| Latest News |
 Apr 2, 2009. Venue change for next year's meetings.
Ken
Gunn attracted a lot of high-powered talent to give programs last
season, but the number of members attending has not kept up with the
stature of the presenters. Many of them were PhD's. In an
attempt to get more members to meetings, I wonder if a change in time
and location might be appropriate.
Please help us decide by
answering the following questions. Would you be more likely to
attend a meeting if it were cloder to NSB? Would you be more
likely to attend if it were on a different night? Please send
your response in an email to venue-change@sevolusiaaudubon.org . If you have any other comments about the club or meetings, please include them. Thanks. Don |
Apr 1, 2009. Field trip schedule for next month.
Ever
wanted a guided birding trip to Tomoka State Park, Canaveral National
Seashore or the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine? Those are our
next three. Check out the field trips page for more info.
|
Apr 1, 2009. Bird Migration Workshop.
Join
birding enthusiasts Jeff Bouton, Monique Borboen, Roger Clark and Dr.
Ken Meyer as they provide insight on the where, when and how of bird
migration! This exciting event is scheduled for Wednesday, April
22 at the Center for Marine Studies located at Whitney Lab in St.
Augustine, Florida.
This event is a fundraiser for St. Johns County Audubon Society. Look here for more information. |
Mar 27, 2009. The April eSkimmer is online.
Check it out here. |
Mar 15, 2009. Great sighting during the Lake Ashby trip.
We
had a great field trip to Lake Ashby. It started with a large
group of Cedar Waxwings seen from the parking lot. One of the
park maintenance staff showed us the location of two three-week old
Barred Owl chicks. That was definitely the highlight of the
day. Check out my pics of the owls here.
|
Mar 10, 2009. Smyrna Dunes Park festival.
There
was an interesting event at the Smyrna Dunes Park a couple of weeks
ago. It was a ribbon cutting ceremony highlighting the new rules
for dogs using the boardwalk and including dog-related
activities. At the end of the event, we conducted a bird walk of
the park. Mayor McKay graced our booth with her presence.
See my report along
with a picture of the mayor and her dog at our booth. You can
also see the email that I sent to Joe Nolin thanking him for the
progress on protected nesting and resting shorebirds and giving
suggestions on other things that still need to be done. A special
thanks to Nancy and all the other folks who participated. |
Feb 25, 2009. March eSkimmer is online.
Check it out here. |
Feb 15, 2009. SEVAS to participate in Smyrna Dunes Festival.
The
club will participate in a festival sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna
Dunes Park on March 7, 2009. We will have a booth and conduct at
least one birding tour for visitors. Admission to the park will
be free on that day. If you would like to assist, please contact
Nancy.
NOTE: This will replace the field trip to Orlando Wetlands Park, originally scheduled for that day. |
Jan 29, 2009. The February eSkimmer is on line.
Get it here. |
Jan 28 2009. Announcing the Great Backyard Bird Count for 2009.
The
next big citizen science event of the year is the Great Backyard Bird
Count February 13th through 16th. This one is really as easy as
1-2-3 since it can be in your own backyard. This is a great way
to get your children or grandchildren involved in. You can also
use a park or other area to count birds in. And don’t forget
large store parking areas. Help the kids learn the names of some
species. Get friends involved, especially if they have yards with
good natural areas or have feeders because they enjoy watching birds at
the feeders. For more information, check out the eSkimmer or
click here or here. |
Jan 28, 2009. February meeting details announced.
The
February meeting will be held at the Edgewater library at 7 p.m. on
Wednesday, February 4th. Our speaker will be Dr. Gabriel Vargo,
Associate Professor Emeritus at the College of Marine Science,
University of South Florida and the Florida’s Seabird Ecological
Assessment Network (SEANET) coordinator. SEANET is a volunteer
based program designed to provide information that can be used to
assess threats to sea and shore birds and to the near shore
ecosystem. For Dr Vargo’s bio, click here.
Come
and bring friends. SEANET would very much like to enlist some
volunteers in Volusia County. Remember – free cookies. |
Jan 28, 2009. Christmas Bird Count results posted.
One
of the most important things we do as Auduboners is citizen science,
and the biggest event of the year is the Christmas Bird count, which
was just completed. As we joined tens of thousands of other
enthusiasts in counting and reporting birds, we participated in
developing a huge database of information which scientists around the
world can use to determine the health of bird populations and,
indirectly, of our environment.
All in all, Southeast
Volusia Audubon volunteers reported over 38,000 individual birds
covering 131 species. Dick and Gail Domroski coordinated the our
CBC and also compiled the data into the National Audubon
database. Our thanks to Dick and Gail for their hard work and to
all the volunteers who gave their time and energy and gas to support
this program.
For a summary of our efforts and those of the other Volusia and Flagler clubs, check out this link .
|
Jan 7, 2009. The January 2009 eSkimmer is online.
Check it out here. |
Jan 7, 2009. Happy New Year.
Your
executive committee wishes you and your loved ones a happy and
prosperous 2009. Make a New Year's resolution to become more
involved in the chapter's activities and conservation issues in general. |
Dec 15, 2008. January meeting set. NOTE change in Venue.
The
January meeting will be held at the New Smyrna Beach Utilities
Commission offices at 200 Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach.
Entrance is through the rear door and via elevator to the third floor.
Date and time are January 7 at 7:00 PM.
Our featured
speaker will be Karyn Hoffman, Co-President and Conservation Chair of
the West Volusia Audubon. She will discuss water conservation and
show a film entitled “Gimme Green,” an amusing and thought-provoking
documentary that examines the American obsession with our residential
lawn. Ellen Fisher of the Utilities Commission will also discuss
how the utility handles our water treatment and irrigation needs.
