ASE Web

Johnny Jones, executive director of the Florida Wildlife Federation in the 1970s and 1980s, has passed away. He was a leader in combating the environmental destruction that confronts Florida today: ill-conceived drainage plans, the over development of marginal lands, and the destruction of the Everglades ecosystem. Jones spearheaded the major effort to address the ecological disaster inflicted on Lake Okeechobee when the once-meandering Kissimmee River was channelized.

Jones was a leader in the effort to highlight this threat to, in Nat Reed’s words, “the liquid heart of south Florida,” and his efforts led the legislature and finally the Congress to acquire thousands of acres of land to restore the Kissimmee River as a functional part of the Okeechobee basin ecosystem. His vision for this ecosystem included expanding restoration lands in the EAA in order to reconnect the lake to the Everglades. He was also influential in securing protection for the Big Cypress Preserve despite the fact that his constituency had serious concerns about ORV use in the area.

Johnny Jones was the unique leader, passionately devoted to the Everglades and wildlife conservation.  He will be greatly missed, but is still an inspiration to all persons determined to save the Everglades for future generations.

Here is a list of your Governor, State Senators, and Representatives to contact with any of your concerns. Please bookmark this page so you can refer to it with issues that concern you, i.e. oil drilling. You can find out what district you are in by referring to your voter registration card. You can contact any of the people on this list even if you are not in their district. The more people you call, the more people you reach with your concerns. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Governor

• Charlie Crist 850-488-7146 email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com

Florida Senators

• Sen. Jeff Atwater District #25 561-625-5101 email: atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov
• Sen. Dave Aronberg District #27 561-433-2627 email: aronberg.dave.web@flsenate.gov
• Sen. Joe Negron District #28 772-219-1665 email: negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov
• Sen. Christopher Smith District #29 561-650-6801 email: smith.chris.web@flsenate.gov
• Vacant District #30 561-496-5939
• Sen. Larcenia Bullard District#39 305-668-7344 email: bullard.larcenia.web@flsenate.gov

Florida House of Representatives

• Rep. Kevin Rader District#78 561-279-1633 email: kevin.rader@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Willaim Snyder District#82 772-221-4904 email: william.snyder@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Carl Domino District#83 561-625-5176 email: carl.domino@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Mack Bernard District #84 561-650-6880 email: mack.bernard@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Joseph Abruzzo District #85 561-791-4774 email: joseph.abruzzo@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Maria Sachs District #86 561-266-6645 email: maria.sachs@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Adam Hasner District#87 561-279-1616 email: adam.hasner@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Mark Pafford District#88 561-682-0156 email: mark.pafford@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Mary Brandenburg District#89 561-540-1157 email: mary.brandenburg@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Kelly Skidmore District#90 561-470-6593 email: kelly.skidmore@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff District#91 954-762-3757 email: ellyn.bogdanoff@myfloridahouse.gov

On Tuesday, June 8, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., the Clean Water Fund is hosting a free evening workshop at Spanish River Library, 1501 Spanish River Blvd. in Boca Raton. Learn about environmental threats to the quality and quantity of our water, and what you can do to protect our aquifer. Learn how to communicate your concerns effectively, influence decision-makers and be a water advocate in your community to protect our most valuable resource.

To RSVP or find out more, contact Margaret Morales, mmorales@cleanwater.org, 305-653-9101.

PBC ERM TECHNICAL SERIES: MANATEES IN PALM BEACH COUNTY
Date: May 20, 2010 (Thursday)
Time: 2:30 – 3:30 pm
Location: Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 1st Floor, Room 1W-47/50
2300 N. Jog Road, West Palm Beach.
The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management is working with Sea to Shore Alliance to document manatees. Please join us for this special presentation by Dr. “Buddy” Powell, who will summarize aerial survey results conducted biweekly for the November 2009 through March 2010 manatee season. For more information, contact Alyssa Dodd at 561-233-2448 or e-mail adodd@pbcgov.org.
http://www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/erm/pdf/techpresentations/Manatees_5.20.10.pdf

…and please mark your calendars for the next presentation scheduled in the Lake Worth Lagoon Speaker Series.

