HUMMER VOL. 42, NO. 2 November, December, 2009 NEWSLETTER OF WEST VOLUSIA AUDUBON SOCIETY, INC. A Chapter of Audubon of Florida and National Audubon Society Published monthly September – April (except for December) THEFIELD TRIPS ------------------------------------------------------------ Saturday Nov 21 Birding by Earat Hontoon Island with Harry Robinson This will be an approximately 3 hour walk through the woods listening for and then identifying the various bird calls. The majority of calls will probably come from the woodpeckers and a variety of warblers. Other species such as the Hermit Thrush could also be found. This is still part of the fall migration season so anything is possible. The ferry operates at 8:00 AM, so please cross over on yourarrival. We will start the walk on the island promptly at 8:30 AM. I suggest that you bring water but not lunch. All are welcome but the ground is probably too sandy for the handicapped. Please phone Harry Robinson at (386) 943-8342 with any questions. Ifyou are handicapped and would like to participate in such an outing, let Harry know and he will set something up for you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, Dec 7th Wild Acres, Lake County withVivienne Powis Meet at 9:00 AM at Ed Stone Park on Hwy 44 at the St John's River. Bring a bag lunch, we'll car pool to the site, which should offer up some great birding!Call Vivienne at 216-9361 for details. ------------ ---------------------------------------- ------------ -------------- ----------------- Saturday, January 9, 2010 Lake Apopka with Harry RobinsonWe are going t o Lake Apopka again this winter, as the area has changed dramatically with another 1000 acres flooded. Both species of Whistling Duck and the teals are already using this area. This time we will concentrate on the eastern half of the area. We will meet at 8:30 AM in the NE corner of the Post Office parking lot on East New York Ave. (SR44). We will carpool so we need drivers willing to make the120 mile round trip. This is an all day trip so bring lunch and waterYou MUST RSVP by Dec. 22 to Harry Robinson 386-943-8342 Leave message including your name and telephone number. I will get back to you before the trip to re-confirm. It should be a great trip with thousands of birds. Hope to see you there. December 19 th The Woman’s Club of DeLand 128 W. Michigan Ave. 6:30 p.m.CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT/TALLY BUFFET DINNER MENU Pasta Dishes Garden Salad/Garlic Bread Holiday Desserts Cost: $8 Bring your own tableware Reservations and payment required by Dec. 5 Please call Janet Marks (386) 775-4447 Send your check payable to WVAS to: Marylou WeinerP. O. Box 1268 Deland, FL 32721-1268 November 24 th Meeting The Woman’s Club of DeLand 128 W. Michigan Ave. 6:30 PM Mix and Mingle 7:00 PM Brief Meeting Wheelchair accessible, public welcome MAKE IT, BAKE IT, GROW IT SILENT & LIVE AUCTION Please gather up your items and help make this year’s event a great fundraiser. It should be very lively and lots of fun. Ask your friends and businesses fordonation items. Bring lots of guests. Make fundraising easy and fun! No program. Wine and cheese will be served. If you are unable to attend, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to WVAS. CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 TH Members are needed to participate in this event. Eyes and ears are all it takes, as other’s can identify the birds. You can sharpen yourskills by learning from each other. Call David Stock at 736-9893 or Harry Robinson 943- 8342 to get on a team.
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8/9/2019 November-December 2009 Hummer Newsletter West Volusia Audubon Society
A Chapter of Audubon of Florida and National Audubon Society
Published monthly September – April (except for December)
THE
FIELD TRIPS---------------------------------------------------------
Saturday Nov 21Birding by Ear at Hontoon Island with Harry Robinson
This will be an approximately 3 hour walk through the wolistening for and then identifying the various bird calls. Tmajority of calls will probably come from the woodpeckers anvariety of warblers. Other species such as the Hermit Thrcould also be found. This is still part of the fall migration sea
so anything is possible.
