april 2009 skimmer newsletter southeast volusia audubon society
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8/9/2019 April 2009 Skimmer Newsletter Southeast Volusia Audubon Society
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Southeast Volusia Audubon Society, Inc. Issue Vol. IV- No. 4 April, 2009
The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society promotes the protection of birds, other wildlife and their habitat through education and activism.
MeetingsMeetingsMeetingsMeetingsNext meeting is April 1, 2009
Annual Potluck Picnic - 5:30 p.m.
Menard-May Park, Edgewater
This is our Election-of-Officers meeting.
Plenty of parking. Public welcome.
FieldFieldFieldField TripsTripsTripsTripsField trips begin at 8:00 A.M. unless otherwise noted.Meet in the Market Square parking lot Edgewater, RidgewoodAve. & 442, between Dunkin Donuts & Chik-Fil-A.
There are three (3) Events this month
See Field Trips p.2
Questions? Contact Gail Domroski 428-0447
Audubon members and guests are all welcome.
Programs & Field trips subject to change.
PrezPrezPrezPrez SezSezSezSezSmyrna Dunes Park, Lake Ashby, Elections
There was an interesting event at the Smyrna Dunes Park acouple of weeks ago. It was a ribbon cutting ceremony high-lighting the new rules for dogs using the boardwalk and includ-ing dog-related activities. At the end of the event, we conducteda bird walk of the park.
We were warmly received by Joe Nolin, the VolusiaCounty parks director, Jack Hayman of the County Council andMayor Sally McKay of NSB. Joe was particularly anxious totell us of the actions the county had taken to protect the habitatsfor the nesting and resting shorebirds. It sounded impressive butwhen we took the beach walk, we felt there was more thatshould be done. I sent him an email itemizing the things wethought they could and should do. If you want to see the email,go to our website where it is posted.
The bird walk started with 31 people, certainly more thanwe expected and though many left during the walk, it washeartening to see that many peopleinterested in our take on the park.
Unfortunately there were notmany birds because it was low tideand the number of cars and visi-tors on the beach was horrendous.It was a beautiful day for a walk on the beach.
We had a great field trip toLake Ashby. It started with a largegroup of Cedar Waxwings seenfrom the parking lot. One of the park maintenance staff showed usthe location of two three-week oldBarred Owl chicks. That was defi-
nitely the highlight of the day. We also saw a limpkin, and thatis also a treat. Check out my pics of the owls on the website too.
As I mentioned last month, this next meeting will be theannual pot-luck at the Menard-May Park in Edgewater. It willalso be the election of officers for the next year. We need a fullslate of officers. It is time for new blood. Many of us currentlyserving have been in office for a long time and we are suffering burn-out. Give us a rest and determine for yourselves thedirection of the club.
—Don Picard
This will be the last issue of The eSkimmer for theseason.
We hope to see you next season with the October, 2009issue.
Enjoy your summer.
Don Picard 2009
Venue Change Questionaire
Please let us know!
Would you be more or less likely to attend meetings if they were more central to New Smyrna Beach?
Would you be more or less likely to attend meetings if they were on a different evening? If yes, please specifythe evening.
Please send an email to [email protected]
SEVAS website http://sevolusiaaudubon.org/
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The eSkimmer April, 2009
FieldFieldFieldField TripsTripsTripsTripsThree Lakes Wildlife Management Area, Lake Ashby and Orlando Wetlands.
Feb. 21 — At the Three Lakes area we saw the primarytarget species of Red-cockaded Woodpecker and WhoopingCrane, and added Snail Kite and Crested Caracara for good
measure. Other species include Limpkin, Brown-headed Nuthatch, many Eastern Blue Birds, small flocks of Pine War- blers and singing Eastern Meadowlarks. Had good looks atBlue-headed Vireo and Wilson’s Snipe. All in all, a total of 73species on a beautiful winter day.
March 12 — At Lake Ashby we had the park to ourselvesexcept for the park staff. A friendly and helpful park ranger showed us where to find a nest of baby Barred Owls. The babies watched us with big eyes as we watched them throughour glasses and scopes. Along the boardwalk over the lake wehad good looks at two Limpkin and in the wooded areas we hadfun trying to identify all the small birds in the treetops. Weidentified 40 species overall.