BIRDS OF LAKE WORTH LAGOON
Date: June 19 (Saturday)
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Presented by Linda Humphries, Audubon Society of the Everglades, at Okeeheelee Nature Center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach. (561) 233-1400.
http://www.lwli.org/pdfs/PublicOutreach/LWLSpeakerSeries_2010.pdf

9 birders joined ASE’s last field trip of the season at Spanish River Park on Saturday. Expectations were low, which enabled us to be quite pleased with our moderate luck: 7 warbler species, a Thick-billed Vireo, and a White-crowned Pigeon were seen on the trip! Below is the list of species:

The May/June edition of the Everglade Kite is now online in PDF format.

Come join the fun and help restore part of our Earth!  Thursday April 22, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. join Audubon Society of the Everglades at Okeeheelee Nature Center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, (one mile west of Jog Road).  Volunteers will be participating in the removal of the Brazilian Pepper that is covering the Gopher Tortoise Habitat.  Possibly see one of the Gopher Tortoises as they check out what is happening in their area.  There will also be trail pickup and the removal of dead branches.  This is your chance to come out and help.  Hope to see you there.  Call Linda at 561-742-7791 to register.

We need your help!  Recent proposals by President Obama to open our coastline to offshore oil drilling is an issue of concern to all Florida residents. Please contact your Federal Legislators to voice objection to off shore drilling along Florida’s coast.

There are many reasons to voice your objection to off shore drilling.  Below are just a few of them:

The impact of a potential oil spill and the disturbance on animals and plants found in or near coastal waters such as nesting shorebirds, sea turtles, fish and fish nurseries, and coral reefs (many of which are endangered or threatened) would be a disaster.

There is a grave risk to the economy of Florida should such an oil spill occur.  There would be a major loss of tourism in diving, snorkeling, commercial and recreational fishing, and most of all the beaches.  We cannot forget the possibility of oil leaks caused by hurricanes.  Florida is a major migratory bird flyway with stopover all along our coasts.

PRESIDENT OBAMA              Address:  The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC  20500

Phone:  202-456-1111, Fax:  202-456-2461, email:  president@whitehouse.gov

U.S.CONGRESS

U.S.REP. TOM ROONEY           DISTRICT 16   335 SE Ocean Blvd.  Stuart, FL  34994                                   772-288-4668

U. S. REP.   VACANT                 DISTRICT 19 2500 N. Military Trail, Suite #490, Boca Raton, FL  33431     561-732-4000

U. S. REP. RON KLEIN              DISTRICT  22  1900 Glades Road, Suite #260, Boca Raton, FL 33431           561-544-6910

U. S. REP. ALCEE HASTINGS  DISTRICT 23   1755 E. Tiffany Drive,  Mangonia Park, FL 33407                 561-881-9618

U.S.SENATE

U.S. SEN. GEORGE LEMIEUX            7711 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410                        561-842-8300

U.S. SEN. BILL NELSON                       500 S. Australian Avenue, Suite #125  West Palm Beach, FL 33401   561-514-0189

Please contact EPA by APRIL 28 to voice support for implementation of the new water standards EPA has proposed to help clean up Florida’s lakes and flowing waters.  These standards are more stringent than currently in force in the state.  There is objection to the proposed standards coming from a variety of state, agricultural, and industrial organizations.

Email:   ow-docket@epa.gov
Mailing Address:  Water Docket U.  S. Environmental Protection Agency
ATTN:Docket #EPA-HQ-OW-2009
1301 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, D. C. 20004

Thank you for your help!  You can make a difference.

The April 2010 Kite is now online. Here’s the link to the PDF.

