Bexar tracks : the newsletter of the Bexar Audubon Society, Vol. 09, No. 01

• Main Author: Bexar Audubon Society
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: San Antonio, Tex. : Bexar Audubon Society, 1991
• Subjects: Birds > Conservation > Texas > Periodicals.; Ornithology > Texas > Periodicals.; Nature conservation > Texas > Periodicals; Clubs and Organizations; Science and Technology; Audrey; Austin; Barton; Blair; Canada; Catalina; Chanda; Grande Valley; Greenwich; Marcos; Moses; Reservoir Lake; Slaughter; Swann; Toledo; Valentine; Wood Buffalo; Wood Buffalo National Park
• Online Access: http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15125coll10/id/8135

Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). !ftacis VOLUME IX, NO. 1 JANUARY 1991 BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY - CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY THE CHAPTER'S PRIMARY GOALS ARE TO PROMOTE SPECIES AND HABITAT CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE COMMUNITY. PRESIDENT'S LETTER I trust you have had a good rest over the holidays and are now ready to begin another year with vim and vigor. Notes of progress for the end of 1990: The Golden-cheeked Warbler was permanently listed as endangered on December 19, and the City Council of San Antonio passed an ordinance permanently banning lawn watering between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Beginning March 1, a fine of $200 will be assessed violators. The Edwards Underground Preservation Trust is actively seeking to purchase land over the Aquifer to ensure permanent protection. Some of the FTC and FDIC lands will most surely be acquired by them. We are pleased to welcome Chanda Day-Wiley as our historian. If you would like to contribute photos or other memorabilia for our scrapbooks, please bring the items to our monthly meeting. Chanda may be contacted at 733-1264. I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting- January 17. ~ Marge Flandermeyer - ~VANISHING TEXAS RIVER CRUISE On January 19, our outing will focus on the wintering BALD EAGLES, a repeat of the successful trip we made last year. The boattrip starts at 11 :OOand ends at 1:30. Cost is $12.95 per person (for boat trip only). We will meet for breakfast at 8:30 at the Post Oak Inn located just west of Hwy. 281 on Route 29 in Burnet (about 120 miles north of San Antonio). Lodging is available in Burnet at: Post Oak Inn [phone] Lakeside Lodge [phone] - 3 miles from the cruise location Sun Down Motel [phone] Please call Caryl Swann, 653-2860, by l/12 to reserve a spot on the boat. JANUARY PROGRAM . Don Ainsworth, state trustee and delegate for Ducks Unlimited, will speak at our January meeting. He is the district chairperson of the SA Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. He will discuss a satellite program for measuring waterfowl habitat. Ducks Unlimited sponsors projects to provide and enhance wildlife habitats. Included in this month's program will be Betty Watson's presentation. Betty was a 1990 winner of the BAS Ecology Camp scholarship. Last summer she attended the Audubon Ecology Camp for Educators in Greenwich, CT. We will view her slides as she shares her camp experiences with us. Betty has already found ways to employ her newfound knowledge. In November, she made a presentation to the Texas Association of Childhood Educators. The Southwest School District is making a video tape of her slides to use in elementary classrooms. The video will be approximately fourth-grade level. This month's program should prove to be entertaining as well as informative. ACT BRIEF The purpose of Audubon Council of Texas (ACT) is to combine the efforts of National Audubon Chapters of Texas with those of the National Audubon Society toward the conservation of wildlife, their habitats, and other natural resources and the protection of our environment from pollution. ACT needs help. There is much to be done. We need volunteer Auduboners to take the lead role in coordinating the issues with other chapters, in lobbying, or whatever it takes, for the following issues: Coastal, Endangered Species, Agricultural, Industrial Hazardous Waste, Public Lands, Agency Reform (Sunset Review of the Highway Department), etc., etc., etc. Please send your name, address, and phone number if you are willing to accept a position as an ACT Issue Coordinator. Call Earl Burnam at(817) 244-2328 or write him at 3821 Burkett Dr., Fort Worth, Texas 76116. Officers elected at the November meeting of the Audubon Council of Texas (ACT) are as follows: Earl Burnam - President Carole Wilmoth - Vice President Doris French - Secretary Linda White - Treasurer Doris French, the newly elected secretary, is