March 20 —On the first day of spring a group of 7 birderstraveled to Orlando Wetlands Park near Christmas. AmericanGoldfinch and Painted Bunting were seen at feeders near thenew Education Center. On a leisurely walk around the im- poundment we saw many birds, among them Black-crowned Night Heron, Water Thrush, Bald Eagle, both adult & juvenile,Male Northern Harrier, and the highlight of the day, a CrestedCaracara with a total of 54 species for the day.
April/May 2009 Trips
April 4th Sat. 8 a.m.: Tomoka State Park, OrmondBeach. This Park is located near the confluence of the To-moka and Halifax Rivers. The diverse habitats should offer good birding.
April 17th Fri. 8 a.m. Canaveral National Seashore.Bring lunch etc. Spring Warblers will be our goal for this trip.
May 1st Fri. 8 a.m. St Augustine Alligator Farm. Bringlunch or eat at restaurant of your choice.
Trips subject to change. Call Gail @ 428-0447 for info or questions.
—Gail Domroski
Wandering Wandering Wandering Wandering MembersMembersMembersMembersBirding in Costa Rica
I arranged a birding trip to Costa Rica with my neighbor,Tad Fyock, in February. We left Monday morning and arrivedat our hotel near San Jose in time for late afternoon birding.We spent six full days and returned early the following Mon-day. Our guide was Jorge Fernandez of AVEnTOURS and hewas terrific
We started Tuesday by driving through a cloud forest andover the continental divide to the Caribbean coastal plain. We birded along the way, stopping at some of Jorge’s favoritespots, and arrived at La Selva Tropical Research Station in timefor lunch. This is one of several locations run by the Organiza-tion for Tropical Studies of Durham, North Carolina. Peoplecome from all over the world to study plants, animals, insects, birds, etc.
We spent two nights at La Selva and had wonderful bird-ing. We also saw interesting reptiles and other fauna. The mostexciting event of the whole trip happened on a night walk wetook the second evening. Tad stepped on a 10-foot snake in thedark and we all had high pulse counts until Jorge located it withhis flashlight and identified it as a non-poisonous Boa Constric-tor.
Thursday, we returned over the continental divide, throughSan Jose to Puerta Leona on the Pacific coast. Initial plan had been to make a northwesterly loop to the coast but the recentearthquake wiped out much of the road and several villagesmaking the backtrack necessary. We passed over the Rio Sucio,where chemical-rich yellow water from a volcano flowed side- by side with clear water from the cloud forest (remember Jurassic Park). We also crossed the Rio Tarcoles, where liter-ally dozens of crocodiles lazed about.
Next day we birded in dry forest for several hours and sawa Jesus Christ Lizard walk, actually run, over water – What athrill! In the afternoon we birded the Tarcoles by boat. Great birding but the highlight was a life and death struggle betweena crocodile and an eel. The croc had bitten into a four inchdiameter eel which retaliated by wrapping itself around thecroc’s snout. The eel was biting the croc on the jowls and thecroc was trying to get on land to suffocate the eel. The crocseemed afraid to leave the water with the boat nearby, so wemoved on to let nature take its course.
The next day we drove through the downtowns of San Joseand Cartago and visited a local market. We ended the day inSavegre, home of the Resplendent Quetzel. We had a good
look at one male on the way in and next morning had excellentlooks at two other males. Birding in the valley was excellent.
Sunday afternoon, we returned to San Jose and did a bit of birding around our hotel before shutting down to pack and eat.
I hoped to see 53 new birds to reach the one thousand levelon my life list – I got 131. We saw a total of 216 bird species plus 8 animals and 15 reptiles.
I have a (much) longer account of the trip which I willemail to anyone who requests it.
—Ken Gunn [email protected]
OfficersOfficersOfficersOfficers &&&& ChairsChairsChairsChairsPresident: Don Picard 386-957-1886 [email protected]
Secretary: Jean McNeil 386-423-2508 Treasurer: Bill Cox [email protected]
Newsletter: Gil Miller 386-423-4124 [email protected]
Programs: Ken Gunn 386-423-2334 [email protected]
Field Trips: Gail Domroski 386-428-0447
Membership: Richard Domroski 386-428-0447
Publicity: Marsha Cox [email protected]
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