The  Pileated  Woodpecker

   The Newsletter  of  the  Sanibel-Captiva  Audubon  Society

PO Box 957, Sanibel, Florida 33957-0957                                  Fall, 2006  Volume 31, Number 4    

Our Mission:

 

Promoting

Interests is

Wildlife on

Sanibel

And

Captiva Islands,

and fostering

the

Cause of

Conservation

With emphasis

on

birds

And their

Habitat.

             The month of October is time to formalize conservation plans for Audubon of Florida, when statewide conservation priorities get fleshed out and regional conservation committees prioritize local issues.  Audubon of Florida identified five state-wide policy strategies thought to be most appropriate to our wildlife habitat and conservation mission.

The following summary briefly summarizes these strategies focus:

1. Land Conservation and Public Land Management – the focus here includes increasing appropriations for conservation lands to Florida Forever; completing Everglades land acquisition by 2010; exploration of rural land stewardship programs for private land holdings; and work to increase funding of public land management agencies.

 

Board Members

 

Paul Andrews, Pres.

 

Jim Griffith, Vice Pres.

 

Susan Harpham, Sec.

 

Tom Rothman, Treas.

 

Chris Andrews

 

Kevin Bowden

 

Malcolm Harpham

 

Elaine Jacobson

 

Dale McGinley

 

Brian Mishell

 

Dolores Mishell

 

Jean Reuther

 

Hugh Verry

             Like many of you, Chris & I joined the migration north following our Sanibel-Captiva birding contingent to the ABA convention, where we provided cheerleading to the active participants as they explored birds in our downeast Maine playground.  We then migrated from the Gulf of Maine for a respite in the Gulf of Alaska, meeting up with Garrison Keillor and the Prairie Home Companion crew and a trip down the inside passage in Alaska – kayaking in Tatouche (Ketchikan), hiking the Mendenhall glacier, birding sea bird colony islands in Sitka and whale watching.  We saw more than just ‘gospel birds’ i.e. rhinoceros auklets, pelagic cormorants, black oystercatchers, common murres and swimming eagles.  We saw a resident pod of Orca’s in Victoria (the city that flushes 23 million gallons of raw sewage daily into the Pacific) and over 200 humpback and sperm whales.

             We enjoyed our backyard birding at Petite Manaan NWR and Great Wass Island Preserve in Maine.  While walking solo in the Refuge I came upon a group of spruce grouse (fools hens) all around my feet.  At home, we were treated to a visit by a baby harbor seal and mother.  The mother dropped the newborn off in the sea grass at high tide while she left to feed, returning later to pick up her baby.  We were also visited by two big black furry animals with pairs of red earrings (tags denoting a curious adolescent) – needless to say our bird feeders didn’t survive their visits and the nuthatches and chickadees scoured the yard trying to find their missing feeders.

             Before I left, I attended one of the country-wide “listening sessions” in Bangor sponsored by the Department of the Interior, represented by Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.  I represented the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society by speaking passionately about our examples of cooperative conservation practiced in and around Sanibel and Captiva, making my case for support of our refuge system.  I returned home to reunite with Chris, the new representative on the Board of Directors for Audubon of Florida, representing the concerns of Sanibel-Captiva and southwest Florida. (see page 2)  We enjoyed our time at Audubon of Florida’s Assembly and we look forward to a productive year with our membership.                                                                                   Paul

PS:   My blood pressure dropped 25 points – being close to nature must be where it’s at – that’s an easy pill to swallow.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

AUDUBON CONSERVATION PRIORITIES

by Chris Andrews