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The Limpkin Times
Apalachee Audubon Society Mission Statement:
Protecting the rich biodiversity of the Florida Panhandle through education, appreciation, and conservation.
September 2021
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Red-shouldered Hawk
Thanks to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, we WERE planning to resume in person program meetings in September. Unfortunately, the course of the pandemic shifted over the summer with the advent of the delta variant, and our Board of Directors decided that, for everyone’s safety, we should continue the virtual format for our fall programs. We’ll re-evaluate towards the end of the year and decide if it will be feasible to meet face-to-face in 2022.
However, if we can’t meet in person, we can meet face-to-face on Zoom! In the interest of making our programs more sociable, we are going to hold them as Zoom meetings instead of webinars, which is what we did for the last program year (you saw only the host and speaker). In the meeting format, you will be able to see everyone attending as well as the host and speaker. Attendees will be muted during the program, which will start at 7:00 PM, but at 6:30 PM we will open the meeting for a virtual social, so we can visit and share the highlights of our latest birding adventures. Please come early and join the discussion!
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Yellow-throated Warbler
I’m always amazed at the extraordinary birding opportunities available to us in our region, from parks and wilderness areas to our neighborhoods and yards. The migrants are definitely moving through our area headed to their winter destinations. We’ve had a Yellow-throated Warbler (YTWA) in our yard since mid-August. I thought it was a migrant passing through, but I’ve been seeing it consistently since then, visiting the feeders and baths and sparring with his reflection in my car’s sideview mirrors! Curious about the early arrival, I checked my eBird records and discovered that I’d documented a wintering YTWA that left February 24, 2020 and returned August 9, 2020. It visited through fall and winter, leaving February 26, 2021, and now it's returned, August 14, 2021! Can’t say that it’s the same bird, but it seems to be keeping the same arrival/departure schedule.
On August 27, my husband and I watched in amazement as a Red-shouldered Hawk took a rain bath during a storm, perched on a power line outside our front door. Its bath was interrupted briefly when it was dive-bombed by a male Northern Cardinal who was not at all pleased at the hawk’s presence. Happily, I had time to grab my camcorder and recorded most of the hawk’s bath and the dive-bomb episode. It’s posted on YouTube and here’s the link: Red-shouldered Hawk Rain Bath
Sincerely,
Kathleen Carr
President, Apalachee Audubon
In this issue:
Chapter Programs
Upcoming Chapter Field Trips
Swift Night Out at Wakulla Springs State Park
International Coastal Cleanup
4-H Pollinator Project Report
Florida Young Birders Club
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Wilson's Plover with egg and two chicks
Caroline Stahala: Ecology & Diversity of Shorebirds
Thursday, September 16, 2021
6:30 PM ET, Zoom Social
7:00 PM ET, Program
Our gulf and bay coastlines are home to an incredibly diverse bird assemblage or in some cases attract unique bird species. We will take a tour of various sites along the Florida Panhandle coastline to visit some of these special places along with their avian inhabitants. We will also look at conservation efforts Audubon Florida is implementing to protect birds and their habitat in the area. Although it is a challenging endeavor, conservation of bird habitats along our coast can be incredibly rewarding when you see successful nesting during the summer or birds returning to foraging sites during the winter.
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Caroline Stahala
Dr. Caroline Stahala is Audubon Florida's Coastal Bird Program Manager for the Florida Panhandle. Her focus is on helping local municipalities and property owners implement seabird conservation measures, educating locals, and garnering support for local nesting and wintering seabirds. Caroline has been involved in various bird conservation programs for over 20 years.
She earned her Ph.D. from Florida State University in Ecology and Evolution where she focused on the behavioral ecology of the Bahama Parrot. Caroline also has experience working for national and international government organizations on bird related issues. She has worked on conservation issues for a broad range of bird species including, grassland sparrows, woodpecker species, parrots, seabirds, and shorebirds.
