|
|
The Limpkin Times
Apalachee Audubon Society Mission Statement:
Protecting the rich biodiversity of the Florida panhandle through education, appreciation, and conservation.
Corrected date March 2022
|
|
Visitors at one of this year's yards
President's Message
|
|
I'm delighted to announce that this year’s Wildlife-friendly Yard Tour was not only a great success—wonderful yards and perfect weather—but we sold a record number of 235 tickets! After two years of pandemic captivity, we were all ready for an outing. Our chapter is deeply grateful to Tammy Brown for organizing the tour and we also thank our five yard hosts and all the visitors who made this year’s event truly special. The proceeds will support our chapter’s work in protecting the rich biodiversity of the Florida Panhandle through education, appreciation, and conservation.
Wings up for this year’s yard tour volunteers!
Jan Blue
Kathleen Carr
Judy Goldman
Chris Grossman
Jake Hartung
Ann Morrow
Fran Rutkovsky
Norma Skaggs
Pat Teaf
Dee Wilder
I hope you join our March 17 Zoom program about Short-tailed Hawks and Swallow-tailed Kites with Gina Kent. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a Swallow-tailed Kite soaring over our neighborhood not long after we’d moved into our house in the late 1980s. It took my breath away! Once I figured out what the bird was, I was smitten with this species, and it’s never become ordinary. Every time I've seen one over the years, it’s caused me to catch my breath. You can register at https://bit.ly/3tA3ZsB
|
|
Noah Strycker, photo by Bob Keeper
It all started with a bird feeder. Specifically, the bird feeder that Judy Kappler attached to her fifth grade classroom’s window at Oak Hill Elementary School in Eugene, Oregon. Every time a new bird came to that feeder, she paused the class to observe it. One of her students, Noah Strycker, was riveted. So much so that he built his career on birds, writing books about them and pursuing them all over the world. Twenty-six years later, he’s coming to Tallahassee!
Mark your calendars for a special Apalachee Audubon event on Tuesday, April 5. I’m incredibly excited to announce that we will host an IN PERSON appearance by Noah Strycker. His talk will be Birding Without Borders: An Epic World Big Year. In 2015, he became the first human to see 6,042 species—more than half of the planet’s 10,400 bird species—in a one-year-long, couch surfing, round-the-world adventure. His inspiring presentation about this epic quest will leave you with a new appreciation for the birds and birders of the world. I should add, he broke the previous Big Year record by 1700 species! You can view a brief sample of his talk on this 2018 YouTube presentation, Birding Without Borders | Noah Strycker | TEDxSalem. See the article below for more information about the talk and book signing.
|
|
Sincerely,
Kathleen Carr
President, Apalachee Audubon
In this Issue:
Upcoming Chapter Programs
March Birding Social & Chapter Field Trip
April 5 Special Event: Birding Without Borders: An Epic World Big Year, with Noah Strycker
|
|
Gina Kent holding a Swallow-tailed Kite
The Conservation Ecology of Short-tailed Hawks and Swallow-tailed Kites
March 17, 2022. This program is being presented online
Learn about the annual cycles and enchanting landscapes that shape the lives, and now the futures, of these strikingly different raptors. Gina Kent will present the high points of three decades of work aimed at learning what is needed about these spectacular birds to track their population trends, design effective management actions, and inspire the public and wildlife professionals to do what we must to guarantee them a sustainable future.
Gina has been working with the Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) since 2000. She conducts bird surveys from small planes, boats around the Florida Keys, and climbs 100-foot tall trees, while working with many Florida specialty birds including Swallow-tailed Kites, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Snail Kites, Reddish Egrets, White-crowned Pigeons and others. She is based in Florida but travels throughout the Southeast US and internationally to research birds. Gina received an undergraduate degree in wildlife from University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and a Master's degree from Georgia Southern University. Her graduate thesis was on Swallow-tailed Kite migration and stopover sites from the SE US through Cuba and the Yucatan. When not "working" with birds she is birding and guiding field trips with her husband Adam.
|
|
Upcoming Programs
Thursday, April 21: Declining Insect Populations and the Effect on Birds with Dr. Bob Cooper
Sunday, May 15: Potluck Picnic at Tall Timbers: Firebirds and the History of the Stoddard Bird Program with Jim Cox
|
|
Chapter Field Trips and Birding Social |
|
Lake Jackson Sinkhole
Birding Social at Faulk Drive Landing
Saturday March 5, 2022 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Meet in the parking lot at the end of Faulk Drive
No reservations are required, but please email [email protected] with any questions. We hope to see you there!
