ELaughing Gull Dec 2017 - St. Lucie Audubon...

Message From our CBC Coordinator

St. Lucie Audubon Society

LAUGHING GULL

Volume 43 Issue 3 December 2017

If it’s December, it’s time to count birds! The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running citizen science bird project in the U.S. The count window for the 118th CBC opens in December, and our chapter will be counting birds on Saturday, December 16. The count is conducted inside a 15-‐mile diameter circle that is divided into zones. A team is assigned to each zone to travel that area and count birds all day. Birders of any ability can participate. If your home is within the boundaries of a CBC circle, then you can stay at home and report the birds that visit your feeder on count day as long as you have made prior arrangement with the count compiler, Ed Bowes. If you want to participate, contact Ed Bowes via email at [email protected] or call 772-‐607-‐4027.

Ed Bowes

CBC Coordinator’s Message “It’s Time to Count!”

December 2, 2017 George LeStrange Preserve 8 – 10 AM.

SLC Bird Count

Christmas Bird Count Save the date – December 16, 2017

The Laughing Gull Vol. 43 Issue 3 December 2017 St. Lucie Audubon Society

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Third Annual St. Lucie County Christmas Bird Count Saturday, December 2, 2017 George LeStrange Preserve

This program is modeled after the Audubon Society’s yearly event and helps participants to learn basic count techniques. We’ll use our new found skills to assess the morning’s bird species present at this preserve. Members of St. Lucie Audubon Society will be on hand to answer questions about bird identification and birding in general. Hikers will complete an official bird checklist which will be submitted to the National Audubon Society! This is great citizen science opportunity. The count will take place from 8:00 to 10:00 AM. You can register to participate here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090b48ada92aaafa7-‐december1 The main trail at George LeStrange Preserve is paved, but wear sturdy shoes and bring water. There are no restroom facilities at this preserve, so prepare accordlingly.

The Beauty & Benefits of Hiking in St. Lucie Co

Speaker: December 7, 2017 Amanda Thompson – SLC ERD

President – Eva RIes

Vice President – Ellen Lynch

Treasurer – Marc Rosenthal

Recording Secretary – Kathy Mayshar

Corresponding Secretary -‐ Liz Dunleavy

Program Chair – Ellen Lynch

Birding Adventure Chair & Director-‐at-‐Large – Adella Blacka

Hospitality -‐ Tom & JoAnn Stillman

Conservation Chair – Diane Goldberg

Directors-‐At-‐Large – Ed Bowes & Kathy Broadbent

Membership Chair

Public Relations Chair – Ruth Neese

Board members may be contacted by email at

[email protected]

St. Lucie Audubon Board of Directors


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By Ruth Neese

It has been my pleasure to serve as the Conservation Chair of the St. Lucie Audubon Society since 2013. I value Audubon’s strong commitment to conservation of wild lands and wildlife, and I hope I have contributed to those goals. However, it is time for me to step down. I want to thank the chapter members and others who have participated in the citizen science projects I have promoted during my tenure as Conservation Chair. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to develop a bird checklist specific to St. Lucie County. The bird checklist is a work-‐in-‐progress that I will continue to update annually. Diane Goldberg has been gracious enough to step in as interim Conservation Chair. Her credentials

Conservation Corner: A New Chair

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are impeccable—she is an expert on local native plants and is a member of the Lakelas Mint Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. Diane has been serving as the SLAS liaison with the Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County. She also championed our challenge to the construction of the Crosstown Parkway through Halpatiokee State Park in Port St. Lucie. Diane has recently started assisting the National Audubon Society with its Plants for Birds program. This program includes a Native Plant Database that is woefully lacking in plants appropriate for our part of Florida. Diane is working to add local native plants to the database. I am confident you will support Diane as Conservation Chair as you have supported me.


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You can find the Plants for Birds program here: http://www.audubon.org/plantsforbirds

Chapter Dues Reminder

Local chapter membership dues have increased as of January 1, 2017. The new dues are:

• Individual -‐ $25 per year • Family -‐ $30 per year • Sponsor -‐ $50 per year • Patron -‐ $100 per year • Lifetime -‐ $500

Yearly chapter membership runs January to January. You can now pay your chapter dues via our Web site! Look for the “Donate” button in the left-‐hand column on our homepage. http://stlucieaudubon.org

Conservation Corner (continued)

St. Lucie County has a policy of charging non-‐profits for the use of county facilities.

Our cost is $45 dollars a month, payable in advance. We are looking for sponsors to underwrite the cost of our monthly meetings at the Oxbow Eco-‐Center.

In return, we will acknowledge individual or company names in our newsletter several times during the ensuing year. If you are interested in sponsoring St. Lucie Audubon’s monthly programs, please send checks to:


PO Box 12474

Ft. Pierce, FL 34979

Your name here!

