World Birding Rally in Peru

World Birding Rally Nor Amazon 2014

From May 12th to 20th, four teams with renowned birders from United States, South Africa and United Kingdom will travel through the Nor Amazon route in search of the many bird species that habit this area. Organized by Inkaterra and PromPerú, the fourth edition of the World Birding Rally covers a 1503-km search area across twelve life zones, from coastal Lambayeque to Amazonian San Martin. It is the second time that the intense challenge follows this 8-day itinerary, which allowed last year’s teams to register a total of 864 species (10% of all bird species throughout the world), with 34 endemics among them. 

The World Birding Rally is an effort to sponsor Peru’s potential as one of the world’s most exciting locations for birdwatching. It also raises awareness on the environment, and contributes with the economic growth in underdeveloped areas through sustainable tourism.

 Space Coast Audubon's David Simpson is one of 4 team members on the Surbound team. 

Team Members L-R:  David Simpson, Alfredo Begazo(Team Leader), Adam Kent & Tim Towles.

Join Space Coast Audubon Society for our May 16th Meeting: Potluck Dinner and Auction

The May meeting is a gathering of folks for a good ole fashion potluck dinner and auction to raise money for education.  Bring your checkbooks and cash and be ready to pounce on the items that might tickle your fancy. Usual auction items are many bird related field guides and books that are just dying to be added to someone’s library.  You never know what might be dying to be snatched up.  In the past there have been knick knacks, various artwork including paintings, photographs and also bird feeders and plants.

Conjure up a new favorite concoction or bring your favorite dish and come join us for some great eats.  Swap some of your favorite birding stories whether it be that elusive nemesis bird you discovered or the one that is still eludes you after many attempts to chase.  Always great friendship and a good time had by all.

This will be our last meeting, for the season, until we come together again on September 19, 2014.   And remember although we don’t meet in June, July and August and it’s the dog days of birding, so to speak, you never know when a trip might pop up during the summer.  So check the Limpkin blog and the listserv at www.spacecoastaudubon@yahoogroups.com from time to time.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all general meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. in Calvin Hall at the Rockledge Presbyterian Church, 921 Rockledge Drive (on the corner of Orange Ave) Rockledge, FL. 

Battle in the Yard

By Matt Heyden

On a hot day last week, I was working at the kitchen table, and watching the bird baths and feeders.  Under the mulberry tree I saw a disturbance.  I run a peaceful establishment here, so no barroom brawls allowed.  In the binocs, I see two of my largest gopher tortoises duking it out.  I watched for about 10 minutes, and it got more and more violent.  We have 5 of these pets on the property, but I can't tell them apart.  So, I didn't know what the battle was about, or even who came out of the closest hole.  What to do?  Finally, I realize it's getting serious, so I go out and slowly approach them.  They stand their ground, stop and both look at me.  I explain that I don't approve, and have bent over backward to accomodate them and all of their friends.  The property now looks like a bombing range!  I have no dogs, cats or kids.  The least they can do is share.  So, I decide not to move either of them, as I don't know who belongs where.   I swear I heard one of them say:  "never mind him, he has no idea whatsoever what really goes on in his yard when he's not looking, and he's just a tree hugger!!!"
I go back inside to finish my work, but can't help but watch.  It gets much more violent with both on their hind legs, and then one winds up on its back.
I have to make a decision.  Leave him on his back in the hot sun or not?  The poor guy was desperately fighting to get back over, but couldn't.  Now this is killing me, as I love all five of them.  Do I get involved, or let him bake?  I'm not going to tell you today what happened.  But think about this, as I don't know which of these tortoises belongs where.  What would you do?

…

We pick up here with one of my large gopher tortoises, now on its back backing in the hot sun.  No matter what he did, he couldn't right himself.  I had to make a decision.  My choices:

1.  let nature take its course.  If he bakes, he bakes.
2.  intervene, rescue him and move him somewhere else, but where?  What if this was his territory? What if he was actually not one of mine?

