| Summary: | Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). 5f£C Cot-L c\L G~t.{Tlf- 13 +! Tuesday, February 6, 2001 - Chapter Meeting BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY First Place, 2000 National Audubon Society newsletter contest for large chapters BAS to hail work of Mitchell Lake Wetlands Society Plus astounding look at Belize wildlife, archeology And, a silent auction with great deals on outdoor stuff 6:30p.m. -Social Time and Silent Aucation; 7:30p.m. -Program . Free and open to the public-Extra parking across Broadway at /HOP Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway (Take Hildebrand exit off 281) For VIA public transportation: take Route 9 or 14 to the Broadway/ Pershing/ Toledo intersection In February, BAS will host a special meeting featuring a look at and appreciation of the work of the Mitchell Lake Wetlands Society (MLWS) in opening up amazing new worlds of birding opportunities at a site once thought to be a unwholesome reminder of thoughtless pollution of our environment. Then, BAS and MLWS will join hands to present an illustrated lecture by Sam Fried, co-founder of Fights of Fancy Adventures, Inc., a birding and natural history travel company. Fried, a former San Antonian, will conduct us on a tour which includes: Lamanai Outpost Lodge, on the New River Lagoon, near the extensive Lamanai ruins, a Mayan city occupied for 2000 years, now home to jacamars and kingfishers who build nests in ancient temples; Chan Chich, a lodge and reservation built on a Mayan plaza deep in the Belizean forest, home of a multitude of birds, due to its wide variety of habitats, and to several species of wild cats; and Crooked Tree Wildlife Preserve, with vast congregations of wading birds, featuring the rare and elusive jabiru stork, largest flying bird in the Western Hemisphere. Preceding all of this will be a silent auction-from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m.-featuring approximately 50 items with special appeal for nature lovers. The auction will be accompanied by a tasty array of light refreshments. Profits from the auction will go to the MLWS. Fried is a past president of the Hartford Audubon Society and has published many photographs and articles in field guides and other books and magazines nationwide, including Audubon, WildBird, Birder's World, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birding and Living Bird Quarterly and wrote several chapters for a new book on birding in North America, published by the Discovery Channel. He has seen 727 species of birds in North America and photographed 699 of them. Fried will lead a birding tour of the Rio Grande Valley later in February. Tuesday, March 6, 2001 Same place as February Meeting- see above; 6:30p.m.- Social time; 7:00p.m.- Program Media, city councilpersons, and environmental experts To discuss San Antonio's future, Plus a look at Kelly's groundwater The San Antonio Environmental Network, which shares its quarterly meeting with BAS, will discuss two topics in March. The first will be an update of the groundwater problems at the former Kelly Air Force Base. As most BAS members know, there has been substantial groundwater contamination in the Base area from Base industrial operations which has limited development and caused widespread concern about possible health risks to area residents. An Air Force representative will present the latest findings from monitoring stations and provide an update on progress made to remedy the pollution and future plans. Then, a panel of local media, city councilpeople, and water and environmental experts will discuss what the future may bring for San Antonio, with a look at how our environment and lifestyles will change as a result of the pressures of population growth, water shortages, demographic changes and (maybe) global warming. Among members of the panel will be: Lynell Burkett, Editorial Page Editor of the San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio's two announced mayoral candidates, Tim Bannwolf and Ed Garza, as well as Councilwoman Bonnie Conner, have agreed to participate. Rounding out the panel will be Luanna Buckner, board member of the Edward's Aquifer Authority and General Manager of the Medina County Underground Water Conservation District, and Dr. Jerry Morrisey, Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club. BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY Chapter of the National Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 78209 210-822-4503 GOALS The Chapter's primary goals are to promote species and habitat conservation and environmental education in the community. OFFICERS President Tatjana Walker (tatjana@wordwright.com) . 532·2332 . . . . . . . evening: 832·8681 Vice Pres. Mike Macke (mikebmecke@prodigy.net) . . 344-3737 Tr ~asurer Rita Banda (WaterHawk2@aol.com) . 830 606·1946 Secretary Susan Hughes (Susan@wordwright.com) . 532·2332 Past Pres. Bill Sain . . . . . Moved to New Mexico BOARD OF DIRECTORS Term Ending 2000: Chris Dullnig . (cdullnig@juno.com) . 830-980-8156 Bill Hurley . . (BHURLEY@satx.rr.com) . 341-2676 Janis Merrit . . . . . . 698-'1 095 Term Ending 2001: Bill Barker . (barker@texas.net) . Harry Noyes . (harrynoyes@juno.com) . 490·3124 Tom Wilson . (twilsond@AOL.com) . 492·4799 COMMITTEE CHAIRS Aud. Adven. Betty Minyard . (mink@texas.net) . 344-6128 Birdathon ,_ . . . . . available Conserv. Harry Noyes . (harrynoyes@juno.com) . 490-3124 Education Hospitality Memb. Natural lnit. Outings Programs Publicity SAEN Coord. Bexar Tracks Editors Mailing TxAS Bd. . available . available . . . available Tom Wilson . (twilsond@AOL.com) . 