Check out her bio here.
|
Dec 15, 2008. Mytopia Café article.
Check
out the nice article by Barbara Salter Nelson on the CBC. She
interviewed key people in the Southeast Volusia, Halifax River, West
Volusia and Flagler Audubons for the piece. To see it, click here.
|
Dec 15, 2008. Christmas Bird Count details
The
Christmas Bird Count will be held on January 3d, 2009. Meet at 7
a.m. at the Brannon Center for team assignments. Contact Dick or
Gail at 428-0447 to volunteer. Bring snacks, water, lunch,
binoculars and field guides if you have them. There will be a
post-meeting party at a time and place to be determined to review the
day’s sightings. A $5.00 charge is assessed to participants over
19 to help defray the costs of the National Audubon database
maintenance.
|
Dec 15, 2008. Updates to by-laws
At
the November meeting, the members voted to change the by-laws. As
a result of the changes, meetings are now set at the discretion of the
membership rather than being specified in the by-laws. There is
also a new type of membership called the ‘chapter-only”
membership. People now have the opportunity to join only
the SEVAS and not be members of National Audubon or Audubon of
Florida. They will be voting members of SEVAS and will receive
our newsletters and alerts but not the publications of the National
Audubon or of Audubon of Florida.
To see a copy of the updated by-laws, click here.
To join us, click here or the link at the right.
|
Nov 30, 2008. December meeting announced.
The
next meeting is December 3, 2008. The guest speakers are Dr.
Roger Reep and Dr. Peter McGuire from the University of Florida
who will speak on their research on the Florida Manatees.
The meeting is open to the public. For more info check out
the Meetings link at the left menu. |
Nov 30, 2008. December eSkimmer is online.
Check it out here.
|
Nov 19, 2008. Field Trip schedule.
The
full field trip schedule for the year has been posted. Note there are
two or three field trips per month, some on Saturdays and some on
weekdays. Check the Field Trips
link in the left side menu. We may also be starting surveys at
Longleaf Pine Preserve. Check the site for updates. |
Nov 11. 2008. In Memoriam.
In
the bright fall sun on the 10th of November at 11 a.m., a small group
of friends gathered to remember Donnadine’s life of service to our
community. They remembered the Corridor 44 fight, the mapping of
the canals of New Smyrna Beach, the greyhound retired track dogs, and
of course the books to schools. more.. |
Nov 6, 2008. Conservation wins in election.
Florida
Amendment 4 Conservation Lands passed by an overwhelming 68%. The
amendment exempts lands with conservation easements from property taxes
and allows lands managed for water and wildlife benefits to be taxed
according to use. In Edgewater, voters decided to reject the
city-backed proposal to do away with the charter restriction of 35 foot
height in dwellings. |
Nov 5, 2008. Donnadine Tree planting set.
We
will have a tree planting ceremony in honor of our dear friend
Donnadine Miller in Riverside Park, New Smyrna Beach, on Monday,
November 10 at 11 a.m.
Donnadine passed from this plane into the
light on April 7, 2008. She was an Audubon member (SEVAS), a
community activist, a lovely friend to those who knew her, and a loving
wife.
Please join us in this tribute. |
Nov 2, 2008. ECARD says city is too close to developers.
The issue is building height. Check out the article in the Sunday Daytona News-Journal here, and then vote. |
Nov 1, 2008. November meeting set.
The
meeting will held on Wednesday, November 5 at 7 pm at the
Edgewater Library. Samantha McGee, Park Environmental Specialist
at St Sebastian River Preserve State Park will talk about Red-cockaded
Woodpeckers. To see her bio, click here.
The field trip will be to DeLeon Springs State Park and will depart
from the Market Square parking lot in Edgewater at 8 am. See the eSkimmer for details. Meetings and field trips are open to the public. |
Oct 31, 2008. November Skimmer is online.
The November issue of the eSkimmer is online. To see it go here. |
Oct 31, 2008. State concerns over Restoration.
The state
of Flolrida is expressing concerns over the expansive Restoration
development in Edgewater. They are the same concerns we have
raised. To see the article in today's issue of the Daytona News
Journal, go here.
|
Oct 26, 2008. Daytona News-Journal articles on Spruce Creek Preserve.
To see the articles, go here, here, here, and here. |
Oct 23, 2008. Birds in Decline.
BirdLife
issued a new international report entitled State of the World's Birds
that reveals precipitous declines in populations of many of the world's
most familiar birds. This comes on the heels of the Audubon's
2007 Common Birds in Decline analysis.
The BirdLife report
highlights avian losses worldwide. A staggering 45% of common European
birds are declining and more than half of the bird species that breed
North America and winter in the Neotropics show declining populations
over the past 40 years.
To read more of the Audubon report, go here. To read the entire BirdLife report, go here. |
Oct 22, 2008. Miami Corporation Farmton Tree Farm.
If you like Restoration and Reflections, you’re going to love Farmton.
Farmton
Tree Farm is a 58,000 acre property located west of I-95, starting at
Restoration and running south into Brevard County. It is owned by
Miami Corporation and has been managed mainly as a timber operation for
over 80 years. Of note is the fact that Miami Corporation planted
the trees on mainly open ground to create the forest that now
exists. As timbering is no longer economical in East Central
Florida, the company is looking for other income.
The first of
two meetings of the Farmton property “stakeholders” took place
Thursday, September 25 at the Brannon Center. Ken attended the
meeting along with Karyn from West Volusia Audubon. To read Ken’s
report, check it out here. |
Oct 5, 2008. You are invited!
Audubon of Florida invites you to join the Climate Action Network.
