Voice of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society
September 1998 Vol. 8 No. 9
Upcoming Meetings
<September 3rd, Laurie Fowler of the Broad River Community Watershed Association will present information on the Broad River Community Watershed Project, a community awareness and action campaign. The primary goal of the project is to avoid future environmental problems by involving all the communities in the watershed in open discussions of water resource issues.
< We meet at the Princeton
United Methodist Church at 7:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.
The church is located at 2390 S. Lumpkin St., where Lumpkin meets the Macon
Hwy (US441/GA15).
A Note of Thanks to...
< Josh Marks for his informative
talk entitled ACan the Okefenokee
Survive DuPont?@
Bird Walks, Field Trips, and Events
<October 3rd. Botanical Garden. Meet at 8 am in the lower parking lot. This is the first of our Fall Bird Walks sponsored jointly with the Sandy Creek Nature Center, and the Botanical Garden is the premier spot in Athens to view the fall migrants. The pace will be easy and birders of all skill levels are encouraged to attend. Sturdy, waterproof footwear is recommended.
Other Bird Walks:
<Sept 5 Botanical Gardens, 7:30 am
<Sept 19 Kennesaw Mtn., meet at 6:00 am at Milledge BiLo to carpool
<Sept 26 Whitehall Forest, 7:30 am outside gate
<Oct 17 Dyer's Pasture, meet at 7:00 am at Milledge BiLo to carpool
<Nov 7 Sandy Creek Nature
Center, 7:30 am at Allen House
Audubon Adventures
We are looking for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers
interested in using Audubon Adventures classroom teaching kits with their
students. We also need sponsors for an Audubon Adventures classroom. Audubon
Adventures teaches young people about environmental and natural history
topics. A child's participation is one way to take that vital first step
out of the classroom or away from the television, and out the front door
... to the nearest creek, marsh or shoreline. For more information contact
Maggie Nettles at 543-8823.
Florida Birding Festival, September 17-20, 1998 at Harborview Center, Clearwater, Florida
The mission of this festival is to promote appreciation
and conservation of Florida's birds and their habitats through nature based
tourism and public awareness. This inaugural event features a presentation
and book-signing by Don and Lillian Stokes, workshops and seminars, and
guided tours to sites otherwise not open to the public. This event is sponsored
by the Wheelabrator Pinellas together with groups such as Partners in Flight
and the Clearwater Audubon Society. For information and registration call
toll free 1-877-FLA-BIRD. Information can also be obtained at the Web Site:
http://www.stpete-clearwater.com/birdfestival/.
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Passes in Washington
Introduced by Senator Spencer Abraham, (R-MI), the Neotropical
Migratory Bird Conservation Act seeks to protect declining U.S. populations
of neotropical migratory birds, such as bluebirds, orioles and wood thrushes,
by encouraging the protection of these birds' wintering habitat in Latin
America and the Caribbean. The bill will authorize $8,000,000 in seed money
in each of the next three years towards the creation of partnerships in
these countries between local governments, local and U.S. non-governmental
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Passes in Washington (cont. from previous page)
organizations and corporations. The long-term goal of
the bill is to strengthen Latin American and Caribbean efforts to protect
and restore bird habitat. The idea is that habitat protection and restoration
efforts funded under the bill would continue after a particular project
has ended. In other words, the bill will create a conservation infrastructure
lasting well into the future. This infrastructure will protect local birds
and wildlife and will ensure that U.S. populations of migratory birds recover
and thrive.
Sightings
< Walt Cook toured two Audubon sanctuaries in Tampa Bay on June 25 with the refuge manager, Ann Schnapf. Ms. Schnapf was counting pelican nests on a spoil island B Alafia Banks. The two most common species seen were pelicans and Roseate Spoonbills. Other frequent sightings were Cormorants, Least Terns, and White Ibis. They also saw Reddish Egrets, including a rare White phase. Little Blue Herons, Laughing Gulls, Great and Snowy Egrets, and at least one of each of the following were sighted: Green Heron, Skimmer, Stilt, and Glossy Ibis. While eating lunch in the boat, they saw a Great Blue Heron kill a sting ray and try to eat it: the heron was still stabbing the sting ray when they left.
< Tim Homan saw several immature white ibis, immature little blue herons, and some great egrets at Brush Creek Lake near Colbert in late July.
< Karla and Bill O=Grady went to Dyar Pasture early in the morning to view the marsh area. While still in the parking lot they saw a young (probably third year) bald eagle perched on a snag out in the river, enjoying a fish breakfast. They had watched the eagle for a while when a juvenile osprey came on the scene, dived at the eagle and sent it scurrying away. The osprey assumed the perch to enjoy the spoils of victory only to find out why the eagle had been so easily vanquished: All that remained of the fish was its skeleton. The marsh was enjoyable as well. There were lots of little blue herons, several great blue herons and great egrets as well as a juvenile green-backed heron that poked around the shore only ten feet from them.
< Page Luttrell saw a
group of 16 swallow-tailed kites at Choctaw National Wildllife Refuge,
Alabama, on August 3.
Would You Like to be the New Editor of AThe Yellowthroat@? Garnett S. Stokes
The search is on for a new editor for the ORAS newsletter.
