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• Those Little Brown Jobs And More!
• President's column
• PBS Airs “Stokes Birds at Home” in Tallahassee
• Member's Travel Column
• Landscaping for Wildlife Extension Seminar Series 2000

The Apalachee Audubon Chapter wants to recognize and thank Buckeye Florida for its generous contribution in support of publishing this Newsletter.

By Jim Cox

   Are you still having troubles identifying the numerous "little brown jobs" that fly around north Florida all winter?  Are you interested in learning the difference between the call notes of a Song Sparrow and a Swamp Sparrow?
These and other wonders of our winter bird life will be discussed at a special workshop at Tall Timbers Research Station in February.  The workshop on the "Little Brown Jobs of North Florida" will be led by Jim Cox and will cover identification issues for some of the less familiar winter visitors we have here in Leon County.  The workshop will take place on Saturday, February 26,  at 8:00 a.m. It will include a slide presentation and follow-up field trip around the Station.  Other surprises may unfold as well.
   The workshop will begin at the Education Cabin at Tall Timbers.  The workshop is free but is limited to the first 25 people who register.  Call 893-4153 extension 251 to register.  Registering more than two people per call is generally not allowed.

   Tall Timbers Research Station is located off of County Road 12 in northern Leon County.  From Thomasville Road, take County Road 12 West for 2.6 miles.  The Station is located on the South Side of the Road at the end of Henry Beadel Road.  You can also learn more about the Station by visiting its web page at:
 www.ttrs.org.
 

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   A couple of months ago I told you that Ellen and I had recently purchased a home with about five acres.  This is an older homestead consisting of a traditional yard and a pecan grove.  Our goal is to return most of the property to its original state and increase habitat for wildlife.  To this end we contacted volunteer members of the Master Wildlife Conservationist organization.  They are a cadre of volunteers organized and trained by professional employees of the U. of Florida/ Leon Co. Extension Office to assist homeowners in planing and creating wildlife habitats on their property.  Many of these volunteers are also members of Apalachee Audubon.
   Shortly after our initial contact Joe Newton, Ben Fusaro and George Apthorp made a Saturday morning visit to our place.  As the first step in the process they surveyed the property and created an existing conditions map.  This map noted all significant trees, feeding stations, structures, and any exotic invasive plants found on the property. They identified the existing native plants and gave us advice on the removal of the exotics.  From this map we produced a plan for the property’s return to native habitat. They gave us a detailed list of what were the most likely plants that were originally here. We were given informational pamphlets giving advise on ways to create species specific habitats,     food , and water sources. We are now armed with detailed plan to use as a guideline.  We have also applied for a wildlife friendly certification for the property.
   We thoroughly enjoyed the process and really appreciated the helpful assistance. I hope many of you may one day decide to take advantage of this free service and begin creating habitats for wildlife in your yards too.  For program information and to find out about an ongoing lecture series covering many topics pertinent to wildlife habitat call the Extension office at 487-3003 and ask for Cindy Boyer.  Boy have I got a lot of plants to get in before spring! Help!

Jim Shelton

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There is a new,  national, 13-part television series on birding called "Stokes Birds at Home"  that will begin airing in YOUR area starting this month!  Here are the details:

Starting JANUARY 23rd (that's a Sunday) at  2 p.m., "Stokes Birds at Home"  will be on the following channels:

Panama City -- on WFSG (Ch. 56)
Tallahassee -- on WFSU (Ch. 11)

   The show is hosted by popular bird authorities Don and Lillian Stokes and  will feature great birding tips, advice on how to attract birds, and travel to popular birding locales all across the country.

Additional information is available at http://www stokesbirdsathome.com.

Feel free to contact us with questions.
Don and Lillian Stokes

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By Dave Redfield

 Picture it. Creeping along quietly in our zodiac under a crystal blue sky, standing before us is the endangered and rare Steller's Sea-Eagle, the world's largest eagle with wings outstretched eight feet. The Avachinskiy Volcano is in the background coughing up its plume of smoke several hundred feet high every ten to fifteen minutes. WOW!

Our base was the World Discoverer. Zegrahm's tour leaders included Peter Harrison, unquestionably the world's expert on sea birds, and Dr. Don Walsh who in 1960 established the yet unmatched world record dive when he piloted the Navy bathyscaph "Trieste" to the deepest point in the World's oceans.

