jan - mar 2010 avocet newsletter tampa audubon society

8/9/2019 Jan - Mar 2010 Avocet Newsletter Tampa Audubon Society

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TAMPA AUDUBON SOCIETY

To conserve and restore our ecosystem

focusing on birds,wildlife, and their

habitats, througheducation, advocacyand community in-

volvement.

Volume XXI. Issue 2 www.tampaaudubon.org February/March 2010

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS:Acting President - Pat LewisImmediate Past Presidents CarolynMckinney/Ann Paul/Rob Heath1st Vice President Tammy Lyons2nd Vice President- vacantTreasurer Roger SheetsRecording Secretary vacantCorresponding Secretary Vacant

DIRECTORS:

COMMITTEES & PROGRAMS:

ARC at the Park -Mike & Barbara MullinsField Trip Committee Chair -Mary KeithAvocet Editor - Pat LewisE-Mail Directory - Pat LewisMembership - Jo Anne HartzlerFund Raising - Joel ClevelandWeb Site - Roger SheetsChristmas Bird Count - Dave BowmanSpecial Events/Tabling Events-TammyLyonsPrograms - Ann Paul

Directors

Tim BonsackSusan OgleBill LamoureuxJoel Cleveland

February 11 - Matt Smith & Athena

Matt Smith, a local falconer and biology student at USF, willbring Athena, a red-shouldered hawk to share with us informa-tion about this ancient sport. He will tell us about the care andfeeding of falcons and hawks and describe his adventures withhis falcon in the field

March 11

Joel Cleveland

Adventures on the Beach

Tampa Audubon Member Joel Cleveland willdiscuss beach-combing in Florida, shells that he has discovered,and other signs of the fascinating wildlife of our special shore-lines.

April 8

Nanette OHara

Tampa Bay Estuary Program

Nitrogen and Tampa Bay

Nanette will speak about Hillsborough County and TampasFertilizer Ordinances and why it is so critical for citizens of ourcounty to reduce the influx of nitrogen into Tampa bay. Shewill also share the innovative approaches that the TBEO is pro-moting and provide a scoreboard on how we are doing andwhat needs to be done in the future.


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TAMPA AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD TRIPS www.tampaaudubon.org

All bird-watchers, beginners to expert

Free and open to the public, check our web site for updates

Note: $2 entrance fee to most Hillsborough County Parks

Sunday Jan 31 - Mosiac Mine Lands & Peace River, - Mary Keith, 935-6115, [email protected]. 7:30 am Mc Donalds on Rt. 60 at I -75 in Brandon to carpool. Rough driving up thestacks, very little walking. Lunch is provided by Mosaic. This is a 100 species day! We will be led tothe best spots on mine lands in Polk Co for winter birds, Eagles, Nesting owls, white pelicans, war-blers and lots more. Reservations required.

Saturday Feb 6 - Lettuce Lake Park, - 9 am at Visitor Center. Roger Sheets, [email protected] 677-6577.

Saturday Feb 13 - Merritt Island and Vierra Wetlands, Mary Keith 935-6115, [email protected]. & Bill Lamoureux 839-2742, [email protected]. Wintering waterbirds, cara-

cara, eagles. 7:00 am IHOP on Fowler at I-75 to carpool. Return about 7:00 pm. Very little walking.Bring lunch and drinks, no food or drink available on Merritt Island. This is a 100 species day! Callif you would like to make it an overnight trip.

Saturday & Sunday Feb 20-21 - STA5, Clewiston, Mary Keith 935-6116, [email protected] form required. Overnight trip to Clewiston, south shore of Lake Okeechobee to visit wetlandsof Stormwater Treatment Area 5, only open certain weekends. Great waders, ducks. Fulvous whis-tling ducks, even a flamingo one year! Plus various flycatchers. Another 100 plus trip! Call for di-rections. Make you own motel reservations.

Sunday Feb 28 - Manatee Viewing Center, Apollo Beach ELAPP, Simmons Park - CarolynMcKinney 884-0578, [email protected]. 8 AM , Manatee Viewing Center, Big Bend

Road east of Rt 41. White pelicans, reddish egret, shorebirds. Bring water and snacks.

Saturday March 13 - Lettuce Lake for Beginning birders, 9 AM Visitor Center, Pat Lewis,[email protected] or 907-6542.