ourrepresentative to ACT. Doris may be contacted at [phone]. Dede Armentrout reported that a survey recently revealed that 60% of the Texas population believes that environmental concerns and pollution control are the most important priorities for governmental spending. The National Board requested that chapters take a stand against Rattlesnake Roundups. For detailed information, con­tact Wilma Anderson at [phone] or 7716 Chalkstone, Dallas, Texas 75248. Letters to the Texas Railroad Commission are needed. State your support for a law requiring screening of oil pits. The slaughter of birds in open oil pits must be stopped. Mail your letter to the TRRC, 1701 N. Congress, Austin, Texas 78701. The new ACT Board will meet on January 26 in Austin at 11:00 a.m. The spring ACT meeting will be hosted by Bastrop Audubon Society on April 5-7. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR EAGLE SURVEY Volunteers are being sought by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to assist in the annual mid-winter bald eagle survey. The counts are scheduled for January 11-13 and volunteers are needed for Lake Livingston, Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Lake 0 ' the Pines, Wright Patman Reservoir, Lake Conroe, Lake Texoma, Lake Fairfield, Lake Tawakoni, Lake Fork, Toledo Bend Reservoir and Lake Whitney. Prospective participants should contact TPWD. Contact Martin at TPWD, Nongame Resources Program, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744, or call [phone] or 1-800-792- 1112. Recycled Paper BEXAR TRACKS, Ja.nuary 1991 CONSERVATION CORNER COLA RIVALS TO RECYCLE PLASTIC Soft drink rivals , Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, announced that they plan to sell their products in recycled plastic bottles. The cola makers became the latest to join the corporate race to please an increasingly environmentally conscious market. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, soft drink bottles would become one of the first cases in which recycled plastic is used in ditect contact with food. The environmental organization Green peace was unimpressed. Spokeswoman Julie Brenegar said the beverage companies would do better by eliminating the plastic packaging altogether. "Plastics recycling is yet another way the plastics industry is . trying to justify the use of plastics," she said, adding the new "virgin" plastic is needed even for recycled packages. But Jackie Prince, a staff scientist at the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund, said the cola makers' plans are a step in the right direction. "The reality is, there is a lot of plastic out there now, and we'd like to see what's there recycled," she said. Plastic bottles are wide! y recycled now, but the finished material is used for such products as carpeting, piping and non­food containers - not for food packaging. A number of companies this year have taken steps to reduce the amount of solid waste disposed in landfills. McDonald's recently announced it will stop using plastic foam containers at its fast-food restaurants. Assoc. Press BACKYARD OIL SPILL Backyard mechaf.!i~s who change their own car oil annually dump at least 200 m~lhon_gallons of used oil- the equivalent of 20 Exxon Y,aldez spllls - If.ltO the environment, EPA estimates. And that s. o~ly a drop m the bucket. The nation produces a tot~! o~ 1.2 bllhon gallons of used oil every year, only half of :Wh1ch 1s recycle~. Much of the unrecycled oil, and even some that IS collected by disreputable recyclers, ends up polluting ground water and creating new contaminated waste sites. With its high concentration of heavy metals and toxic organic compounds, used oil qualifies as hazardous waste and should be regul~ted as such by EPA, environmentalists argue. But despite lawsu1ts by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups, EPA still has not acted, in part because it fears that thousands of servi~e s~ations which now routinely accept used oil may ~alk at. contmu~ng to do so under the stiff regulations associated with handling hazardous materials. Further complicatif.lg the issue are bills before Congress that should exempt used ml from hazardous waste laws. The states meanwhile are adopting a hodgepodge of regulations to deal with the problem. Source: National Wildlife Digest. TX BEACH CLEAN-UP REPORT According to the Center for Marine Conservation over 15 820 people participated in the Fifth Annual Texas Coa;tal Clea~up the largest turnout in the history of the program. These volunteer~ removed more than 230 tons of trash from 185 miles of beach. The data cards filled ?