EVERGLADE
KITE
THE AUDUBON SOCIETY
OF THE EVERGLADES
(serving Palm Beach County, Florida)
Volume 43, No. 11 August 2003
CALENDAR TUESDAY, August 5th PROGRAM
Tues. August 5th — GENERAL MEETING Claudine Laabs, Program Chair
Members’ Slides Presentations
7:30 PM at the NEW LOCATION THE BIG PICTURE
► ► Howard Park Recreation Center ◄ ◄
Tues. September 2nd — GENERAL MEETING Or, at least a lot of little ones. It is members'
“Florida’s Wildlife” photo night, so bring your year's best photos to
With David Hitzig, Director, Bush Wildlife Sanctuary our meeting at the new location. Bring prints,
7:30 PM at Howard Park
digital or slides. (We provide the projector and
======= FIELD TRIPS ======= carousel tray) Slides are limited to 15 per per-
Saturday August 9th AND Saturday August 16th
son - please, no man-made objects or people,
Duda Farms, Belle Glade unless taken on an ASE field trip.
See Page 3 for details
For further information you can call: Join us at 7:30 P.M. at
Gloria Hunter at 561-585-7714 Howard Park Community Center !
IMPORTANT REMINDER
►► NEW LOCATION: ◄◄
This month’s General Meeting, and all
following meetings, will take place at
our new location, Howard Park, in the
Recreation Center.
Howard Park is located east of I-95
about 400 yards south of
Okeechobee Blvd. between
Parker Ave. ,and S. Lake Ave.
The phone number for the park’s
Recreation center is:
561-835-7055
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
— Carol Shields —
We're giving away land!
Actually developers are developing what land we have faster than we can save
it.
Precious land issues are up front in the news. Recently, in The Palm Beach
Post there have been articles on how most of the Florida's employed are in
construction rather than manufacturing. Officials in Palm Beach County are
considering land use issues and growth management.
The Audubon Society of the Everglades has been, and can potentially be, stew-
ards of protected land. Our island sanctuaries in the intracoastal are a
prime example. Fisherman, St, John, Hunter, and Bingham islands are all in
the care of the Audubon Society, in established leases set forth by the own-
ers. The Audubon Society oversees the islands. We clean-up trash, take bird
counts, and periodically visit the islands for exotic removal. But most im-
portantly, these islands have remained natural and hopefully will continue in
perpetuity.
Our Audubon chapter also fights for land that citizens have paid tax money
for and should be protected. Environmentally sensitive lands (ESL) are prop-
erties purchased through the bond program with Palm Beach County tax payers'
money. We paid to have these lands protected in perpetuity. Yet we are cur-
rently fighting against having a road built through one of these pieces of
property.
You might have heard of the Pond Cypress Reserve in Royal Palm Beach. This is
ESL property purchased with your bond money and the county commissioners want
to develop a reliever road through the pristine wetland. What trust can we
have in the county if they don't hold to their promise of keeping ESL proper-
ties as is. These are, after all, sensitive lands.
You can help protect our lands by voicing your concerns and getting involved
even if it means writing one letter or making a phone call.
You can consider protecting your own undeveloped land through a conservation
easement. This is a way for a landowner to voluntarily place permanent re-
strictions on future use of his or her land, thereby protecting its particu-
lar natural attributes. This legal agreement provides for a conservation
agency to hold the easement and enforce the restrictions. Your responsibili-
ties and rewards of ownership continue, and unless specified otherwise, you
retain full control over public access. There are organizations, including
the Audubon Society, that can serve as the conservation agency on such agree-
ments. A conservation easement is permanent and binds all present and future
owners of the eased land. it is recorded like any other title interest, and
goes with the land whether it is transferred by sale, by gift, or by devise.
Another option is to bequeath you land to a non-profit organization that un-
dertakes stewardship of property for protection.
If you wish to keep urban sprawl from covering all of Palm Beach County; if
you enjoy the view of wooded areas teaming with wildlife, then check into the
options I have suggested above. There is always a way to help.
Don’ Miss Out! Airshow of Cliff Swallows
Duda Farms Field Trips — by Gloria Hunter By Hank McCall
August brings our annual visit to the flooded fields of Duda Farms in Seven miles south of Kenmare, ND
Belle Glade to look for the shorebirds and wading birds that concen- there is a small concrete bridge on
trate on these fields. To reduce the number of visitors at any one time, the Wildlife Trail of DesLacs River
Duda Farms is kindly allowing two trips again this year. The dates will Refuge. We were so intent on
be Saturday August 9, and Saturday August 16. The fewer the number watching a Western Grebe and her
of cars involved in these trips, the more enjoyable they are for everyone, chicks that at first we failed to notice
so please plan to carpool and to limit your participation to one trip only! the cloud of Cliff Swallows swarming
above the bridge. A solid stream
Please meet at the Target store at the northeast corner of the intersec-
dove under the east side and an-
tion of Southern Blvd. (State Road 80) and 441/State Road 7. We park
other solid stream came out of the
on the west side of the parking lot, next to the garden center. Carpool-
ing is required and we leave Target at 7:00 a.m. Return to the coast will west side to swarm up 200 feet and
be around 12:00, noon. then dive under the bridge again.
