| Summary: | Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Where: Ruble Center When: Friday, March 18, 1988 Time: 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. The Annual Meeting of Bexar Audubon Society will be a local event this year, held on a Friday instead of our usual Thursday. A potluck supper will be followed by a film and talk by Dean Hector about the Aplomado Falcon (its history in the U.S.A., behavior, ecology and more.) This should be a very informative talk about a bird that once called Texas home and about the efforts that are being undertaken to reintroduce this species to our State. Dean Hector is currently teaching biology and physiology at Southwest Texas State University, and is working on his doctorate in Biology at U.C.L.A., majoring in the behavior of the Aplomado Falcon. We will end the evening with some folk singing and entertainment. A field trip to Choke Canyon on Saturday will be an optional part of the Annual Meeting. The cost of the meeting this year is a nominal $2.50 per person to cover the cost of small items needed for the potluck meal. Those of you who remember our Annual Meetings of previous years may be surprised at the low-key profile of this meeting, but we wanted to see if a local evening event would attract more of our members. Even if you do not usually come to our monthly meetings, please make an effort to come out for this one; make plans for your involvement in BAS for the up-coming monthsBAS needs you and your support. Agenda 6:30 Arrive and set-up 6:45 Potluck Supper - please bring a covered dish 7:30 State of the Society Report 8:00 "Presentation of the Aplomado ~leon"- Dean Hector 9:00 Entertainment Please complete the Registration Form today and mail it in to confirm your attendance at the Annual Meeting in March. )"hank you. Nettie Birnbaum g;acis MARCH,1988 PRESIDENT'S LETTER Stop! This is a different kind of President's Letter- I am asking that you read Bexar Tracks, and t~en take immediate action! Please immediately send m your reservation for our very special Annual Meeting (details of which can be found in the a':companyiJ?-g article), and notify us of what part you wish to play m our Birdathon activities - counter I spotter, sponsor or volunteer. Yes, we are asking for your participation in our activities because you are, of course, members of our Chapter, and, hopefully, interested in backing all five Audubon Causes. True, attending the Annual Meeting may not really further the _Cause~, but ve~y definitely, helping with Birdathon Will. As IS noted m another section of Bexar Tracks, 50% of the money received from Birdathon will remain in our Chapter to be spent furnishing environmental education in 80 classrooms in the San Antonio area, reaching students in the 4th and 5th grades. The other 50% will be forwarded to our Regional Office in Austin. I think you may be interested in hearing what Dede Armentrout, our Regional Vice President, has to say about the importance of the monies the chapters forward to our Regional Office: "Regional offices are not glamour programs (like sanctuaries, for example). They are the nuts and bolts of influencing conservation policy though, and according to chapter leaders surveyed two years ago during the formation of the chapter policy statement, regional offices serv~ the chapters' needs more than any other NatiOnal Audubon Society program." Dede adds, "Without your help and support, we will lose considerable effectiveness." When Dede says "your" help, she does not mean just chapter help- she means your help, each and every member of Bexar Audubon Society. Please let us hear from you. Both activities listed above are fun. Meeting with others for a potluck dinner, followed by an interesting program, and then a field trip to a new area the following day, cannot help but be enjoyable. And birding for fine causes cannot be beaten! f!)'~J/1'~ P.S. That anonymous donor has been busy again! Our doorprize for the Annual Meeting is goin~ to be a very appropriate gift-- a new Peterson Field Guide entitled "Hawks". Come! Participate! You may be the lucky one! SAN ANTONIO ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION MEETING Wednesday, March 9, 8:00p.m. Read Stremmel Gallery 100 West Olmos (at McCullough) As the rate of population growth and urban expansion continues to increase, the raw land surrounding metropolitan centers is converted to commercial, industrial and residential development, all too often with little to no consideration being given to loss of habitat and natural areas. While preservation and even expansion of water supply for such development is certainly critical, also of paramount importance is protection of wetlands -- aquaticallyrelated areas with high biological productivity, great economic importance and enormous wildlife value. Locally, various areas such as Mitchell Lake, Converse Ponds, and other sensitive Hill Country habitats, are under increasing assault by development. The San. Antonio Audubon Society has invited biologist Mary Knapp from the USFWS Ecological Services Division to speak to the March meeting of the San Antonio Environmental Coalition. Mary will address the issues concerned with wetlands protection and related areas, especially as these