The Brown Pelican

May 2009      Vol. 35, No. 9    [email protected] 

Greetings!
 
Welcome to May! Jeanne Dubi, President, Rick Greenspun, First VP, Karen Jensen, Second VP, Carolyn Primus, Secretary and Valeri Ponzo, Treasurer were elected to one-year terms for Sarasota Audubon Society, beginning on June 1, 2009. Many thanks for the vote of confidence. 
 
ovenbirdThanks also to retiring treasurer, Penney Rist! She's been in that role for five years and has done a marvelous job.  Also, Mary Heinlen has agreed to take over the sales function from Wanda Strickland. After 25 years of service, Wanda is stepping down, but promises to attend monthly meetings. You may remember that SAS honored Wanda last year for her tireless efforts. And another change: Martha Straub will be managing the monthly Celery Fields walks. Mark Leggett who launched and oversaw the walks has moved to California. With all these changes, SAS is still in good hands.
 
Speaking of being in good hands, the Endowment Committee consisting of Carolyn Primus, Ron Platt and Mark Rehder are soldiering on in spite of tough economic times. We are grateful for their dedication and to Ron and Mark for re-upping for another year.   - Jeanne Dubi, President
 
(Ovenbird photo courtesy of Rick Greenspun)
Upcoming Walks & Programs 
(Click on the blue links for more information!) 
Trip Reports 
 
red shouldered hawkRed-shouldered hawk with snake. Photo courtesy of Rick Greenspun
 
Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach, April 1-3:

You'd think we were April Fools . . . April 1, 90% chance of rain, April 2,100% chance of rain, April 3, 80%. It's rumored that being pooped on by a bird brings good luck, and our bus must have been hit by a sky full of birds, because the sky would threaten, it would drizzle, it would pour, but every time we exited the bus, the sky cleared, the sun shone and there were no puddles.
 
Forty four happy but exhausted participants from Sarasota Audubon, Manatee Audubon and Time Sifters Archeological Society took part in the Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island trip on April 1-3.  The birding, historical visits and food were non-stop.  Contest winners were Sara King for Rawlings trivia, and Paul Lewis and Edith Miller for bird trivia.  Almost on the hour Karen Jensen was by you with gorp, chips or sandwiches and a pleading look.  Jeanne Dubi spotted birds at every site and on every mile traveled.  In total, 100 species of birds were seen and tallied.
 
Marjorie Keenan Rawlings home at Cross Creek 
Driving to Cross Creek down the narrow, country road lined by palmetto, live oak, Spanish moss and perky, well-watered resurrection ferns on every tree branch, it opened up to a farm house and yard filled with fragrant fruit trees and scurrying, scrounging ducks.  The birders hiked off and sighted a Hooded Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Hermit Thrush, Red-Bellied, Downy And Pileated Woodpeckers, White-Eyed and Red-Eyed Virios and others. The forest contains red bay trees, threatened by the red bay ambrosia beetle which brings with it a deadly fungus that not only kills red bay trees but avocados.  A promising cure may be out in several years.  
 
The history buffs proceeded to the Rawlings home, where docents, dressed as 1930's country folk regaled us with stories of the life of the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Yearling, Cross Creek, South Moon Under, and other novels with a cracker (rural) old Florida backdrop. Among the Rawlings trivia, we found she and her first husband were clueless as to running any farm, let alone a 72-acre orange grove above 
the frost line they purchased and moved to in 1928; she stuck it out, he didn't.  Rawlings stories are masterful in her use of dialect and the lives of locals. The sale of oranges and duck eggs were not enough to keep the struggling farm solvent. The first check for a short story kept the couple from an involuntary fast. Rawlings' home consisted of three relatively mobile houses which she connected and then added a porch.  When success as an author permitted the addition of a bathroom, she threw a party with a bathtub full of moonshine and a toilet with three dozen long stemmed roses artfully arranged.  The wood closet by the living room fireplace was a liquor cabinet which had moonshine piped down from a hidden corner. 
 
Fort Clinch State Park A bobcat was spotted by the road on our drive through the hammock to Ft. Clinch.  The birding group hiked the Willow Ponds trail and notables were the Red-Bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers, Cooper's Hawk, Northern Parula, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, American Goldfinch and three Swallow-tailed Kites. 
 
The history buffs were recruited to serve in the Federal army at Ft. Clinch just after the Civil War. The men were offered jobs as carpenters, woodworkers, metalworkers, etc. if they were under 46. The women could work as laundresses, receive twice the pay, a house in the city as long as they had clothing covering their neck, arms and ankles.  Many of us were so poor we cut our hair short and sold it to the wig maker. Bonnie Hendrickson the Jezebel with painted nails could not get a job as a laundress. The fort commissary was overflowing with provisions, and we were instructed to dip our hardtack in coffee to get the weasels to float to the top for removal.  After the recruitment pitch, we wandered up to see the huge guns on the fort perimeter; they take 10 men to move.
 
Little Talbot State Park  At lunchtime we saw Semipalmated and Piping Plovers, Eastern Towhee, Killdeer, Royal, Sandwich and Forster's Terns, a White-crowned Sparrow and many more shore birds were at LTSP's unspoiled beach environment. 
 
Kingsley Plantation. Traveling into the plantation, we were treated to three magnificent, elegant white peacocks. Kingsley is an old southern plantation which grew indigo, sugar and cotton, and had some unique historical twists.  The birding group, guided by Ranger Roger Clark, hit gold.  There was a fallout of warblers and hawks. Five Merlins, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Short-billed Dowitcher, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Harrier, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Broad-Winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Wood Stork, Anhingas flying in V formation, and more, were all seen.
 