The ferry operates at 8:00 AM, so please cross over on yarrival. We will start the walk on the island promptly at 8:30 AMsuggest that you bring water but not lunch. All are welcome the ground is probably too sandy for the handicapped. Plephone Harry Robinson at (386) 943-8342 with any questionsyou are handicapped and would like to participate in such outing, let Harry know and he will set something up for you.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, Dec 7th
Wild Acres, Lake County with Vivienne Powis
Meet at 9:00 AM at Ed Stone Park on Hwy 44 at the St JohRiver.Bring a bag lunch, we'll car pool to the site, which should offersome great birding! Call Vivienne at 216-9361 for details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, January 9, 2010Lake Apopka with Harry Robinson
We are going to Lake Apopka again this winter, as the area changed dramatically with another 1000 acres flooded. Bspecies of Whistling Duck and the teals are already using area. This time we will concentrate on the eastern half of area. We will meet at 8:30 AM in the NE corner of the Post Ofparking lot on East New York Ave. (SR44). We will carpool soneed drivers willing to make the120 mile round trip. This is anday trip so bring lunch and water
You MUST RSVP by Dec. 22 to Harry Robinson 386-943-83Leave message including your name and telephone numbewill get back to you before the trip to re-confirm. It should b
great trip with thousands of birds. Hope to see you there.
December 19th
The Woman’s Club of DeLand
128 W. Michigan Ave. 6:30 p.m.
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT/TALLY
BUFFET DINNER MENUPasta Dishes
Garden Salad/Garlic BreadHoliday Desserts
Cost: $8Bring your own tableware
Reservations and payment required by Dec. 5Please call Janet Marks (386) 775-4447
Send your check payable to WVAS to:Marylou Weiner P. O. Box 1268Deland, FL 32721-1268
November 24th
Meeting
The Woman’s Club of DeLand
128 W. Michigan Ave.
6:30 PM Mix and Mingle7:00 PM Brief Meeting
Wheelchair accessible, public welcome
MAKE IT, BAKE IT, GROW IT
SILENT & LIVE AUCTION
Please gather up your items and helpmake this year’s event a great fundraiser.It should be very lively and lots of fun.Ask your friends and businesses for donation items. Bring lots of guests.Make fundraising easy and fun! No program. Wine and cheese will be served.If you are unable to attend, pleaseconsider making a tax deductiblecontribution to WVAS.
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19TH
Members are needed to participate in thisevent. Eyes and ears are all it takes, as other’scan identify the birds. You can sharpen your skills by learning from each other. Call DavidStock at 736-9893 or Harry Robinson 943-8342 to get on a team.
8/9/2019 November-December 2009 Hummer Newsletter West Volusia Audubon Society
• Most importantly we need a handyperson to help build cages
and plumb in an outdoor sink (gratis)
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Cyndy Barrow, Sara Taylor and I recently attended the Audubon Assembly inSt. Petersburg where we got to meet National Audubon Society’s President,John Flicker. The sessions were very interesting and included dialogue oncoastal conservation & climate change, non-native invaders, & make birdcounts count for conservation.
Say ‘No’ to lifting the ban on drilling for crude oil in Florida’s coastal waters.Help oppose offshore oil drilling by going to www.protectfloridasbeaches.orgSign the petition. Your actions can make the difference. Please pass this
along to your friends and family. The threat to Florida’s beautiful beaches &coral reefs is real.
If you missed the grand opening of the new Lyonia Environmental Center youmust go check it out. It is a wonderful facility with lots of hands on exhibitsthat the children will love. The night before the opening, Ed & I were thrilledto be able to release back into the wild a Great Horned Owl that had beenrehabbed by Dr. Erin Holder & Kathy Paynter. The work they do is amazing.
At our September meeting, we voted to donate $10,000 to the new WildlifeRescue & Education Center & Gopher Tortoise Hospital in DeLand and thecheck was given to them along with the $1,000 for the Gopher TortoiseHospital.
We are happy to be a part of such a great project but we need all of your helpwith raising more funds & volunteering your time also. Please consider becoming a member for $25. You can join or send a donation to ARKWILDLIFE at 441 S. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, 32720.