issues apply locally. The meeting is free and open to the public. · --- · LOOK FOR the World of Audubon TV Special on grizzlies. The grizzly remains for many the finest, grandest animal native to this continent. Neither teddy bear nor terrifying monster, the misunderstood grizzly's survival is now threatened by mart. Check your TV guide for times on March 11, 21, 26 and 31. THANKS to STEVE STAUFFER for coordinating the first annual super successful Integrated Pest Management Conference. to JUNE KACHTIK and DIXIE WATKINS for presenting a preview of the San ~ntonio qpen Space Plan at the BAS ConservatiOn Committee meeting. to GEORGE VENI for an alarming and stimulating presentation on Bexar County recharge caves at the last general meeting, and for leading a fascinating outing to see and discuss some of these caves. ALL THE FOLKS who "planted the park" at the last 2nd Saturday. The park, the city, and all future visitors are grateful for the effort. to G. K. SPRINKLE and TCONR for one ofthe most politically informative workshops any of the participants could imagine. WETLANDS AND WATERBODIES The Environmental Protection Agency, Region VI has begun an effort to identify priority wetlands and waterbodies with the State. Any area (including mudflats, lakes, streams, etc.) which is known to be enviro~mentally important, unique, and/ or threatened m some way will be included on their list. They would appreciate information or suggestions regarding any waterbodiesjwetland areas that we believe deserve special attention by EPA. They need the name of the area, the geographic limits, the resource values the known or potential threats to that resource and ' any other pertinant information available. Should you have any suggestions, please notify Dr. Dede Armentrout, 1-327-1943, or locally, 824-8199. Acid Rain Monitors Deluge Media Audubon's Citizens Acid Rain Monitoring Network is making headlines and newscasts all around the coun-try, thanks to volunteers participating in the project. In ) more than 39 states, activists are testing the pH of each rain and snowfall, and reporting the results to news media in their communities. The project is newsworthy because Audubon has linked a national story-acid rain pollution-with a local story: the monitors in each community. A news conference announcing the program generated a lot of publicity, but much of the credit goes to Audubon volunteers. Several acid rain monitors contacted local television stations and demonstrated their testing equipment on evening newscasts. Dozens of newspapers have interviewed volunteers for stories about the project, and many have run photographs. Every time it rains or snows, some monitors are reporting pH readings to TV weather forecasters who are using the information regularly. Audubon's message has also been heard on hundreds of radio stations in the United States and Canada. For years, acid rain has been viewed as a regional problem, affecting only the Northeast. But Audubon volunteers are helping to change that perception. Data from the Citizens Network show that many parts of the country are experiencing extremely acidic rainfalls. which means the environment is being stressed. Through the widespread media coverage of Audubon's network, millions of Americans know more about acid rain pollution. Members of Congress are also aware of the Citizens Network and this will help our efforts to pass strong, effective acid rain legislation. •• •• •• Support Our Goal To Put AUDUBON ADVENTURES In All 4th & 5th Grade ANNUAL MEETING REGISTRATION FORM March 18, 6:45- 10:00 p.m., Ruble Center, 419 East Magnolia, S. A. EntAr num0er of people: --- PLAN TO ATTEND THE POTLUCK SUPPER AND MEETING, March 18 --- PLAN TO ATTEND THE FIELD TRIP, March 19 Please circle one: Yes No Yes No Yes No Your name: Address: Phone: (H) (W) I am a present member of BAS ~ould like more information on BIRDATHON Would liko my name added to the Membership Directory Include $2.50 per person (check made out to BAS) MAIL BY MARCH 11th to: Nettie Birnbaum 9829 Cash Mountain Road Helotes, Texas 78023 Phone: 695 2646 •• •• •• •• •• • Transplanted Puffins Return to Maine's Seal Island by Dr. Stephen Kress, Audubon ornithologist The ~ffort t~ re~tore Atlantic puffins to Seal Island NatiOnal Wildlife Refuge off the coast of Maine had its first important success this summer with the sighting of two three-year-old puffins that had been transplanted as chicks to the island in 1984. Until the 1850s, Seal Island was the largest puffin colony off mid-coast Maine. But by 1887, fishermen who captured adult puffins for food had wiped out the colony. The Seal Island Project began in 1984 as a cooperative program of the National Audubon Society, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Modeled after the successful earlier effort to restore puffins to Eastern Egg Rock in Muscongus Bay, the Seal Island Project has taken on the ambitious task of rearing and releasing I ,000 transplanted puffin chicks over the sixyear period 1984-89. Scientists want to learn more about puffin survival and growth rates and the behavior associated with the formation and growth of colonies. In 1984, 100 ten- to twenty-eight-day-old puffin chicks from Great Island, Newfoundland, were