After watching him bake for about 2 hours, his legs stopped moving.  Yeah, like I would let that happen to one of my outdoor pets!  No, that's not what happened!  By the time I made my decision, option 1 or option 2, (which I won't tell you which one I chose)  something else happened, which I never would have believed.   The tortoise was on his back for all of 90 seconds.  The other tortoise re-positioned himself and charged with its head down, like a bull dozer.  In one crash, the tortoise on its back was flipped back on its feet, as if it were some kind of demolition derby.  The poor guy just stood there kind of stunned.  The winning tortoise then backs up, moves to the rear of the recovering tortoise, and charges again.  He was going to shove the tortoise far, far, away.  After the third crash, the recovering tortoise, ran, and I mean ran away. He proceeded to go through the thick vegetation at the property line, and under the fence to the property next door.
     So, peace has returned to the kingdom, or so I want to think.  However, after having 3 nights of barred owl visits, I can only find one rabbit.  It's almost like they can fly away.......naw.

Nature on the Net

• If Marjory Stoneman Douglas had had video, I'll bet she would have produced something like this about the Everglades. Bill Belleville & Co. at Equinox Documentaries are working on a wonderful new video about our springs; Click here to watch the trailer.
• This Bill Gates Infographic Reveals The World's Deadliest Animal — And It's Not Even A Close Race
• Chile turns to owls to combat fatal disease
• Fish Crows: Egg Thieves
• Male Eurasian Jays Surprise Ornithologists
• Blue-Footed Booby Threatened in the Galápagos
• Forest Jewel: Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Eagle Steals a Camera and Creates One-of-a-Kind Film

Save-the-Date: Audubon Assembly - October 17-18, 2014 - Hutchinson Island

Date: Oct. 17-18, 2014
Location: Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina

Audubon staff and volunteers are hard at work preparing this year's programs and events. Please stay tuned in the coming months for additional information, including registration material, Assembly theme announcement, field trip details, prices, and guest speakers.

Don't miss what is sure to be the best Assembly yet, mark October 17-18 on your calendars right now!
See you in October!

Birds of the Indian River Lagoon Presentation

Patricia Tierney, Naturalist, Sams House at Pine Island Conservation Area

Pelican Island Audubon Society office manager and wildlife photographer Bob Montanaro will provide a photo presentation titled:  "The Birds of the Indian River Lagoon" on Saturday, June 7th at 10am at the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program's historic education center, Sams House at Pine Island.  Join us in the air-conditioned cabin as Bob takes us on a photo journey up and down the IRL, capturing the beauty of our diverse bird residents and migrants.  This hour-long presentation is free to the public.  Sams House at Pine Island is located north of SR 528 at 6195 North Tropical Trail, Merritt Island, FL 32953.  Call 321-449-4720 with questions.

Photographic proof of a very unlikely event

Dee Fairbanks Simpson

A few weeks ago, someone asked here if there are hummingbirds nesting in Brevard County. I responded, telling her about the hummingbird nest that was directly above our booth at the Enchanted Forest Earth Day celebration a few years back.

Up until yesterday, that was the only hummingbird nest I'd ever seen. So, David and I were teaching beginning birding at the Women in the Outdoors festival yesterday, when David noticed a hummingbird... going in and out of a nest directly above our booth. What on earth are the chances of that happening not once, but TWICE in my life?? It is pretty unbelievable, so I posted a blog of both the EF nest as well as the WITO one:

http://www.deederange.net/2014/04/extremely-unlikely-events.html

2014 Legislative Session Report: Florida's water set to become big issue of 2015

Reprinted from the Audubon Advocate

The 2014 Florida Legislative Session has come and gone and will be scored as a major success for Audubon Advocates. Every time you raised your voice in opposition, bad bills died.
You signed a petition in opposition to hydraulic fracturing and the two bills relating to that came to a screeching halt. You let everyone know you were fed up with bills that weakened or destroyed environmental protection and bills ceased to move through committees.
From the beginning of session and all throughout, we heard that next year will be the year for water policy issues as the incoming leadership prefers to address those important topics at the 2015 Session. If this year was any kind of dress rehearsal, then no doubt we are ready. And fired up.
The 2014 Legislative Session brought out many new supporters as Senators and Representatives alike began to understand the need to address some of the state’s critical water quality problems. Senator Joe Negron (R-Palm City) led the way with the creation of the Senate Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin last summer which resulted in record funding for this area and many Everglades projects as well.
Also in the Senate, an impressive “Gang of Five” consisting of Senator David Simmons, Senator Charlie Dean, Senator Wilton Simpson, Senator Bill Montford and Senator Alan Hays put their best effort into launching a Springs bill, only to have it refused in the House. The good news here is that Senate President Elect Andy Gardiner has stated that he intends to see this through next year when he becomes President of the Senate. Here’s hoping Speaker Designate Steve Crisafulli is more receptive to the need for this bill next year as well.
The 2014 session was marked by a budget surplus and the ever present awareness of upcoming elections in the fall. While we had some disappointments such as the decreased funding for Florida Forever, all in all it was a good session for Florida's environment. Thank you for your continued support.