492-4799 . . available . available Harry Noyes . (harrynoyes@juno.com) . 490-3124 Mike Mecl<e (mikebmecke@prodigy.net) . 344-3737 . available Tom Wilson . (twilsond@AOL.com) . 492-4799 Jill Sandeen . . . 830-980-3277 (jsondeen@NetXPress.com) . Fax: 830-438-7393 . available Tatjana Walker (tatjana@wordwright.com) . 532-2332 Bexar Tracks is your newsletter. We welcome your contributions. Next deadline: Mar 2, 2001 Lay-up final deadline: Mar 9, 2001 Please fax Jill or email Tom as above; diskettes and hard copy should be sent to Tom Wilson, 13227 Hunters Spring, San Antonio, TX 78230. 1-' Printed with soy ink on recycled paper. Visit Bexar Audubon's Web Site: http://www.BexarAudubon.org Suggestions and contributions are welcome. Please contact Bill Hurley at bhurley@satx.rr.com February I March 2001 Walker on the Wild Side Thanks so much to the members who responded to our end-of-the-year appeal for operating funds. You can be certain we will frugally apply your money to our mutual mission of conserving and protecting habitat and species and providing environmental education to this community. · Well, prevailing wisdom is that conservation will suffer blows the new administration, but I want to remind you that the effect of ANY presidency on the issues we share in common has EVERYTHING to do with your participation. While conservation is associated with progressive politics, I don't think that keeping our air and water clean, our species healthy and abundant, and our great open -spaces pristine should be partisan issues. Remember: Conservation IS conservative. I find that when I am speaking with someone who considers themselves politically conservative that there are a few things I can say to put them at ease with conservation. 1 -Conservation of habitat and species is very different from animal rights activism. They are two totally different issues. Conservationists often kill feral hogs - and som'etimes eat them. 2 - National Forests and other federal lands belong to all of us. I thank the people who live near them for their efforts and stewardship and ask them to appreciate that caring about that land is my right and my responsibility as an American. 3 - I am concerned about land and people and habitat in all the ways they come together. I care about family farms as much as I care about Alaskan wilderness. · So, this is the year to go out and make friends with your congressman and senators. Let them know that you want Richard Nixon's environmental policies strictly adhered to and Eisenhower's Arctic NatiorJal Wildlife Refuge kept pristine. Homework: Write a long and thoughtful letter about why you Ci'!re about conservation to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Extra Credit: Buy your stationary at the Feburary meeting auction to oenefit Mitchell Lake Wetlands Society. -Tatjana Walker, President Some items in the silent auction at our February Meeting (see front page) 1 Bushnell scope with backpack case and window mount 2 Droll, Yankee bird feeder 3 David Sibley's Guide to Birds (hot off the press!) 4 Audubon Society Encyclopedia of t:Jorth American Birds 5 Kenn Kaufmann's Lives of North American Birds 6 Birding tour with Georgina Schwartz 7 Birding tour with Mike Scully 8 Birding tour with Ernie Roney 9 Spotted owl print by Guy Coheleach (signed) 1 0 Snowy owl print by Selby Plus: Jewelry, decorative items, prints and photographs, t-shirts, books, and many more items to choose from. 2 Bexar Tracks MEMBER MEETING RECAPS Tuesday. Dec. 5, 2000 SAEN recap Major improvements for the city-defining San Antonio River presented at SAEN meeting Editor's note: This article was written by Georgina Schwartz, long time member of both BAS and San Antonio Audubon. A similar version appeared in the San Antonio Audubon Society's newsletter. A comment from BAS Board member Harry Noyes follows. The San Antonio Environmental Network meeting on December 5 hosted a presentation by the San Antonio River Oversight Committee of the proposed project to improve the River along a 13-mile stretch from Hildebrand Avenue to Mission Espada. Project Manager for San Antonio River Authority Steve Graham and Nancy Fleming from SWA, the company overseeing the designs, presented the concepts to an audience of about 80 people. Thanks to bird records kept by Keith Bartels and the concerns of River Road residents, plans to route an improved Hike and Bike trail through Avenue A next to the Brackenridge Golf Course and the River Road area have been changed to the east side of the golf course along Avenue B. Possible disruption of the present habitat and the quiet use.s of Avenue A prompted research into the value of the natural area along this stretch of the San Antonio River. Species seen at this area number 165 with a peak of 77 species for the great May 1, 2000, inland "fallout." This is San Antonio's prime migrant songbird habitat and a quiet place for people. Improvements to the 13-mile reach of the River are being planned by the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and the San Antonio River Authority. Renovations are already underway in the downtown area to address major concerns ·along the Riverwalk. The beautiful walks along both sides of the River from Nueva Street Dam to South Alamo St. including handicapped access are complete. Planned improvements to the sections below South Alamo include realignment of the river channel to increase water capacity, control flow, and restore a more natural river with habitat for