Volume LXIII, Number 2 October 2010

2010-2011 Audubon Teaches Nature Series

The Making of Nature Journal Sunday, October 17th, 2:00 p.m. ~ Larry Davenport, Guest Speaker

Oak Mountain Interpretive Center Auditorium

I am happy to announce that the 2010-2011 slate of Audu-bon Teaches Nature (ATN) seminars has been confirmed and I think you’ll like the choice of seminar speakers and topics. Some will be familiar to you while others are new to the series. The ATN seminar series is a joint effort of the Alabama Wildlife Center, Birmingham Audubon Society, Friends of Oak Mountain and the Oak Mountain Interpretive Center. The series is designed to appeal to a range of natural his-tory interests for all age levels and it is especially hoped that families with children will attend together. After all, the family that plays together stays together! The first speaker in the series is well known to BAS mem-bers and the Birmingham conservation community. Dr. Larry Davenport is a Professor of Biology at Samford Uni-versity who has taught for many years at the Audubon Mountain Workshop. Larry authors a regular column in

Alabama Heritage magazine, and these columns form the basis of the chapters in his new book, Nature Journal, which was published in August by the University of Ala-bama Press as part of the Gosse Nature Guides series. Larry’s presentation will focus on the making of Nature Journal and how you and your children might incorporate its contents into your own lives to foster a new sense of connection to the natural world. Be sure to come early and enjoy some refreshments and conversation in the Observation Room at the Alabama Wildlife Center, then, when it is time for the program, we will proceed to the Interpretive Center for the program. There will be a bird walk after the program, weather per-mitting. See page 5 for the other topics and Seminar dates in the series.

October Monthly Meeting Telescoping Time in Bhutan

Presented by: Jim Brown, Malia Fincher and Dick Mills Thursday, October 21st, 7:00 p.m. ~ Birmingham Zoo Auditorium

Bhutan is the last of the independent Himalayan king-doms. More rugged than the Rockies and more heavily forested than the Smokies, it is about the size of Swit-zerland but 20 degrees further south. It was closed to all foreigners until the late 1950s, and only legalized TV and the internet in 1999. Mahayana Buddhism is the official religion, a tantric version that came by way of Tibet. Bhutan gained some quirky fame with the last Bhutanese king’s claimed attempt to maximize not Gross National Product, but Gross National Happiness.

In the summer of 2009 Jim Brown was invited to give a presentation on values as preserved in traditional folk-tales to a royally-sponsored “Bhutan National Storytel-ling Conference” in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital. The main

host of the group was a nobleman and director of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, Oxford educated (and the governmental official in charge of officially measuring GNH!). He gave the non-Bhutanese conference speak-ers a wonderful tour and explanation of at least the western half of the country. Upon return Brown immedi-ately talked up the possibility of a travel/study trip there with other faculty members. Malia Fincher, whose ex-pertise is in plant-insect interaction, was one of the fac-ulty who enthusiastically signed on. Dick Mills agreed to be our liaison with a well-connected but new and untried Bhutanese travel agency. Half a dozen students bought into it, and a few adults from out in the “real world,” and the trip came off the last of May 2010, including a foray

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August 8 through August 31, 2010

Bob Sargent reports that this has been a banner year for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds through-out eastern United States and Canada. Now, get this. On 1 September, 2009, Mary Wilson banded a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Al-pine, Al. Remarkably, this bird was recaptured 8 August, 2010 near Huttonsville, West Virgina by Hummer/ Bird Study Group trainees. Greg Harber has been enjoying watching several hundred Chimney Swifts entering a chimney on Birmingham’s Southside. Greg says this begins about 7:40 PM and by 7:45 PM they are all in for the night. Harriett Wright and Pelham Rowan joined him on 31 August. Of course by the time that the October Flicker Flashes is delivered most of these birds will have migrated, but perhaps they will return to the same location next year (7th Avenue South at 24th Street). Stay tuned.

Other sightings were:

8/8 Tricolored Heron, only five previous records for the Mountain Region; Lake Purdy (GJ,DJ).

8/24 Warblers- Chestnut-sided, Cerulean, and Canada; Baltimore Oriole (3); Botanical Gardens (GJ,DJ).

8/28 Osprey; Highland Lakes (BC). Veery; Lincoln, Al. (RC).

8/30 Buff-breasted Sandpiper (4 juv); Pell City sod farms (GJ).

8/31 Common Nighthawk (Approximately 100); Homewood (GH).