Linda Humphries presents “Green Cay Birds and Their Behaviors” at 7 p.m.
Green Cay Nature Center
12800 Hagen Ranch Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33437-4130
(561) 966-7000

Friday, March 19 8:30 am to 12:00 noon
Tour of Local Backyard Bird Gardens .

Come join Audubon Society of the Everglades in a free tour of Backyard Bird Gardens in the West Palm Beach/Lake Worth area. See what local homeowners are doing to encourage not only our native birds, but also those Northern bird visitors who winter over in Palm Beach County .

There will be 3 different gardens that you can visit—Dorothy Brindle, Phil and Anne Weinrich, and Cynthia Plockelman have volunteered their yards.

“Painted buntings? You are positively guaranteed to see them here,” says Dorothy Brindle. She feeds all her birds and has even figured out a feeder that lets buntings in to their special seeds, but keeps the house sparrows out so they can eat the normal seed mix. Spotted Orioles? “I planted coral vine for them, and after my orange tree died, I started cutting local oranges in half for them.” Dorothy will also show how her “drip” birdbath attracts warblers, and many more tips and insights.

“100 species of native plants for my 100 species of wild birds.” Anne Weinrich explained how she and husband Phil spent the last 25 years collecting and planting native specimens to attract so many birds to their back yard. For example, to nurture hummingbirds, they planted firebush, salvia, porterweed, and even Geiger tree. The Weinriches will gladly share their knowledge of what to plant so you can attract your own favorite birds.

Finally, Cynthia Plockelman, our own ASE Vice President and ardent Conservation Advocate, is known for her Florida-wide work in substituting native plant species, which are perfectly suited to our climate, to eradicate the invasive plants and non-native trees that cause such havoc to wildlife and especially the South Florida water supply. In Cynthia’s backyard, a vibrant informal selection of the original plants in Palm Beach County, shows just how full-of-life a back yard made of the native environment can be. You can also informally discuss with her any of the conservation issues in the news and learn first-hand what’s really happening.

Addresses:
Dorothy Brindle, 702 Sunset Drive, Lake Worth
Phil and Anne Weinrich, 826 N Palmway, Lake Worth
Cynthia Plockelman, 311 Franklin Rd, West Palm Beach

For more information on the free backyard bird tour, contact Linda Humphries 561-742-7791

hlindaase@aol.com

Sometimes pleasant surprises lie tucked away in unexpected places. Such is the case with Peaceful Waters wetlands in Wellington, the first stop on our field trip February 20.

Not well known, Peaceful Waters is located at the edge of Wellington Village Park, near the intersection of Pierson Road and 120th. A boardwalk snakes through a series of impoundments, which are also encircled by foot paths. Although adjacent to often heavily used ball fields, the area—as its name implies—still offers a “peaceful” spot to view wildlife.

Our 16 field trip participants enjoyed close looks at five species of ducks, the highlights being Wood Duck and Lesser Scaup; and eight species of shorebirds, including Solitary Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher. A nice assortment of wading birds was also present, as were Sora and Purple Gallinule. A Flicker even made an appearance.

The field trip concluded at the viewing platform at Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West, west of 20-Mile Bend. There we added Hooded Merganser, White Pelican (several hundred), Black Skimmers (skimming), and Gull-billed Tern. Our species total for the day reached more than 60. We didn’t break any records, but got to experience a good variety of birds. And maybe some of us added a new, unexpected, birding spot.

–Chuck Weber

The March 2010 Kite is now online. Here’s the link to the PDF.

AUDUBON BIRDING WORKSHOP SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27

A practical and informative Birding Workshop will be presented by the Audubon Society of the Everglades on Saturday, February 27, 2010, 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM at Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, 6301 Summit Blvd, West Palm Beach. Cost is $25 for the entire day (four classes) or $9 per class. Use the mail-in form here (clicking the link opens a PDF of mail-in form to print, fill out, and send). You can also call Linda Humphries at 561-742-7791, or sign up at the event itself.

