november-december2008 avocet newsletter tampa audubon society

8/9/2019 November-December2008 Avocet Newsletter Tampa Audubon Society

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T A M PA A U D U B O N S O C I E T Y

Volume XX, Issue 2 www.tampaaudubon.org November/December 200

To conserve anrestore our ecosytems, focusing o

birds, wildlife, antheir habitats,

through educatioadvocacy, and community involveme

CAROLYNS CORNERCAROLYNS CORNERCAROLYNS CORNERCAROLYNS CORNER

Message from the President

NEW MEETING PLACE

Century Buick Training Room

3308 W. Hillsborough Ave.

S.W. corner of W. Hillsborough Ave

and Lincoln Ave.

Second Thursday of the month

Mix, Mingle & Munch at 7 PM

Meeting at 7:15

This is an important time for all Americans. I wantto encourage everyone to vote. As citizens of theUnited States, we have the privilege, freedom, andresponsibility to cast a vote for the person of ourchoice. Also, don't forget to vote "yes" for Amend-ment 4 and for the ELAPP renewal initiative.Regardless of the outcome on November 4th, we

still have work to do: we must continue to make ourvoices heard, both nationally and locally. NationalAudubon has a wonderful program to give one up-dates on national and state issues, access to one'slawmakers, local media, and inside information on

issues impacting birds, other wildlife, and theirhabitats. All one needs to do is fill out the form online, and it will automatically match each one to his/her specific federal and state lawmakers, as well as,offer full and free access to all of the options AUDU-BON ACTION CENTER has to offer. This informationis confidential, and will not be used for other pur-poses.

To sign up, log on to:http://audubonaction.org/audubon/join.html

If one provides city, state, and zip code when signing

up, Audubon will be ableto send alerts and invitations that affect him/hermost directly.

I strongly encourage all our members to do this. Itis an excellent source of up-to-date information.Take a few minutes to sign up, and let YOUR voicebe heard!

Carolyns Corner continues on page 2

December 11 - Wildlife of Lettuce Lake ParkTampa Audubons Roger Sheets presents a fascinat-ing program about one of our favorite subjects: theWildlife of Lettuce Lake Park. Explore the parkwith him and see beautiful images of the alligators,birds, and other animals of this special region on theHillsborough River.Also, this is ourHoliday Covered Dish Dinner.Bring your favorite dish to share. Tampa Audubonprovides plates, cutlery, napkins and drinks.

November 13th - Bats:

Floridas Night Flyers

Cyndi and George Marks, directors of theFlorida Bat Conservancy introduce us to thebats of Florida.Bats are important components of our ecosys-tems. Learn their roles in the balance of natureand meet some live ambassadors from thenight time world.


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November/December Field Trips

Sat Nov 1 - Blackwater Creek, Dave Goodwin 727-365-4943, [email protected]. Bird and nature walk on

trails of beautiful natural area preserve north of Plant City, almost 100 species seen on this property.

Sat Nov 8 - Lettuce Lake Birding by Ear, Russ and Gail Kruetzman 986-1033, [email protected]. 9 am,in front of the Visitor Center at Lettuce Lake. We will walk the boardwalk and trail looking and listening for

birds, done by 11:30.

Sun Nov 9 - Fort De Soto, Bill Lamoureux 839-2742, [email protected]. 8 am at the first parking area to

the right of the entrance (South fishing pier area) Fall migration time for shorebirds and warblers.

Sat Nov 22 - Pam Callahan Preserve, Carolyn McKinney 884-0578, [email protected]. 8:30 amin the parking lot of Home Depot on Hillsborough & Memorial Hwy near gardening end of building. Bring

water & insect repellent. Well look for woodsy birds, water fowl, shore birds and maybe even eagles!

Sat Dec 6 - Pancakes & Birds, Al Lopez Park, Bill Lamoureux 839-2742, [email protected]. 7 am atVillage Inn on Dale Mabry just south of I-275 (near Barnes & Noble), after breakfast move to Al Lopez Park

for birding along their nature trails. Or meet at 8 am in the parking lot to the right of the entrance of the park.

