to thedegradation of wetlands that provide a massive habitat for wildlife that once buffered the city fromthe gulf.

The people who lost homes, livelihoods, and loved-ones to these disasters deserve our

help, but that is not to say we should repeat the poor choices we have made in the past. Thegovernment has promised to put things back as they were. But what is the point of rebuilding ifwe have to do it again in 100 years, or even much sooner, and how many lives and how muchproperty will be lost before we retreat from the beach and wetlands? We should respond to thiscrisis with common sense and compassion, not with a massive ill-fated project to defy nature onceagain.Opinions expressed in this article are my own and not necessarily those of the Choctawhatchee Audubon Society.

moving closer. After walking the road down Turtle Creek looking for warblers, we were proceededby an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk staying just ahead of us. That is probably why we didn't findthe warblers. Back at the car we played the Barred Owl tape, and two started calling from the topof the hill.

We continued slowly through the reservation in the very quiet Toyota Prius looking and lis-tening, stopping at different habitats. We stopped for feeding groups usually led by Chickadeesand Titmice. Among our 6 species of woodpeckers we heard 2 Red-cockaded on the far side ofthe no-exit lake, and saw two others in a feeding group late in the day up the ranger camp road.As we proceeded to the fields and holding ponds to the west, we found 16 species of shorebirdsincluding 2 American Avocet at the Okaloosa holding pond up Robert's Road. Three immature

White Ibis were on the pond now covering the "vagrant trail" in the NE corner of the landfill, andwe found the same early-record Orange-crowned Warbler that was there the previous Saturday.Other warblers that we found were 1 Tennessee, 14 Yellow, 1 Yellow-throated, 18 Pine, 1Louisiana Waterthrush, and 3 Common Yellowthroats. I only found one Sora as I walked the edgeof the big sandpit lake. We finished our list of 1,990 birds of 93 species by finding the previouslyseen Roseate Spoonbill on our second visit to the Timberlake Road pond. After returning home,we called neighbors to see if White-winged Doves were in their back yard. We found three. Thisspecies were migrants a couple of years ago and now may be permanent residents of this neigh-borhood.

October 2005.......Page 3

BIRD WATCHING: WareFrom Page 1

CONSERVATION CORNER From Page 2


4/4

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, October 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, [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: Teresa Dennis, [email protected]

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

Education update

Teachers and students of Okaloosa

and Walton Counties will be offered the gift of8x21 sight! Wild Birds Unlimited has donated14 new binoculars to the "Birding Box" anddiscounts to purchase the remaining 11 @

$18.00 each. This box will contain 25 binocu-lars and at least 10 field guides of differentvarieties. If you can help by donating a usedfield guide or two please contact EducationChair Nonie Maines, 862-9588 or [email protected]. If you would like to make a mon-etary donation please use the followingaddress: CAS, P.O. Box 1014, Ft WaltonBeach, FL 32549.

A great big THANK YOU to the followingCAS sponsors in September:

Bob SolleyPS Gifts

Wild Birds Unlimited

october 2005 shorelines newsletter choctawhatchee audubon society

Documents