Sunday March 14 - Weedon Island & Sawgrass Lake Park, Mary Keith, 935-6115 or [email protected]. 8AM at Weedon Island Visitor Center, or 7:30 am at Borders Book, Dale Mabry &I-275 to carpool. Easy walking on boardwalks and trails of Weedon Island, then on to Sawgrass LakePark in St Petersburg. Easy Walking. Bring water and insect repellant.

Sunday March 21 - Joe Overstreet and 3 Lakes WMA, Mary Keith 935-6115 or [email protected]. 7 am, McDonalds on Rt 60 & I-75 to carpool to east side of Lake Kissimmee, sev-eral locations. Some walking. Possible airboat ride, cost to be determined. Bring lunch, drinks.

Saturday March 27 - Babcock Mgmt Area, Oscar Sherer State Park - Bill Lamoureux, 839-2742or [email protected]. 6 am, McDonalds at Rt 60 & I-75 to carpool. Brown headed nuthatch, Redcockaded woodpecker, Bachmans sparrow, Scrub jay. Long drive to be there early to watch thewoodpeckers leave for their day of foraging. Oscar Scherer for scrub jays. Bring drinks and lunch.Not a lot of walking but some may be in soft sand.


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Fieldtrips Continued

Saturday April 10 - Lettuce Lake for Beginning Birders - Pat Lewis, 907-6542 [email protected]. 9 am, at the Visitor Center.

Sunday April 11 - Fort DeSoto Park, 8 am Visitor Center. Check website for leader information

Saturday April 17 - Flatwoods Park, Bluebirds & More, Mary Miller, [email protected] am, Visitor Center at park on Morris Bridge Rd. Easy walking to see bluebird boxes and Springbird activity.

Saturday April 17 - Chinsegutt Park and USDA research farm. Jo Anne Hartzler,[email protected]. Owls?

Saturday May 1 - Lake Park - Jo Anne Hartzler, [email protected]

Saturday May 8 - Lettuce Lake Park, Carolyn McKinney, 884-0578 or [email protected]. 9 am, Visitor Center

Saturday May 15 - Orlando Wetlands, Mary Keith, 935-6115 or [email protected] Gallinule, black neck stilt, least bittern. 7 am, IHOP on Fowler Ave. Off I-75 to carpool. Twomile walk on flat levees. Hot and sunny, great birds. Bring hat, water, sunscreen, lunch. We will eatthere or at Ft. Christmas Park.

Sunday May 23 - Venice Rookery and Babcock Ranch, Bill Lamoureux, 839-2742 or [email protected]. & Carolyn McKinney, 884-2742 or [email protected]. Lots of waterbirds at the rookery, then on to Babcock Ranch for a swamp buggy ride on an old Florida Ranch.

Saturday May 29 - Gardening for Butterflies and Hummingbirds, Russ & Gail Kruetzman, 981-

1003 or [email protected]. 9:30 am, Butterfly House at MOSI (Fowler Ave. & 50th St.). Learnhow to attract and keep these lovely creatures in your garden. We will visit various butterfly gardensincluding the Kruetzman gardens on Lake Thonotosassa where 54 species of butterfly and 18 speciesof dragonfly have been recorded. Bring lunch and a drink.

Saturday June 12 - Lettuce Lake Beginning Birders, Pat Lewis 907-6542 [email protected], 9 am, Visitor Center.

Picnic Lunch at the Venice RookeryNovember 19, 2009

By Pat LewisI was in Venice for an afternoon workshop and decided to take a lunch and goto the Rookery.

The birds were scarce, but several pair of great blue herons and great egretswere in the beginning stages of nesting.

Since I had not been there for many years, I was shocked to see that almost allof the Rookery area was made up of Brazilian pepper trees.

I enjoyed my lunch and watched a pair of great blue herons performing.


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ARC at the Park

Visitor Center at Lettuce Lake

Volunteer training is available for those who are willing to invest four hours a month to

staff the Visitor Center. The only skills needed are a love of the environment and afriendly smile.

Suzanne Erickson

Michael Stalder

Margaret Fox

Ann & Joseph Debaldo

Greg Clarkson

Century Buick for sponsoring ourmeeting place

Suzanne Erickson - $25 donation for FloridaScrub Jay

Ann & Joseph Debaldo - $55 donationGreg Clarkson - $25 donation

Joel Cleveland - bat house, IBM stock

Bluebird Brochures:Tim BonsackPat LewisMary MillerRoger Sheets

ARC Report for December - January, byMike Mullins, ARC Director

We are a couple of volunteers short, but have a new volunteer, a USF doctoral student. She is a very people personand loves wildlife.