Classes include:
· “Birding Behaviors as a Birding Tool“ and “Raptor Program” with Clive Pinnock Clive Pinnock, a former wildlife biologist for the National Park Serviced, is manager of Okeeheelee Nature Center and established their Raptor Chapter 10 years ago.
· “Birding by Ear” and “Birding Tips” with Paddy Cunningham. Paddy Cunningham is a professional naturalist and bird guide, ABA’s Florida Ambassador and coordinator of the Everglades Birding Festival.
· “Florida Birds” with Claudine Laabs. Claudine Laabs is a renowned nature photographer, lecturer and guide, past President of Audubon of the Everglades, lecturer and guide.
· “ Birds and Plants” with Rob Hopper. Rob Hopper, ASLA, is a senior environmental analyst with the South Florida Water Management District, botanist, and entertaining lecturer.
· “E-Bird” with David Simpson. David Simpson leads bird tours, is a former ranger, and holds many big day and big year records. Presently, David is actively involved with Cornell Lab of Ornithology e-bird site.

This is a great time to join Audubon Society of the Everglades in its Birding Workshop, so you’ll be able to fully enjoy all the free events and programs we sponsor throughout the “birding season” here in Florida.

Last Saturday’s Everglades Day was a huge success; details to come. I was able to meet two of my birding heroes (Kenn and Kim Kaufman), even if it was only for a few minutes. Thanks to everyone for their hard work!

The February issue of the Everglade Kite is now (at last!) online.

Come on out to Everglades Day this Saturday! At the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The program of events is chock full of great talks, hands-on activities, music, and much much more! Hear special guest speaker, Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher, and presentations by birding guide author Kenn Kaufman. There will be bus trips out to a critical marsh area of the Everglades and special tours will also be available to the study areas set up by the South Florida Water Management District to assess the best practices for saving Palm Beach County’s part of the Everglades. Don’t forget to check out the food and live music.  Includes free off-site parking and shuttle bus to events. Come join us!

Next Saturday, February 6th, please join us at the 11th Annual Everglades Day Festival–“Arts in the Everglades!

Saturday Feb 6, 8am-4pm at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 10216 Lee Road , Boynton Beach

In this official “Year of the Everglades”, come visit and enjoy our precious heritage with trained guides and special tours, outdoor canoeing, presentations, and special art and nature events. Free, family friendly, and fun! As Florida begins rebuilding the “River ofGrass”, this Everglades Day experience will help people realize the importance of preserving the Everglades for all of our children to enjoy. The all-day fun filled lineup includes painting in the Everglades, and arts and craft workshops as well as presentations, art shows and ecology exhibits, programs with live animals, birds and reptiles along with a variety of nature walks.  Hear special guest speaker, Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher, and presentations by birding guide author Kenn Kaufman. There will be bus trips out to a critical marsh area of the Everglades and special tours will also be available to the study areas set up by the South Florida Water Management District to assess the best practices for saving Palm Beach County’s part of the Everglades. Don’t forget to check out the food and live music.  Includes free off-site parking and shuttle bus to events. Come join us!

Here is the 2010 Program in PDF form.

by Valleri Brauer

We had a perfect formula for a very successful birding weekend, January 23 & 24: 18 enthusiastic birders meeting 3 wonderful guides, reporting 94 species of birds and ducks, beautiful weather, great camaraderie and a photographer’s dream. Who could ask for more? We started out early from Palm Beach County to Viera Wetlands in a very heavy fog, but soon the sunny skies appeared. We walked thru the wetlands for about an hour in search of the Masked Duck. Although he wasn’t to be found, we encountered the elusive American Bittern, Bald Eagles, Caracaras, Tree Swallows, Blue-Winged Teals, Sandhill Cranes, rafts of coots, flocks of robins, herons and egrets to name a few. Soon we were able to drive thru the rest of the wetlands. We also found damaged plants and dead fish due to the deep freeze in the area for 2 solid weeks. Saturday afternoon we left for Merritt Island for a short stay at the visitor’s center. They showed an impressive display of Merritt Island’s habitat. Also available was an extensive library of wildlife books and gifts for purchase. We were greeted by two armadillos and a variety of warblers and starlings. There was a pair of Osprey nesting at the center. We then took a short drive thru Peacock Pocket Road. Saturday evening we met at the Dixie Crossroads seafood restaurant for dinner and sharing time.