Sun Dec 14 - Christmas Bird Count - Alafia Area (south county), Dave Bowman 948-8516,[email protected]. Participants always needed for various teams to find and count as many birds aspossible in the SW part of the county. Even if youre not ready to identify everything you see, spotters and list

keepers are very welcome.

Sat Jan 3 - Christmas Bird Count - Tampa, Dave Bowman 948-8516, [email protected].

Sat Jan 10 - Lettuce Lake Beginning Birders, Carolyn McKinney 884-0578, [email protected], in front of the Visitor Center. We will walk the boardwalk and trails looking for water birds and others,

done by 11:30.

Carolyns Corner (cont)

I hope to see you at our next general meeting, November 13th, for a terrific presentation by Cyndi Marks of Florida BatFlorida BatFlorida BatFlorida BatConservancyConservancyConservancyConservancy. She will bring some of her furry, night-flying friends to meet us. This will be a very interesting programthat your children would enjoy.

Then, December 11th,our own Roger Sheets will lead us on a photo safari of Lettuce Lake ParkLettuce Lake ParkLettuce Lake ParkLettuce Lake Park, highlighting flora andfauna of the park. This will also be our Annual Holiday Covered Dish DinnerAnnual Holiday Covered Dish DinnerAnnual Holiday Covered Dish DinnerAnnual Holiday Covered Dish Dinner. Bring your favorite dish to share.

Audubon will provide plates, napkins, cutlery, and drinks. Bring a wrapped gift ($10 or less) and a festive spirit. It will ba "Florida Holiday" celebration."Florida Holiday" celebration."Florida Holiday" celebration."Florida Holiday" celebration.

Both meetings will be hosted at our new meeting site, Century Buick Pontiac GMC, 3308 W. Hillsborough Ave.


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ARC at the Park

Visitor Center at Lettuce Lake Park

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

the Visitor Center. The only skills you need are a love of the environment and a friendly smile

Lettuce Lake Park Field Trip, September 13, 2008

It was a hot, humid, but beautifully clear morning as seven of us set out to see what birds or other wildlifewe might find. Near both the beginning and the end of our trek we met with several titmice scolding usfrom the trees above our heads. From the tower we spotted a number of "the usuals": white ibis, a greatblue heron, 2 tri-colored herons, 4 or 5 adult little blue herons, and, thankfully, a dozen or so yearling lit-tle blues (there's hope for the future!). Probably the "bird of the day" was a lone Prothonotary warblerforaging on the ground among some fallen limbs and giving us a magnificent view of his beautiful yellowhead and breast. Along the boardwalk we spotted a young gator, when someone noticed, not far away, alimpkin foraging in the shallows. It found an apple snail, and, much to our delight, deftly removed itsprey, and down the hatch! A couple of red-bellied woodpeckers played hide-'n'-seek among the overheadbranches as we continued along the walk. Another highlight of the morning was provided by a yellow-crowned night heron perched and preening on a branch a mere 8 - 10 feet from the rail. Roger took somegreat photos! The red-shouldered hawk we had been hearing call all morning finally showed itself as itflew deftly among the trees and across the boardwalk just ahead of us. The trek ended with the sightingof a Northern Parula, making himself as difficult as possible to spot. To the delight of a youngster we metalong with her dad, we pointed out a common cooter busily munching on river vegetation, while aboveher head a huge golden-silk spider awaited an unsuspecting snack in her web. All in all, though HOT, itwas a very good birding day!

Carolyn McKinney, TAS President; Fl Master Naturalist

Photos by Roger Sheets

Yellow-crowned Night Heron Climbing hempweed Golden-silk Spider


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Lands acquired with

funds from ELAPP:

Preserve environmentallysensitive lands Protect drinking watersources Improve water quality in local riv-ers, lakes and Tampa Bay Ensure that wildlife habitat re-mains in its natural state.

ELAPPVote YESto Continue the

EnvironmentalLands

Acquisition &

Protection

Program.Preserve environmentallysensitive lands.

VOTE YES - FOR BONDS - ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

To continue the Environmental and Land Acquisition and Protection Program

We must act now to preserve our lastremaining open spaces so that futuregenerations will have the opportunity toenjoy Hillsborough Countys natural beauty.

