President's Message by Norm Capra

Bay County Audubon closed 2018 with a remarkably strong ending. Michael has changed so many things since October 10th.  However, I am very happy to report that he did not quench the spirit of our members.  We have all heard and shared a lot of truly remarkable survival stories while simultaneously discovering multiple ways to establish steady forward progress against huge obstacles.  After taking a short break from meetings in November, it was only fitting that our first BCAS event was a bird walk at Camp Helen State Park with neighboring Choctawhatchee Bay Audubon.   Although we had a chilly start, the great attendance suggested that it was a fitting new beginning.  After all, birding is the unique activity that sets us apart from other conservation organizations.  A second bird walk at Conservation Park in early December attracted new birders and new members to our group.  The following week we took a break to celebrate and share the holiday spirit on Monday before our annual Christmas Bird Count event which brought in over 60 participants including members of Choctawhatchee and Apalachee Audubon.  Even with all these activities we took time to advocate on behalf of our shorebirds and endangered wildlife at Topsail Hill State Park and began the restoration of Parker Preserve.  That is an admirable amount of activity for any Audubon Chapter, let alone one that has had to deal with uninvited adversity.  The spirit of Bay County Audubon is alive and well and I am looking forward to working with everyone in the New Year. 

Monday, January 14  - Monthly Membership Meeting
The Amazon River on a Cruise
Neil Lamb will present a recap of his recent travels.  This meeting will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship located at 1410 Airport Road Panama City, FL. 

Saturday, January 19  - Birding at Majette Park with Pam and Gail. This park was previously a golf course before the county made it into a park.  It offers varied birding habitat, paved paths and It is located off John Pitts Road, which is off Hwy 231. You can either go directly there at 7:30am or meet some of us at the Panama City Mall beside Starbuck’s at 7:00 to leave at 7:15. We will carpool from there. Bring snacks, water, rain gear (you never know), binoculars and walking shoes.  Call Pam for more information, 850-832-5835.

Saturday, January 23  - Bird Walk at PCB Conservation Park 7:30AM. Meet in the parking lot. This large park is located off Hwy 98 about one mile west of Hwy 79. Look for the sign saying Panama City Beach Conservation Park.

Monday, February 11 - Monthly Membership Meeting
Restoring Florida’s Beach-nesting Birds, presented by Paula Grendel
The presentation will begin at 6:30. Location to be determined.  Both presentations will be followed by a short business meeting and social.  We hope to see everyone there.

February 15-17 - Overnight trip to Gainesville to the Sweetwater Wetlands Park and Paynes Prairie.  Call Teri Floore for more information.  See her article below. 

Hurricane Michael caused extensive damage to our meeting rooms in the Science and Discovery Center.  Much of the roof in this area was already leaking and was lost during the storm.  Fortunately, the recently renovated reptile room and the storage closet where we stored Bay County Audubon records, scrapbooks, and equipment was not damaged.   There was one major cleanup at the Science and Discovery Center shortly after the storm and most of the yard was cleared of debris and the Center was able to reopen its Day Care operation.

Not only are we temporarily without our usual meeting place but about two weeks ago we were informed that we had to remove our equipment and records from the storage closet so that the entire building could be treated for mold.  This caused a bit of scrambling around.  Thankfully, Ron Houser, Al Clare, Candis Harbison, Bill McCandliss pitched in and we were able to vacate the room is a couple of hours.  The downside is that our inventory is distributed in four separate locations.

In my discussions with Michelle Smith, Director of the Center, she informed me that they plan to have additional volunteer work parties.  Follow them on Facebook and if you are available, consider giving them a helping hand.  She plans to meet with the Board shortly after the New Year to complete future planning.  While she couldn’t offer us a firm timetable, she is pretty sure that we will not be able to use the facility for our meetings through May 2019.  However, we are both hopeful that we will be able to meet there again in September 2019.

Hurricane Damage at St. Andrews State Park

By Tom Floore, Teri Floore and Norm Capra

A recent trip to St. Andrew State Park by Tom and Teri Floore produced some heart-wrenching views of the destruction caused by our late Hurricane Michael.  The park staff has done an amazing job clearing the roads and trails of downed trees, but newly cut stumps show just how many trees had to be sacrificed.  For awhile they were burning tree debris 24/7 and some logging was being done in the campground.  The hillsides around Gator Lake and the campground are helter-skelter with trees broken off halfway up and crowns dangling down. That sprawling oak tree that the kids climbed lost its middle, see photo below, but some lower limbs are still accessible.  The roost on the island in Gator Lake has lost several layers of trees and shrubs and the nests are blown away; there will probably be fewer nests this spring, but Tom and Teri saw 6-7 Great Blues and a Great Egret on the island.   The picnic area near the boat launch is barren, all the picnic tables are stacked in the parking lot and barely any shade cover the playground.