Receive emails about important legislation on climate change and
take advantage of the opportunity to write your legislators aboout your
feelings. For more info, go here. |
Oct 4, 2008. Fall Migratory Bird Count results.
The tally sheet for the count is here.
It is one of a series of citizen science activities we
participate in that helps scientists assess the health of the bird
population and the environment. Thanks to all who participated. |
Oct 3, 2008. Changes to by-laws.
At
the next meeting we will recommend a couple of changes to the by-laws
of the club. One wil be to change the meeting time and place to
"as determined by a vote of the membership" . We don't need the
time and place specified in the by-laws. In fact, we haven't
changed them to reflect our current meeting time and place. We
will also formalize a policy for including a club only membership
so people will have the option of joining just the club or the club
through National Audubon. Check out the current by-laws here. If you have any other suggestions, please contact me at president@sevolusiaaudubon.org
|
Oct 3, 2008. Need help with Cracker Creek festival.
The
festival will be held at the Gamble property in Port Orange. They
asked us if we could have folks to lead group bird tours on the 175
acre nature conservancy land in Spruce Creek. If you are
interested, please contact me at president@sevolusiaaudubon.org . |
Oct 3, 2008. October Skimmer is online.
Check it out for the club's goals for 2008-09. |
| Sep 15, 2008. Check
the Of Interest
link for NEW posts! |
Sep 13, 2008. Hometown
news article on Edgewater visioning.
There is a pretty complete article in this week's edition
here. |
Sep 10, 2008. Amendment
4 on November ballot.
Audubon of Florida's Board of Directors voted to endorse and
support Amendment 4 relating to conservation lands. It is on
the November ballot. If approved by 60% of the voters, will
do two things:
● Give property tax exemption for land
placed in permanent protection.
● Direct the Legislature to pass a
law to allow land managed for conservation to be taxed according
to use.
I urge all our members to support the initiative. Check out the link in the image for more information. |
Sep 10, 2008. Report
of Edgewater Visioning meeting.
The city of Edgewater had a visioning session on Saturday, 6
September at the community center. The vision was for
what Edgewater should look like in 20 years. The folks who are
bringing you “Restoration” sponsored it as a freebie
to the city. Check out my report and the challenge to
us here.
|
Aug
22, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park.
Today's issue of the Hometown News carries a story about the
new Friends of
Smyrna Dunes Park . It talks about the group educating
visitors to the park
about dog etiquette and new rules governing the times when dogs
are allowed
on the boardwalk. The city council is expected to vote
on it during the Aug
26 meeting. There is no mention of the dissent from the
Audubon Society.
Here is a link
to the article. |
Aug
22, 2008. Edgewater city council approves Restoration.
As noted in the Aug
20 article of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, the Edgewater
city council unanimously voted to start the process of permitting
the Restoration development. Most people who spoke supported
the development for its ability to energize the city and about
its new vision.
Kathy and I presented against the development but we were outnumbered.
Kathy focused on the fact that the wetlands altered by silviculture
are already in use by animals such as bears, deer and bobcats
by the tracks they saw. She also reiterated our request
that the conservation village be deleted or sent to phase III.
I focused on the impacts of the development on the current citizens
of Edgewater.
Note how the title of the article calls it a "Green Project"! |
Aug
12, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park update.
The committee that formed after the 2007 decision to close the
boardwalk to dogs finished its work and produced it's final
report to the city. It was supposed to be brought
up by the mayor in her Mayor's Report at the city commission
meeting tonight. However, because of information received
from Audubon, it has been deferred tot he Aug 26 meeting. It
seems that the city and County attorneys need to get together
before they proceed. Check out our
email to them here, and the presentation I would have given
it it were discussed is
here.
Audubon of Florida also weighed in with this
letter. |
August
9, 2008. Conservation Village in Restoration.
One of the 'features' of Restoration is that there will
be a 'Conservation Village' in the western portion of the development
which will be in closest proximity to the major wildlife, like
bears. The developers promise a program to educate
potential residents about living with bears and how to keep
their homes bear safe. Kathy sent a letter to the developers
and to the City of Edgewater expressing our concern about the
Conservation Village in Phase I and asked that it be removed
totally, or at least moved to phase III. The August 9,
2008 edition of the Daytona News-Journal carries an
article about, and picture of a black bear at a deer feeder
near I-95 and State Rd 442. So yo don't have to go too
far into the woods to find bears. See our letter here. |
August
9, 2008. War brewing between Enviros and Common
Man.
A Rant in the Edgewater Hometown News last week talked
about a war brewing between the environmentalists and the 'Common
Man.' The writer talked about environmentalists as being
obstructionists in the fight to control gas prices and save
the economy as if we did not understand the pain the 'common
man' was feeling at the pump and in the grocery store. I responded
and so did Ken and our rants should appear in the August 15th
edition. This link
is to the original rant, my response and Ken's all in the same
page. I encourage you to read the whole page and shout
back against these folks. You don't have to be an environmentalist
to see that offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR only serve
the politicians and the oil companies. |
August
9, 2008. Update: Edgewater Scrub Jay Habitat at
YMCA.
The city of Edgewater promised a controlled burn of about one
acre on Sunday, August 2. There was no fire. Nor
was there an reason given. |
August
9, 2008. Volusia County Public Lands.
Remember Volusia Forever, the program where Volusia County buys
lands to keep in trust for us, like LongLeaf Pine Preserve?
Well they really want us to take advantage of them and
they are providing guided programs again. Bonnie Carey,
enviromentalist with the County Land Acquisition and Management
division sent us an email with the list
for August and September.
There was also a nice
article about Bonnie in a recent issue of the Orlando Sentinel. |
August
9, 2008. Great News about the Commercial Launch
Facility.