birds, fish, wildlife, and people. A continuous hike and bike trail for the 13 miles and a linear greenway park along the River are envisioned. A dam at Brooklyn Avenue is proposed to allow barges to reach Grayson Street. Many meetings have been held with the public and with residents of the various areas to receive their ideas and comments. Former Mayor Lila Cockrell and Architect lrby Hightower are cochairpersons ot the San Antonio River Oversight Committee, charged with Tuesday, .January 2, 2001 meeting recap providing public input and review of the project. . To review the plans yourself, visit the website at <www.sanantonioriver.org> In anticipation of expanded private development along the San Antonio River, an Expanded River Overlay District with development and design guidelines is in progress under Ann McGlone, Historic Preservation Officer. The residents and landowners along the river and adjoining areas are being invited to participate and to influence the future character of their neighborhoods. Harry's comments: The plans call for the restoration of the river from its straight "channelized" form to a more nearly natural serpentine path (though the narrowness of the right-of-way precludes going all the way . they are trying to minimize the need to acquire additional right-of-way, though there a few small areas where the plans do call for that). Audience reaction seemed to be favorable, with only a few minor questions and comments being offered. This plan does a creditable job of melding environmental and economic concerns. Pedernales Falls State Park has many and varied birding opportunities and then some Like many areas of south Texas, Pedernales Falls State Park benefits from being at the melding point of several geologic and ecologic regions. To the east lies the blackland prairie country and to the north and west is the Edwards plateau. Shaking it all up for variety is the famous Balcones Escarpment which, among other things, wrings moisture from the clouds to nourish the land and provides the drop over which the beautiful Pedernales River falls. Why this pleasant and picturesque combination, which lies 50 miles north of San Antonio, is of benefitto the birder and/ or outdoors person was described at the January BAS meeting to a baker's dozen members and friends by Ed McDaniel, who February I March 2001 has managed the 5000-acre park for the last eleven years. The park, as described by McDaniel, consists of a fairly dry hilly plateau covered by various grasses, forbs and a lot of juniper (aka mountain cedar). It is bisected by numerous canyons and ravines into which the rainfall drains, creating an environment where live oak and other large trees, many shrubs, mosses, grasses and a fair amount of poison ivy thrive. Birds also thrive in both these environments and McDaniel had the colored slides to prove it. The slides demonstrated that the Park does provide birding opportunities for birders of all inclinations, from the hard charging list expander who fairly lopes down the trail in search of a new listing, to the recumbent pacifist who makes him or herself comfortable in a blind. The park staff has constructed several blinds in areas with heavy avian populations 3 so that visitors can watch and photograph the variety of birds attracted by the food and the water without disturbing them. As you might suspect, given the South Texas climate, water is the prime attraction in the park and a variety of misters and drippers provide a come-on for many a thirsty bird. McDaniel's slides showed that Pedernales Falls State Park is considered home by an amazing variety of birds from hummingbirds to vultures. The blinds often provide an extended look at the birds, especially helpful when it come to identifying the many varieties of sparrows that flock to the feeders and grounds. So, if watching birds-including a couple on the endangered species list-in a beautiful setting is your thing, head north to Pedernales Falls State Park where Mother Nature and your tax dollars have combined to display beauty and impart tranquility to all who seek it. -Tom Wilson Bexar Tracks WATER-THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN LIFE It's complicated, folks Water rights, junior and senior, Hold the key to our future as a viable region Editors note: this analysis of a key water rights issue is another in Bexar Tracks series on water and the future of South Texas. The Texas State Senate Natural industries from being able to outbid the creating more water through conservation. Resources Committee studied the "Future poorer rural communities for their local The interim committee discussed the of Groundwater" in the summer of 2000. The water rights. desirability of "balancing tests" for interbasin study group recommended that the junior Traditionally, agriculture has the more transfer of groundwater like those required water rights provision for interbasin transfer, senior water rights. Prior to this provision for surface water. Perceived pressure on the which was placed in Senate Bill 1 during in SB1, the priority date of water transported groundwater sources, the need for reliable the 1997 legislative session, be repealed out of a basin retained the seniority of the water sources, and the desire of permit in 2001. At a program on January 11, hosted water-right seller's permit. holders for the top dollar price only senior by the League of Women Voters-Coma! lnterbasin transfer of surface water is rights will bring about, led the interim Area, a panel of not a new concept. committee to conclude that the