Sunday morning we got an early start and went back to the visitor’s center to view the Painted Bunting, but again to no avail. Many of us walked the short boardwalk loop in search of morning creatures. We then ventured by caravan thru the Black Point Wildlife Drive where the excitement rose as we came upon a large variety of shorebirds, White Pelican flocks, Pintail Ducks, American Widgeons, Northern Shovelers, Blue winged Teals, Marbled Godwit, Killdeer, Ring-Billed & Caspian Gulls, herons, egrets, avocets, etc. Highlights were spotting the American Golden Plover, the white morph juvenile Reddish Egret, the family of four Bald Eagles at home in their nest, the up-close and colorful Roseate Spoonbills and much more.

We were so grateful to our guides, Jason Frederick and Cary & Betty Salter who showed us the best of everything. Thank you, also, to Judy & Bill Munro who kept records and reported a total count of 94 different species.

It’s here! Come to the 11^th Annual Everglades Day Festival –“Arts in the Everglades ”

Saturday Feb 6, 8am-4pm at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 10216 Lee Road , Boynton Beach

In this official “Year of the Everglades”, come visit and enjoy our precious heritage with trained guides and special tours, outdoor canoeing, presentations, and special art and nature events. Free, family friendly, and fun! As Florida begins rebuilding the “River ofGrass”, this Everglades Day experience will help people realize the importance of preserving the Everglades for all of our children to enjoy. The all-day fun filled lineup includes painting in the Everglades, and arts and craft workshops as well as presentations, art shows and ecology exhibits, programs with live animals, birds and reptiles along with a variety of nature walks.  Hear special guest speaker, Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher, and presentations by birding guide author Kenn Kaufman. There will be bus trips out to a critical marsh area of the Everglades and special tours will also be available to the study areas set up by the South Florida Water Management District to assess the best practices for saving Palm Beach County’s part of the Everglades. Don’t forget to check out the food and live music.  Includes free off-site parking and shuttle bus to events. Come join us!

Here is the 2010 Program in PDF form.

Nearly 60 hardy birders, on 15 teams, ventured into the brisk outdoors Saturday, January 3, to take part in the annual West Palm Beach Christmas Bird Count.  A cold front had passed through the previous day, leaving morning temperatures in the 40′s and a northwest breeze blowing 10 to 20 miles an hour– conditions not ideal for some smaller species, but certainly no wash out either.  The day warmed and our counters persevered, producing a respectable list and decent numbers.

We had at least 132 species, with rulings to come on a couple more.  This is just below last year’s 136.

The most incredible sighting was a beautiful male Harlequin Duck, way out of its normal range.  The spotters took photos to verify their find.  Its appearance on a small freshwater pond is not typical, and the question is:  Is this a wild bird or one which escaped someone’s collection of waterfowl?  We may never know for sure, but what a bird!

Another excellent sighting for our count was a Black-necked Stilt, seen at Green Cay Wetlands.  Although common here in summer, Stilts almost all leave by winter, and there have been only two previous records on our count.  Turns out this is likely one of several rehabilitated Stilts, recently released in the area.  The bird will likely carry a special designation.

Summer Tanager was seen for only the sixth time on our count.  And our spotters came up with a Bonaparte’s Gull, difficult to find in recent years.

Although their numbers were still low, we at least had a few flocks of American Robin this year.  We completely missed them last time.  Many teams remarked about the incredibly low numbers of Fish Crow.  And even the common warbler species, Palm and Yellow-rumped, were scarce in some areas of the count circle.

Thanks to all who participated and hung in there.  You made this year’s count a success.