Contributors:

Please submit sightings for November/December FF at least five days before the October 1st deadline to:

Ann Miller, 520 Yorkshire Drive, Birmingham, Al. 35209

Barry Clemmons Ross Cohen Greg Harber

Greg and Debi Jackson Pelham Rowan Bob and Martha Sargent

Mary Wilson Harriett Wright

into the rural heart of central Bhutan, Bumthang, and the valley of Phojibka where the black cranes winter (though it was not the time the cranes were actually there). The attempt of the course was to “telescope time” in a study of Bhutan – to do as best we could with the time available the old Regional Planning trick of surveying

geology and climate, soils, native vegetation, native zo-ology, layers of human history, and the modern eco-nomic and political balance that obtains today – as a quick way to get a handle on a very foreign subject. Jim, Malia and Dick will try to do as much of that as they can in the program time, with Google Earth maps and photo-graphs by way of illustration.

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October Field Trips

Oak Mountain State Park - Half Day Saturday, October 2

nd, 8:00 a.m.

Early October is near the peak of the southbound fall mi-gration, and as we will hopefully witness for ourselves on this trip, migration season includes more than just migrat-ing birds! Butterflies of several species also migrate, and so along with songbirds and hawks, we hope to observe butterflies on the wing too. Vitaly Charny, co-author with W. Mike Howell of the recently published Butterflies of Alabama, will co-lead this trip and we’ll depend on him to identify the butterflies we see! Our plan is to meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Ranger Station, outside the main entrance to Oak Moun-tain State Park. The park is located in Pelham; take the Cahaba Valley Road exit (#246) off I-65 and follow the signs to the park. From here we’ll travel into the park in search of migrant and resi-dent songbirds at several locations within the park, visiting different habitats in an effort to maximize the number of species we’ll observe. We’ll also be looking for butterflies, so bring your butterfly field guides. Mid-morning, once the temperatures start to warm appre-

ciably and the hawks and vultures start taking to the skies, we’ll head for the hills. The hills, in this case, will be the road to Peavine Falls. Here we’ll have an unobstructed view of the ridges and valleys to the north of Double Oak

Mountain. Our trip will then adopt a lazy man’s approach to birding and butterfly watching as we take to our chairs and wait for the hawks and butterflies to come to us! Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and bring us a cool front, and with it, Broad-winged Hawks migrating past our van-tage point. Butterflies such as Monarchs should also be in evidence. This trip won’t take us far since we’ll stay within the park the entire time. Be sure to bring a folding chair with you, along with plenty of snacks and drinks. Dress for the weather, as always. Park admission is $3.00 per person, $1.00 for senior

citizens. For further details and/or questions, please call our trip leader Greg Harber at 205-251-2133. BAS member Vitaly Charny will co-lead the trip.

Skyway Motorway and Talladega Mountain, plus Kymulga Grist Mill, Childersburg Saturday, October 16

th, 7:00 a.m.

Fall color and migrant songbirds (late fall and early winter) will be the order of the day for our October field trip to the Skyway Motorway atop Talladega Mountain south of Cheaha State Park. In recent years we have visited the state park and Rebecca Mountain, at the southern termi-nus of the motorway. This trip will take us to an intermedi-ate stretch of the road between the two. The Skyway Motorway is paved for a short stretch south of the state park before it becomes a reasonably well-maintained gravel Forest Service road. We’ll travel it for several miles through the forest atop Talladega Mountain, stopping at various sites as conditions warrant. It is a beautiful landscape with some impressive vistas, and the fall color will make it even more breathtaking, so you’ll definitely want to come on this trip if you’ve never been to the area. Once we come down the west side of Talladega Mountain we’ll make our way back country to the Kymulga Grist Mill, located northeast of Childersburg. Our route will traverse

some scenic countryside and we’ll have a late picnic (bring your own) lunch once we arrive at the mill. Following lunch we’ll bird in the forested areas of the site as well as taking in the historic structures within the park. There is a $3.00 admission fee. As veterans of the trips I lead will attest, lunchtime is flexi-ble, especially if the birding is good. The drive to the park takes about 45 minutes, so come prepared with plenty of snacks and fluids to tide you over during the drive. Dress for the weather, and be sure your car’s gas tank is full. Travel plans: Depart 7:00 a.m. from the Eastwood McDon-ald’s, located at 1569 Montclair Road and caravan east on I-20 to exit #173. We’ll travel the back roads to Cheaha State Park, where we’ll take a short bathroom break at the store at the park entrance. Those wishing to meet us here should arrive by 8:30 a.m. For further details and/or questions, please call our trip leader Greg Harber at 205-251-2133.

BAS Field Trip Cancellation Policy If there is a possibility of dangerous road conditions due to inclement weather please contact the trip leader at the phone number provided.

