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Southeast Volusia Audubon Society, Inc. www.sevolusiaaudubon.org Mid-Summer 2011
Programs & Field trips subject to
Prez Prez Prez Prez SezSezSezSezIt is always a trade-off
A few months ago, one of the environmental activism
emails to which I subscribe said something to the effect
that “Desert Tortoises do not need Solar.” It was in
response to a proposal to site an 850 megawatt solar
plant in the Mojave Desert of California. My first thought
was that, if I were to site a significant capacity solar plant,
the desert would probably be a top choice. Lots of open
land and lots of sun. But then there was
the Desert Tortoise and the Fringe-toed
Lizard.
Even though the desert may look life-
less to most people, you probably can’t
cover more than a few acres without run-
ning into a listed species. So where do we
put a solar installation with significant ca-
pacity? Senator Feinstein of CA and some
conservation groups say they should be
located in areas, private or public, that are
already disturbed. That’s a great theory
but where are these lands? The Bureau of
Land Management owns large tracts of grasslands in the
west but most of them are leased (at a very low income to
the taxpayer) for cattle grazing. How about the huge
cattle ranches out West? Anyone who has travelled there
knows how grass-poor these ranches are. It takes a lot of
acres to feed a single cow. Either of these solutions would
result in using food-producing lands for power. Sounds
like what we did with ethanol.
During the Farmton “Stakeholder meetings” in NSB, I
asked one of the Farmton lawyers, if the land has to be
cleared for development, why not just sell or lease it to
FPL for a large solar plant? He just blew off that sugges-
tion.
The movement http://millionsolarrooftops.com is trying to
get a million solar installations in Florida. I would like to
have a solar installation on my house, but I don’t have a
south-facing roof. And even if I did, i would have to cut
down three Live Oak trees and four Palm trees for the
panels to see the sun. Then I would get more sun on my
house which would require more air conditioning. It would
be great if we could get the Restoration and Farmton
developers to commit to solar installations on houses and
commercial buildings since developers take out all the
trees and shrubs on the entire tract so they don’t interfere
with their heavy equipment, but how likely is that? Maybe
by the time they are building out, there will be more
demand for it and the price of the installations will de-
crease.
Then there are the wind farms. Lots of them were
installed with little concern about the impacts on birds and
other wildlife. Lots of birds were and are being killed.
Now there are newer technologies which will diminish the
impacts on birds. But what about the farms that are
already there? How long will they continue
to function until they are replaced? And
what about public policy on the siting of
wind farms? It is one thing to have a wind
farm a few thousand feet below the migra-
tory flyway. It is another to have one near
a migratory drop zone like the Black
Swamp in Ohio (warbler capitol of the
world). Local, state and federal policy,
shaped with the input of the environmental
community will be necessary to ensure
wind farms are sited with due regard for
the environmental consequences.
The Orlando Sentinel on Jul 24 carried a syndicated
McClatchy/Tribune article on building a better Lithium-ion
battery for electric cars ( http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-
07-23/site/sc-cons-0721-autocover-20110723_1_electric-cars-
lithium-ion-battery-nissan-leaf ). In it, they cite the difficulty of
accomplishing President Obama’s goal of a million elec-
tric cars on the road by 2015 until the charge range is
increased to near the range of a gas automobile. The
article focused on better batteries, but there was no men-
tion of alternative methods of charging them such as PV-
powered charging stations at roadside rest areas. And
after a Google search, I could not find anyone talking
about the possibility of thin-film solar being used on the
horizontal surface of the cars. I have seen solar powered
cars with traditional solar PV panels, but the do not look
great. Thin-film solar has been under development for
quite some time and is used in roof shingles. Why can’t it
be adapted to car surfaces?
It will take a lot of time and effort by a lot of people to
resolve these trade-offs, but in the end it will be worth it.
—Don Picard
The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society promotes the protection of birds, other wildlife and their habitat through education and activism.
MeetingsMeetingsMeetingsMeetings Meetings are held the 3rd Wednesdays Sept. thru April - 7 P.M.
Edgewater Library 103 IndianRiver Blvd.
Smoke-free environment.Refreshments are served.Plenty of parking. Public
welcome.
