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The Limpkin Times
Apalachee Audubon Society Mission Statement:
Protection of the environment through education,
appreciation and conservation.
May 2021
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President's Message
Dear Friends,
I have been slightly distracted over the last month as we welcomed our new granddaughter into this world (as well as helping with the 3-year-old!). We are in the Hudson Highland area of New York in a town surrounded by small, forested mountains that skirt both sides of the wide Hudson River, which is tidal well north of us. While hiking the mountain trails above the Hudson, my mind wanders and I find myself thinking about the natural world and what it will be like for little Alice and Warren and all the other grandchildren out there.
While hiking here, we have noticed how overused the trails are. Invasive plants have a strong grip at the lower elevations. There are just so many people using the same trails because we are less than an hour’s drive from one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. It is wonderful that people want to experience nature, but more parks and trails are needed. The existing ones are crying out for better management. In Florida, there is still natural land remaining for purchase, but it will not always be there. Our population is growing fast.
When I hold my little granddaughter and watch my grandson balancing on logs in the forest, I want them to experience nature as I have. I want to leave behind forests and fields and estuaries and bays and rivers and swamps that are in good condition for the next generation and generations to come. I believe that Apalachee Audubon Society is focused in the right areas to attempt to achieve this goal. We are focusing much of our efforts on encouraging our government to fully fund Florida Forever, both in purchasing new lands and easements and in funding proper management of these properties.
We have learned that we must be ever vigilant. There is a proposal to put a roadway through a state forest in Walton County that was purchased with Florida Forever funds. Please read Conservation Chair Rob Williams’ letter to the Walton County Planning Department with our concerns over their proposed plan. When he is writing, he is speaking for 800 Audubon members in the eastern Panhandle. That means something!
I hope you will attend our May zoom program with Jeff VanderMeer, a local author with an international following. Perhaps you have been enjoying his column in the Tallahassee Democrat on rewilding his yard. One Sunday in April, I found time to read the Book Review section of the New York Times and I was delighted to find an interview with Jeff where he talks about his Tallahassee yard and its wildlife, among other things. I am currently reading his latest book, Hummingbird Salamander . I am having trouble putting it down!
Sincerely,
Donna Legare
President, Apalachee Audubon
In this issue:
Chapter Programs
Deep Roots Meat Farm Tour
Apalachee Audubon Participates in National Summer Reading Program
Participate in the Global Big Day
Procedures for the 2021 Chapter Election
Letter to Walton County Planning Department
Virtual Birdathon
Clean Those Birdfeeders!
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Jeff VanderMeer: Nature as Inspiration for Writing
Thursday, May 20, 2021, 7:00 pm EST
Virtual
Jeff VanderMeer’s New York Times-bestselling Southern Reach trilogy has been translated into over 35 languages. The first novel, Annihilation , won the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award, and was made into a movie by Paramount in 2018. Recent works include Dead Astronauts , Borne (a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award), and The Strange Bird . These novels, set in the Borne universe, are being developed for TV by AMC and continue to explore themes related to the environment, animals, and our future. Current work includes A Peculiar Peril (FSG Kids) and Hummingbird Salamander (MCD/FSG), which has been optioned by Netflix and Michael Sugar ( Anonymous Content).
Called “the weird Thoreau” by The New Yorker, VanderMeer frequently speaks about issues related to climate change and storytelling. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife Ann, cat Neo, and a yard full of native plants.
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Deep Roots Meat Farm Tour Reminder
This tour, on Saturday, May 15 from 10am – noon, is full. There is a waiting list. Please contact Peter Kelly at [email protected] if you are not able to be there so someone else can take your place. Directions can be found on the Deep Roots Meat website.
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Apalachee Audubon Participates in National Summer Reading Program, Tails and Tales, at Franklin County Library in Carrabelle This Summer
Peter Kleinhenz is excited to bring live reptiles for his Tails and Tales program at the library. Kathleen Carr will present a program on attracting birds to the yard with a focus on Doug Tallamy’s books Nature’s Best Hope and Bringing Nature Home .
Would you like to participate too? Scheduling is flexible. The program runs June 10 – July 29. Choose from 9 – 5 Monday through Friday or 10 – 2 on Saturdays. You can choose to present to children, adults, or family groups. The library is across from the Carrabelle River so you can even do a birding field trip if you would like. Please contact Donna Legare for details
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Participate in the Global Big Day |
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by Heather Levy
On May 8 th , celebrate World Migratory Bird Day by participating in eBird ’s Global Big Day! eBird is an online database of bird observations developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is used by both birders and scientists alike, providing birders with a way to keep track of and document sightings, and providing researchers with data on bird distribution and abundance. Whether you are already researching an all-out birding adventure from dawn to dusk, or prefer to document the birds on your feeder while sipping coffee, the only requirement for the Global Big Day is that you report your observations to eBird on either the website or the free mobile app. In addition to recording the number and species of birds, you can submit photos and audio. And don’t worry – you don’t have to be an expert birder to participate. Submitting a complete checklist to eBird simply means that you are submitting a list of birds you were able to identify. For help with identifications, check out the free mobile app Merlin Bird ID .