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The state of Alabama is blessed with a tremendous number of different animals and plants (biodiversity), including five sea turtle species that visit the beaches. When these species, Atlantic Loggerhead (Carreta car-reta), Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Atlantic Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate), Kemps Ridley (Lepidochelys kempi), and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), are mature adults, they return to the beaches where they hatched to lay their eggs. For some of these turtle species that return trip may be 30 years later. This year many turtle eggs were removed from Ala-bama, Mississippi and western Florida beaches and sent to Georgia and eastern Florida beaches. Many of these eggs were sent to a climate controlled building at NASA’s Cape Kennedy facility to prevent the baby tur-tles from swimming through the oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Beaches are monitored daily during the summer for sea turtle nests. When a nest is found, a fence is placed around it to keep people from walking on or digging up the sand. These nests are monitored and the fences removed when the sea turtles hatch. This takes about

50 days, but the number of days to hatch varies be-tween sea turtle species. Once the eggs hatch they will be released in the Atlantic Ocean. In order to remove the eggs, biologists had to carefully dig through the sand with their fingers. Each nest may contain over 125 eggs. The eggs are placed in coolers, with sand from the beach. Each egg must be placed in the same “up” position as it was in the nest. In other words, the bottom and top sides of the egg must remain the same for the baby turtle to develop properly. The eggs were transported free by FEDEX. Eggs were transported three times a week for four months! How many trips did FEDEX make transporting sea turtle eggs? Actually by mid-July, FEDEX would start making six trips per week using a semi truck and trailer. Thank you FEDEX!! To learn more about sea turtles visit the Sea Turtle Con-servancy (http://www.conserveturtles.org/), the oldest sea turtle conservation organization in the world! You can “follow” via satellite several different sea turtles that have radios on them.

We are looking for artists and writers: Send us your pictures, jour-nal pages, stories and poems about birds, nature, wildlife, etc. If selected, your original work will be published in the Flicker Flashes. Do you have any suggestions as to what you would like to read about in Kid's Corner? Send your ideas to: Birmingham Audubon Society Attn: Kids Corner P.O. Box 314 Birmingham, AL 35201

Sea Turtle Egg-vacuation By: Shirley Farrell

Save The Sea Turtle Hatchling!

There are many hazards that can prevent a baby sea turtle from getting to the ocean. One hazard is predators. Many birds and other animals eat these turtle babies. Another hazard is buildings with lights on at night. The turtles see the bright lights and think it is the ocean. They crawl to-wards the lights instead of heading to the ocean. Help our baby sea turtle make it to the ocean by finding the path through the maze!

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Common Bird Songs is the title of one of the programs that is presented on the McWane Science Center stage at least once a week. Sounds simple enough, right? Peo-ple of all ages come over to listen to the sounds that some of the most common birds make. This program was created to spark more interest in those that love feeding the birds, but need or want a little more help in learning about the birds they hear around their homes, and to get people to step over to the “sound tree” to learn about other birds in Alabama too. I never know what kind of crowd I am going to have or even if they will stay, but for the most part, unless they have lunch plans, they stay for the entire program. Re-cently, I had a woman come with her two and four year olds to listen in on the program. There were about 15 people during this presentation listening in to learn about bird songs. I was totally thrilled. This woman took a seat on the floor with her two sons and they leaned in to listen to the birds. I have added a photo of each bird on the stage cart so the kids could remember the different birds that were talked about throughout the power point - which grabs their attention right from the start. Usually when present-ing, I watch the faces looking at me and try to gauge not only interest levels, but how much I will have to review with the audience before giving them their “group quiz.” On this day, the little boys caught my eye, not because they were disruptive, but because I had them fixed on

the program intently! How do I know this? Well, the two year old boy had some pretzels on his stroller and he had the munchies, but he did not want to miss seeing anything on the screen - so he stood up and walked backward with his hand feeling for the stroller tray. He grabbed a few pretzels without looking and came right back into his mother’s arms. Now this might not seem like a big deal, but when the two boys both shouted out 6 out of 8 birds that were featured on the screen correctly, I was totally impressed. Some adults can’t do that some-times. As I was cleaning up, I watched as the mother lead them over to the bird sound tree and played some of the same bird sounds over again and the kids still had the right answers. When the Mom added another sound the kids wanted to know what bird that was too. This is just one of those times that give me hope for the future of our birds, wildlife and habitats. People only care about the things they know about – and what they know about is what fires their passion to protect it. Whether we are two or ninety-two, it is never too late to learn about the world around us, to claim it with a passion, and to protect it with a better understanding of how it is all connected and I am glad to help that passion soar. I send kudos to that Mom for stopping by and giving her children a small foundation on which to build that passion! Happy Birding Everyone and remember to follow your passion.