A few days after Tom and Teri’s visit, Ron Houser and his Christmas Bird Count (CBC) team visited the park and identified more than forty species in the Park including Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, several warbler species, a small army of Downy Woodpeckers and many of the usual wading and shorebirds but the overall census and the number of species were fewer than in past CBCs.  

Several scenes illustrating damage are shown but steady progress is being made toward the massive cleanup job.  In addition to Gator Lake, the boat ramp is open, and according to park manager Brian Addison, a portion of the campground will be open for the summer season.  Spring is sure to usher in a hopeful new look to this majestic park and we will get to see firsthand how nature, with the help of the dedicated park staff, rebounds from natural disasters.

119th Christmas Bird Count, December 15, 2018

Preliminary Results

By Norm Capra

Bay County Audubon members gathered with friends, and members from Choctawhatchee and Apalachee Chapters on December 15^th to participate in The 119^th  Christmas Bird Count.   It was a blustery day with temperatures in the low 60s and 15-20 mph winds out of the west. This was the first CBC following Hurricane Michael and we all wondered how the count might be affected.  Sixty-one volunteers helped and at the end of the day many of them gathered at Chula’s for dinner and the preliminary species count (see photo below). 

Altogether, 134 species were identified compared with 138 last year.   Species included the Pileated Woodpecker, photo top left, and Pintails and Green-winged Teal, photo right (photos by Neil Lamb). The general feeling among groups was that the total count was lower than past years. 

Raya Pruner and Marvin Friel deserve great credit for their hard work organizing the event.  They will compile all of the data from the bird count and count week and provide a more detailed report will be presented in a future newsletter.

Restoring Your Landscape After Hurricane Michael

By Ron Houser  

Many of us not only had damage to our houses from the hurricane but also to our yards. Years of planting native plants and getting them to grow and reaping the benefits of seeing more birds just went down the drain with the storm. 90% of my plants were either crushed by falling trees or by the machines that came in to take care of the fallen and damaged trees. Right now my yard resembles a muddy bog with deep ruts.  If there is a positive side to this, it’s that we can start over with a clean slate and design our wildlife-friendly landscape from scratch.

Don’t be in a rush to put in expensive, water-hungry sod or non-native shrubs and trees from local box stores. There are other options. Plant more wind-resistant trees like hollies – American Holly, Dahoon and Savannah Hollies are good medium sized trees that require little care and attract lots of songbirds with their red berries. Red Maples are possibly one of the easiest trees to grow and have similar benefits to wildlife. Blackgum Tupelo, Fringe Trees, Silverbells, Red Mulberries, Bald and Pond Cypress are just some of what I am thinking of buying. Shrubs such as Beautyberry, any of the native blueberries, Coral Bean, Red Buckeye, Saw Palmetto, Oakleaf Hydrangea and native azaleas will grow in most yards without a lot of fuss or fertilizer. Native ground covers like blue-eyed gras, love grasses and powderpuff mimosa can co-exist with other grasses you choose to plant. Just don’t mow them too close to allow them to bloom.

National Audubon has a great Plants for Birds web site where you can make good choices for your yard that will benefit birds. So does the Florida Native Plant Society. Just locate the part of the state where you live and they will tell you what should grow there. If you want to go buy some plants right now, there is no better place than 7 Pines Native Plant Nursery in Defuniak Springs, about 60 miles from Panama City. Dara Dobson is very knowledgeable about native plants, landscaping and which plants benefit which kinds of birds. That’s where some of us plan to go in the near future to buy our plants.

There is another good reason to plant native plants as soon as possible: The birds need them. Much of their habitat and food sources were destroyed by the hurricane and they need our help to survive. In the meantime, be sure to keep your feeders filled and serve different types of food to attract different bird species. Put up bird houses soon so the birds can be checking them out. Richard or Karen Duncan at Wild Birds Unlimited (they are open!) can advise you on choosing feeders, seed and bird houses.