transplanted to Seal Island. They were reared in artificial burrows and fed a diet of silversides, placed in the burrows by research assistants . After fledging from their nesting island, puffins spend the next two or three years at sea. The restoration project is based on the assumption that transplanted birds that survive will return to the Maine coast rather than their natal home in Newfoundland. Every year since then, additional chicks have been reared and released at Seal Island. To date, the project has successfully fledged 534 of 549 transplanted chicks, a success rate of 97 percent. The project will transplant 200 chicks each year in 1988 and 1989. Perhaps the most important lesson learned at the previous restoration project at Eastern Egg Rock is that there is likely to be great variation from year to year in the number of puffins that return. After leaving their nesting islands, young puffins must find food on their own. Even in a natural colony, fledgling puffins are not fed by their parents and must rely on a mix of instinctive feeding behavior and learned fishing skills. It takes a great deal of luck for a young puffin to avoid predators and raging North Atlantic storms, as well as human-created hazards such as oil slicks and fishing nets. Most young puffins probably die at sea their first winter. Apparently, once every several years sea conditions favor the survival of transplanted puffin fledglings. Because·the odds for survival fluctuate so greatly, transplants must continue for many years. Although the return visits of transplanted puffins to Seal Island are encouraging, establishment of a new colony is far from assured. The success of the project will ultimately depend on one or more years when 50 percent or more of the young return, providing the "critical mass" necessary for puffins to stay and breed. Audubon Ecology Camps Spend a week or two at an Audubon ecology camp in Maine, Connecticut, or Wyoming this summer and take home a new awareness of how nature works . Explore the maritime environment at the camp on Hog Island in Maine, an Audubon tradition for more than 50 years. Get an introduction to field ecology while hiking the woods and meadows of the Audubon Center in Greenwich , Connecticut. Or Jearn about the geology and wildlife of the remote Wind River Mountains in Wyoming at Audubon's Camp in the West. Camp sessions , for adults 18 and older, run one or two weeks. College credit is available. The Maine camp also has a field ornithology camp and a session for children ages 10 to 15; the Wyoming camp has special photography and wilderness research sessions. The Connecticut program includes introductory field ecology workshops especially for educators . For a brochure, write: Registrar, Audubon Ecology Camps & Workshops, National Audubon Society, 613 Rivers ville Rd., Greenwich , Conn . 06831. *********************** MEMBERS NEEDED to attend occasional meetings in San Antonio and Austin and report back to the Conservation Committee about critical environmental issues. Please call Susan Rust, 826-4698. to serve on the Program Committee to help plan programs and to invite or thank speakers for talks at the general meetings. to donate a couple of hours to help man the BAS b<;>Oths at th.e SA Flower Show on April 2 and at VIva Botamca on April 9 and 10. Call Nancy Kent, 824-8199. CALENDAR MARCH 8 VOTE 9 BAS Conservation Committee, "Open Space Protection", 7:00 p.m., Read Stremmel Gallery. 9 SA Environmental Coalition, "Wetlands Designation and Habitat Protection", Mary Knapp, USFWS Biologist, 8:00 p.m., Read Stremmel Gallery. 10 SA Audubon general meeting, "Understanding Insects", Malcolm Beck; 7:00 p.m., Ruble Center. 12 2nd Saturday at Friedrich Park, "Sampling the Vegetation; the Why's and How's", Eric Lautzenheiser (service outing); 9:00 a.m., parking lot (bring sack lunch). 12 Clymer Meadow (TNC outing); Ann Schnapf, 224-8774. 13 Orienteering at Friedrich Park (SCouting); Lee Dodge, 684-5111 (work) or 647-0216 (home). 18 Bexar Audubon Annual Meeting, "Disappearance of the Aplomado Falcon", Dean Hector; 6:45 p.m., Ruble Center; potluck supper. 19 Choke Canyon State Park outing, "Raptors and Brush Birds", Thelma Nungesser, 824- 8199. 22 NPS general meeting, "Texas Natural History", Del Weniger; 7:00 p.m.,Ruble Center. 26 BIRD A THON 26 Wildflower Native Plant Symposium, New Braunfels H.S. Cafeteria; luncheon and field trip ($15 prior to March 19, $20 after 3/ 19); call Patty Leslie, 821-5143. 26 8th Annual Herpetological Conference, Trinity University; call Tom VerMersch for details, 337-3743. 31 Annual meeting of Texas Chapter, The Wildlife Society, Del Rio; call 826-4698 for details. APRIL 2 San Antonio Flower Show; call 824-8199 to volunteer to help. 3 HAPPY EASTER! 9 2nd Saturday, Friedrich Park, "Introduction to Birds of the Park"; 9:00a.m., parking lot (bring sack lunch). 9-10 VIVA BOTANICA, San Antonio Botanical Center, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00p.m.; call824-8199 to volunteer to help. 12 Sierra Club general meeting, 7:30 p.m., Unitarian Church. 13 BAS Conservation Meeting, 7:00 p.m., 168 Chevy Chase, 826-4698. 14 BAS board meeting. 14 SA Audubon general meeting, 7:00p.m., Ruble Center. 21 BAS general meeting, 7:30p.m., Ruble Center. 