It is not a hard job, and you don=t
even have to be an experienced birder. In fact, as most people who know
me are aware, I am a novice birder myself. I took this job because I wanted
to do something for ORAS, and I knew this was a job that I could easily
squeeze into my Aspare time.@
I knew how to do some basic word processing, and I knew a little bit about
such things as creating columns, etc. The Atemplate@
for the newsletter was given to me, and that is what I have worked with
for the last two years. All this to say that the job is not very difficult.
It requires between two and four hours of time each month, including communicating
with people regarding sightings and submissions, actually putting together
the newsletter, and getting it over to ORAS=s
chosen copier for copies. From there, someone else picks it up and gets
it mailed. Many things are submitted to me on disk or via e-mail, and all
I must do is cut and paste the article into the newsletter. The editor=s
job is a great one for someone who doesn=t
mind a little work on the computer and wants or needs Aflexible@
hours. People have been remarkably good about getting material to me by
deadline. I have a folder of filler material that I use when I don=t
have enough submitted from others. The new editor will receive all my files
with filler material, as well as disks with previous newsletters to serve
as a template for future ones. The new editor will also get any necessary
help from me with the first newsletters, to help ease the transition. If
this sounds like a job you would consider, call me (Garnett Stokes) at
353-2344 or Elizabeth Little at 795-5017, or you could e-mail either one
of us at the address shown in the box on the second page.
Brasstown Bald Trip Report Bill O=Grady
The June 27 trip to Brasstown Bald (with side trips to
Sosebee Cove and Cooper Creek) was a lot of fun and yielded 54 species
including the following: Broad-winged Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Veery
Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated
Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and Ovenbird.
Josh Marks Addresses ORAS at July Meeting Marta Daniell
The highlight of our July meeting was a presentation by Josh Marks, Conservation Organizer for the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club. Josh provided information regarding the threat to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from the proposed strip mine that was accompanied by an excellent slide presentation. His slides highlighted the fragile beauty of the refuge and the ugliness and destruction that accompanies a strip mine operation. The slides of the Dupont mining operation were from a site in North Florida.
Josh was well-informed about the unique qualities of the Okefenokee and the problems associated with strip mining. He detailed a trip he and others made to Dupont=s annual shareholders meeting in Delaware to push a shareholder resolution urging the company to abandon its plans to mine titanium dioxide on the edge of the Okefenokee. The resolution was defeated, receiving 3.4 percent of the vote. Although that sounds small, it=s more than 51 million shares and enough to get the topic on next year=s agenda, reported Josh.
The group seemed particularly interested in the various uses for titanium dioxide. Josh stated that it is used primarily as a whitener in such products as paint, paper, and the cream filling in Oreo cookies. Believe it or not, the AM@ on M & M candy has titanium dioxide in it. Josh pointed out that it is not a rare mineral and can be found in areas not as environmentally sensitive as the Okefenokee.
Josh expressed appreciation for our efforts to help protect
the Okefenokee. He encouraged us to continue getting petitions signed and
return them to the Sierra Club. Thanks to Josh for his efforts on behalf
of the Okefenokee and for taking time to address the ORAS.
National Audubon Calls for Prosecution of Cormorant Killers
On July 29th at least 850 dead cormorants were found on Little Galloo Island in eastern Lake Ontario, while another 100 birds were discovered dying of shotgun wounds. The National Audubon Society condemns this cruel action, and calls for the apprehension and prosecution of the guilty parties. "The needless slaughter of 850 cormorants was morally, ethically and professionally reprehensible" said David J. Miller, Executive Director of the National Audubon Society of New York State. "Audubon has urged the State of New York to find the perpetrators and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. This dark act takes us back to the turn of the century when the conservation movement was created to stop the senseless killing of wildlife."
Scores of partially paralyzed chicks were euthanized by
the New State Department of Environmental Conservation staff from Watertown.
One pile of dead chicks contained 91 bodies. Amid the bloody carcasses,
several buckets full of spent 12-gauge shotgun shells were recovered. Little
Galloo Island, where the incident took place, had contained nesting colonies
of about 7500 pairs of Double-crested Cormorants, 80,000 pairs of Ring-billed
Gulls, and 1225 pairs of Caspian Terns. Little Galloo Island is an Audubon
Important Bird Area, meaning it provides irreplaceable homes or breeding
grounds for a significant number of particular bird species. Despite mounting
scientific evidence to the contrary, many are convinced that birds are
the reason for a decline in the local fishery and the subsequent economic
losses to charter boat captains. Local charter fishing guides have been
threatening for weeks to take the law into their own hands. Only a full
investigation will reveal who the guilty parties really are.
A Bird-Watcher=s Guide to Motorists
Submitted by Carrie Straight
Gleeful Splatter-dasher: Loves to douse pedestrians.
Head-turning Chatterbird: Seldom keeps his eyes front.
Hill-passing Swift: Ignores Ano passing@ signs on hills.
Ruffle-fendered Tail-gater: Bears marks of too-close contact.
Addlepated Honker: Always sounds off without reason.
Nocturnal Dimwit: Drives in the dark with parking lights.
Torpid Highway Creeper: A menace to all other road runners.
One-eyed Nighthawk: Ignores his burned-out headlight.
Gawking Booby: Gazes around while driving. (A species related to the Head-turning Chatterbird, above)
Crosswalk Creeper: Can=t resist cheating on the takeoff.
These species are not extinct, so while driving, keep a sharp lookout for these birds.
Oconee Audubon Society
P.O. Box 48132
Athens, Georgia 30604-8132