 Next year will be the year of water policy.With your help, we will be ready.

Flyways for Flyweights: Small Birds Capitalize on Weather Patterns During Epic Migrations

Reprinted from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Blackpoll Warbler by Brian Sullivan.

In one of the greatest feats of endurance in the biological world, millions of tiny songbirds—many weighing less than an ounce—migrate thousands of miles to Central and South America each year. Now scientists are finding out how these featherweights do it: using elliptical routes that take advantage of prevailing wind patterns to save calories. “Most of what we’ve known about migration routes comes from ducks and geese,” said Frank La Sorte, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology research associate and lead author of a new paper in Journal of Biogeography. “But terrestrial birds are much smaller and they aren’t reliant on the same kinds of habitats. There really isn’t a narrow migration path for them, and they aren’t necessarily in the same place in spring and fall.”   American Redstart, one of the songbird species identified in the study as part of an Eastern migratory flyway. Photo by Brian Sullivan. Scientists for years could do little but assume songbirds followed the same well-defined “flyways” that ducks, geese, and shorebirds use to travel up and down the continent: one flyway along each coast, one up the Mississippi River valley, and one in the center of the continent. Those flyways were delineated by compiling leg-band recoveries and hunter records—techniques that don’t work for small songbirds that migrate at night. The new work solved this problem with a fresh approach and crowdsourced data submitted to the Cornell Lab’s eBird project between 2004 and 2011. The researchers analyzed thousands of sightings to develop, for each of 93 species, an aggregate picture of where a species is during spring and fall migration. Although they weren't tracking individual birds, collectively the sightings gave them an indication of how the species were migrating. They then used computer models to sort species with similar movement patterns into groups. They also compared migration routes with seasonal patterns of prevailing winds at night. The study revealed that most land birds fit into three main groups, a Western group consisting of 31 species, a Central group of 17 species, and 45 species in an Eastern group (examples include the Black-throated Gray Warbler, Clay-colored Sparrow, and American Redstart, respectively). The researchers kept the term “flyway” to retain the analogy to waterfowl movements, but they noted these flyways are much more spread out across the continent, and routes in the Central and Eastern groups overlap considerably. The analysis also revealed that many more land birds than previously realized follow different routes in spring and fall—particularly in the East, where many species cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single overnight flight. Unlike waterfowl, which migrate north and south along the same relatively narrow routes, rather like semi-trucks on an interstate, songbirds are more like passenger cars touring back roads. They are less tied to a single habitat than waterfowl, so they can fan out across the continent. Many species in the Eastern and Central groups take southbound routes far to the east of their northbound routes, resulting in a clockwise migration loop that puts some of them out over the Atlantic Ocean on their way to their wintering grounds.   Blackpoll Warblers migrate along different routes in spring and fall. The new study shows many other songbirds migrate in similar elliptical routes. Photo by Brian Sullivan.  By shifting routes, birds are taking advantage of stronger tailwinds in spring and less severe headwinds in fall, the study’s analysis of prevailing winds found. Tailwinds represent a huge advantage for birds heading back to their breeding grounds, La Sorte said, while finding weaker headwinds in fall allows southbound birds to make the best of a bad situation. The pattern has been noted in the past for a few species, such as the Blackpoll Warbler, but this study gives the first indication of how widespread it is among land birds. The findings may help refine ideas about how and where to plan for conservation along migratory pathways. “All these species migrate at night, at high altitudes, where we can’t see them,” La Sorte said. “But when the sun comes up in the morning they have to find somewhere to land. So any new knowledge about where they’re traveling is valuable to conservation planners.” In addition to La Sorte, the paper’s authors include Daniel Fink, Wesley Hochachka, Andrew Farnsworth, Amanda Rodewald, Kenneth Rosenberg, Brian Sullivan, David Winkler, Chris Wood, and Steve Kelling, all of the Cornell Lab. The research was supported by grants from the Leon Levy Foundation, the Wolf Creek Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

State Budget Includes Record Amounts for Everglades

Tamiami Trail Bridge, Indian River Lagoon, and more get much needed attention from the Florida Legislature.