The countys population isexpected to nearly double

by the year 2050. Protectingenvironmentally sensitivelands is vital for wildlife, watersupplies and natural resourcesas well as preserving our quality of life.

Voting for ELAPP will not increase propertytaxes. It is simply a continuation of a voter ap-

proved funding source in place since1987. Those funds have been wisely invested

and matched with 76 million additionaldollars which would not have been availablewithout a local funding source.

Use of those funds is strictlylimited to acquiring and

preserving environmentallysensitive lands in HillsboroughCounty. Strong oversight froma citizens advisory counciland annual public audits have helpedELAPP earn the support of nearly every

political, business, environmental andcivic group in the region.

For more information, or to make your

contribution, visit our website at

www.preservehillsborough.org


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Come Celebrate Our 13th Annual Festival!Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival

January 16-19, 2009

NEEDED!

Color TV to show

bluebird box

camera happenings inside the

Visitor Center

at Flatwoods Park

Right now is the perfect time to add plants to you garden!

1. The soil is nice and warm, allowing roots to grow faster than when planted in the spring.

2. Its easier on your wallet since nurseries usually have many plants on sale.

3. Youll save on water since cooler temperatures mean water doesnt evaporate asquickly.

4. The cooler temperatures also make gardening easier for you.

5. Youll attract beautiful birds and other small animals right away.

Plant your garden this weekend and certify it as a

National Federation Wildlife Habitat site!

[email protected]

Morro Bay, California - Come to where the birds are and joinMorro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) for our AnnualMorro Bay Winter Bird Festival. Located on Californias

Central Coast. Morro Bay is an important stop on the PacificFlyway and one of the countrys pre-eminent birding spots.The area is recognized worldwide for its diversity of bothresident and wintering birds, and at last years festival, over200 species of birds were identified!

The Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival is sponsored by MCASand gives you a chance to join local and national experts on avariety of field trips and workshops. Field trip group sizes arelimited to maximize spotting and identification opportunities.The Festival also offers workshops aimed at sharpening your

birding skills, as well as evening programs with outstandingspeakers.

For more information about the festival, check out our web-site at www.morrobaybirdfestival.org, or call (805) 772-4677.You can request that your name be added to the mailing listfor our 2009 brochure, or register online. The registrationdeadline is January 5, 1009.


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Century Buick

Use of their facilities forAudubon Meetings

Donation from Jo Anne Hartzler andGary Krotz in memory of Jewell Bukantz

Corporate Sponsorship from TECOEnergy Foundation, $2,000

Anthony Moore

Kathleen Hand

Steele Olmstead & Paula Hafley

Rebeca Ipox

Julia Harding

Anthony Moore

Karen Day

GO GREEN

Things you can do to help the Environment

Drive 55 MPH - increases mileage by 10%Run A/C at 80 degrees and use ceiling fansUse canvas bags at the grocery storeTurn off computer at night (unplug laptop)

Need help with bird Identification?

e-mail Bill Lamoureux at:

[email protected]


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JOIN TAMPA AUDUBON

Join in on all the good times. When you join Tampa Audubon Society, you auto-matically become a member of the National and Florida AudubonSocieties as well.Your membership supports vital conservation issues on the national, state and

local levels. As a member, you will receive the bi-monthlyAudubon magazine, thequarterly Florida Nautralistmagazine and our local, bi-monthly newsletter, The Avo-cet.

Introductory Membership $25

Name:__________________________________________________________

Address:________________________________________________________

City:____________________________ State: _________ ZIP Code:________

Phone: ___________________Email:_________________________________

Please make your checks payable to: Tampa Audubon Society

Mail to:

Tampa Audubon Society

P.O. Box 320025Tampa, FL 33679

I would like to include an additional contribution of $________ to the Tampa Audubon Society.

( ) I would like to help my local chapter. I have a special interest and/or skills in:( ) Local conservation issues ( ) Membership promotion( ) Education/Audubon Adventures ( ) Exhibits at fairs/festivals( ) Publicity/Fundraising ( ) Website/Computers

National Audubon occasionally makes its membership list available to carefully

selected organizations. To have your name omitted from this list please check here: ( )

E-357XCH8

november-december2008 avocet newsletter tampa audubon society

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