Diana Kyle is doing the Family Nature Programs. She is planning some great programs for the spring.

Our cooperative venture with the artist Terry Klarren is paying benefits, he has done three art workshops at the ARC.

From each of these he has made a small donation to the ARC account. Terry was on the cover of the January TampaBay Magazine. He will be part of an art auction held April 16 at the Tampa Bay Art Museum. I will be going to set upan ARC display and talk about our programs. He plans to donate a small portion of any proceeds from the auction tothe ARC.

We have an eagle scout who is planning a native plant garden. Hopefully he can get a grant from the Florida NativePlant Society to create a planting and low volume watering display around the center.

We are working with the park staff to set up new wading bird signs on the boardwalk. We will be using funds fromFriends of Parks.

Thanks, cont

Gary Krotz for building and installing the Bathouse post at North Lake Park with the aid ofTim Bonsack and for the post at Lake Park.


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In Search of Ducks - January 16, 2010

By Ceci LaDuca

Mary Keith, Bill Lamoreux, Pat Lewis, Tammy Lyons and I set out from University Mall on a mild,overcast Saturday morning to visit several ponds in the USF/Temple Terrace area, including Adventure Is-land, Tacoma Park and Riverhills Park, where two pair of elusive wood ducks were seen in a beautiful

wooded setting on the shore of the Hillsborough River. Mary and Bill spotted them from a great distancebut the rest of us did not. Mary persisted until she found them again and we all got the benefit of seeing thepair gliding along. I was thrilled, as this was the first time Id seen wood ducks, and I got a good look. Imnot sure which was more beautiful, the ducks, or the setting. A touch of magic.

Ducks and birds seen at the various ponds were: pie-billed grebe, canvasback, mallards, hoodedmergansers, ring-necked ducks, blue-winged teal, ibis, wood stork, glossy ibis, tri-colored heron, little blueheron, snowy, cattle egret, great egret, shrike, grackle, blackbird, reddish egret, moorhen, coot, cormorant,scaup, kingfisher, phoebe, red-tailed hawk, red-bellied woodpecker, palm warbler, starling, turkey vultureand robin.

After leaving the Temple Terrace area, we headed for Cypress Point, near the airport, to look forducks and shorebirds. We spotted one horned grebe along with ducks and a variety of shorebirds. The wind

was blowing hard and fresh, the beach vegetation was varied shades of brown due to the recent cold weather,and many dead fish were washed ashore due to the same.

The outing ended at noon with the sky still overcast, but luckily no rain.

Bat House at Lake Park

January 17, 2010

Sunday morning started out overcast with the threat of rain, but turned into a glorious day as GaryKrotz and Joni Hartzler, Pat Lewis and I erected a bat house at Lake Park on North Dale Mabry, assisted byRanger Brian, Manager of the Park. In all fairness, Gary and Brian did the work, while we ladies took pic-tures and watched the proceedings.

The bat house, constructed by Gary and decorated on the outside with a black bat by Joni, contains

enough room for two to three hundred bats, and is complete with vent holes and a shingled overhang. Wehope the bats will find it a cozy spot to call home.

Once the bat house was securely in place, we took off in search of birds. A downy woodpecker wasour first sighting, followed by a red-bellied woodpecker and several gnatcatchers, ruby-crowned kinglet,white-eyed vireo, yellow rump warblers, robins, osprey, red-shoulder hawk, turkey vulture and a brownthrasher. No ducks were spotted on the lake, just a solitary anhinga with outspread wings, and several largeturtles. Sandhill cranes were heard several times, but never seen.

At one point on the trail we bravely traversed a small creek via a 4 long fallen log (whew), and en-joyed a few moments of rest and sunshine at the Scout campground at the park before calling it a day.

NOTICE

We are in need of someone to help us redesign ourwebsite.Please email Pat Lewis at [email protected] orRoger Sheets at [email protected]


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JOIN TAMPA AUDUBON

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

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Mail to: Tampa Audubon SocietyP.O. Box 320025

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Your membership supports vital conservation issues. As a member you will receivethe bi-monthly Audubon Magazine, the quarterly Florida Naturalist Magazine andhave access to the bi-monthly Avocet Newsletter at www.tampaaudubon.org.

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jan - mar 2010 avocet newsletter tampa audubon society

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