~t by the volunteers will be analyzed by CMC, a_nd a repo~ detathng the sources and composition of the trash will be published. This data will help determine who is b<eaking the no-dwnping law. _oc~;_ --L.:.:&1r·"" Newsletter Submissions: Deadline is date of BAS general meeting. Mml to: Kathy B. Newman, 7206 Sulky Lane, San Antonio, TX 78240; or call 523-6631. Pa e 2 WHOOPING CRANE UPDATE Two new active whooping crane nests were discovered this past nesting season. Located south on the traditional nesting area in Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park, the two new nests were the only bright spots of the season as less than half of the total nests known succeeded in producing fledgling birds. Lower reproductive output was blamed on drought and poor habitat conditions. A total of 155 cranes are expected to migrate this fall from Canada to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The experimental flock that migrates each fall from Grays Lake NWR in Idaho to Bosquedel Apache NWR in New Mexico contains only 13 birds, none of which has bred since the experimental program was initiated. For this reason, no new eggs have been transferred to the experimental program since 1988. There are an additional66 whooping cranes in captivity. ~ TEST PEST CONTROL Thousands of tiny wasps were unleashed on a Texas field as growers look for new ways of controlling a pesticide-resistant caterpillar. Four species of wasps, some smaller than the head of a pin, were sprinkled across a commercial field of cabbage in the Rio Grande Valley. If the wasps are successful in protecting the crop from munching caterpillars, growers may be convinced to use the beneficial bugs in their cabbage fields and on other crops such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale. Don Nordlund, a research entomologist at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service in Weslaco, said caterpillars of the diamondback moth- the cabbage patch's worst insect enemy- are resistant to almost all available insecticides. This test of the wasps is the first on a commercial cabbage crop in Texas and nationally since the early 1970s. According to entomologist K. Duane Biever, the gnawing pests cause more than $35 million in damage to cole crops nationwide. FREE GREENW AYS INFO "The beneficial economic impacts of greenways should be more widely recognized," declares a new study produced by the Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service. To spread the good news, the agency will distribute the first 2000 copies of"Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails, and Greenway Corridors" free of charge. Copies are available from the program's western regional office (415/556-5751). The report describes beneficial impacts in detail and offers models for analyzing the economics of a greenway project. It will help communities see green ways through a different lens - as a means to create jobs, enhance property values, help local businesses, and increase tax revenues. TRAINING OPPORTUNITY Friedrich Wilderness Park is offering four sessions of training for volunteer interpretive guides. Past graduates of the program may opt to attend the training as a refresher course. Sessions will be conducted on four Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants should bring a sack lunch. Training will be conducted on the following dates and subjects: 26 January- General Ecology and Tips on Hiking 2 February- Botany, Plant Taxonomy, Ethnobotany (by Allen Perry) 16 February - Geology and Archaeology 23 February- Leading Educational Groups: children, elderly, handicapped Those wishing to volunteer as guides for Friedrich Wilderness Park or wishing to obtain more details on the training sessions should contact Mary Kennedy at 698-2864. BEXAR TRACKS, Janua~y 1991 _ . CALENDAR OF EVENTS & JANUARY ~ 5 First Sat., Friedrich Wilderness Park, 21395 Mils a, guided nature walk, I 0 a.m. 10 BAS Board Meeting, 2922 Oakleaf, 7:30p.m. Call Thelma at 824-2199 for directions. 10-11 Fifth Annual TX Xeriscape Conference; professionals & laymen welcome. Admission: $5 for both days. Southwest TX State University, San Marcos. Call EUWD at 222- 2204 for more information. 12 Second Sat., "Winter Botany"; stroll through the park and learn to identify trees. Instructed by Paul Cox. Friedrich Wilderness Park; 9 a.m. 12 Beginners' Bird Walk, SA Audubon Society, Judson Nature Trail, 8 a.m. Leader: Georgina Schwartz, 342- 2073. 12-20 Be part of an international effort by volunteering to count Piping Plovers and other shorebirds on the Texas coast. Volunteer one day or as many as you can. Lower coast: Lagoona Atascosa NWR [phone]. Middle Coast: Robyn Cobb [phone]. Upper coast: Dave Peter­son [phone]. 