Our Generous Sponsors


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One local year-‐round feathered songster is tiny—only 4 – 5 inches in length. It is also secretive, making it hard to see. If you follow its loud “teakettle-‐teakettle!” song, you might be rewarded with a glimpse of the shy Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). These little birds prefer shrubby, overgrown habitat, which is why they can be so hard to visualize. Carolina Wrens have a round body with bright cinnamon plumage above and buffy-‐orange feathers on the underparts. They show a white throat and a long creamy-‐white eye stripe. The bill is dark and curves down slightly. The long tail is held cocked up, which is a general characteristic of wrens. Only the males sing, and singing may be heard at any time of year. These wrens are insectivorous, and spiders are a favorite food. They creep around in vegetation, brush piles, and along tree trunks looking for insects and an occasional small lizard. This means Carolina Wrens favor our scrubby preserves, like Bluefield Ranch Preserve, Pinelands Preserve, Paleo Hammock Preserve, Sheraton Scrub Preserve, and Indrio Savannahs Preserve. However, listen for them anywhere you find heavy vegetation and lots of insects.

Carolina Wren Photo by Scott Patterson

Feathered Friends by Ruth Neese

The St. Lucie Audubon Society is on the Web at http://stlucieaudubon.org Visit the Web site for happenings, photos, field trip reports, the Hart Beat column by Hart Rufe, and the On the Fly blog by Ruth Neese. You can download a membership application there, too.

Join us on Facebook!

Visit our Web Site!

This QR code will take you right to the Web site using your smartphone.

Field Trips and Speakers

Coming Attractions

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Field Trip: January 6, 2018

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Trip Leaders: Hart & Jewel

Rufe

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Meeting: January 4, 2018

Speaker: Hart Rufe, author of the “Hart Beat” blog

“Bird Photography”

Help our chapter save printing and mailing costs by signing up for the email newsletter. The newsletter can then be printed out if you prefer to read it offline. To request the email version, send your name and email address to [email protected]


PO Box 12474 Ft. Pierce, FL 34979

Laughing Gull Newsletter


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President’s Message “December Bird Bonanza”

By Eva Ries

Hurricane Irma left no part of Florida untouched, but the birds seem to have returned even as the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway and the standing water in yards is ebbing, finally. December brings us an interesting speaker for the monthly member program, as well as two opportunities to participate in a Christmas Bird Count plus field trips organized by our Birding Adventure Chair, Adella Blacka. Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count, now in its 118th year, marks a time when we celebrate and document birds all around us, both in variety and abundance. This year, there are again opportunities to participate in learning techniques used in the counts, and how this helps bird populations this year, and for years to come! As we pass Thanksgiving and move towards an even busier holiday schedule, don’t forget to take time to enjoy our neo-‐tropical migrants such as various warblers and hummingbirds, who stay with us through the winter. We look forward to seeing you at our monthly member meeting on December 7th at the Oxbow Eco-‐Center and wish you a bright and birdy-‐ful holiday season!


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Transforming Landscapes for a Sustainable Future

January 19 & 20, 2018at The Emerson Center

1590 27th AvenueVero Beach, FL 32960

Conference ScheduleJanuary 19, 2018

January 20, 2018

5:30PM Registration $25 per person ($35 after January 5, 2018) u Students only $10

6:00-8:30PM

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, Keynote Speaker will present a talk based on his book, Bringing Nature Home and How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE. A wine and beer reception will follow.

8:00-9:00AM Registration

9:00-9:45AM Dr. Edie Widder - “Health of the Indian River Lagoon,” CEO & Senior Scientist, Ocean Research & Conservation Association, Ft. Pierce, FL

9:45-10:30AM Steve Turnipseed, “Transformation of a Turfgrass Lawn into a Native Plant Landscape,” President of the Villages Chapter of the Native Plant Society, The Villages, FL

10:30-10:45AM Break

10:45-11:30AM Tod Winston, “Plant It and They Will Come,” Program Manager, Plants for Birds, National Audubon Society

11:30-12:00PMDr. Juanita N. Baker, “Why should we attract the birds? What habitats do they need in our yards?” Pelican Island Audubon Society, Professor Emeritus, Florida Institute of Technology

12:00-12:45PM Box Lunch

12:45-1:30PM Dr. Zak Gezon, “Pollinators in a changing climate,” Conservation Program Manager, Walt Disney Company

1:30-2:15PM Robin Pelensky, “Lagoon Gardens to save the Lagoon,” Landscape Architect, Surlaterre Landscape Architecture

2:15-2:30PM Break

2:30-3:15PM Nickie Munroe, “What is Florida Friendly Landscaping?,” Indian River County Environmental Horticulture Agent

3:15-4:00PM Jacob E. Ensor, “Changing HOA Rules to comply with State Statutes,” Ross Earle Bonan & Ensor, P.A.

4:00-4:30PM Summary: What can we do to improve the lagoon and our plants and animals?

Register online atwww.PelicanIslandAudubon.org

For more informationPhone: 772-567-3520 | Email: [email protected]

ELaughing Gull Dec 2017 - St. Lucie Audubon...

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