–Chuck Weber, compiler

In our continuing series of afternoon meetings in Boca Raton, Dr. Peggy Van Arman will be speaking on shells. Ben Peggy will be speaking on shells at Gumbo Limbo on Feb. 16, 2010. Dr. VanArman conducted dissertation research on biology and ecology of crayfish in relation to Everglades restoration and is a member of the International Association of Astacologists, Sigma Xi, Florida Academy of Sciences, and the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals.  She is president of the “Friends” Board of Directors, for the Gale Environmental Science and Technology Academy at Forest Hill Community High School and is on the Advisory Board of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation. She actively participates in educational and applied environmental activities, such as Pathfinder Awards (science scholarship review panel), Envirothon, Science Fair judging, other scholarship selection committees, community service projects and sponsors a “Womens Issues in Science” study group. She has co-authored a case study review regarding Everglades restoration,.

Dr. VanArman has been awarded the Directors Award for Environmental Contributions to the Community by the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals (2004), Charles and Hazel Corts Award for Outstanding Teaching by Palm Beach Atlantic University (2005) and the Conservation Co-heart Award by Grassy Waters Nature Preserve (2006).

January 30, 4:30 – 6 PM

Join us for a wonderful sunset/moonrise cruise to see the country’s first National Wildlife Refuge.  We will carpool from the parking lot of Publix just west of I-95 on North Lake Boulevard – meet at 2PM and depart at 2:30 (or meet at Captain Hiram’s Marina in Sebastian at 4 PM.)  The cost is $22 per person and reservations are required – please call Claudine at (561)655-9779.

On November 14, we experienced our first estuary walk which was  fun and informative once we recovered from our “cold feet”.  Kathryn Rothenburg showed us many of the tiny creatures that inhabit the mangroves – mangrove crabs in the trees!, mangrove snails, fiddler crabs and oyster communities.  The birds put on a good show with a chattering kingfisher, great egrets, great blue herons and four very active osprey.

Thursday, January 7-Sunday, January 10, 2010
Everglades Coalition 25th Anniversary Conference
The Everglades: Nature’s Classroom
For more information, download the flyer. and visit evergladescoalition.org

Please consider attending this important event in our own backyard.

Tuesday, January 19, 2009, 2:00 p.m. In our continuing series of afternoon meetings in Boca Raton, Ann Weinrich will be speaking on bird behavior. Ms. Weinrich started birding with her grandmother when she was 2 years old—a robin! She still has her grandmother’s field notes from their first trip to Everglades National Park in the 1950’s. Ms. Weinrich, a former board member of ASE (field trips) grew up in West Palm Beach, graduated from Palm Beach High School, attended PBCC, and graduated with a degree in Elem Ed from FAU. She taught at Pine Jog EE Center for 30 years and is now retired. She has been writing a bird column for the Palm Beach Post for the past 4 years. With her husband, Phil, she has led local, national, and international birding and natural history adventures for over 25 years. They still plan their trips by asking “What birds can we see there?”

This meeting, like all the Tuesday afternoon meetings, will be held at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, on A1A south of Spanish River Blvd, north of Palmetto Park Road.

The January issue of the Everglade Kite is now available online. Click here for the archives.