All the press reports indicate that our protests were
heard. Kennedy Space Center is in talks with the US Air
Force's Canaveral Air Force Station to use their unused sites
for the Commercial Launch Vehicle Facility instead of the two
environmentally sensitive tracts of land on the Kennedy Space
Center. Congratulations to all who partcipated with their
letters and emails as well as their presence at the two "workshops". |
July
22, 2008. SEVAS
publishes policy statement on Restoration.
As everyone knows by now, there is a big (with a capital B)
development in the works West of I-95 and North of US 442 in
Edgewater called “Restoration”. It will be
on a four mile by five mile tract of land and will contain homes
for 15-18000 new residents of Edgewater, doubling its current
population in just one development. The policy
statement acknowledges the progress made towards making
the development "environmentally friendly" but expresses reservations
about the impact of such a development on the current population
of Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach as well as the loss of habitat
and wetlands that will ensue. |
July
22, 2008. New Issues and Projects pages.
Check out the new Issues
and Projects pages
(links at left). They provide an executive summary of
our projects and issues and provide links to more information. |
June
6, 2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve update.
Ken sent the report of the final survey for the season and Fern
Murphy sent the previous one. They final report is avaiable
here. The
final count was 61 species. It gives us a good start for
the next season. Thanks to all who participated. |
June
6, 2008. Scrub Jay habitat update.
Kathy has updated status on the prescribed burn and other maintenance
actions on the habitat behind the YMCA. Follow the link
on the new Issues page.
She and her volunteers have also conducted two environmental
education sessions at the habitat, one with a second grade group
and one with a scout group. I will post more details subsequently. |
May 4,
2008. Swallow-tailed kite survey reminder.
Help join in the continuing Swallow-Tailed Kite nesting surveys
at Restoration DRI !!
When we last visited Restoration about 3 weeks ago, we identified
an active nest & sited many other birds. We anticipate
that it is likely a majority of nests may have completed incubation,
making it easier to find the nesting areas. We will be
breaking up into teams so as to cause less stress & noise
to STK neighborhoods when we find them. We are pleased
to once again have the assistance of Breedlove, Dennis &
Associates for mapping, guidance & transportation.
We will meet on Monday, May 12th at 8am just west of the I-95
Edgewater Exit (please BE PROMPT)
We will then continue to Restoration gate & park the cars
inside gate.
Bring water, binoculars and be aware that you may be walking
in water or thick brush so dress accordingly.
PLEASE RSVP to me if you're coming at this email address.
Please call us if you're running late that morning or change
your mind about coming -- my CELL# is 386-956-1097. Email
is karyn_hoffman@ml.com .
All nesting information & coordinates will be passed along
to Dr. Ken Meyer at the Avian Research Conservation Institute.
This is a great opportunity to observe & learn about STKs
as well as contributing to research about these amazing birds.
Hope to see you there! |
April 11,
2008. Requiescant in Pace, Donnadine Miller.
Dear Friends & Family,
Donnadine passed from this plane into the light at 11:50 Monday
morning, April 7.
She was totally at peace. I was holding her hand. Her breathing
became shallow and finally she gave up her body and let her
soul be taken into the light. I could feel the presence of the
angel in the room...it was viable and real.
Her job here is finished and she now has the peace she truly
deserves.
I'm sure she will hover nearby until my time has come. Since
I'm receptive to such things, I will continue to feel her soul's
influence. Lord knows I'll need it.
Donnadine is dead. Long live Donnadine!
Today, to me, April 7, 2008 will be the anniversary of Donnadine's
birth.
We will celebrate her life with a service in New Smyrna Beach
( at The Night Swan) and a Requiem Mass in Baltimore at St.
Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church (we were married there).
Everyone will be informed as to the details when plans are finalized.
We thank you all for your kind prayers, thoughts, and attention
to us in this very trying journey. You have made this almost
unbearable odyssey, bearable.
Let the blessings flow,
Gil Miller
Editor's Note: Donnadine's spirit lives on in the hearts
of the people she touched. Long live Donnadine! |
April 10,
2008. Pulling water from the St. John's River.
The plan is to pump as much as 262 million gallons of surface
water out of the St. Johns River a day during peak flow. The
St. Johns River Water Management District claims that it is
safe to remove that much water from the river and its tributary,
the Ocklawaha River. To read the full editorial from the
Daytona Beach News-Journal, click
here. If you are appalled, go to http://savefloridawater.org
and sign their petition. I did.
|
April 3,
2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve update.
Because we don't have anyone available to coordinate the planned
April trips, they are cancelled. The next scheduled trip
will be May 9th. |
April 2,
2008. SEVAS election of officers.
The officers were elected for the next year. President:
Don Picard, VP: none, Treasurer: Bill Cox, Secretary:
Jean McNeil, Conservation: Kathy Booth, Publicity: Marsha Cox,
Programs: Ken Gunn, Field Trips: Gail Domroski, Membership:
Dick Domroski, Newsletter Editor: Gil Miller. |
April 2,
2008. April eSkimmer is online.
The April eSkimmer is now online. Get the PDF version
here. |
March 27,
2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve Survey conducted.
On March 27, nine club members assembled at the K-Mart lot
on SR44 in New Smyrna Beach at 8:00 A.M. and traveled to the
west parking area of the preserve. There they met Richard
Harris, Volusia County Environmental Specialist, who opened
the access gates to allow vehicle entry to drop off and pick
up the birders. Only the west side of the preserve was
worked, partly because of a shortage of people. Their sightings
are incorporated into our summary. The adventure ended
about 11:30 A.M
Twenty seven species were identified during this morning and
are incorporated in the
report. Six more species were added. The “best”
new sightings were the overflight of two Swallow-tailed kites
and an Anhinga.
|
March 24,
2008. Volusia County wants to manage spoil islands.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Volusia County has surveyed
over 200 islands in the Halifax River and Mosquito Lagoon.
