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February Meeting:
Florida's Top Predator, Man
Sanibel author, Charles Sobczak, will discuss his book: Alligators, Sharks and Panthers: Encounters with Florida's Top Predator, Man
Date: Monday, February 14, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: First Congregational Church Fellowship Hall, 1031 S. Euclid Avenue
Cost: FREE |
 Get Out in February for These Great Activities
Want details and maps to meeting locations? Click here.
Oscar Scherer State Park
Thurs. Feb. 3, 10, 17, & 24 at 8:30 am
Monthly Celery Field Walk
Sat. Feb.12 at 8 am
Ducks/Shorebirds:
Tierra Verde Ponds & Fort De Soto
Tues, Feb. 8 at 7:30 a.m.
Fort De Soto Shorebirds & Ducks
Tues.. Feb. 22 at 8 am ,.
All Aboard the Eagle Trolley
Sat, Feb. 26
Plant & Bird Walk
Sun., Feb. 27 at 8 am
Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve
Sat. Jan. 29 at 7:30 am
Manatee Audubon's Felts Preserve
Tues. Mar. 8 at 8 am
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Christmas Bird Count Results
The 111th Christmas Bird Count for the Sarasota circle took place on January 2. There were 78 birders in the field, and 14 backyard watchers sent in their sightings. Total birds
seen were 634,646, including a 601,180 swallow roost on private land in Lakewood Ranch, which incidentally is within the circle. Many thanks to all once again for a stellar effort, you were awesome. Here are some highlights:
A rare Sooty Shearwater just off Siesta beach; 2 Eastern Bluebirds; 1 Fulvous Whistling Duck; 1 Bronzed Cowbird; 6 Canvasbacks; 4 Buffleheads; 1 American Avocet; 1 Common Goldeneye; 1 King Rail; 1 Solitary Sandpiper; 1 Baltimore Oriole; 1 Whip-poor-will; 1 American Bittern; 1 Barn Owl; only 1 Eastern Towhee and only 1 Great Horned Owl. Thanks to the flooded southern portion of the Celery Fields, 21 Stilt Sandpipers were spotted and 11 Black-necked Stilts decided to winter there too.
Many thanks to Judi Linnell for getting all the teams together and to Glynnis Withrington for furious data crunching in order to get the results out PDQ. |
Trips From the Field: Fun Recaps of Where We've Been
Read recaps of our recent birdwatching field trips and plan on joining us on upcoming excursions. |
Discover Natural Sarasota
For information on where to enjoy leisure activities in beautiful Sarasota County,
click here . You'll find plenty to do with family, friends and visitors. |
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The Great Backyard Bird Count
Click here for more details
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Celery Fields Clean Up Volunteers
Thanks to John Heninger, Joanna Bear, Elaine Gerwith, Paul Stewart and Jeanne Dubi for their efforts on January 11.
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Audubon Academy:
By Chapter Leaders for Chapter Leaders
Hello All - The 7th Audubon Academy is less than two months away so it is time to start making your plans to join us in Gainesville, FL March 18-20. And if you are receiving this message you are just the person this event was intended for. The Academy is designed based on feedback from chapter leaders just like you! For example, the walking workshops planned for Saturday morning came from a suggestion made by Diane Reed from St. Johns County Audubon! Based on your feedback we have incorporated sessions on Chapter Programs, Citizen Science protocol, Fieldtrips, the power of Facebook and on and on. Also, back by popular demand is the Hospitality Suite, the Blue Moon Pizza party, and the zero carbon footprint walk to dinner option. Can you imagine the networking opportunities if we have 100% participation from our 44 chapters?
Information is also available on the website: www.audubonofflorida.org and our blog www.audubonoffloridanews.org. Your participation will be an investment for your chapter . We look forward to seeing you Jacqui Sulek, Audubon of FL
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Attention New Members
Did you join Sarasota Audubon Society within the last few years but have not participated in any of our activities? Are you interested in what we are doing? Would you be interested in attending a casual brunch to meet other new members and Board members? Please contact me at julie@sarasotaaudubon.org 0r 379-3882. |
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Welcome New Members!
J Sincell
Janice Smyth
Wesley Spencer
Virginia K. Tacey
Rik Tweed
Zelda Walker
Bonnie Westsperg
Ernie Wiliford
Laurie Wilson
Gary Wong
Elizabeth Adams
Deborah Alborell
David Andrus
Kay Bachand
Michael Barfield
Araceli Baumann
Sara Best
Patricia Bjelland
Patsy Blue
Vivian Bottino
Eunice C. Bowes
David K. Bulloch
Audrey Burgart
Celine Chilenski
Richard Clarkson
Barbara Clements
Rena H. Cooper
Leo Daruszka
Sara J. Dechert
Priscilla Finger
Esther Fishman
Claude Fredland
Sandra Frick
Martin Goldberg
Louis Halliday
J.W. Johnson
Carol Kalmykow
Dalanee Kennon
Myer Kolker
Robert Libby |
Subscribe to Bird Alerts!
Need the latest birding info for our area? To subscribe, just send an e-mail. Thanks to Peter Rice for providing this service.
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SAS Name Tags
If you are a new member or do not have an official SAS name tag, you can have one delivered right to your door. Send your name, address and telephone number and a check for $4.50 made out to: Michael Fox, 2749 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34237. For an extra $2.00, you can order a badge which attaches by magnet. No pinholes!
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Meet Our Board of Directors:
Jeanne Dubi, President
I arrived in New York City from Wales in 1966 and worked as a nanny for 18 months. I then moved in with two girl friends, and was able to enjoy all that NYC had to offer: ballet, opera, museums, and as a tour guide for many family members!