21 Annual meeting, SWAN, San Angelo; call 826-4698 for details. 26 NPS meeting, "Landowner Contact Program", Helen Ballew, Texas Nature Conservancy; 7:00 p.m., Ruble Center. . ···········································- CONSERVATION LETTERS NEEDED . . to YOUR COUNCIL PERSON expressing your views on the importance of Open Space planning in San Antonio, and especially the need to maintain sensitive areas in the aquifer recharge zone and San Antonio River drainage and floodplain in their natural condition. . to members of the SAN ANTONIO RIVER AUTHORITY BOARD (Cecil Bain, Nan.cy Steves and Clifton McNeal) expressing your displeasure with the action of the SARA in sending money to support the Sabine River Authority's lawsuit against the USFWS. The River Authority is trying to reverse their acceptance of the Little Sandy Bottomland site (judged to be one of the best habitats of its type in the state) for inclusion in the National Wildlife Refuge System. . to SENATORS GRAMM and BENTSEN (US Senate, Washington, DC 20510) asking for their support of the Groundwater Research bill (S 1105). The bill which passed the House earlier would create an interagency groundwater research committee to coordinate the groundwater work of several Federal agencies in developing new ways to identify and deal with groundwater contamination. . to YOUR CONGRESSMAN (U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515) supporting passage of the Acid Rain Control Act (HR 2666). The act, if passed, would reduce emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides by 50% over a 5-year period. . to YOUR REPRESENTATIVES and SENATORS (addresses above) asking them to support the creation of Osage Prairie National Park (HR 3803 and S 1967). Prairies are the only major ecological community type not currently represented in the National Park System. . . to SAFEW A Y, INC. (call the nearest store for the address of their headquarters) to thank them for converting to biodegradable plastic bags in their Canadian stores, and ask them when they will be doing the same here, in the U.S. COMING OUTINGS CHOKE CANYON (Saturday, March 19). As a part of our Annual Meeting, we will take a trip to Choke Canyon, located about 100 miles south of San Antonio. Gary Pirkle, formerly of Frontera Audubon, has agreed to accompany us to help identify the various birds we are certain to see. We have received permission to enter the James E. Daughtery Wildlife Management Area; we are only the second birding group permitted to do so. Plan to join us (you need not have attended the Annual Meeting the previous night). We will meet at McCreless Park-n-Ride (off I-37 South) at 6:45a.m. We have reserved a pavilion at the Callihan Unit of the park for a picnic, so bring your lunch. Then, home -- or more birding? Call 824-8199 for more information, if needed. KENDALL COUNTY FLORA (Saturday, Aprill6). Expert Hilmar Bergmann will lead a tour of the area along Cibolo Creek and other areas of interest, including smoke trees in bloom. Meet at Riverside Convenience Store (at Main Street and the Cibolo Creek bridge) in Boerne at 10:00 a.m. Bring a picnic lunch. Call Margaret Souby for further information, 648-7857. WILDFLOWER WALK (Saturday, April 23). Join Patty Leslie at 10:00 a.m. at the Botanical Center. For further information, call Patty at 821-5143 at the Center. NATIONAL WILDFLOWER RESEARCH CENTER (Saturday, April 24). Meet at 10:00 a.m. at the NBC Bank parking lot at the southeast corner of Perrin-Beitel and Loop 410 for the drive to Austin. We will have a noon tour led by an Institute botanist to see what goes on at this research facility on the Colorado River east of Austin. Bring a picnic lunch. For further information, call Margaret Souby, 648-7857. ' BEXAR AUDUBON SOC I ElY P.O. BOX 6084 • SAN ANTONIO, TF.XA.<; 7H209 ALERT! Whoopers will be heading to their summer homes i ) February and March this year. Please keep an eye om for them, and, if you sight one or more, be sure to report this sighting to: Jim Lewis, Whooping Crane Coordinator U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service P. 0. Box 1306 Albuquerque, NM 87103 (505) 766-8063 Look closely for colored leg bands. They help to identify individual birds. Once the whoopers leave their wintering grounds for migration, sightings in New Mexico and Texas have been rare. But you may be the one! · --- · BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY OFFICERS AND BOARD Thelma Nungesser, President Nora Driver, Vice President ·Betty Hughes, Secretary Marge Flandermeyer, Treasurer Russell Smith Manuel Flores Pat Honsberger Nancy Kent ·Rick Mudd COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Outings: Shirley Hoffman Membership: Russell Smith Conservation: Susan Rust Finance: Mary Ann Moses - Education: Nora Driver Programs: Stu and N etti Birnbaum Newsletter Editor: Pat Honsberger Publicity: Nancy Kent 824-8199 826-8531 824-5375 684-2668 734-7184 599-1110 695-8254 824-8199 496-5795 641-7871 734-7184 826-4698 826-6562 826-8531 695-2646 695-8254 824-8199 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U. S. POSTAGE PAID SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Permit No. 590
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