The eSkimmer 2 Mid-Summer 2011
Conservation Conservation Conservation Conservation NotesNotesNotesNotesI have had a recent nightmare like this:
Planet earth is the right size and distance from a suit-
able star to accomodate life as we know it.
A few million years from now, some very sophisticated
space travelers from a distant galaxy were attracted
to planet earth with a view to colonizing it. Much to their
surprise they found that this planet was too hot to support
most kinds of life.
Why was this planet so hot? To gain answers to that
question, the space travelers began studying earth
with highly-advanced robots and analytical machinery.
They soon found that a heavy insulating blanket of atmo-
spheric carbon dioxide and water vapor kept the planet
hot. Seas had become too acid and warm for most life after
absorbing carbon dioxide to their maximum capacity. The
visitors had more surprises when their robots explored the
earth's land.
The robots soon discovered widespread remains of
buildings, bridges, pavements, railroads, monuments and
many other artifacts indicating well-advanced societies.
Scattered everywhere were groups of fossilized skeletons
of two-legged hominids with large brain cases. Undoubt-
edly the hominids had been well-organized and intelligent
enough to have built all those varied structures. Teeth
analyses revealed that those hominids were warm
blooded, but had perished in extreme heat. What had
happened?
The answer shocked the space travelers. Soil and sea
sediment analyses soon revealed that the large-brained
hominids had burned enormous tonnages of fossil fuels
which over-heated the planet in only three centuries. How
could they have been so stupid?
—Lee Bidgood, Jr.
Lee Bidgood is Conservation chair, emeritus.
He lives Gainesville, FL with his wife Catherine.
Native Native Native Native 'n' 'n' 'n' 'n' NiceNiceNiceNice
Firebush
Many native plants make good
additions to your backyard because
they are good bird attractors. The
firebush (Hamelia patens) is dou-
bly so; hummingbirds are drawn to
its bright orange tubular flower
clusters, and its dark juicy berries
appeal to birds and small animals.
The dark green leaves tinged in
shades of red make the firebush an
attractive shrub.
The firebush is a fast-grower so it may need to be cut
back. It will also die back in freezing temperatures. In
either case, the firebush will flourish again after pruning.
If you know someone with a firebush, there’s no need to
purchase one from a nursery, as they can be propagated
by cuttings.
—Donnadine Miller
Donnadine Miller was an active member of SEVAS and
wrote this column for years for The Skimmer.
She passed away April 7, 2008.
Of Of Of Of InterestInterestInterestInterestLinks
Conservation Lands Outreach Outdoor Learning
Adventures - Bonnie Cary
Here's the schedule: http://www.volusia.org/growth/learning.htm
Please forward this SkimmerSkimmerSkimmerSkimmer to friends.
Just Just Just Just Caws Caws Caws Caws
Books and Movies
Summertime always seems like a good time to catch
up on some reading. Actually, anytime should be a good
time to catch up on some reading, but summertime gives
us more opportunities.
I've mentioned this book before and I'll mention it
again simply because I think it's a good read for every-
body who lives on the planet.
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by
Lewis Thomas (VCPL has a copy).
While I'm at it, I'll mention another of his small books
of essays, The Medusa and the Snail:More Notes of a
Biology Watcher (VCPL has a large-print copy).
Although the library has these two books, you may
want to own these and more of Lewis Thomas' small
books of provocative essays.
And here's a movie worth watching, on your own or
with the kids :
MicroCosmos (VHS only - VCPL has a copy). . . .
A documentary (English narration) of insect life in a
French meadow . . . 75 minutes of fantastic special ef-
fects: Time lapse, micro- photography, beautiful music.
A winner.
—Gil Miller
Wandering Wandering Wandering Wandering MembersMembersMembersMembersTulip-watching
(Note:this is a follow up to the article
Zwinning posted on http://blog.sevolusiaaudubon.org
in April.)
After Beth followed me around battlefields and bird
marshes in France and Belgium for two weeks in April, I
agreed to tulip - watch in The Netherlands with her.
With the Fyocks, we boarded a river boat in Antwerp,
Belgium and cruised canals and lakes to several smaller
cities in Belgium and The Netherlands. Often the water in
the canal was higher than the surrounding countryside. At
one point we actually passed over a busy, four-lane di-
vided highway. We also visited Delta Works, the massive
dikes which are normally open to allow water and marine
life to pass back and forth into the Zeider Zee but may be
closed to prevent North Sea storm tides from flooding the
lowlands. We also visited a windmill “farm” at Kinderdijk
where the operator lives inside the body of his windmill
together with his wife and family.