junior water water experts "We need to be very About 80 transfers rightsprovisionforinterbasintransferofSB1 discussed the are in force presently. should be eliminated. Buckner opined that ramifications. Dr. careful that we don't The interim the reason for current demand on Char Miller, committee's concern groundwater is that it is available to supply professor and chair choose to forego corn is as follows: if water immediate needs versus long-term needs. of the history that leaves the basin It is both simple and cheap to tap into nearby departmentatTrinity and cucumbers and becomes junior to groundwater supplies, whereas pipelines University, was the COttOn for carpet graSS." other rights- even if and surface water treatment facilities take moderator. the right had an old time ~nd money to build. Dr. Larry priority date-that Dr. Todd Votteler, of the Guadalupe- McKinney, Senior water right is less Blanco River Authority (GBRA), explained Director for Aquatic Resources at the Texas dependable and less desirable. The interim to the mostly Co mal, Kendall, and Northern Parks and Wildlife Department, opened the committee felt that this condition would Bexar County audience, some of the program with some background on junior place much greater demand on the temporary interbasin transfer activities water rights. There are two kinds of water purchase of groundwater rights, which GBRA is planning. He noted that the 10- in Texas: surface and ground. Surface water would not have this impediment. county jurisdiction along with the adjacent is owned by the state and may be used only Simplistically, groundwater is owned by metropolitan areas form a mutually by those to whom a permit has been issued. the property owner, although if the area is dependent economic unit and that the board Those permits with the oldest dates are under the jurisdiction of a groundwater of the GBRA encouraged mutual senior to more recent ones, and, in a period conservation district, there may be some cooperation within the region. The proposed of drought, junior rights will be cut off first- modification of the "rule of capture" to the Western Canyon Pipeline will, for the first last in, first out. degree that the aquifer is protected from 40 years, send water out of its basin to Senate Bill 1 started the current round being mined. Only 37 percent of the land Northern Bexar County to SAWS, Bexar of statewide water planning by designating area of Texas is protected by groundwater Metropolitan Water District, and the San 16 water planning regions with planning districts, although the districts account for Antonio River Authority. However, at the end groups comprising local community 79 percent of the groundwater used in the of that period, the cost of the water will go members. Previous state water planning state. Since 1997, a few water purveyors, from $23/acre foot to $4,000/acre foot, activities indicated the likely for interbasin including the San Antonio Water System thereby rendering it an unaffordable (in transfers of surface water from water rich (SAWS), have been actively purchasing or theory, anyway) source of water for San areas in eastern Texas to the water poor- leasing groundwater rights because they Antonio. By that time, it is predicted that but fast growing-areas in mid- and western are burdened by few, if any, restrictions for Western Co mal County and Boerne will Texas. After much cantankerous discussion out-of-basin transfers. Luanna Buckner, have grown to require all that water within in both the House and Senate, they finally general manager of the Medina County the basin. Nevertheless, bringing in a large compromised on an extensive list of Underground Water Conservation District user of water at the beginning will allow the "balancing tests" (listed in Section 11.085 and board member of the Edwards Aquifer planned 1 0,000 acre-foot per year treatment of the Texas Water Code) to protect the Authority (EAA), told us about the increased plant to operate at capacity immediately and environmental, economical, and local water marketing of Edwards water rights by local make the water affordable to the people of needs of the contributing basin for the next irrigators. Both SAWS and EAA have Western Co mal County and Boerne 50 years. The House insisted, however, that worked with farmers to increase their throughout the project's lifetime. By the end water used for interbasin transfer be irrigating efficiency by providing them low- of 40 years, if the regional water plan has designated junior to all other uses. This non- to no-interest loans to upgrade their been implemented as the initial plan negotiable element was an attempt to equipment to center pivot precision prevent the rich municipalities and application devices and the like, thereby Continued on page 5 February I March 2001 4 Bexar Tracks WATER-THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT Continued from page 4 recommended, San Antonio will have been able to build the proposed pipeline from the Lower Colorado River. Since the GBRA submitted its application for interbasin transfers prior to SB 1, they will not be impacted by the presence of the junior water rights provision on interbasin transfers. If the projects proposed by Region L come on-line as planned, the water is estimated to cost between $300 and $1 000/acre foot. Susan Butler, Director of Water Resource Development of SAWS, explained how the junior water rights provision on interbasin transfer will negatively impact cities. If cities are forced to buy surface water from other basinsthe