Kingsley, on Fort George Island, is the oldest plantation still standing in Florida.  The slave quarters, made from coquina Indian mounds, still remain, and are in a rare, semi-circle form.  The first owner went bankrupt, the second owner took part in the unsuccessful Patriot Rebellion and had to flee from the Spanish.  The third owner, Kingsley married one of his slaves, allowed the slaves to own arms and passed the plantation on to his Senegalese wife and their descendants. 
 
Orlando Wetlands at Christmas Although set aside for wastewater treatment for Orlando, the 1,650 acres of Orlando Wetlands park is as natural and beautiful as anything created in nature with lakes, hammocks and woodlands alive with animal life and birds.  Just before entering, a Rhode Island Red chicken crossed the road with her 10 chicks.  Wading birds abounded.  The Purple Gallinule and American Bittern were particular treats, as well as the two well-fed alligators, armadillo and a sunning black racer snake. -Alice Newlon
 
Ft DeSoto, April 14
On Tuesday, April 14, 25 brave birders ignored the tornado watch and ventured to Ft. Desoto County Park in Pinellas County. During a mixed morning of cloudy skies and torrential rains, we managed to find  56 species of birds. The highlights included, a few spring migrants, Hooded Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole and  uncommon residents, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Wilson's Plover, a late Red-breasted Merganser and some Western Sandpipers, as well as many returning Least Terns.  Thanks to Kathryn Young for recording the list.
-John Givaven and Hana, the Italian Greyhound, Trip Leaders

Emerson Point,  April 21
Eleven birders turned out for a day of lovely weather and good birding, led by Stu Hills and Jeanne Dubi.  We had a great start to our day. As we pulled into the parking lot at the preserve, we were treated to the sight of a group of Roseate Spoonbills on a small lake and three Osprey nestlings being fed a large fish in their nest nearby. 
 
We walked the trails, including one to the top of an ancient Temple Mound, and enjoyed the Gumbo Limbo trees and the other vegetation in this beautiful preserve. After climbing to the top of the observation tower we were rewarded with a Magnificent Frigatebird soaring over the bay, and a fly-by adult Bald Eagle. Other highlights of the day included a Yellow Warbler, Summer Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, and Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos. Gray Catbirds were the most numerous birds sighted.  We also saw several gorgeous Zebra Longwing butterflies. After the Preserve some of us adjourned to the Crab Trap II for a good lunch and great company.  Being birders, of course we continued birding from our table and later in the parking lot, adding eight more birds to our list, including a Great Crested Flycatcher.  This brought us to a total of 51 species for a very pleasant day of birding. -Mary Heinlen, Bird Recorder
 
The Carefree Learner, March & April:
The Carefree Learner birding-by-boat trips this year were a great success.  We had a full boat in March and again in April.  The Carefree Learner took us on a slow ride around and around the three islands that make up the rookery at Roberts Bay.  
 
We saw nesting Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Snowy Egrets, Brown Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants.   Each time we went around the island we saw more young with their brand new downy feathers or more birds doing mating dances and calls. The weather was sunny and warm on both days.
 
The April birders were treated to wonderful commentary by Ann Paul of Florida Audubon.  She gave us a great history and many facts that most of us did not know about all the nesting birds.  I will be doing the Carefree Learner again next year so book early.   -Kathryn Young, Trip Leader
In This Issue
Activities & Programs
Trip Reports
SRQ Bird Alerts
Eco Tip
SRQ Bird Alerts
Welcome New Members!
Birding Hot Spots Breaks Record

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EcoTip
If you buy 'Organic Coffee' you eliminate your exposure to pesticides that can harm you and can be hazardous to the food chain. Better still, If you buy 'Shade-Grown Coffee' you are buying coffee grown in the understory of the rainforest. This eliminates the need to slash and burn rainforest for farmland.
 
'Shade-Grown Coffee' is also known as 'Bird-Friendly Coffee' because it provides sanctuary to many threatened migratory bird species.
 
Click here to check out national Audubon's shade grown coffee.

SRQ Bird Alerts

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Welcome New Members!
 
Carolyn Albrecht
Kathy Alexis
Kate Aliesan
Charolett Baker
Ruth Beachy
Pat Bohlinger
Sarah Bueno
Edward/Roberta Bundrant
Anita Chalson
Cora Dibello
Susan Dunn
Earl Ferguson
Adleyn Ford-Coates
W. Flinn
George Freeman
Sandra Frick
Lynne Hammond
Sue Horner
Leonard Hurley
Gladys Jones
Abby Karish
Gene Knoll
James Krill
Clifford Lafferty
E. G. Leonard
Margaret McCampbell
Judith Moger
Linda Morris
Suzanne Murphy-Larronde
Mark Opitz
Sandra Overstake
Judith Parmet
Elizabeth Reed
Maisey Reinmiller
Patricia Robacker
Marina Scarr
Hildegard Scheibner
Roselyn Sedlezky
Margaret Safford 
Eleanor Stoll
Louise Thoms 
Bette Tucker
Gisella Vaughan 
K. Wohlforth
Robbie Wurts 
Laurie Wilson
Susanna Von Reibold
Birding Hot Spots Breaks Sales Record!
 
The new fourth edition of Birding Hot Spots has become a bestseller, earning almost $3,200 for Sarasota Audubon since its publication in September. This handy birding guide to 70 great places to enjoy bird-watching is now available in selected local bookstores, gift shops, state parks, museums, nature and wildlife centers, birding classes, and regional Audubon societies. The editors are deeply grateful to all those SAS members who purchased copies, the proceeds of which help support our many conservation, educational and recreational activities.
-Mark Leggett, Stu Hills, Jeanne Dubi, co-editors  

Get your copy of Birding Hot Spots! Just $6 at  monthly meetings and on field trips or $7.75 by mail.  Send a check to SAS, P. O. Box 15423, Sarasota, FL 34277. Also available at selected local book stores.