At our last meeting, we voted to raise the amount the board can spendwithout the general members’ approval from $250 to $500. At that meeting,we also had a 6th grade student, Brendan Langford tell us why he appreciatesbeing involved with Audubon Adventures. We appreciate his coming to our meeting.
Whooping Cranes are on their way to Florida. Monitor their progress in the
Field Journal at www.operationmigration.org
Don’t forget to check out www.ebird.org to keep track of your bird list andenter your sightings. By sharing your sightings with others you’ll helpconservationists gain a better understanding of birds.
I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving & a Merry Christmas!
Arnette Sherman
JAZZ CONCERT
TO BENEFIT ARK ANIMAL
RESCUE AND WILDLIFE
REHABILITATION
To help fund both the domestic pet wildlife rescue, ARK invites the publienjoy an evening of jazz with FrVardaros and his 16-piece Big/Band JOrchestra. Tickets are $12 adults, students (with ID). Reserve your stoday by contacting Billie Jo HardDowns at (386) 734-9477.When: Sat,, Nov. 21, 2009, 6 to 8 p.mWhere: St. Barnabas Church, Harw
Center 319 W. Wisconsin DeLand.
Cyndy Barrow, John Flicker, Arnette Sherman
Gloria Johnson, Rusty the Scrub Jay, Arnette Sherm
Ed and the Great Horned Owl
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CONSERVATION UPDATEKar n Hoffman, Conservation Chair
Over the past several months, WVAS has writtenthe SJRWMD opposing surface water withdrawals, wehave stood before County Council during a budgethearing and asked for the Environmental ManagementDepartment to be spared from job cuts, and we have
asked the County Council to send Miami Corp'sFarmton plan up to the Department of CommunityAffairs for the next stage of plan review.
Both the Farmton and Restoration projects arenew approaches to development that have caused a philosophical schism in the environmental community.Both of these projects utilize a trade off betweencompact dense build-out and the conservation (and insome cases restoration) of large tracts of land to createwildlife corridors. These proposed projects in VolusiaCounty came in the wake of the successful negotiation
of the Babcock Ranch purchase in southwest Floridawherein 80% of the land (74,000 acres) was preserved ina density trade-off. Audubon of Florida worked longand hard for this acquisition, bringing to near completion a natural land corridor stretching from LakeOkeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico, and providinga much needed water-recharge area for southwestFlorida. If this weren't good enough, over the next 20years, the remaining 17,000 acre city of Babock Ranchwill become the first city on earth powered by zero-emission solar energy.
"We sued to stop the permit," recalled Frank Jackalone, the Sierra Club's Florida staff director. Theranch had been zoned for one house per 10 acres. Insettlement negotiations, "we developed very strong ruleson how they should operate," said Jackalone, includingthe use of renewable energy, water restrictions and openspace. But the announcement in April 2009 of this newsolar project went far beyond the agreement worked outwith the Sierra Club. "That was a very pleasantsurprise," said Jackalone. "We were thrilled. It provides a model for the country-a high benchmark for
others to try to reach."(www.developerimplode.com/Babcock-Ranch-Solar-City-Kitson+Partners-Florida-2009-04-1.0html)
Audubon of Florida is now working to bring thesame "green print" to Volusia County with theRestoration and Farmton projects. Opponents to these plans argue that the increased density of the Farmtonand Restoration projects exceeds the water resources.How can we add thousands more people to VolusiaCounty in the next fifty years when we're alreadylooking to withdraw surface waters from the rivers to
feed our hungry lawns? Who will pay for theinfrastructure?
And do we really want more people clogging the roaround where we live and play? For although neighborhoods are dotted with an inventory of emhomes, as soon as the economy recovers and peoplenorth are able to sell their homes, the inflow of n
Florida residents will resume. Let's face it: the b boomers don't want to retire to Michigan or Kentucthey want to come to Florida. Because of the specteFlorida Hometown Democracy being passed, developare racing to get their plans approved and grandfathered-in to preserve their future developmrights. This presents the opportunity for projects suchBabcock, Restoration and Farmton.