The Kamchatka Peninsula is the land of some three hundred smoking volcanoes, of which twenty-nine are active. It's also the seat of the Kronotskiy Reserve, a 2.5 million-acre World Heritage Site. Being one of the largest protected wildlife areas in Russia, it has over thirty-seven species of animals and over two hundred twelve species of birds. We spent several days exploring the coast and rivers in our zodiacs. Yes, we did see the Russian brown bear, several of them. Birds seen included such US vagrants as the Yellow-breasted Bunting, Japanese Gray Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Pechora Pipit, Olive-backed Pipit, Siberian Rubythroat, Dusky Warbler, and the Laneolated Warbler. Being the first group of Westerners ever to be allowed on the Kamchatka Peninsula since before WW II, was indeed a privilege. It made us feel like true explorers, well almost.

After Kamchatka, the beautiful Russian Commander Islands. En route a pod of several dozen Orka (killer) whales swam within 50 feet of us for over 20 minutes. Menke whales and several Laysan Albatross were seen as well. We stopped at the Village of Nikolskoe where Vitus Bering, the great explorer who discovered the coast of Alaska, died of scurvy and is buried. The cliffs served as host to fifty-five species of sea birds with populations in the tens of thousands. And at the foot of the cliffs we saw hundreds of Sea Lions and Fur Seals - all protected under international treaty in 1984. Playing in the nearby waters were lots of Harbor Seals and Sea Otters.

While in a zodiac among the islands, Peter excitedly hollered "Crested Auklet, no a few Whiskered - - - My God they're all Whiskered Auklets!" We shut off the outboard and quietly paddled in amongst the birds. Here surrounded by Auklets in the fog no ship or land in sight. We were many miles from either. We carefully estimated the number of these Auklets as they are the rarest of all the alcids. There are only ten known colonies of these birds the largest of which is about 3000 birds. We found ourselves among rafts of between four and seven thousand birds. Peter was ecstatic, we all were.

We left the Commander Islands with  many exciting days ahead of us including St. Paul Island of the Pribilofs (home to some of the largest populations of sea birds in the western hemisphere including breeding colonies of Red-legged Kittiwakes, Horned and Crested Puffins). From the bridge I saw Humpback and Gray Whales as well as Laysan Albatross, Fork-tailed and Leach's Storm-Petrels, Marbled and Long-billed Murrelets, and Mottled Petrels.

Leaving the Pribilofs, we headed north to St. Mathew and St Lawrence Islands. St. Matthew is uninhabited but for rodents, Arctic Fox, and plenty of birds. For the birder this was the one and only place to see McKay's Buntings. And we saw lots of them as well as an equal number of Snow Buntings. A special treat was our sighting of three adult male Walrus.

Our final destination before leaving the World Discoverer at Nome was the Little Diomede Island. The bird of the island was the Least Auklet - literally millions of them everywhere one looked. Along with walrus and seal, the natives eat them. Also exciting were sightings of a few Spectacled and Steller's Eiders. It was a trip of a lifetime!

Editors note:   If you have a special trip that you would like to share with us, let us know.  Please send your article (250-300 words) to Val Weeks via email at vweeks@gtcom.net.

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   Here’s something that may be of interest to you home gardeners.  You love the outdoors, right?  Want to learn what you can do in your own yard to provide habitat that attracts wildlife?  Would you like to study under University experts and local Master Gardeners and Master Wildlife Conservationists who really know how to landscape suburban land and lakes for wildlife?

Target Audience: The general public, particularly those interested and involved in the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods program; Master Gardeners; Master Wildlife Conservationists

Term: Winter/ Spring 2000, 10 seminars, twice monthly for 5 months, January through May

Schedule: 8 of 10 seminars will be field/ classroom combo, beginning at UF Extension in  Tallahassee; the other 2 seminars will be lab/ classroom combo at UF Extension in Tallahassee

Times: 2 parallel-track seminar series -- participants have choice of two meeting times: Tuesday 9:00 am - 12:30 p.m. or
Tuesday 3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Fee: $30 for the entire series; $5.00 for each individual seminar

Syllabus:
2/8           Groundcovers, mulches & food plots
2/22         Brush piles, rock piles and snags
3/7           Water gardening and water features
3/28         Butterfly and hummingbird gardening
4/11         Aquascaping your pond
4/25         Wildflower and native grass gardening
5/9           Native trees and shrubs for wildlife
5/30         Backyard wildlife habitat design

How to Register:  To register for the entire series or one or more single seminars, call the UF Extension/ Leon County office at 487-3003 and ask for Cindy Boyer.  We will mail you a registration form, or you can pick one up at the Leon Extension Office, 615 Paul Russell Road in Tallahassee, or at the Wakulla Extension Office, 84 Cedar Avenue in Crawfordville, 8-5 M-F.

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