For the past half a year, the Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve at Faulk Drive Landing has become a popular spot to view the impressive sinkhole. It has also quickly risen to the top eBird hotspot in the county for its amazing rarities, especially this winter. We’ll meet in the parking lot at 9 AM and bird for about 2 hours along the trails and the area around the sinkhole. Please bring binoculars, a camera and a scope if you’d like, sunscreen, snacks, and water.
As a reminder, birding socials do not have a distinguished trip leader, but are instead an opportunity for folks to socialize and bird at a leisurely pace.
|
|
Hickory Mound
Spring Migration at Hickory Mound
Sunday, March 20, 2022 8:30 - 11:30 AM
Meet at the check station at Cow Creek Grade road (directions below)
Join Heather Levy and Peter Kleinhenz as they welcome the first leg of spring migration at the Hickory Mound Unit of Big Bend Wildlife Management Area. We will caravan along the levees to bird the impoundment and hike along the freshwater marshes of Bat House Road (ca. ~1 mile out and back).
Please meet us at the check station on Cow Creek Grade at 8:30 AM and expect to bird for about 3 hours. At the check station there will be a Florida Fish and Wildlife sign when you’ve entered the unit. Bring binoculars, a camera and a scope if you’d like, sunscreen, snacks, and water. There are several picnic areas that are great spots for migrants, so we’ll stop along the way to snack and bird while we drive the impoundment. Many of these roads are also great for cruising snakes, so we will spend some time learning about snake identification and conservation.
Directions: If you are coming from Tallahassee, take I-10 E and take exit 217 towards Lloyd, turning south on 59. Turn left onto US 98E, continue for ~ 13 miles and then turn left onto Cow Creek Grade Rd. Continue down Cow Creek Grade for ~ 6 miles until you see the Florida Fish and Wildlife Sign. Alternatively, you can take HWY 27 E instead of I-10 and take 59 south towards Wacissa.
|
|
Special Event!
Birding Without Borders: An Epic World Big Year
April 5, 2022, 7:00 PM
King Life Sciences Building, FSU
319 Stadium Dr Tallahassee FL 323034
Park in the Spirit Way parking garage or open lot and follow the signs to the auditorium, which is accessed from the back entrance of the building.
This program is free, but donations to cover expenses are greatly appreciated. There will be a donation box at the door, or you can make a donation via PayPal.
|
|
Noah Strycker in Columbia
In 2015, bird nerd Noah Strycker of Oregon became the first human to see more than half of the planet’s bird species in a single, year-long, round-the-world birding trip. Anything could have happened, and a lot did. He was scourged by blood-sucking leeches, suffered fevers and sleep deprivation, survived airline snafus and car breakdowns and mudslides and torrential floods, skirted war zones, and had the time of his life. Birding on seven continents and carrying only a pack on his back, Strycker enlisted the enthusiastic support of local birders to tick more than 6,000 species, including Adelie Penguins in Antarctica, a Harpy Eagle in Brazil, a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Thailand, and a Green-breasted Pitta in Uganda. He shared the adventure in real time on his daily blog (audubon.org/noah), and now he reveals the inside story. This humorous and inspiring presentation about Strycker’s epic World Big Year will leave you with a new appreciation for the birds and birders of the world.
|
|
Birding Without Borders
We will have copies of Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World for sale before the event and we will have a book signing before the program. If you already have one of his books, you’re welcome to bring it for him to sign! NOTE: We will be unable to process credit card payments at the talk, so please bring cash or a check. Also, these books are being donated by one of our board members, so 100% of your purchase (except for tax) will go to the Apalachee Audubon!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