They were having great fun flying at
Come with a full tank of gas; bring binoculars and spotting scopes, flu- full throttle.
ids, snacks, sunscreen, and hats. There will be very little walking but ex-
pect intense heat and glare. We will see myriad migrating shorebirds Under the bridge three concrete sup-
and spectacular gatherings of our local wading birds. port beams were covered on both
sides with what looked like coconut
Please note that we are responsible for everyone arriving and departing shells with holes in their sides.
as a group. The farms are private and not open to the public and we There were at least 1000 of these
have special permission from the Duda Farms management to bird on mud apartments slapped together
their property for these two annual field trips. with common walls, floors, and ceil-
For questions, please call me at 561-585-7714. Please DO NOT Call Duda! ings. Little heads poked out of the
holes to watch the fast flyers zipping
by.
Save The Date! Thank You Volunteers!
_____________________________________
From: Leah Shad We will never forget the sheer joy
Member, Conference Planning Committee July’s Meeting Hospitality energy of this colony of
was provided by: cliff swallows.
Mark your calendars now for September
17, 2003! “Can We Keep Agriculture in Volunteer’s name will be in next
the South Florida Ecosystem?” is the month’s KITE
theme for an Agro-Ecology Conference
set for September 17th at the Indian River
Research and Education Center in Fort
Pierce beginning at 9 o’clock in the morn- ASE's 5th Young Naturalist Program
ing. The purpose of this conference is to "Prey and Predator"
provide direction to the scientific re-
search Community regarding agricultural The Audubon Society of the Everglades is once again
research necessary to support ecosystem bringing nature closer to the children. This year the
Palm Beach Zoo will be host to our Young Naturalist
restoration, Including CERP implementa-
Program (YNP).
tion. The conference objective is to under-
stand agriculture as a long term compo- The YNP will be held Saturday, October 11, from 9:00
nent in the south Florida landscape and until 12:30 at the Palm Beach Zoo, 1301 Summit Blvd.
explore the scientific basis for decision- in West Palm Beach. This year's theme highlights the
making. food chain, an integral web of prey and predator. We
will have guests with live animals and activities re-
Registration fee is $20.00 before Septem- lating to the food chain. Refreshments will also be
ber 3, 2003 and $25.00 after that served.
date. The fee covers lunch, refreshments,
and materials. For additional information This program is offered free to school-aged children
please call Doreen DiCarlo, Florida Center ages 6-15 accompanied by an adult. Scout groups are
also welcomed. PRE-REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY. There
for Environmental Studies, Florida Atlan-
will be no registration allowed the day of the event.
tic University in Palm Beach Gardens at
To reserve your spot call 561-433-4063, or 561-434-
799-8553. 5327. Seating is limited.
Memberships in the National Audubon Society make great gifts!
In Florida, a special 3-way membership automatically makes you a member in the National Audubon Society,
Audubon of Florida and Audubon Society of the Everglades. Your membership will include subscriptions to
rTtuesday Tuesday, March 11, 2003 7-9 p.m. Ask-A-Nurse
AUDUBON Magazine and - informative lectureKITE.
the EVERGLADE and questions and answer session on
what to do in emergency situations in the Park and around town! Free with park admission of $3.25 per carload. (561) 624-
6952. Recipient of Gift Membership:
Name ______________________________________
Saturday, March 15J Name ________________________________________
Address ______________________ Apt. _________
Address ______________________ Apt. ___________
City ________________________________________
City _________________________________________
State __________________ Zip ________________
Phone _____________________________________
Make check payable to: National Audubon Society
e-mail ______________________________________
and send to:
Membership Chair
How did you hear about us? _____________________
Audubon Society of the Everglades
PO Box 16914
Regular Membership - - - - - - - - - $20.00
West Palm Beach, FL, 33416-6914
Senior Citizen - - - - -- - - - - - - - $15.00
E00 7XCH
The Audubon Society of the Everglades General Meetings are held
the first Tuesday of every month, 7:30 p.m. at Howard Park Recreation Center in West Palm Beach.
The public is welcome.
Deadline for submissions for the Sep. issue is August 14th.
Audubon Society of the Everglades Non-profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PO Box 16914 PAID
West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Florida
FL, 33416-6914 Permit 46
The Everglade Kite
is published 12 times a year
President
Carol Shields - 561-964-1522
Kite Editor
Tammy Peeples
[email protected]
Field Trips
Linda Most - 561-684-8693
Bird Identification
Gloria Hunter – 561-585-7714
ASE Internet Address
[email protected] Website
Auduboneverglades.org
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