major source of new water under the regional plan, along with desalinization of Gulf water-and those interbasin transfers are burdened with junior water rights, then drought reliability falters. Cities must then spend more on off-channel storage reservoirs, designed to capture more water during times of plenty, so that it can be used when junior surface water rights are cut-off during a drought. Sellers' prices will be negatively impacted, and the question of devaluing their property rights arises. Larry McKinney described the impact of interbasin transfer on downstream users. Most municipal and industrial water used is not consumed. Seventy percent of it returns to rivers and streams in a nearly clean state from sewage treatment plants, and that maintains river base flow. Transfer of water outside the basin can disrupt this unless adequate planning and safeguards are in place. The first downstream users affected are the fish and wildlife. They own no water rights. One of the most water-intensive crops is rice, but its water requirements can be environmentally friendly. First, the growing places are at the mouths of rivers, so the water that belongs to these farmers is used-or not used-upstream first and maintains fish and wildlife habitat. The water that flows over the rice fields continues on to drain into bays and estuaries that e the nurseries of most of the gulf coast marine life and support a very rich economic fishery industry. Before 1986, water rights were granted without consideration for environmental impact. One reason older rights are so valuable is that all of the water can be consumed. The "balancing tests" should theoretically require that the environmental and economic impact be considered , but there was skepticism February I March 2001 whether criteria will be based on science or politics. Buckner said, and several of the other speakers agreed , the concept of "highest and best use" may be a very dangerous concept. What is highest and best use to a city person who can't water his grass during a drought may be very different from that of the farmer who can't water his crop. The danger is that the contest may deteriorate to whoever has the most money wins. Much more study is required to determine how much water is required to protect the habitat. Right now there is insufficient knowledge to guarantee both environmental and economic safety for sectors other than cities. Buckner observed, "we need to be very careful that we don't choose to forego corn and cucumbers and cotton . " and I add, carp and coots, "for carpet grass." The process of the "balancing tests" does show some potential for success. The last interbasin transfer permitted was to Corpus Christi. They are now pumping water from the Texarkana Reservoir. This has reduced pressure on the Choke Canyon reservoir and flow to the Corpus Christi Bay has been restored. In this case, flow requirements to maintain the health of Matagorda Bay were known and the diversion of water to Corpus has increased the health of the region. Haskell Simon, a rice farmer and Vice Chair of Region K Water Planning Group, said that he started out adamantly opposed to the elimination of the junior rights provision. But now he is willing to consider it, with the caveat that the "devil is in the details." The projects proposed to increase conservation and off-channel reservoirs in the Lower Colorado River basin will actually create more water than the estimated deficit in 50 years. That excess water-new sources not currently in use-can be used by others. SAWS is in negotiation now with the LCRA to fund the conservation and reservoir projects. Susan Butler said that if the junior rights provision isn't removed, they will incur more expense to build more reservoirs so they can be assured of the amount of water they need. I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. I think it is a form of insurance, especially since the science isn't available yet to ensure protection of the environment. If rainwater can be captured in times of plenty-and water demand can be determined so that adequate planning can occur-having river flow cut off in times of drought to junior right holders may better serve to protect the basin of origin. -Jill Sandeen 5 EVENT .Join the Rivers & Wildlife Celebration Thousands of people Will flock to watch Thousands of cranes KEARNEY, NEBRASKA- One of the world's most spectacular wildlife migrations will occur this spring on a short stretch of Nebraska's Platte River when a half-million· Sandhill Cranes, along with millions of other migratory birds, cross the Great Plains. Audubon Nebraska's Rowe Sanctuary <http://rowesanctuary.org>, near Kearney will host at least 60,000 sandhill cranes as they stop to rest and socialize on a 5 mile stretch of the Platte River. Rowe Sanctuary Manager Paul Tebbel invites enthusiasts of wildlife and photography, and families to witness the migration from the sanctuary's unique vantage point on the river. "As the birds' silhouettes fill the sky, one of the most spectacular bird migrations unfolds before your eyes. Close to 80 percent of the world's population of sandhills stop in the Platte River Region, en route to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. The migration of the sandhill cranes is truly an awesome sight." By mid-April, what Forbes FYI Magazine has called "the greatest bird spectacle in the world" is over and the cranes move on until next spring. The shallow Platte, dotted with sandbars, provides the cranes with a safe haven from predators, before they continue their epic flights north. However, the Platte had once been named one of "America's ten most endangered rivers." A 70 percent reduction of its flow had resulted in severe ecological degradation and habitat loss, therefore state government, local businesses and conservationists led by Audubon have worked together to protect the water flows. Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary has been recognized by scienHsts worldwide as a model of management of river habitat, balancing the needs of agriculture, commerce and nature. Visitors to the Platte also have the opportunity to attend the Annual Rivers and Wildlife Celebration (March 16-18). To order a copy of the Nebraska Spring Migration Guide or to arrange for a reservation at Rowe Sanctuary's observation blinds, visitors can call the Sanctuary at 308/468-5282. Registration forms for the Rivers and Wildlife Celebration are available through Audubon Nebraska at 402/797-2301. Bexar Tracks CHAPTER NEWS AND LOCAL EVENTS BAS challenge grant gets start on match In December an end-of-year appeal was sent to BAS members soliciting funds to match a $20,000 donation. Thanks to those who responded, helping us raise $828. That leaves us $19,172 left to raise this year. We'll be working on this all year and hope if you see your way clear to make a charitable donation or an additional donation, you will remember Bexar Audubon, our goals, and our programs. While dollars are very important, your time and energy (even an hour or so a month) are valuable, as well. Soon we will be preparing a list of nominees for chapter officers and at-large board members. If you would be willing to help the chapter with your time and opinions, please contact Susan Hughes at 21 0-532-2332. A glance at the list of committees and all the "available" · positions indicates the need for more volunteers to accept responsibility for some of the chapter's routine tasks. If you see an area listed that interests you, please call and learn more about it. Some require very little time-although if one person is doing lots of tasks-it does add up! So shoulder a little of the load and make the work lighter for everyone. Call Susan for more info. This is a good time to publicly recognize a few of those who are carrying the water for the chapter regularly. Tom Wilson and Jill Sandeen do a wonderful job with the newsletter; Harry Noyes has been handling publicity ably in the absence of a task force leader; Mike Mecke has been coordinating our SAEN programs and could benefit from a co-chair; Rita Banda keeps us fiscally responsible; Betty Minyard manages the Audubon Adventures subscriptions and coordinates with teachers; Mary Kennedy has been organizing our Second Saturday programs with City staff at Friederich and Eisenhower Parks; many have pitched in to help with mailings in absence of someone to take charge of that task; Georgina Schwartz has been helping out with birdrelated phone questions and requests for local birding information. We hope each of these valuable individuals will continue to support the organization in the coming year, and we hope you will consider pitching in to help, too. Thanks also to all our speakers, panelists, and meeting hosts throughout the year at our wonderful programs and to the steering committee and all our helpers at the 2000 Farm & Range Forum. We are readying the 2001 Farm & Range Forum now, so if you want to help, let Susan know. If you are not able to participate actively, don't think you are not appreciated as a member. You are. We know you may be contributing your time to another organization or cause or that you have obligations that prevent being an active volunteer. You are valuable, too, and we recognize that. We hope you will come to a program meeting or see us at a springtime outreach event like Viva! Botanica. (We need volunteers for these, too. Please call.) You can help daily by promoting a culture of conservation in your own home, workplace, and community. -Susan Hughes RECURRING EVENTS San Antonio Audubon Society's Beginners' Birdwalk. Meet at the Judson Nature Trail in Alamo Heights at 8:00AM. (except in the summer, June through August, when it is 7:30} Visitors are welcome. Membership is not required and they have a few binoculars to lend. For more information, call at 342-2073. SECOND SATURDAY PROGRAM Second Saturdays are co-sponsored by the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and the Bexar Audubon Society. Eisenhower Park is located at 19399 N.W. Military Hwy., about 2 miles outside of Loop 1604 on the city's northwest side. Take the FM1535/ MilitaryHwy/Shavano Park exit, go north on FM1535, and the park will be on the left, just before you reach Camp Bullis. Reservations are required. For more information or to make reservati9ns please call 210-698-1057. A $2 donation is requested. MITCHELL LAKE ACCESS Dates will be available on San Antonio Audubon Society website at http:// etex.electrotex.com/saas/. Additional access can be arranged by calling in advance to Georgina Schwartz at 21 0-342-2073 or Ernie Roney at 21 0-656-4239. February I March 2001 6 February 16-19, 2001 You're invited to participate! Great backyard bird count 2001 Editor's note: The following story first appeared in the Jan.