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Upcoming Chapter Field Trips
Migratory shorebird walk to St. Marks NWR and Bald Point State Park
Sunday, September 19, 2021 – led by Natasza Fontaine.
Our field trips are currently limited to 10 people. To sign up, please email [email protected] . Details and meet-up times will be provided once you have registered.
Learn to use eBird and Merlin Bird ID at Lafayette Heritage Trail Park
Sunday, October 3, 2021 – led by Heather Levy.
Our field trips are currently limited to 10 people. To sign up, please email [email protected] . Details and meet-up times will be provided once you have registered.
Paddle on the slave canal/Wacissa River
Sunday, October 10, 2021 – led by Peter Kleinhenz and Heather Levy.
Our field trips are currently limited to 10 people. To sign up, please email [email protected] . Details and meet-up times will be provided once you have registered.
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Swift Night Out
at Wakulla Springs State Park
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Saturday, September 11
7:30 - 8:30 PM ET
Free with Park Admission
Meet at the Lodge Entrance
Description: During Swift Night Out people all over the country stand beneath chimneys to watch and count chimney swifts enter their roost. The Lodge at Wakulla Springs has a large flock that roosts in one of its inactive chimneys. Come to witness the “flying cigar” shaped birds perform their swirling aerial dance prior to their descent into the chimney. Be part of a nationwide program to estimate their numbers. Enjoy this unusual ranger-led program to see firsthand one of nature’s amazing spectacles.
Contact Wakulla Springs State Park if you would like to make reservations for a cruise and dinner at the lodge prior to the program.
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International Coastal Cleanup in Franklin County
Saturday, September 18, 2021
9:00 AM ET
Meet at Ochlockonee Bay Boat Ramp
Apalachee Audubon volunteers will be participating in Coastal Cleanup this year along the shores of Ochlockonee Bay. Leaders Donna Legare and Jody Walthall will pick up supplies at the Leonard’s Landing ICC Sign-in at 8:30 AM and then meet our volunteers at the boat ramp just beyond the Ochlockonee Bay Bridge on the right as you are heading south on Highway 98 at 9:00 AM. There is a portable potty on site.
We will work the shore and into the woods to collect trash which we will haul back to the boat ramp in a canoe. This property, known as the Bluffs of Saint Teresa, was recently purchased by the State of Florida and is a truly beautiful area in which to work.
Please call Donna at (850) 386-1148 if you plan to volunteer so we can collect the proper number of supplies. Wear or bring sunscreen, bug spray, protective clothing (hats, long pants, long-sleeved shirts), work or close-toed water shoes, water bottle. I like to bring my own work gloves, but plastic gloves will be provided. Please wear a mask as we gather. We can then spread out and remove them. If you want, bring a picnic lunch, and relax along the shore after the cleanup.
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4-H Pollinator Project Report |
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Apalachee Audubon funded a 4-H project this summer. The high school students, part of FAMU 4-H, grew native wildflowers from seed in greenhouses at FAMU. They set up a pollinator garden at Bond Elementary School, which will be maintained by the second-grade classes there. The 4-H students will check on it several times over the year.
The 4-H students are also holding pollinator workshops on the FAMU campus and have been raising monarch caterpillars on milkweed that they grew. They plan to add a Pollinator Paradise Patch to the community gardens managed by FAMU Cooperative Extension.
Thanks to all who donated funds towards this project!
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Florida Young Birders Club
Do you have a son or daughter or a grandchild, age 9-17, who is excited about birds and birding? If so, Apalachee Audubon would like to help you start a local Florida Young Birders Club in the Tallahassee area. Read more about the Young Birders Network at www.youngbirdersnetwork.org . We have been contacted by Jim McGinity, [email protected] , who is trying to get the club started in Florida. He is in the Tampa area. Several AAS board members say they are more than happy to help lead birding field trips for a future youth birding club.
This club may or may not materialize depending on interest, but we do want local youth to know they are always welcome to sign up for any birding field trips that we offer.
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