Monthly Species County at Camp Helen State Park

By Mary Jo Capra

2018 was a really great year for our monthly species count at Camp Helen State Park.  On April 28^th, we were thrilled to find 11 American avocets in the outfall.   The American avocet is normally a fall transient in Bay County, which we have previously observed at Camp Helen in the fall of 2012 and 2017. 

In November our monthly count coincided with Bay County and Choctawhatchee Audubon Society’s joint field trip. A chilly starting time in the morning turned into a warm sunny day. With the help of 24 participants, we identified 44 species.  Everyone was excited to the see the 4 Bald Eagles and a small pod of 5 White Pelicans.

This year we added 9 new species to our list including Bobolink, Blackburnian Warbler, Common Gallinule, Scarlet Tanager, Gray Kingbird, Roseate Spoonbill, Solitary Sandpiper, Veery, and Wood Thrush.   These bring our total species count to 187 since we started in 2008.

We are grateful to all who volunteered to join us at least one month at 6:00am to complete the survey.  The more eyes we have looking for birds, the more we see.   Want to join us on our monthly survey?  Email:  lpca08@gmail.com

Laidlaw and Parker Preserve Update

By Norman Capra

Bay County Audubon actively manages the Beulah A. Laidlaw Preserve and the M. F. Parker Preserve.  Both areas suffered extensive damage as a result of Hurricane Michael.   Since Parker Preserve is a small urban park located in St. Andrews and surrounded by residences, the Board decided to invest in clearing of trees that might present a hazard to locals and to Audubon volunteers who will complete the cleanup and restore the Park.  The initial clearing took place on December 18^th,  The effort cost $7500.00 but the extraordinary circumstances justified the expense although it impacts on our ability to fully implement our educational programs and other activities for the rest of the year.

The Beulah A. Laidlaw Preserve, located on 272 acres, just north of Vernon, also sustained damage.  However, a preliminary visit revealed that much of the Preserve is in good shape.  We will need to clear trails as soon as possible to determine whether our Pavilion, our “blind” for wildlife observation, and our Martin houses were damaged.  At this point the main access route to the Preserve is blocked by fallen trees but once they are removed, we should be able to start the cleanup effort in earnest.

Clearly, restoration of both areas will require a good deal of volunteer “sweat equity” and we are sensitive to the fact asking for help from many who have already invested huge amounts of time in clearing debris from their yards, repairing damage, and in some cases replacing, their homes.  We ask those who were more fortunate to help with this effort to help us maintain these environmental treasures.

Audubon Christmas Party

By Teri Floore

32 members of the BCAS met at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Monday, December 10^th to feast on heavy hors d'oeuvres (I had to look up the spelling!), listen to favorite Christmas carols on violins played by Diane Houser and Connie Archer accompanied by Ron Houser on guitar. The concert was concluded with a sing-along by the audience. Festive decorations and hot apple cider and cold eggnog set the mood for a spectacular holiday party!  Due to confusion about whether we were having “Dirty Santa” exchange (we weren’t), there were bunches of prizes, including seasonal gifts from Wild Birds Unlimited and bird watching items from generous BCAS members.  Nearly everybody won something!  Here are some pics of the attendees enjoying great food, music and great fun!

Local BCAS Backyard Bird Count

By Jim Miller

Are you looking for a good way to increase your birding skills and have fun at the same time?

Each year the Bay County Audubon Society has an open invitation to anyone who wants to participate in what we call the annual Backyard Bird Count. The count begins each year on 1 January and runs through the 31st of December.  There is only one simple rule: Count any bird you see or hear in your yard, or see or hear from your yard.  (NOTE: You may also choose a location other than your yard, such as a local park you may frequent, etc.)

Keep a list throughout the year and then report the results to me at jmiller0954@comcast.net. 

After receiving the results, I will post them in a future article in the BCAS Newsletter so all can see the results.  For those who kept a list for 2018, please send them to me at your earliest convenience.  It will be interesting to see how the counts for 2018 and 2019 fare as a result of Hurricane Michael. 

This is a great way to increase your birding skills, particularly if you are a new or relatively new birder.  If you have trouble identifying a bird, you can start by visiting the BCAS website:  http:baycountyaudubon.org and look for the link “Need a bird ID?”  

Many participants keep a running yearly species count, along with the date each species is seen.  Doing so allows you to see not only how your yearly totals may change (hopefully increase), but also see which species continue to visit your yard each year, and what time of year they show up, especially the migratory birds.  It also helps you to narrow down what to look for at any particular point in the year, based on previous year’s sighting dates.