Understandably, it is a tough decision for thwho must weigh the opportunity to conserve lawildlife corridors with what can be seen as perhaps
much of a density trade-off. Some feel as if the traoff can be worth it. Who knows if the land plannedhigh density development will ever be developed at much less to the density approved? If there is demand for housing in those areas, there will ultimat be less supply. In fact, the Farmton project's den build-out will be contingent on meeting job-to-housratios, public school capacity, and will have to meedemonstrated residential needs analysis. What if Florida Hometown Democracy passes and large projeget approved by voters? In the cases of Babco
Restoration and Farmton projects, we don't knwhat future density will ultimately look like, but weknow what we've got in the way of protected wetlaand uplands, and that is worth the uncertain
If left as currently Permitted by the Coun people could still build ranchettes (one per 25 acres)throughout the Miami Corp. property, even in NRMareas. Supporters of the existing ranchette layout not all of those tracts could be built on because they on wetlands, NRMA or ECO areas. According to County Planning office, this is untrue and would amo
to "inverse condemnation" of the owner's land. Tlandowner could build within certain rules regulations. And then they'd be able to chop down tr put up fences and ask for power lines to be run outheir property. Wells would be drilled, septic tanksup. Who will haul out their trash? Who will pay forfirefighters to protect their homes when dry season foccur? (and yes, even wetlands can burn--the Everglais a perfect example of this).
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8/9/2019 November-December 2009 Hummer Newsletter West Volusia Audubon Society
In fact, the land could be sold today in 5, 10, 20and 25 acre tracts without any approval from the County.Or the land could be sold in pieces to other largedevelopers. According to Charles Pattison, ExecutiveDirector of 1000 Friends of Florida, either of these optionswould be an environmental disaster. Every driveway androad that divides a wilderness area increases the risk of death to wildlife. It is "the worst form of sprawl," says
Eric Draper, Deputy Director/Policy Director for Audubonof Florida. "Your typical 5 to 10 acre rural landowner cuts down almost all the native vegetation and convertstheir landscape to a hobby ranch or lawn. People that liven ranchettes consume land, a scarce, nonrenewable
resource. Our open space should either be used for producing food or producing wildlife." Conservationistsshould try to "get the people moving here squeezed ontothe smallest piece of land possible."
Audubon of Florida has taken the position thatfragmentation of habitat by ranchette style development
has not achieved the goal of creating the wildlife corridorswe seek. Thus, for the past several years, strategicnitiatives have been developed and voted on at the annual
Audubon Assembly each year. The resolutions for 2009that pertain directly to this issue are:
"Audubon of Florida, deploying professional staff andexpertise and using information derived from soundscience in alignment with the volunteer leadership of localAudubon chapters will call on our members andgrassroots networks, and work with conservation allies,
business and community leaders and public officials to:• build regional community consensus on the
adoption of a "greenprint" or similar mappeddatabase of habitats and natural lands that must beconserved.
• encourage the protection of land with new land usetools such as transferable development rights,density/conservation land tradeoffs, "rural landstewardship" and other mechanisms that can permanently protect natural lands without public
purchase.
• influence decisions on land development projects by state, regional, and local government agencieswhich result in substantial permanentcommitments to preserve natural areas.
• seek changes in local Comprehensive Plans whichfavor compact urban development formsassociated with public transportation systemswhich minimize the need for automobile-basedtravel.
To date, West Volusia Audubon Socieactions have been consistent with Audubon of Floristrategic goals. We will support Audubon of Floridathey work to build the stewardships that will overthese corridors in the future. To name a few exampthe ideal stewards of these corridors will be composedgroups such as The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, The Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. It w
take time to negotiate details and transfer ownershand much work must be done to make this happen.
We can also exert influence over development plans. Restoration is a good examplethis negotiation process, as the proposed golf courselonger exists and the entire footprint of the developmhas been moved to the east side of the property nea95. We are also advocating the concept of low-dens job producing projects such as solar arrays.