Mike and I were married in 1969. I did office work while finishing my degree, and during and after earning my MBA, I worked in the publishing industry as a Business Manager for an English publishing house and then at Harper's Magazine as VP/General Manager. I had a very tough boss at Harper's but I learned a great deal while trying to navigate and negotiate the intricacies of magazine publishing.
In 1997 Mike and I moved to Sarasota where I was able to indulge and expand my love of birding. I blame everything on Julie Byrne-she was the one, as president, who called me to ask if I could help out with The Brown Pelican. Little did I know that I would be in for life with SAS!
I do love it though. The name Audubon is strongly associated with conservation and I firmly believe that it is our responsibility to leverage that power to help birds and the environment. While I am president I will do everything I can to advance that concept. Jeanne Dubi |
Swallow Watchers As a result of a million+ swallow roost found last year, 4 students (two from Cornell, one from Tulane and one from LSU) came to Sarasota to study our roosts. They were here from Dec 28 until Jan 20 and stayed at Sun n Fun, rented a car and probably ate tons of food, all contributing to SRQ's economy. SAS was able to help them in their work: securing spots to set up mist nets and providing details of last year's roost. With the help of radar, they located several roosts: one in Lakewood Ranch, one near Duett Park in Manatee County, one near Laurel and Knights Trail Roads in Laurel and a super giant one on private property in Punta Gorda estimated between 7 and 8 million!!! They are planning to be back next December. We'll try to get out specific site locations so that all can enjoy watching the awesome sight of these swallows descending into their roosts at sunset-true swallow tornadoes. |
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Last Call for Membership
Please check your mailing label for your membership expiration date. You won't want to miss future Brown Pelican newsletters and SAS activities.
Have you tried our electronic version of the Brown Pelican? You can do so, along with receiving your paper copy. Try it out. We think you'll enjoy the color pictures and added links.
Email Lynn to be aded to the list.
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A Note from Dr. Ken Meyer
"Thank you for the Society's recent invitation to speak on ARCI's Snail Kite research. I always enjoy my visits and the time spent with you and the members. Please convey my appreciation to all for the opportunity, and for their very generous travel and program support. You folks are a real stand-out among conservation organizations with your large and enthusiastic membership, all that you do, and your interest in learning about and supporting conservation research.
I certainly would like to take you up on your kind to join a trip to current and potential Snail Kite habitat and, especially, to see what you've accomplished at the Celery Fields. In the last couple of days, we've been reviewing options with US Fish and Wildlife Service colleagues for places to sample Snail Kites for copper contamination (the upcoming study I mentioned Monday night). We talked about Harns Marsh, an Everglades restoration site (STA-43) not far to the east, and STA-5 near Devil's Garden. I expect we will be working in the general area over the next few months, so I will get in touch about meeting up."
Ken's work with Florida raptors is invaluable and always in need of funding. If you would like to invest in this important research:
AVIAN RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION INSTITUTE
411 N.E. 7th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32601
Phone 352-514-5606, e-mail
meyer@arcinst.org |
CBC Surprise
BirdFriends, Every year around Christmas and New Years, local birders scour the beaches, woods and wetlands counting every bird they can tally for the annual Christmas bird count. Not only do teams try and count as many species as possible, but hope, due to the right winds or the right weather conditions, a rarity will show up.
Such was the surprise on this years CBC on Siesta Key. While scanning the waters off shore the Siesta Key public beach, The team of Kathryn Young, Kathy Meaux, visiting birder from Maryland, Rebecca Lazarus and Rick Greenspun spotted a dark "chocolate" colored bird floating within scope view. After a few minutes the bird obligingly flew within 50 meters of the shore affording close looks and great photo opportunities. It was decided, after such good looks that it was indeed a Soo ty Shearwater. A bird more commonly found in the Pacific Ocean with a few sometimes spotted on pelagic tours off the east coast of Florida.
Sightings in the Gulf are few and far between and if accepted is possibly a Sarasota County record.
The bird was looked for again the next day and was not found. Another example of being in the right place at the right time.
That's birding!! Rick Greenspun
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 We Need Volunteers
SAS is fortunate to have very talented members. Please consider sharing your gifts and time to the benefit of our growing, influential organization. We particularly need an historian, as well as public relations and education chairpersons.
Volunteering is a great way to meet new people with common interests. Contact Jeanne Dubi (355-1709) for more details.
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Sad News
Sid Deutsch died on January 8, 2011. He received a BEE from Cooper Union in 1941 and a Ph.D. in 1955 from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (Poly). He was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Poly from 1954-1972, Professor of Bioengineering from 1972-1979 at Rutgers University Medical School, Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel from 1977-1984. Many of his essays can be viewed on his website at http://www.siddeutsch.org
. Survivors include his wife, Ruth and his daughters Alice Levy of New York City, Phyllis Ohm of Vancouver Canada, and Naomi Tummon of Sarasota and NYC. Sid was active in SAS. He was publicity chairman for many years. Daughter Alice birded with us every time she came to visit him and her mother Sid was a very nice man and would drive Alice around on bird jaunts up until quite recently. We will miss him. |
Sarasota Audubon Hats Now Available
This classic baseball cap has our Brown Pelican logo (digitized from a Rick Greenspun photo) and the words Sarasota Audubon on front of hat.
Colors - Khaki and Mustard. Cost - $17.00
Call Kathryn Young 612-760-1771 to order or pick one up at the sales table before our SAS meetings.
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 We Regret to Announce:
"The Wild Bird Center will be closing its doors this spring. We would like to express our thanks to everyone for their patronage and support over the past five years. Beginning in February we will have selected items offered for sale as part of our close out process.
Thanks,
Matt and Karen Holman"
Matt and Karen have been supportive of SAS as business owners and as members. We look forward to their continuing presence and friendship.
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