15 Sierra Club General Meeting, First Unitarian Church, 807 Beryl, 7:30p.m.; call222-8195 for program info. 17 BAS General Meeting; guest speaker Don Ainsworth from Ducks Unlimited; Ruble Center, 419 E. Magnolia, 7:00p.m. 19 Vanishing TX River Cruise, Burnet, TX. Breakfast at 8:30 at Post Oak Inn. Boat trip begins at 11 a.m.; cost $12.95/person. Reserve NLT 1/12. Call Caryl Swann, 653-2860. 19 "Birdwatching Class For Children," ages 6-12. Includes constructing a birdhouse. Fee: $15. Pre-registration required. 10 a.m. - noon. SA Botanical Center, 555 Funston Place. Call 821-5115. 22 Native Plant Society General Meeting, Lions Field Clubhouse on Broadway; 7 p.m. 26 Interpretive Guide Training - General Ecology and Tips on Hiking. Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Call Mary Kennedy, 698-2864. FEBRUARY 2 Interpretive Guide Training- Botany, Plant Taxonomy, Ethnobotany. Presentation by Allen Perry. Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Call Mary Kennedy, 698- 2864. 2 First Sat., Friedrich Wilderness Park, guided nature walk, 10a.m. 9 Second Sat., EUWD expert gives presentation and answers questions. Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m. 9 Elementary Teacher Workshop on using park as outdoor lab. Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m. -4 p.m. Bring sack lunch. For details, contact Mary Kennedy, 698-2864. 9 "Nature's Valentine Expressions" for chifdren, ages 6- 12. Create Valentine gifts using dried flowers and fresh vegetables. SA Botanical Center, 555 Funston Place. Pre­registration required. Fee: $15. 10 a.m. - noon. Call 821- 5115. 16 Interpretive Guide Training- Geology and Archaeology, Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Call Mary Kennedy, 698-2864. Page 3 23 Birding trip to the Swanns' fishing lease near Hondo. Last year the property was overrun by migratory songbirds. 8 a.m.-noon. Call Caryl Swann, 653-2860. 23 Interpretive Guide Training- Leading Educational Groups: children, elderly, handicapped. Includes activities from Project WILD. Friedrich Wilderness Park, 9 a.m. -2 p.m. Call Mary Kennedy, 698-2864. 23 "Perennial Primer," adult class on design, color and plant selection of perennials for your garden. Scott Ogden, Horticulturist and Garden Magazine writer. Pre­registration required. $5 per person. I 0 a.m. - noon. SA Botanical Center, 821-5115. BIRD FEEDING TIPS The bird breeding season is over and with winter approach~ ing, some birds will leave, other will arrive and some will re­main year round. Supplemental feeding can provide a ready source of energy for some that may be under stress. "Songbirds, as well as game birds, have high metabolic rates that require them to eat quite often, more so in the winter than in the summer," said Ruben Cantu, technical guidance biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Alpine. "These small birds must feed daily during the cold periods to maintain energy levels for warmth." The best way to begin supplemental feeding, he said, is to purchase commercial wild bird seed mix and scatter some on the ground. After the birds begin using the feed, an elevated table or perch-type feeder should be utilized to decrease the danger from predators (cats). Feeding areas should be placed close to nearby cover, such as evergreen shrubs or trees, to provide escape cover. "To attract different species of birds with different feeding behaviors, a combination of feeder types should be used," Cantu said. These can include platforms, cylindrical and suet feeders. "Make sure the feed remains dry. If the feed gets wet or moldy, remove it immediately and replace it with dry feed as birds can become sick and possibly die from eating spoiled feed," he said. "Once a feeding program has been initiated, it's important to maintain a regular feeding schedule throughout the winter since they may become dependent on you to provide feed during the stressful winter months." r --- " ---.- --- , : National Audubon Society Chapter Membership Application Yes, I'd like to join. Please enroll me as a member of the National Audubon Society and of my local chapter. Please send AUDUBON magazine and my membership card to the address below. D . My check 'ro~ - the $20 introductory membership is enclosed. NAME --- ADD~S --- I I' I t I I I I ;CITY STATE ZIP I Please make all checks payable to the National Audubon Society. ·1 f ~ Send this appllcadon and_your check to: 1 I Bexar Audubon Society I I P.O. Box 6084 W-19 I I San Antonio, TX 78209 Localchlptor~ I 7XCHA L --- ~ BEXAR TRACKS, Ja!luary 1991 TOURS OPEN FOR BIG BEND RANCH SNA Portions of Big Bend Ranch State Natural Area will open in January 1991, officials of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced on November 7. "Big Bend Ranch is one of the most important natural and cultural resources in the state and I am delighted that the people of Texas will soon be able to enjoy its outstanding beauty and grandeur," Andrew Sansom, TPWD executive director, said after the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved the initial use program for the site. Beginning January 19, i991, TPWD will offer bus tours of the natural area, highlighting its prehistory and biology. Permits for 25 to 35 miles of backcountry trails and river use also will be available. "Our innovative bus tour will open up portions of the Natural Area to visitors who may not want, or be able, to run the river or hike through the canyons," said Wilson E. Dolman, parks division director. "But they still can experience this treasure and get an in-depth view of the best of the Trans-Pecos." Initially, the bus tours will be scheduled on the first and third Saturday of each month, departing from Fort Leaton State Historical Park (first Saturday) and the Barton Warnock Educational Environmental Center in Lajitas (third Saturday). Cost of the eight to ten-hour tour will be $30 per person and will include a chuck wagon lunch deep inside the Natural Area. Also beginning on January 19, canoeists and rafters can get permits to access the portion of the Rio Grande River that runs through the park. The three put-in/take-out points are Madera Canyon, Colorado Canyon and Grassy Banks. Madera Canyon will have a primitive camping area and self-composting toilet. Trailheads at Rancherias and Panther canyons will link up more than 25 miles of backcountry trails. Call [phone] (Warnock Center) or [phone] (Fort Leaton) for more information and reservations. "All of nature is in me, and a bit of myself is in all of nature." Lame Deer BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY P.O. BOX 6084 SAN ANTONIO, TX 78209 ADDRESS CORECTION REQUESTED BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY OFFICERS AND BOARD Marge Flandermeyer, President . 684-2668 Betty Minyard, Vice President . . 344-6128 Caryl Swann, Secretary . . . 653-2860 Walter Barfield, Treasurer . . . . . . . 736-0355 Audrey Cooper, Board Member . . . . . 65 1-6054 .Mary Anne Moses, Board Member . . . 342-5131 Nathan Ratner, Board Member . . . . 826-4462 Thelma Nungesser, Board Member . . . . 824-8199 Peggy Carnahan, Board Member . . . 690-2061 COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Conservation . . . . . . . - Education, Betty Minyard . . . . 344-6128 Finance . . . - Membership, Thelma Nungesser . . 824-8 199 Newsletter Editor, Kathy Newman . 523-6631 Outings, Caryl Swann . 653-2860 Programs, Nathan Ratner . . 826-4462 Publicity, Blair Richter . . 824-8251 Page 4 INSTITUTE OF DESERT ECOLOGY The 21st annual Institute of Desert Ecology will be sponsored by the Tucson Audubon on April18-21, 1991, at Catalina State Park north of Tucson. The Institute is an exciting four days of field studies in Sonoran Desert ecology, under the enthusiastic tutelage of six of Arizona's foremost natural history experts. Sessions focus on relationships between plants, wildlife, and the desert environment. Participants camp in a shaded mesquite bosque adjacent to undisturbed desert washes, canyons, hillsides, and rich riparian areas. Ample, tasty meals are catered on-site and all camp services except sleeping equipment (and tents or campers) are provided. The cost is $245, with university credit available for an additional fee. For more information, contact the director Nora Mays, at 300 E. University Blvd., Suite 120, Tucson, AZ 85705, or call her at [phone]. AUDUBON COLLECTION WINES Las~ month ~erican Beverage Company introduced a unique collectiOn of wmes from the Audubon Cellars of California. A sampling of. this collec~ion was l?rovided by American Beverage for our auctiOn. The wmes received rave reviews. Audubon Cellars of California is dedicated to conservation and contributes a portion of the profits to National Audubon. American Beverage's president, David Terk, is also dedicated to conservation and has pledged to support conservation in this community with a portion of the profits from the wine sales. Thi~ issue is the first of 12 to be partially underwritten by Amencan Beverage from profits on Audubon Collection wine sales. Labels of the wines are reduced replicas of Audubon prints. (See illustration in this issue.) While . we do not intend to endorse or promote wine consuf!lpt10n, w_e do s~ggest that those who use wines personally or as gifts, consider this product that is contributing to our cause. 1~'> 011\' CIIIil!~ WollH CABtRNliT 5AUV1GNON \'J'l.l"1,0>~ !><'":~\f.\\ >I"( .-Ji~-'f<M<.,H.\~ !<l#KI-~.1."( ~··' ~I<HI(~,:;~- M '\l~-!l!~•ilWi.\l~t,;.<;<t-.~ NON~PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Permit No. 590