By seeking alternatives and exploring possibilities of these projects, the Board of West Volu
Audubon Society is upholding the National AudubSociety's Core Values: "We are solution oriented. seek to advance answers rather than questions, andachieve solutions through consensus instead conflict."
What can you do as a member of Audubon ancitizen of Volusia County do to support this approacWithin 60 days from the mid-October date wCouncil sent the plan to the Department of CommunAffairs, the DCA will comment on the propoamendments and the Volusia County Council can rev
them. We need to emphasize to the DCA that icrucial that innovative projects that break from the us"sprawl subdivision" pattern be fostered through Ddecisions. Our members can write to DCA encourage them to be open to this innovative appro(as happened with Babcock Ranch) to deal with "need" issue, where landowners are willing to engagclearly identifiable specific trade-offs that guaranlarge scale conservation through dedication of perpeteasements. In the absence of Florida Forever dollinnovative trade-offs for increased density may be
only practical way to assure we can continue to acquand preserve large land areas.
You can email Tom Pelham at the [email protected] or write to them Florida Dept of Community Affairs, 2555 Shumard OBlvd, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100. Please be sureinclude your name and address in the communicatiand you might also share that you are a memberAudubon. As always, we encourage our members become involved and let both your local Chapter Audubon of Florida know how you feel about th
issues.
8/9/2019 November-December 2009 Hummer Newsletter West Volusia Audubon Society
Did you know that National Audubon has been producingthe Audubon Adventures program for 26 years? Did youalso know that West Volusia Audubon has been sponsoringthe Audubon Adventures program for 23 of those 26 years?Keep the Audubon Adventures tradition going! Sponsor aclassroom today! We have 34 teachers signed up alreadyand more coming.
In order to get the “Action for Planet Earth” kit into a 4th
-6th
grade classroom, send a check made out to West VolusiaAudubon for $46, earmarked for “Audubon Adventures”,This edition will focus on energy, water, and habitat issues,and on getting involved in community projects for the goodof the planet, the community, and individuals.
Share the cost with a friend! Designate a specific teacher or school. Home school classes are welcome! (Individual kitsare $25.) Help spread the environmental word! Become an
Audubon Adventures sponsor today!
Donna ReynoldsEducation Chairman
Migration Bird Count Sept.19, 2009 - Resu
A total of 16 people spent 52 hours counting b
in West Volusia. (39 hours were spent walk
and 13 hours driving) We walked a total of miles and drove 187 miles, but only two part
made the effort to get up early to count owls. need more help here folks. We saw a total of
species and 3288 birds. We saw very warblers, most notable was a Yellow Warbler
Blue Springs State Park. There were two Yellothroated Vireos, always a good find andBaltimore Oriole. Thanks to all who participated
Harry Robinson
REPTILE DISCOVERY CENTER
About 17 WVAS members attended Thursday morning outing at the Reptile Discov
Center. The first part was a short walk alonpath in the woods to see a number of tortoi
and other reptiles in their enclosures. We watchthem all get fed and were able to ask a lot
questions.
The second part of the program was inside air conditioned building. There was an opportun
to hold a very tame snake. Chairs were set right next to the glass wall where we th
watched Carl Barden extract venom from aboudozen different snakes. The Coral snakes w
tube fed before they were put back in their box
The program was very interesting, the displwere informative and the snake collection
display was first class.
This is one of only six places in the country tcollects venom. It’s certainly worth seeing. Chit out at http://www.reptilediscoverycenter.com
Ed Sherman
WELCOME
NEW MEMBERS
Karen Bagent
Blue Lake Elementary
Gladys Broderick
Marvin Converse
Bill Fraser
Sandra Huff
Chris & Marilyn Hunter
Caroline Nault
Jerry Pace
Terry Palmer
Tamera Rhode
Helen Seidler
Vickie Smith
C J Stewart
Virginia & John York
Ingrid Swenson, Gloria Johnson
8/9/2019 November-December 2009 Hummer Newsletter West Volusia Audubon Society