You can find the articles from the Dayton Beach News-Journal
here
and here.
Now they are wondering what to do with them and how to manage
them. It reminds me of the city councilman from Edgewater
who wanted to get the spoil islands across from Kennedy Park
in Edgewater and put them into the city’s control so they
could become part of the city parks system. According
to the councilman, the islands were "mostly uninhabited, save
for the occasional camper or sea-bird."
In my response which appeared in the Jan 10, 2005 edition of
the News-Journal I said that this is a bad idea which will cost
the city a lot of money, and not give a return. People who want
to use these islands already do, and the city has no responsibility
for them. Let's keep the islands pristine for the "occasional
camper or seabird."
To see the full text of my response, click
here. |
March 20,
2008. Swallow-tailed Kite survey at Restoration
DRI.
Karyn Hoffman from West Volusia Audubon is announcing a survey
at the DRI on Monday, April 14th at 8:30am (usually lasts til
about noon when kite activity dies down). She asks you
to RSVP to karyn_hoffman@ml.com so they know you'll be
joining them. Please be PROMPT in your arrival.
We meet just off the Edgewater exit on I-95 (CR 442).
Go west and you'll see our cars on the side of the road.
For more info and to see her entire email, click
here. |
March 18,
2008. Low Impact Development Workshop.
Kathy has been working with the West Volusia Audubon as they
sponsor a Low Imapct Development (LID) workshop for developers
and city planners. LID is a method of platting developments
which demonstrates sensitivity to the environment. Kathy has
invited our elected officials to attend the workshop in Ormond
Beach on Monday, March 31st, 8-noon at the Performing Arts Center
Blue Room, Second Floor, 399 N. US Highway 1. It would be good
for SEVAS members to attend so that we have a good showing of
support for our County and City officials who do attend. Send
registration of $15, which includes continental breakfast, to
Citizens for Ormond Beach, P.O. Box 31, Ormond Beach, FL 32175.
For more information, check out the flyer
here. |
March 18,
2008. KSC-CVLC update.
Kathy offers this
letter to her congressmen regarding the Kennedy Space Center
Commercial Vertical Launch Facility. She also offers other
thoughts which occurred after writing the letter. |
March 17,
2008. Bird inventory of Longleaf Pine Preserve.
County naturalist, Bonnie Cary, asked us if the club would be
interested in helping to inventory the bird life at the park.
We agreed that it would be a good idea if we could get sufficient
volunteers. The county has bought thousands of acres of lands
to keep them in preserves. It is useful to use them as
natural areas and show our appreciation to the county for the
purchases and management of them. Six of us participated
in the first survey on March 14th. We, and the West Volusia
folks who were conducting a birding tour on the same day, found
45 species. More surveys are scheduled. Check out
the plan
for details and the March 14 report
and checklist
for results. |
March 16,
2008. Myrtle Park butterfly garden.
On Tuesday, 22 Jan 08, several of us met with members of the
NSB Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and Lindley’s
Nursery at the park at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and
Canal Street. The purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas
for developing some type of ecological area at the park.
The city is rebuilding Canal Street on the West side of U.S.
1 to the intersection of Myrtle Avenue. The CRA members
wanted to include the park in the rebuilding scheme. We
agreed to spearhead the project and get other groups involved.
We have had several meetings since then. So far, the NSB
Middle School science club is eager to participate and we have
leads to FFA groups, scouts and others. This will involve
planning this spring with planting and long term maintenance
starting in the Fall. Contact Don or Ken if you are interested
in helping. |
March 15,
2008. Scrub Jay habitat school tours.
Kathy is heading a group of volunteer members to survey the
Scrub Jay habitat behind the Edgewater YMCA for use as a field
trip opportunity for local schools. They identified and
tagged trees and plants and discussed best ways for presenting
the information to elementary and middle school students.
This is a first step in what we hope will become a valuable
resource for schools in environmental education. Perhaps the
City of Edgewater will be encouraged to restore the scrub jay
habitat. If you are interested in helping, please contact
Kathy. |
March 11,
2008. Longleaf Pine Preserve.
We had a great time at the Longleaf Pine Preserve. In case you
did not see it, there was a fine article about the preserve
in the Daytona News-Journal. See it at
www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/
newWEST01ENV030908.htm
The naturalist, Bonnie Cary, asked us if the club would be interested
in helping to inventory the bird life at the park. We
agreed that it would be a good idea if we could get sufficient
volunteers. The county has bought thousands of acres of lands
to keep them in preserves. It is useful to use them as
natural areas and show our appreciation to the county for the
purchases and management of them.
Ken has signed up about a dozen people to count birds at the
preserve. He also returned to the site and developed a
plan for the counts. The plan mirrors our Christmas Bird Count.
Check out the plan and map here.
Our first count is scheduled for Friday, March 14th. If
you are interested, please contact me at sevas@cfl.rr.com. |
March 10,
2008. KSC Launch Facility Update.
I urge everyone to write the NASA/KSC about this proposal. Click
here to see my email to them. |
March 5,
2008. Change in March Field Trip.
The march field trip (Sat Mar 8) to Blue Heron water treatment
plant is cancelled. Dick and Gail went there earlier this
week and found that the area is overgrown and there are few
birds. Instead, we will go on a trip to the Longleaf Pine Preserve,
one of the Volusia Forever acquisitions on Friday the 7th.
Meet at the Kmart parking lot on Rte 44 in NSB at 8:00 a.m.
The preserve is just west of Deland on Rte 44. The trail
is 11 miles long but we will use the eco-buggy. Bring
snacks, water and insect repellent. |
March
3, 2008. KSC Launch facility update.
On Thursday, Feb 28, KSC conducted scoping meetings for the
proposed Commercial Vertical Launch sites. Several of
us attended either the morning or afternoon meetings at the
NSB library. Check out my update
here. |
March
3, 2008. New website on saving Florida's
water supplies.
There is a new website on the important issue of saving
Florida's water. It has a lot of up-to-date information
on water usage, links to newspaper articles on the subject and
ideas for getting involved. It also has the links and
addresses to contact local and state government officials to
let them know how you feel. Check
it out here or through the link at the bottom of the left
column. |
| February
29, 2008. The March eSkimmer is now on-line.
Click
here for the pdf version. |
February
23, 2008. Public Notice
Future Plans by NASA for New Launch Facility Could Close
Portions of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
NASA is proposing a new Commercial Launch Facility on 200
acres of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which could
have significant environmental and visitor impacts. Merritt
Island NWR is an overlay of the Kennedy Space Center and the
Refuge manages NASA lands through an agreement. The agreement
allows NASA to withdraw lands for space facilities. The
new facility would result in loss of scrub habitat, loss of
wetlands, impact sea turtle nesting due to lighting issues,
result in loss of habitat for several endangered or threatened
species, and eliminate use of most visitor facilities and programs.
NASA has selected two potential sites for the commercial launch
facility. Site 1 is located within the existing restricted
area of Kennedy Space Center, but Site 2 is located in an area
currently open to the public. Either site will have significant
environmental impacts; however, Site 2 has the potential to
close all areas south of Haulover Canal to the public.
Go to the NASA website
http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/projects/ksc-cvlc.htm
Public comment meetings will be held at the NSB library on Feb
28, 2008 at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. |
February
22, 2008. Scrub Habitat education training.
Today, Kathy headed a group of volunteer members to survey the
Scrub Jay habitat behind the Edgewater YMCA for use as a field
trip opportunity for local schools. They identified and
tagged trees and plants and discussed best ways for presenting
the information to elementary and middle school students.
This is a first step in what we hope will become a valuable
resource for schools in environmental education. If you
are interested in helping, please contact Kathy. |
February
21, 2008. March Field Trip announced.
Southeast Volusia Audubon will conduct a field trip March 8th
to the Blue Heron Wetlands Treatment System. This site is West
of Titusville and just South of Hwy 50. The treatment system
was designed as a flow-through system that uses aquatic plants
to remove nutrients from the effluent. The wetland is divided
into seven cells separated by derivable earthen dikes similar
to Viera. We should see the common wetland species and hope
to see Purple Gallinule. From there we can stop by Merritt
Island for lunch then look for shore birds, or walk the new
Pine Flatwoods trail and look for Scrub Jays. All welcome
Bring lunch, snacks, water etc. & bug spray. |
February
17, 2008. March Speaker announced.
Kevin Schweizer of the firm Schweizer-Waldroff Architects, Inc
of New Smyrna Beach. Using the Snowden residence in New Smyrna
Beach which he designed, Kevin will demonstrate energy production
and conservation as well as water reuse and preservation. He
will also discuss availability of state and federal assistance
for solar power. Click here
for his bio.
The presentation will be given in the DeBarry Room on the third
floor of the Utilities Commission Building, 200 Canal Street
in New Smyrna Beach. |
January
23, 2008. February Speaker
Our February speaker will be Karen Stauderman the newly appointed
Volusia County Urban Horticulture Extension Agent. Karen
will speak to us on the wise usage of water in the Florida home
landscape. Karen was originally scheduled to be our speaker
but due to a mis-communication about the timing of the event,
Linda Evans was substituted.
Karen was awarded two Bachelor of Science degrees from Oregon
State University, one in Horticulture and one in Plant Pathology.
Since moving to Florida, she has worked as a Biological Scientist
for the University of Florida, Plant Pathology Department, for
11 ˝ years, stationed at Sanford and at the Apopka Research
Station. She has since spent five years as a science teacher
in the Eustis High School.
The event will still be at the NSB Utilities Commission building. |
January
21, 2008. Dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park
Many of you have noticed in the newspapers that Volusia County
decided to remove dogs from the boardwalks of Smyrna Dunes Park
and require that they and their owners walk on the trail adjacent
to the boardwalk. This decision was made after reports
of dogs off leash and several incidents of dogs on or off leash
that nipped or bit other users of the park.
At a recent NSB city council meeting, County Councilman Jack
Hayman presented the decision to the city. Several dog
owners made presentations against the county decision and made
several compelling points. The NSB deputy mayor, Randy
Richenberg decided to establish a committee of interested citizens
to brainstorm the problem and potential solutions in the hopes
of revising the county decision. Since we have a vested
interest in the birds nesting and resting in NS Dunes Park,
Nancy White volunteered to be our representative on the committee.
Kathy Booth will back her up as necessary. If you have
any input or suggestion we encourage you to contact them.
If you go to the park, bring a camera to document any infractions
against the bird nesting areas including dogs off leash.
January 21, 2008. |
|
January 15, 2008. Identity
Crisis –Or, Were we even there?
Well, that's three in a row in just a couple of weeks. Two articles
on the Christmas Bird Count (one in the Daytona News-Journal
and one in the Observer) and the article in the Orlando Sentinel
on our honoring the Bidgood?s with a tree planting ceremony.
It can be seen at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/
volusia/orl-enviroside1308jan13,0,1032815.story
You would think that would be good publicity for our organization.
Except for one critical part. The Southeast Volusia Audubon
Society, which organized and conducted the events, was not
even mentioned by name in the articles. In the Bidgood article,
Mayor McKay was cited, and so was David Hargrove as President
of the Halifax River Audubon. But no mention of us.
Now, I really like and respect David Hartgrove. He is a hard
working environmentalist and frankly I don't know how he has
time to do all of the great things he does for the effort.
But he does not represent the Southeast Volusia Audubon Society.
I guess the implication is clear. The reporters don't know
who we are. So if you have an opportunity to interact with
reporters, please ask them to include the name of our organization
in their article or report.
|
January
12, 2008. Tag sale results.
The tag sale netted $331.90. We appreciate all the folks who
donated items, came out to help, and bought items. Many items
not sold are being donated to the Greyhound Pets of America
through Donnadine. |
|
December 18, 2007. Announcing
the January Speaker.
Gil and Donnadine Miller will present a slide show of their
summer trip to the Galapagos and Amazon. As all our membership
is aware, Gil is a dedicated and excellent photographer. His
pictures and their commentary will be of interest to all.
|
|
December 17, 2007. Club
sets date for Tag Sale Fund Raiser.
A fund raising yard sale will be held Saturday January 12th
at the Oak Hill Flea Market. Lee and Catherine Bidgood donated
a number of items when they moved to Gainesville and other
SEVAS members have been collecting items for several months.
If you have any items to donate or can spare a couple of
hours on Saturday, please call Dick Domroski @ 428-0447 to
arrange pick-up of items and scheduling of workers. Five members
have already volunteered to help but we could use a couple
more. (NO CLOTHING OR LARGE FURNITUES ITEMS PLEASE).
Please tag/price your donated items with a suggested selling
price. We can always adjust at time of sale but pre-tagging
will reduce volunteer preparation times. |
| December
15, 2007. Announcing the Northeast Florida Scrub-jay
Education and Outreach Workshop
The Northeast Florida Scrub Working Group is looking for
enthusiastic individuals willing to participate in scrub-jay
conservation and outreach. You are invited to attend a workshop
on Saturday, January 19, 2008 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the
Harris M Saxon Community Center, 2329 California Street, Deltona.
The workshop aims to increase awareness and knowledge while
promoting conservation of the Florida scrub-jay and its habitat.
Please bring a bagged lunch (due to time constraints) and
your own coffee cup (for environmental reasons). This workshop
is coordinated by the North East Florida Scrub Working Group
Education Sub-committee. The sub-committee has members from
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida State Parks,
the Florida Scrub-Jay Consortium, Inc., and Volusia County
Environmental Management. The sub-committee has three objectives:
to provide educational outreach for the Florida Scrub-jay;
promote conservation of the Florida Scrub-jay and scrub habitat;
and to cultivate a regional Florida Scrub-Jay Festival. To
get a copy of the proposed agenda, click
here.
RSVP by Friday, January 11, 2008 to Karen.macdonald@dep.state.fl.us |
|
December 14, 2007. County
meeting on dogs at Smyrna Dunes Park.
The County will hold a meeting of interested parties at the
Smyrna Dunes Park on December 17th at 8:00 am regarding the
rules allowing dogs at the park. It is the only part of the
beach where dogs are allowed, and the only part of the beach
where Piping Plovers rest and Wilson's Plovers nest. Allowing
dogs to disturb these birds has been one of our concerns for
a long time. If you can, please get out there and tell County
officials to keep dogs off the beach. An alternative would
be to allow dogs on other parts of the beach where driving
is allowed.
|
|
December 8, 2997. Bidgoods
feted at tree planting ceremony.
In the presence of over 25 friends and long-time associates,
Lee and Catherine Bidgood were honored at a tree-planting
ceremony in their honor at Riverside Park in New Smyrna Beach
on December 6th, 2007.
"It is fitting that we should honor the Bidgoods with this
ceremony and a tree that will be a lasting testimonial to
their efforts to make SE Volusia an environmentally safe place
in which to live and raise a family," said President Don Picard.
Don went on to highlight some of Lee's most important work
including convincing the Volusia County School Commission
to choose Integrated Pest Management instead of the indiscriminate
use of herbicides and pesticides that they were previously
using in our school yards. The Bidgoods were among the first
to install solar photovoltaic panels on their roof top as
part of a program launched by the Utilities Commission of
NSB. Don also noted the contributions to the club by Catherine
who was Secreatry, Membership Chair, and Skimmer editor before
computers.
Mayor Sally McKay remarked that she had known the Bidgoods
for many years and was among the people to whom Lee showed
their solar panels and Ms. McKay had them installed on her
new home.
Also present was James Hathaway, city commissioner for zone
3.
Afterwards, guests enjoyed a reception at the Night Swan
B&B.
|
|
December 4, 2007. Christmas
Bird Count Press Release.
As part of the National Audubon Society's 108th Christmas
Bird Count (CBC), the Southeast Volusia Audubon Society will
conduct its count on the 29th of December 2007. Participants
will meet at the Brannon Center (on Riverside Drive in NSB,
just south of Canal Street) at 7:00 a.m. to start the count,
and again at 5:30 p.m. at the Main Street Grill for dinner
and tally the results. Dick and Gail Domroski are coordinating
the event this year so contact them at 428-0447 if you are
interested in participating.
To read the full press release as well as important information
from National Audubon about the CBC, click here. |
|
November 29, 2007. December
speakers announced.
Our speaker for the December meeting will be Linda Evans
of the University of Florida Extension Services located at
the Volusia County Fairgrounds office on State Road 44. This
office is dedicated to Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences
and is there to help US - the taxpayers of Volusia County.
Linda's formal education is in the field of Chemistry and
she is a trained Clinical Chemistry Specialist. She ran her
own business for ten years before starting with the University
of Florida, Volusia County Extension in 1998 as a Program
Assistant in their "Yards and Neighborhoods" program. Since
2000 her title has been Management Specialist which covers
a wide range of topics and responsibilities including giving
presentations to groups such as ours.
Linda's topic will be "What's Bugging You?" She will discuss
the good, the bad and the ugly of the insects which we encounter
in our yards, gardens and travels. Linda is the producer of
a really neat display on the subject which you may have seen
in their office over the last several months.
We will also have a brief presentation by a representative
from the "Florida Hometown Democracy" initiative explaining
the reason for their action and the current status of their
petition. PLEASE BRING YOUR SIGNING PENS!
|
|
November 16, 2007. December
Field Trip Schedule Change.
The December field trip will be to Hawks Preserve in Edgewater
on December 8th.. It is behind the YMCA on Turgot Ave. Here
is a chance to learn about a Scrub Jay habitat in our own
back yard. The Florida Scrub Jay is listed as a threatened
species under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act. Volunteers
will talk about the scrub habitat, the plants and other animals
that live there, the special requirements needed for Scrub
Jays to live there and why they are no longer there.
For the last year we have been working with the city Director
of Parks and Recreation, Jack Corder, to get the city to fulfill
its responsibilities to preserve the small Scrub Jay habitat
there. They agreed to preserve it as part of a mitigation
agreement when the YMCA was built but they failed to live
up to the agreement. Their neglect and the failure of the
US Fish and Wildlife Service to enforce the terms of the federal
mandate resulted in the deterioration of the habitat and the
loss of the Scrub Jays that once lived there.
We will see other birds and animals there. Meet at the Market
Square parking lot in Edgewater, Ridgewood and US 442 between
Dunkin Donuts and Chik-fil-A. Trip leaves at 8:00 a.m.
|
|
November 8, 2007. Thank
You! Thank You! Thank You!
At the November 7th meeting, Jean McNeil volunteered to be
the club's Secretary. We really appreciate your volunteering
for this important position.
|
|
October 21, 2007. Speaker
announced for November 7th meeting.
The guest speaker will be Adam Kent who is employed as the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)'s
Scrub-Jay Conservation Coordinator. Adam's interest in nature
started when he was a small child. A love of
sharing his passion about the natural world led him to travel
and lead nature
tours across the hemisphere from Alaska to southern South
America. He has
written a guide to the shorebirds of Baja California, co-authored
a paper
about birds of the Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia, and made
recordings in
southern Mexico that led to the description of a new species
of bird, the
Nava's Wren.
While with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC),
Adam developed Bird Detective, a bird-identification activity
guide for
Florida that was later adopted by Seattle Audubon. Also with
the FWC, Adam
worked on the Great Florida Birding Trail and made bird lists
for many of the
state's Wildlife Management Areas.
|
|
August 31, 2007. Speaker
announced for October 3d meeting.
The guest speaker at the October 3d meeting will be Mr.
Eric West, who will speak on the unreasonable development
in East Central Florida. Eric is an environmental advocate
who is well known for studying the issues, proposing alternative
solutions and rebutting developers' arguments with a passion.
His views regularly run counter to the claims and desires
of Volusia County Council, Saint Johns River Water Management
District, and other local governments, not to mention Florida's
land developers. Click Here
to read his bio as well as a letter he wrote in response to
"The Final Report of the Committee for a Sustainable Treasure
Coast." This was distributed to several members of the media,
Volusia County Council members and other local leaders. Mr.
West will speak on the subjects of widespread development,
our finite water resources and the need for awareness on all
our parts. He will then open the floor for a question and
answer session.
Come and bring a friend(s). |
|
August 25, 2007. Central
Florida is gearing up to withdraw millions of gallons of water
from the St. Johns River.
Click Here to see important
information about Florida's (and Volusia County's) future
water supply. It is reproduced from an email by LegalSandy@aol.com.
|
|
August 16, 2007. Good
News! Florida Stops a Polluter!
Florida's top environmental regulator has upheld a ruling that
makes International Paper stop polluting Perdido Bay near Pensacola.
Maybe under Gov. Crist, the Department of Environmental Protection
actually will protect the environment. This news was published
in an editorial in the Palm Beach Post and announced to us by
Linda Young, Director of the Clean Water Network of Florida.
Click here to read Linda's
announcement and see how you can thank the DEP administrator
Michael Sole. You can also read the full editorial. |
| June 2007:
What good is email if they don't answer? President
Don Picard sent an email to the Edgewater City Council and Mayor
in April asking serious questions about the city's future. The
answers impact all citizens of the city, but he has received
no response as of the middle of June.
Check out his email and ask yourself why they did not respond
and why you don't email them to seek answers. |
| April 2007:
It is with mixed emotions of sadness and joy that we say goodbye
to Lee and Catherine Bidgood; sadness because they have
been such stalwarts in our club and in the environmental movement
in general and joy because they are embarking on another stage
in their lives, one which they have been planning for some time.
More.. |
February
2007: Volusia Audubon groups sponsor Tomoka Science Fair.
For the fifth year in a row the three Audubon groups in
Volusia County partnered to provide judges and prizes for the
Tomoka Regional Science Fair. It was held at the Advanced Technology
Center in Daytona Beach on the 20th of January, 2007. More.. |
January
2007: Christmas Bird Count results announced.
President Don Picard thanked all who participated in the 107th
Annual Christmas Bird Count. The weather conditions were not
the best, however, the overall result was phenomenal. More... |