-Feb. 2001 issue of the Delaware Audubon Journal. Now that the winter has gripped much of the continent, where are the birds? Bird populations are dynamic. They are constantly in flux. We want to take a snapshot of North American bird populations and you can help us. On the weekend of February 16-19, anyone with an interest in birds and access to the Internet should watch their bird feeders and backyards, and count the maximum number of each of the different bird species he or she sees. For those without feeders, counts can be made in neighborhoods or local parks. Participants can spend as little or as much time as they want counting birds during the three-day period. They then submit their counts via BirdSource- which also offers assistance in bird identification-on an easy to use electronic form. Everyone's contribution is important It doesn't matter whether you identify, count and report the 5 species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day's outing to a wildlife refuge. The data that you collect will be combined with Christmas Bird Count and Project FeederWatcn data to give us an immense picture of our winter birds. Each year that these data are collected makes them more important and meaningful. Enter your sighting online through Birdsource at http://birdsource.cornell.edu, a joint National Audubon/Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology project. Curriculum materials for teachers are offered on the web site from late October through the end of February. This is a great project for school children. Mark these date on your calendar now! Please take a moment and mark these dates, February 16-19, on your calendar now and participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count! What time is it anyway? Audubon watch found Lose your Audubon watch in downtown San Antonio? It has been found in the vicinity of the Travis Street bridge over the San Antonio River. To claim your timepiece call 272-3260, ext. 229. Bexar Tracks BIRD TALES Tales from the Sandwich Bar "Parting is Such Seed Sorrow But OH! those Seed Memories!" It was a time of mixed emotions for us. Familiar feathered friends would be left without their daily peanut-butter-and seeds-on-wheat-toast sandwich rations after years and generations of use. We were leaving our San Antonio home of 26 years and we worried. What would become of "our" birds there? Retirement enabled a longanticipated return to the country life for us this year. So now there would be new 'patrons' at a new Sandwich Bar, to be located in Gillespie County, some 80 miles out IH1 0. We wondered if "our" hill country birds would like us as much as we liked the idea of getting out of the Big City. Amazingly wild birds immediately · "flocked" to the newly filled feeders in the country. It was as if our new home's previous owner, gone for 9 YEARS, never left. He had maintained his yard FOR The ma~:nificent obsession By Mari Bailey birds and apparently the birds had never stopped checking the empty feeders. Within a few days the feeding area was hosting healthy numbers of white-crowned and rufous-crowned sparrows, tufted titmice, spotted towhees, black-eyed juncos, pine siskins, scrub jays, cardinals, robins, house finches, and Carolina chickadees. Occasional "bonus" visits by other "life list" birds made it clear that at least some of our retirement hours were going to be spent at home birdwatching! Within a short time, "sandwiches" introduced in suet feeders became favorite destinations for many of the wild birds. Adaptation to our presence and the resulting bounty is so complete that it is often· necessary to almost touch the birds to force them to leave a feeder long enough so that it can be refilled! Meanwhile, because we rented our former home to family, return trips occur. The suet feeders were left in place because every trip to San Antonio includes "sandwiches" to fill those feeders. And no matter the interval between trips, sometimes up to 4 WEEKS, the birds at the old home Bar seem to arrive within minutes after we put out their feast. And their "leader" is none other than Sore Throat, a distinctively hoarse Whitewing Dove who has frequented the Sandwich Bar for literally years. So what is it tha't keeps ALL of these wild birds- city and country- "checking" historical food sources even if "that cupboard is bare" for extended periods of time? Could it be that their "birdbrain" memories are far better than we know? And could it be that this information is somehow communicated to others of their kind? It is said "an elephant never forgets" - should there be a cq_mparable saying about wild birds? Birding can take over your life and still you will enjoy it Editor's note; The following is a copyrighted excetpt from an interview with journalist John Leo by Jon Winokur. It was originally published in Winokur's book "Return of the Portable Curmudgeon." It is reprinted here by special permission of Mr. Winokur.) Winokur: You've written about your passion for another "sport," birdwatching. How did you get involved? Leo: One day you just look up and you say, "Holy Smoke, I never noticed that thing before." And then you discover it's a mourning dove, a really beautiful bird. Then you start chasing them, and before you know it you're collecting them. It's the grown-up version of a little boy's attempt to collect every baseball card. It becomes a kind of hunting game in which you begin to notice the beautiful things around you. And it gets you away from the humdrum of daily life. It's an obsession: I know a lot of birders who divorced non-birders and then married birders. You have to organize your life around birding, including your wife, or otherwise your new wife will think you're as nuts as your old one did. You have to make sure that you have matched obsessions in the family. Winokur: How obsessive are you? February I March 2001 Leo: A couple of