The most impressive of the many interesting places we
visited was Aalsmeer Flower Market. It is a massive op-
eration where they sell 20 million flowers between 6 and 9
AM, five days a week. Sale is by auction in one of several
sales arenas. Above the sales floor are some 300 buyer’s
desks, each with monitor and keyboard. Flowers are pre-
sented in a continuous train of multi-tiered dollies, similar
to the type Wal-Mart stacks plants on, but on wheels. A
large scoreboard at the front gives pertinent buying infor-
mation. At the center of this board is a huge clock which
runs backward from 100 (1 Euro) to 1. Bidders hit a button
as the dial passes their desired purchase price. The num-
ber bought, buyer, price and number remaining are imme-
diately posted on the board as the clock moves steadily
onward – no place for amateurs. The train never stops and
as each dolly leaves the arena a sticker is affixed with the
buyers and number of units listed. The dolly is then re-
leased onto the warehouse floor where it is attacked by
one of several dozen men riding on very swift 4-wheel
scooters. They push or pull the dolly to an area reserved
for that buyer. Talk about organized confusion – but it
works! Flowers are picked in the early hours of the morn-
ing, sold by 9:00 AM, taken to the airport a few miles away
and arrive in New York, Sydney or Rio the next morning.
Amazing! As a side note, club member Sheldon Murphy
has sold ferns (small F) there.
We also visited Keukenhof Gardens, a spectacular 70
acres of flowers, mainly tulips, arranged in magnificent
arrays of shapes and colors. On the way, we passed
through fields of tulips in broad strips of brilliant reds,
oranges, whites, yellows, etc. It made Beth’s trip and Tad
Fyock has made a fabulous DVD of photographs he took
of this part of the expedition. Beth also took some great
photos, a few of which will be available through a link on
http://blog.sevolusiaaudubon.org shortly.
The eSkimmer 3 Mid-Summer 2011
Beth and I spent a few days in Amster-
dam after the tour and I got my 1400th life
bird – a Rose-ringed Parakeet, of which
there is a thriving colony in Vondelpark,
near our hotel.
—Ken Gunn
Officers Officers Officers Officers & & & & ChairsChairsChairsChairsPresident: Don Picard president@sevolusiaaudubon.org
Secretary: Fern Murphy sailorchick@bellsouth.net
Treasurer: Bill Cox billnmarsha@pshift.com
Newsletter: Gil Miller sevas.skimmer@gmail.com
Programs: Ken Gunn gunnsatbeach@cfl.rr.com
Field Trips: Gail Domroski sevas.skimmer@gmail.com
Conservation, Emeritus: Lee Bidgood bidgood@gator.net
Membership:Richard Domroski sevas.skimmer@gmail.com
Thanks to Fern Murphy for proofing this issue (in fact,every issue).
More More More More CawsCawsCawsCaws
Synchronicity
It started with a variegated pink-leaved espiscia I
bought on impulse because it caught my eye at Garden
Arts.
After bringing it home and realizing I knew next to
nothing about this plant I plopped in front of the computer
and Googled.
Suddenly, a whole new world opened, a new adven-
ture that suited me fine. The only traveling involved would
be to nearby garden centers. I had entered the world of
Terrariums!
How very Socratic that one tiny little Gesneriad (see
how much I've learned already?) could open up this vista.
So the obsessively compulsive me quickly (two days)
cleared a space on top of the bookcase under the front
window, placed the new 10 gallon aquarium there, and
reserved a few books on terrariums from Volusia County
Public Library. I was sailing along now.
My next trip took me back to Garden Arts a few days
later to buy more plants and some dirt. Yep, dirt.
That's where I ran into Valeh Levy and her daughter
Sydney who were circulating flyers and posters for a
charitable screening of the film Dirt! The Movie. Yep . . .
Dirt.
Turns out Sydney was a 1st prize winner at this year's
Audubon sponsored Tomoka Regional Science Fair.
Synchronicity. It works if you let it.
—Gil Miller