Eight adventurous souls joined leader Ben Kolstad on a morning stroll through Yamato Scrub. If you aren’t familiar with Florida scrub, you really owe it to yourself to get out to some of the few remaining scraps of it in Palm Beach County, most of which are ERM lands now, so they will be protected in perpetuity. We don’t have much scrub left, because it was the highest, driest land available when Florida was being settled, so naturally people chose to settle on it.
Yamato Scrub, on Clint Moore Road in Boca Raton, is 217 acres of a mixed scrub environment, with a mesic flatwoods and a restored basin marsh thrown in. Bird species one can expect to find here include the various egrets in the canals and ponds (today we saw Wood Stork, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and Green Heron), moorhens and (in the winter) coots, grebes (pied-billed usually, and for two years now in the late summer and fall, Least Grebes). There is a resident Osprey family, and the site is frequently visited by Red-shouldered and Red-tailed hawks (although we saw no buteos or accipiters today).
Visiting the scrub in December is always a gamble: the migratory bird species are gone, and most of the plants that have interesting flowers aren’t in bloom. On the other hand, the weather is much nicer than at any other time of the year, and if there’s one thing you can count on about a visit to Florida’s scrub areas: you will get hot, unless you time your trip for the right season…
So this excursion was really more of an introduction to Florida scrub in general, and Yamato Scrub in particular. Our field trip participants learned about how Florida scrub was formed (as remnants of ancient dunes marking a former shoreline); they also saw a reasonable selection of scrub plants. The highlight might have been Palafoxis, which is a rayless lily with a very interesting flower, one of the few in bloom in this season. We also found a staggerbush in bloom, and some narrow-leaved silkgrass.
The bird list was relatively short: along with the species already mentioned, we were visited by some overflying Turkey Vultures and Boat-tailed Grackles, and there was a Mourning Dove here and there. There were a couple of Pied-billed Grebes in the north pond, and their tawny nonbreeding plumage prompted a few double-takes among the crowd, but there was no sign of the Least Grebe that had been seen here earlier in the year.
All in all, this was a nice introduction to one of Florida’s rarer habitats (in fact, it’s far and away the most endangered habitat in the state); come on out to the scrub next time we have a trip, or go on your own! Most of the ERM properties have self-guided trails that are worth a look!

About a dozen birders braved the chill of the Thanksgiving weekend cool front to convene at Green Cay on Saturday, November 28, 2009. The group was hopeful that the weather wouldn’t keep the birds hunkered down and out of sight. As it turned out, our hopes were borne out: the day turned out to be beautiful, warming up nicely as the sun got going, and a total of 39 species were identified.

The typical parking lot experience yielded pine warblers and mockingbirds; the first birds seen from the boardwalk, staring into the low morning sun, were a stately Great Egret and a pair of dabchicks, formally known as Pied-billed Grebes. As the day wore on, more and more “must-have” species revealed themselves, including Limpkin, Painted Bunting, and Sora.

Florida’s “default” hawk, Red-shouldered, alighted in a tree as we began to move on, but it was harassed by the resident Red-winged Blackbirds into departing its perch before the whole group got a chance to inspect it through the spotting scope.

An unexpected but welcome sight was a hunting male Northern Harrier, swooping low over the marshes from horizon to horizon, displaying its characteristic white rump (a field mark shared by the female) and crisp gray plumage (the female is a warm brown).

We got excellent views of female Blue-winged Teal (they have a small white patch at the base of the bills, while the males have the trademark white “crescent moon”), and they came so close to the boardwalk that it was easy to see how much smaller they are than the similarly tame Mottled Ducks swimming nearby. Later in the day, we were to put this field mark to the test as we saw a pair of small ducks that did NOT have the white patch at the base of the bill, and this, combined with the warmer brown of the plumage and the larger size of the spots on the breast led us to conclude that these were Green-winged Teal, which are present at the site, but rarely provide such easy viewing.

A particular highlight for most participants of the trip was one solitary Black-bellied Whistling-Duck throwing its head back and whistling for all it was worth. We surmised that it was calling out to the rest of its flock, which was sleeping just a few hundred feet away in a different section of the impoundment.

A pair of Painted Buntings adorned the feeders on the far side of the boardwalk, and as we rounded the corner past their perch, we started keeping our eyes peeled for Sora. And sure enough, just after we’d given up hope, we saw not one, but two Sora cruising through the fireflags. A photographer who’d been staking out the area told us that there were at least 3 or 4 in the immediate area.

Thanks to all who came; we had a lovely day!

A complete list of species appears below.

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Tricolored Heron
Little Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Wood Stork
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Limpkin
Sora
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Rock Pigeon
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue Jay
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle