OCTOBER 2018 • 1 OASOAS Is Is Orange Audubon Society the Voice of Conservation in Central Florida Vol
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OCTOBER 2018 • 1 OASOAS is is Orange Audubon Society The Voice of Conservation in Central Florida Vol. 54 Issue 2 • October 2018 This Month’s Program: Fall Bird Walks: October 18, 2018 October 6, 13, 20, & 27, Coexisting with 2018, Mead Botanical Panthers Garden To celebrate fall migration, Orange by Dr. Jennifer Korn Although the Florida Panther is still Audubon Society (OAS) will host bird highly endangered, it is making a walks at Mead Botanical Garden on comeback, thanks to conserved land Saturdays, October 6, 13, 20 & 27, 2018. and conservation efforts. Most of the The October 20th walk will replace estimated 120 to 230 Florida Panthers the monthly field trip. The walks are live in South Florida. Orange Audubon free and open to the public with no Society’s October speaker, Dr. Jennifer registration needed. Each walk will be Korn, focuses on the ones in the rest of led by an experienced birding leader. the state. Walks start at 8:00 a.m. and will last 2 Previously only a few adventurous to 3 hours. The pace is slow with lots males crossed the Caloosahatchee of stopping to look at birds. River and traveled north in search of territory and mates, but in March 2017 a mother and kittens were documented on Babcock Ranch Preserve in Charlotte County — the first clear evidence of a female north of the Caloosahatchee River in over 40 years. Then Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Dr. Jennifer Korn, tracking a panther at Archbold Biological Station. Photo: Dustin Angell (FWC) biologists documented a second female north of the river, Highlands Mead Garden, looking for a waterthrush. County, just a few miles from Archbold Biological Station. Photo: Deborah Green Dr. Korn previously worked as a Florida Panther specialist for FWC and is now Loaner binoculars will be available. a wildlife biologist with Johnson Engineering, Inc. She is placing cameras under If you need to borrow a pair, please bridges and wildlife crossings from Alligator Alley to I-4 to monitor use by arrive early to sign them out and to panthers, Florida black bear, white-tailed deer, and other species that cover be shown how to use them for the large distances and rely on wildlife corridors. Building new wildlife crossings most enjoyable experience. to minimize panther deaths on the roads is very costly. If Dr. Korn can figure We will meet in the parking lot at out which bridges are already important corridors for panthers, FDOT Mead Botanical Garden, 1500 S. can retrofit these bridges to assist their movements. Her work involves Denning Drive, Winter Park. For partnerships with private landowners and non-governmental organizations. information, contact me at (407) 647- Florida Defenders of Wildlife, sponsor of her presentations, believes that the 5834 or [email protected]. more that Floridians learn about this rare and elusive animal, the greater their curiosity and commitment to its survival will be. Visit the Path of the Panther Facebook page to learn more. Join us October 18th at 7:00 p.m. for a great Florida Native Plant month event program. Location below. Rick Baird, Programs Chair October 2, 2018 The Tarflower Chapter, Florida Native Orange Audubon Society programs are free and no reservations are necessary. Plant Society (FNPS) is celebrating Programs are the 3rd Thursday of each month (September–June) October Florida Native Plant month and all but June start at 7:00 p.m. and hosting native plant cultivation in the Camellia Room at author Rufino Osario. To learn more Harry P. Leu Gardens about creating wildlife habitat through 1920 North Forest Ave., Orlando, FL 32803 native plantings, don’t miss this free presentation, October 2nd, 6:45 p.m. For map and directions, visit: at Leu Gardens. www.leugardens.org/plan/directions/ OCTOBER 2018 • 2 OAS is Election Critical for the Environment National Audubon Society urges us all to “Vote for the Birds,” because birds can’t vote. We need to elect officials who will actually work to protect the environment. Registration Deadlines and Other Voting Information: Florida’s General Election is November 6th, and the deadline to register is Tuesday, October 9th. Do you have any family members or friends that you can encourage to register? The League of Women Voters and other groups register voters at various locations. One can register online at RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov up until October 9th, or send in a voter registration application by mail if post- marked by October 9th. The purpose and dedication of Orange Do you have any registered family members or friends that you can encourage Audubon Society (OAS) is to promote to vote this election? The three options are: 1. Vote-by-mail (used to be called public understand ing of, and an interest absentee ballot — check the Supervisor of Elections website for details and in, wildlife and the environ ment that supports it. deadlines); 2. Vote during Early Voting; or 3. Vote at the polls on November 6th. Orange County Early Voting dates are Monday, October 22nd to Sunday, OAS’ education programs foster the November 4th (9 a.m. – 7 p.m. each day), mostly at the public libraries. recognition of the tangible and intangi- ble values in the remaining natural A recent example of why voting matters: Audubon Florida and your areas of Flor ida and the world, and local chapter worked hard to secure passage of 2014’s Amendment 1 that our responsibility for the conservation required state officials to set aside 33 percent of the money from real estate of the Earth’s natural ecosystems and “documentary stamp” taxes to reboot state purchases of environmentally the services that they provide for the sensitive areas over a 20-year period. But within a few months, it was clear health of the planet. that the legislature did not intend to follow the will of the voters. Advocates Orange Audubon Society — including the Florida Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club — sued, citing that P.O. Box 941142 lawmakers wrongly appropriated money for, among other things, “salaries Maitland, FL 32794-1142 and ordinary expenses of state agencies” that were tasked with executing the www.orangeaudubonfl.org amendment’s mandate rather than renewing purchase of conservation lands President and OASis Editor: already on the approved Florida Forever list. When in mid June a Tallahassee Deborah Green judge ruled in favor of the environmentists’ suit, the legislature quickly appealed [email protected] the ruling. If we all research the candidates and vote, maybe the new legislators (407) 637-2525 we elect will respect the will of the public. The OASis (Orange Audubon Society Constitutional Amendments on the ballot: Voting this November will be information source) newsletter is slowed by 12 constitutional amendments on the ballot. Florida’s Constitution published monthly from Revision Commission (CRC), which convenes every 20 years, put forward 8 of the September through June. The amendments; legislators put forward 3; and citizen initiatives put forward 2. The newsletter is posted on the OAS League of Women Voters (LWV) challenged 3 of those put forward by the CRC website, and the link is e-mailed to based on their being confusingly misleading; the challenge resulted in the removal OAS members. of Amendment 8, dealing with school choice, from the ballot. The CRC is allowed To add your email address to our by law to bundle more than one issue into each question, in a practice known as distribution list or report a change in “logrolling.” For example, the CRC’s proposed Amendment 9 asks voters to decide email address, contact newsletter@ to ban offshore oil drilling and e-cigarettes at workplaces, with the two unrelated orangeaudubonfl.org. items in the same amendment. Each of us needs to learn about the constitutional For other membership information, amendments through a little Internet research and mark our ballots before going to contact: Mike Daley vote. This is a critical election for the environment and, as National Audubon says, [email protected] for the birds. Deborah Green, Orange Audubon Society President (407) 417-7818 North Florida Birding, Buffalo Hunt & North American JOIN OAS’ MEETUP GROUP LIKE OAS ON FACEBOOK Wolf Encounters, December 6-9, 2018 Once again Orange Audubon Society (OAS) has organized a trip to the A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL Florida Panhandle. This year’s pilgrimage includes a private, hands-on tour at REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL Seacrest Wolf Preserve and birding at Tall Timbers Research Station (TTRS) and INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER Greenwood Plantation in the Red Hills Region, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE, and Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. 1-800-435-7352, WITHIN THE STATE. Costs are: Weekend, $100 members or students/$115 non-members (M-4/1); FROM OUTSIDE OF FLORIDA CALL 1-850- 410-3800. VISIT www.800helpfla.com Birding only, $65/$80 (M-3/1); Seacrest private tour only, $45/$55 (M-1/0), FOR HELP. REGISTRATION DOES NOT which includes local expert guides, field trip fees and some meals (M-lunches/ IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR grill night). For registration, lodging and other details contact Teresa: RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. [email protected] or (407) 644-0796 REGISTRATION NO. CH2330 OCTOBER 2018 • 3 OAS is Beginners’ Bird Wekiwa Bird Survey EagleWatch Training Watching Class October 6, 2018 October 7, 2018 October 6, 13, & 20, 2018 Orange Audubon Society is repeating Is there an eagle nest near your home or office, or would you just like to get Orange Audubon Society offers bird surveys done at Wekiwa Springs involved in a great citizen science a Beginners’ Bird Watching Class, State Park in the 1990s.