Last year, over 50,000 birders from 175 countries submitted 120,000 checklists, setting a world record! These data provide scientists with critical information that can be used to inform conservation. Watch the observations roll in real-time by checking ebird.org/globalbigday and share what you are seeing on social media with #globalbigday . We hope you join birding’s biggest team by participating with birders from around the world to break a new record!
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Procedures for the 2021 Chapter Election
by Kathleen Carr
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Apalachee Audubon annual banquet has been cancelled. The election for the chapter's board of directors, which usually takes place at the banquet, will be conducted through a voting webpage in May. As usual, the goal of this election will be to confirm the slate of officers and directors being presented, but there will be an option for disapproving the slate or individuals up for election or re-election. The webpage will have information about the candidates.
The election webpage will be available ONLY to active members (as of March 2021) of the National Audubon Society (NAS), through which our chapter membership is derived. The election webpage link will be sent ONLY to email addresses registered with National Audubon. If you are a current member, but do not receive emails from NAS or aren’t certain if they have your email address, please email [email protected] and you will be registered to vote online once your membership status has been confirmed.
The deadline for voting is May 19.
Here are the officers and directors we will be voting on:
· Kathleen Carr, President
· VACANT, Vice President
· Nelson Ball, Secretary
· Harvey Goldman, Treasurer
Directors
New:
· Caleb Crow
Renewing:
· Natasza Fontaine
· Amelia Fusaro
· Peter Kleinhenz
· Howard Kessler
· Donna Legare
· Rob Williams
· Dara Wilson
The following board members are serving the second year of their term.
· Heather Levy
· Norma Skaggs
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AAS Conservation Chair Rob Williams’ Letter to Walton County Planning Department (March 2021)
On behalf of the Apalachee Audubon Society please accept these comments concerning the proposed Walton County Mobility Plan. The Apalachee Audubon Society is a nonprofit organization representing over 800 members in the eastern Panhandle. Our focus is protecting the rich biodiversity of the Florida Panhandle through education, appreciation and conservation. We are very concerned about the impact of the proposed Mobility Plan on Point Washington State Forest and Deer Lake State Park. We wish to associate ourselves with the more detailed comments previously submitted by the Bay County Audubon Society.
Any proposed development, such as the proposed Mobility Plan, which impacts the State Forest must consider why these lands were protected in the first place. The primary goals of the Point Washington State Forest are clearly spelled out in the Management Plan - “(1) conserve a part of this unique coast and the forests behind it, linking three state parks; (2) protecting several rare plants and rare animals such as the Choctawhatchee Beach Mouse and Red-cockaded Woodpecker; and (3) providing residents and tourists a scenic area in which to enjoy many recreational activities ranging from hunting and fishing to hiking, picnicking, and sunbathing.” From its inception, the project recognized that the protection of the state parks and their unique dune lakes was directly linked to protection of the forest and ensuring connectivity. The proposed Mobility Plan is inconsistent with these purposes. The proposed new highways, roads and paved motorized trails would fragment the largest contiguous and most biodiverse tracts of these protected conservation lands. The ecological harm of such forest fragmentation is well-established. See e.g. Larry D. Harris, The Fragmented Forest: Island Biogeography Theory and the Preservation of Biotic Diversity , University of Chicago Press 2013.
The residents of Walton County are very fortunate to have such wonderful conservation lands in their backyard; they have rallied time and time again to protect these lands from encroachment. However, they are not alone in their efforts. It has been a concern of the larger conservation community in Florida since the land that was to become Point Washington State Forest was purchased at the last moment on the steps of the Walton County Courthouse by George Willson, one of Florida’s greatest conservationists, acting for the Nature Conservancy. Ultimately, it was the people of the State of Florida who shouldered the cost of preserving these lands for future generations. In another forty years, there will be little land left in Florida in an undeveloped state outside of our public and private conservation lands. Point Washington State Forest and the State Parks are a priceless legacy which should be left to future generations intact. We strongly urge Walton County not to pursue any new highways, roads and paved trails that further fragment the largest remaining tracts of state and private protected forest habitats in South Walton County.
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VIRTUAL BIRDATHON
Our Birdathon teams, Wrenegades and Mellow Yellowlegs , took a sabbatical this year, sitting out our annual spring 24 hour quests to see birds. We use your Birdathon donations in our community to support bird conservation, environmental education and wildlife habitat. This year we incurred costs for Zoom, in order to present meetings virtually.
If you would like to support our chapter's work, vision and efforts, please consider sending in a Birdathon donation to Apalachee Audubon Society, P. O. Box 1237, Tallahassee Fl 32302-1237.
Hopefully, we will be packing our teams into vans and going off on Birdathon quests next year.
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by Peter Kleinhenz
While on a birding field trip recently at a private property in Thomas County, Georgia, I looked down to see a dead Pine Siskin. This seemed strange to me, and so I asked around about the cause. It turns out that there has been a salmonella outbreak in Georgia and Florida among Pine Siskins, which are traveling further south than normal due to this being an irruption year.
What can you do? Well, the most important step you can take is to clean your bird feeders. In fact, you should be doing this anyway. If you do this and still observe sick birds, it’s best to take your feeders down until the siskins head back up north. We all love to watch birds, but we also don’t want to be facilitating declines among a group of animals already experiencing declines across the board.
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