10/31/15 Orlando Wetlands Pk field trip

Who:  Space Coast Audubon Society

When:  Saturday October 31, 2015

Where:  Orlando Wetlands Park

I will be leading a Space Coast Audubon field trip to Orlando Wetlands Park on Saturday October 31^st.   We will meet at 7:00 am at the Cracker Barrel at I-95 & SR 50 (Exit # 215).  From there we will carpool to Orlando Wetlands Pk in Christmas.  I  would suggest bringing drinks, snacks, sunscreen and bug spray (optional).  We will be walking so wear comfortable footwear.  The adult male Vermilion Flycatcher has not returned this year but there is a juvenile male Vermilion Flycatcher and has seemed to have taken up residence in Cell 17 which is the same area where the male Vermilion Flycatcher has been seen the past several years.  Please email me at beachbirder@bellsouth.net if you will be going so I can have a list of attendees.

Look forward to a good turnout.

Jim Eager

Space Coast Audubon

Vice President

Program/Publicity Chair

Endangered Species Updates

Reprinted from the American Bird Conservancy

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Proposed for ESA Listing:  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed recently proposed that a suite of 49 Hawaiian species be listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Among the bees, shrimp, and plants put forward for protection is one bird species: the Hawaiian population of the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, a small seabird believed to have dwindled to only 240 known pairs. In this ecosystem-based approach, FWS is proposing to list the petrel along with dozens of other species that share the bird's important and heavily impacted habitats: the coastal, dry cliff, and wet cliff ecosystems of Hawai‘i. Read our opinion on ABC’s “Bird Calls” blog.

Elfin-woods Warbler Proposed for Listing: The Elfin-woods Warbler inhabits two small forest areas in Puerto Rico and is currently at risk throughout its range due to threats including sun coffee production. In addition, other natural or manmade factors, such as restricted distribution and lack of connectivity, genetic drift, hurricanes, and climate change, are considered threats.  We support this the proposed listing.

Lesser Prairie-Chicken Loses ESA Protection:  A federal court in Texas recently stripped the Lesser Prairie-Chicken of Endangered Species Act protection. At ABC we believe that the long-term decline of the species suggests the need to continue the significant private conservation efforts being undertaken by agencies and landowners, and caution against changes in ESA protection until a sustained range-wide recovery of the species is achieved.While there are recent encouraging signs, the species is vulnerable to drought conditions, and populations fluctuate significantly over time. Additional impacts from industrial developments could tip the balance since the species' recovery is still precarious.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker Translocation to Great Dismal Swamp: Biologists from several agencies and organizations have come together to make preparations for a historic woodpecker translocation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, North Carolina Department of Transportation, The Nature Conservancy, The Center for Conservation Biology, and J. Carter & Associates have all joined forces in a coordinated effort to move Red-cockaded Woodpeckers to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The effort has been years in the making and will attempt to establish a new population of the federally endangered woodpecker on the refuge.  For more, see The Center for Conservation Biology’s newsletter.

Climate Corner: World’s Biggest Emitters Pledge Carbon Cuts

Reprinted from the Audubon Advisory

In the last few weeks, many of the world’s largest economies and biggest greenhouse gas emitters have pledged substantial cuts to their emissions. Chinarecently pledged to cap its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, launch a national cap-and-trade system, and invest $3.1 billion to help developing countries fight climate change and adapt to its effects. Brazil announced it will reduce its carbon emissions by 37 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2025, and the country aims for a 43 percent reduction by 2030. Last week, India pledged to cut its emissions by 33 to 35 percent from 2005 levels and source 40 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuels by 2030.

In all, more than 130 nations have submitted greenhouse gas reduction plans in advance of the upcoming COP21 climate conference in Paris. The pledges represent important progress in the right direction, although many environmental groups and analysts stress that more action will be needed to curb the impacts of climate change.

Environmentally Responsible Investing

Reprinted from As You Sow

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Fossil Free Funds changes all that. This first-of-its-kind tool gives you the power to know what you own. Many mutual funds are invested in fossil fuel companies that hold huge reserves of carbon, putting our planet at risk.

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October 10, 2015 Florida Keys Hawkwatch

By Jim Eager

Red-Shoulder Hawk Photo by
 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

Many of you know about the legendary Peregrine Falcon counts at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch. They hold the single day and seasonal world records. 638 counted on Oct. 11, 2008, 651 on Oct. 10, 2012 and 4,219 for the 2014 season. Well my fellow hawk watchers the record was obliterated yesterday Oct. 10, 2015. They counted 1,506 Peregrine Falcons. Big congratulations to Rafael Galvez, Ted Keyel and the rest of the Florida Keys Hawkwatch volunteers. I was a counter there for nearly 3 seasons so it is near and dear to my heart. Rafael used to call me militant when I referred to the peregrines. Indeed I am. In case some don't know Space Coast Audubon has been a sponsor/partner of this awesome hawkwatch since 2011.

October 16th Meeting

Join Space Coast Audubon Society for our October 16^th Meeting

“Bird Banding Basics and Current Research on Painted Buntings”

WHO:  Space Coast Audubon Society (SCAS)

WHERE:  Rockledge Presbyterian Church, 921 Rockledge Dr, Rockledge, FL

WHEN:   October 16, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Nancy LaFramboise will present Bird Banding Basics and Current Research on Painted Buntings

Nancy has been studying birds since 1982 and has birded in 49 of the 50 states and parts of Canada.  She started banding training as a volunteer for US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2001 and eventually worked for them.  She worked with a sub-permit on a study of White-crowned Sparrows in Washington State from 2007 until 2011 when she moved to Stuart.  Since September 2012 Nancy has been running a banding station at Audubon of Martin County's property in Stuart (Possum Long).  In December 2013 she started banding Painted Buntings in conjunction with the volunteers who assist me and the University of North Carolina.

Banding is a research tool used to understand many data points about birds.  It can help the researcher understand more about abundance, ages, species diversity, and site fidelity in bird populations.  The program in Stuart at the Audubon of Martin County property known as Possum Long has been operating since October 2012 and has provided some interesting information and species.  This project has also led to the banding team working with the University of North Carolina on its Painted Bunting Research.  In order to help understand this declining species, banding is being used to document birds returning to feeders, where overwintering Florida birds go to breed, what makes a Painted Bunting choose a yard, and much more.  

           

Visit the Space Coast Audubon Society website at www.spacecoastaudubon.org and check out the Space Coast Audubon Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Space-Coast-Audubon

We look forward to another great turnout.

Jim Eager

Space Coast Audubon Society

Vice President

Program/Publicity Chair