The 2014 Florida Legislature is poised to finalize the 2015 budget and the Everglades is getting record amounts, including a whopping $90 million three-year commitment to match federal funds for Tamiami Trail bridging. The budget also funds a range of important projects and programs for the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and estuaries.
Other Everglades items include $40 million for the C-44 reservoir project to help reduce harmful discharges to the St. Lucie Estuary, $32 million for the state’s Everglades Water Quality Plan, and $18 million for the C-43 reservoir to help improve the health of the Caloosahatchee Estuary. The budget also funds a number of projects to store and clean water throughout the Northern Everglades and estuaries.
While not giving specific numbers, the budget states that funds may be increased or decreased to expedite the completion of the Kissimmee River Restoration, C-111 South Dade, and the Picayune Strand restoration projects. These are three top priority projects which will help restore the flow of water from the Northern Everglades south to rehydrate Florida Bay, and rehydrate wetlands.
Audubon acknowledges the Everglades Foundation for their leadership to increase Everglades funding. We will continue to advance the construction and operation of these projects through vigorous advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels.
This record Everglades budget is due in part to Senator Joe Negron (R-Palm City) who convened a Select Senate Committee that held public hearings and recommended many of the projects in the budget. 

Please click here to more information on Greater Everglades appropriations.

Alert! Stop Carbon Pollution Now

Birds have long been bellwethers of nature gone astray. And they have been telling us for a while that climate change is here, and now. The signs are clear—migrating songbirds are arriving early, and species that normally don't hang around for winter are becoming more common. Climate change is upon us. But there is good news. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a rule to curb carbon pollution from new power plants—a historic first step in the fight to slow down climate change. Audubon and our partners collected over three million comments when the draft rule was published. Now let's put it over the finish line with your support today. Please send in your comments to support EPA's final rule to limit industrial carbon pollution from new power plants. Many energy companies are now adopting new technologies that will reduce carbon emissions by as much as 50 percent by 2030. The companies are taking these steps voluntarily, without being required by government regulation. Moreover, efforts to curb carbon pollution have been underway in municipalities and statehouses across the country. But it's not enough without federal leadership. Now, for the first time ever, the EPA has moved to cut industrial carbon emissions from a major source like power plants—responsible for 30 percent of the carbon pollution in the U.S. Less carbon pollution from power plants means less mercury and less toxic gas, which in turn mean less asthma and fewer early deaths from lung and heart disease. Reducing carbon pollution is our best chance of slowing climate change. This rule to curb pollution from new power plants is that first important step. Let's send EPA a final show of support for this critical first step to reduce industrial carbon pollution and make the air cleaner for all. Please send in your comments today. Comments are due May 9, don't delay!

Sincerely, David Yarnold President & CEO, National Audubon Society

Join New “YardMap” Project to Create Bird Habitat

Reprinted from Cornell Lab of Ornithology News

The backyard is far more than a place to install a pool, hold a barbecue, or toss a Frisbee. The sum of all North American yards and neighborhood green spaces equals major habitat for birds and other wildlife. Creating larger, connected patches of bird-friendly habitat is one goal of the new YardMap citizen-science project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The project has undergone extensive testing by 10,000 users who created more than 6,700 maps. YardMap is ready for everyone and is now inviting new participants to join.

“People often think their yard is too small or too urban to impact wildlife, but that just isn’t true,” says YardMap project leader Rhiannon Crain. “For many plant and animal species a yard can mean the world. A butterfly can live its whole life from egg through caterpillar to butterfly in one person’s yard, so it matters quite a lot if the owner uses pesticides.”

After signing up for the free online project, participants zoom in on satellite images to construct maps of their yards, local parks, workplaces, local cemeteries, or any other green space they know well. They mark the maps to show areas of lawn, buildings, native plants, feeders, and other landscape features. Scientists and participants can see how the spaces connect to form larger landscapes and share information about improving habitats at home and across communities. By pairing habitat information with bird sightings, participants learn about the effects of different gardening practices at a much larger scale.

Changes don’t need to be dramatic. Putting in a few native plants, moving feeders closer to windows to reduce deadly collisions, or creating a brush pile birds can use to escape from predators can all have a significant impact for local birds.

“Right now we’re losing 21 million acres of habitat every 10 years to residential development,” says Crain. “But we also know there are millions of people out there concerned about the environment, ready to tread more lightly on the land. Even if you’re just starting your wildlife garden, we’d love to share the journey as you document your progress with YardMap.”