years ago I went to Attu. Attu is the last Aleutian, Island, closer to Tokyo than it is to Anchorage. It's way out in the middle of nowhere. They drop you there, and if you get sick, hard luck. There's nothing on the island. You get stuck there for three weeks in the most primitive conditions. There's nothing to do. You sleep in a room with ninete~n of your closest friends, all of whom are either coughing or snoring or both. You put up with this because of the chance that you might see five or six "Asian specialties." The big-time birders go there - sometimes every year, sometimes twice a year- with the hope of seeing maybe one ·bird that they haven't seen before to add to their lifetime list. That is truly obsessive. Winokur: Lifetime list? Leo: Lifetime North American list. Attu is really an Asiatic island, but technically it's part of Alaska, so any Asian bird that flies over it can be count~d on your North . 7 American list. So you spend five thousand dollars and three unbeg1rable weeks to· see a bird you could see two minutes ouside Paris, just so you can get it on your North American list. Winokur: Are there differences between women birders and men birders? Leo: There are a lot of very successful and competitive female birders, but I think by and large the sexual differences do assert themselves. I noticed that of the people who send in their life list to the American Birding Association, about ninety percent are male. I guess it's because the collecting, the driven ness, the hunting instinct, tends to be male, whereas women are more automatically drawn to the beauty and flight and freedom of birds and then only secondarily do they amass their list. Whereas the male will drive five hundred miles, look up at the bird, say "That's it," write it down on his list, and completely miss the beauty of it. Bexar Tracks r - - Me~be7ship-F~r;' - - ., Bexar Audubon Society, Inc. National Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6_084 Bexar AudubonSociety San Antonto, TX 78209 (Chapter Code W19) Address Service Requested Membership rates are: Student/Senior $15 Introductory 1·year $20 (2-year: $30) Basic $35 Lifetime Individual $1000 Dual $1500 Name ____________________ _ Add~ --- City ___ State __ Zip. ____ _ Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid San Antonio Permit #590 Phone: ) ___________ _ For a new membership, mail this coupon and your check-payable to "National Audubon Society, Chapter W19" to: Bexar Audubon Society P. 0. Box 6084 San Antonio, TX 78209 W19, 7XCH . ____________ . How Mitchell Lake Wetlands Became a place for the birds Editor's Note: This article gives some background on Mitchell Lake Wetlands, which will be featured at February's chapter meeting- see front page. The Mitchell Lake Wetlands Society, Inc. was incorporated in March 1994 as a nonprofit organization to promote the wise stewardship of the wetlands wildlife reft,Jge at Mitchell Lake. Prior to 1994, San Antonio Audubon Society had been watching birds at Mitchell Lake for many years, and in 1973 requested that the San Antonio City Council designate it a waterfowl and shorebird sanctuary. The ordinance was approved. Bexar Audubon was also active in efforts to preserve the habitat at Mitchell Lake. Because of the uniqueness of the habitat and the obvious importance of the refuge to the birds and the community, it was determined that a separate organization devoted solely to the cause was needed. The Junior League of San Antonio adopted,Mitchell Lake as a wetlands project in 1990 for the purpose of education. They renewed the project for five years, and in the second year held a very successful photo contest co-sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News. Mitchell Lake was part of wastewater treatment from 1901 until1973 when the City was ordered to abate the nuisance it was causing the neighborhood. As a result of the pervasive foul odors emanating from the property, Mitchell Lake has had a negative reputation for years. • · San Antonio Water System hired a consulting team, Carter-Burgess, in 1999 to develop a plan for the property. ·Through many meetings involving a task force, various stakeholders and members of the community, an implementation plan was put together and approved by the SAWS Board in 2000. The plan will provide the basis for developing the refuge into a living laboratory for research, a world-class site for bird watching and enjoying the wildlife-plant and animal-in this protected area. February I March 2001 8 You can become a Master Naturalist The Alamo Area Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists is accepting applications for its spring class until February I. Attendees will receive more than 40 hours training in ecology, wildlife management, archaeology, native plants, protecting resources, etc. Those completing the course agree to provide 40 hours of volunteer service each year and get 8 hours of continuing education. Volunteers help provide outdoor classrooms, staff special events, demonstrate wildscape gardens, birding, and other such actitivities. Classes will be held on Thursdays from March 15 to May 24 at Friedrich Wilderness Park from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. There is a materials fee of $75. Applications are available at the Master Naturalist page on the San Antonio Parks and Recreation website, or the office of Texas Parks and Wildlife (134 Braniff). Or leave a message with name and address at tel. 698-2397, and an application will be sent. Bexar Tracks
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