Captive Audiences By: Helena Uber-Wamble

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the Talladega Na-tional Forest ~ Meet the new Neighbors Sunday, November 21st, 2:00 p.m. ~ Art Henderson, Guest Speaker An Introduction to Birds of Prey Sunday, January 16th, 1:30 & 3:00 p.m. ~ John and Dale Stokes, Guest Speakers Ruby-throated Hummingbirds ~ Winged Jewels of the Skies Sunday, February 20th, 2:00 p.m. ~ Bob and Martha Sargent, Guest Speakers

Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama ~ Critters that Hop, Slither and Crawl! Sunday, March 27th, 2:00 p.m. ~ Ken Marion, Guest Speaker An Introduction to the Fishes of Alabama Sunday, April 10th, 2:00 p.m. ~ Mike Howell, Guest Speaker Spring is Here ~ Time to Learn our Bird Songs Sunday, May 22nd, 2:00 p.m. ~ Greg Harber, Guest Speaker

2010 - 2011 Audubon Teaches Nature Series

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2010 BAS Spring Count Report Saturday, May 1, 2010

The 2010 BAS Spring Count was one of the slowest in recent memory – indeed, the entire spring migration almost seemed as though it never occurred. Still, teams of intrepid BAS birders managed to count 131 species on count day, with an additional 4 count week species noted. Teams spent 97.25 party hours in the field, with 0.1 hours spent owling. 563.1 miles were covered by car and 24.75 miles were spent on foot – a substantial effort! Temperatures ranged from 62-83 degrees, with cloudy skies, variably breezy conditions and trace amounts of rainfall.

Canada Goose 303 Wood Duck 14 Gadwall 2 Mallard 55 Blue-winged Teal 4 Wild Turkey 15 Northern Bobwhite 3 Double-crested Cormorant 96 Great Blue Heron 71 Great Egret 27 Cattle Egret 20 Green Heron 8 Black-crowned Night Heron 9 Yellow-crowned Night Heron 22 Black Vulture 17 Turkey Vulture 49 Osprey 1 Mississippi Kite 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper's Hawk 9 Red-shouldered Hawk 15 Broad-winged Hawk 7 Red-tailed Hawk 17 American Kestrel 2 Peregrine Falcon CW Falcon species 1 American Coot 1 Killdeer 43 Lesser Yellowlegs 3 Spotted Sandpiper 6 Least Sandpiper 7 Pectoral Sandpiper 2 Wlson's Snipe 2 Rock Pigeon 53 Eurasian Collared-Dove 17 Mourning Dove 383 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 5 Eastern Screech-Owl 2 Great Horned Owl CW Barred Owl 9 Chuck-will's-widow CW Whip-poor-will CW Chimney Swift 169 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 21 Belted Kingfisher 9 Red-headed Woodpecker 28

Red-bellied Woodpecker 62 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 Downy Woodpecker 31 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 7 Pileated Woodpecker 10 Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 Acadian Flycatcher 12 Eastern Phoebe 66 Great Crested Flycatcher 68 Eastern Kingbird 159 Loggerhead Shrike 6 White-eyed Vireo 185 Yellow-throated Vireo 12 Red-eyed Vireo 49 Blue Jay 97 American Crow 353 Fish Crow 5 Purple Martin 172 Tree Swallow 28 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 226 Cliff Swallow 674 Barn Swallow 194 Carolina Chickadee 97 Tufted Titmouse 135 White-breasted Nuthatch 17 Brown-headed Nuthatch 30 Carolina Wren 128 House Wren 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 66 Eastern Bluebird 225 Gray-cheeked Thrush 3 Swainson's Thrush 6 Wood Thrush 52 American Robin 133 Gray Catbird 19 Northern Mockingbird 225 Brown Thrasher 69 European Starling 376 Cedar Waxwing 115 Tennessee Warbler 13 Northern Parula 12 Yellow Warbler 4 Chestnut-sided Warbler 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 32

Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Yellow-throated Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 22 Prairie Warbler 26 Palm Warbler 13 Blackpoll Warbler 1 Black-and-white Warbler 2 American Redstart 2 Prothonotary Warbler 3 Worm-eating Warbler 5 Swainson's Warbler 1 Ovenbird 1 Northern Waterthrush 2 Louisiana Waterthrush 7 Kentucky Warbler 24 Common Yellowthroat 24 Hooded Warbler 37 Yellow-breasted Chat 41 Summer Tanager 48 Scarlet Tanager 12 Eastern Towhee 149 Chipping Sparrow 45 Field Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 4 Song Sparrow 2 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 12 Northern Cardinal 381 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 18 Blue Grosbeak 37 Indigo Bunting 116 Dickcissel 7 Bobolink 154 Red-winged Blackbird 354 Eastern Meadowlark 76 Common Grackle 220 Brown-headed Cowbird 116 Orchard Oriole 35 Baltimore Oriole 1 House Finch 76 American Goldfinch 43 House Sparrow 90 Total 6,624

Many thanks to the following participants (party leaders in boldface): Greg Harber, Jessica Germany, BJ Allen, Donna Shook, David George, Sharon Hudgins, Katherine Bouma, Andrew Haffenden, Mac Braid, Suzanne Elder, Maureen Shaffer, Anne Miller, John Imhof, Pelham Rowan, Harriett Wright, Mary Lou Miller, Gina McWilliams, Elisa Mejia, John Swan, Larry Wright, Cheryl Horncastle, Sallie Brice, Greg Jackson, Linda Cicero and her Montevallo - Orr Park volun-teers, and feeder watchers: BJ Allen, Stan Hamilton and Donna Shook. Compiler: Greg Harber.

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~ Membership Application ~ Birmingham Audubon Society/National Audubon Society*

Name: ________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

City, State and Zip code: _________________________________________________

Phone: ( ) ______________________ Email: ______________________________

New Members* $20.00 Seniors (62 or better) $15.00 Full-time Students $15.00

* NAS will contact you directly for membership renewal

Make check payable to: National Audubon Society Send application and check to:

National Audubon Society P.O. Box 314

Birmingham, AL 35201

My check for $___________ is enclosed.

clip along dotted line

���� National Audubon Society New Members and Renewals $20.00

Seniors (62 or better) $15.00 Full-time Students $15.00

Make check payable to: Birmingham Audubon Society

Send application and check to:

Birmingham Audubon Society P.O. Box 314

Birmingham, AL 35201

���� Birmingham Audubon Society

Phone: (205) 714-8227 Birmingham Audubon Society C0ZA0000Z

Birmingham Audubon Society is tax exempt under 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code

* There are two ways to become a member of Birmingham Audubon Society:

1. Join National Audubon Society. Birmingham Audubon Society serves as a local chapter of the National Audubon Society. Joining National Audubon Society also provides you a membership to Birmingham Audubon Society and access to all chapter activities and benefits. You will receive the National Audubon magazine. Your dues support the work of National Audubon Society and a small percentage is returned to the Birmingham Audubon Society for local efforts.

— OR —

2. Join Birmingham Audubon Society without National Audubon Society affiliation. This chapter only member-ship provides you access to all chapter activities and benefits. All dues stay in Birmingham to support local activities. You will not receive the National Audubon magazine.

We need for you to volunteer! There are many opportunities available through which you can give of your time to make great contributions to Birmingham Audubon. The Education Director is in particular need of those of you who would lead children on a short birding venture. A formal volunteer application can be found on the BAS web site under “About Us”, then “Volunteer Opportunities”. Or just call Louise Ayer Tommie at 428-9652.

The Birmingham Audubon Society gratefully acknowledges the following gifts and memorial donations:

Memorial gift to BAS in memory of Betty J. Susina from Elberta G. Reid Memorial gifts to Audubon Mountain Workshop in memory of Betty J. Susina from Edith Hunt and Greg Harber

Please check your mailing label for your membership expiration date.

Printed on recycled paper

Birmingham Audubon Society A Chapter of the National Audubon Society P.O. Box 314 Birmingham, AL 35201 Business Office: 200 19th Street North Birmingham, AL 35203 (205) 714-8227 Email: Audubon@McWane.org Web Site: www.birminghamaudubon.org Bird Reporting Line: (205) 879-7709

DATED MATERIAL Please deliver by September 30, 2010

Flicker Flashes is published eight times a year by the Birmingham Audubon Society. Editor: Greg Harber (205) 251-2133 Co-Ass’t Editor: Bianca J. Allen (205) 854-5233 Co-Ass’t Editor: Donna Shook (205) 664-2982

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 3794 Birmingham, AL

Copies of Flicker Flashes can be viewed and downloaded from the BAS web site: www.birminghamaudubon.org

October 2010 November 2010

13 BAS 1/2 day Field Trip, Ruffner Mtn. Nature Center

18 Board Meeting, Birmingham Zoo Auditorium (BZA), 5:45 p.m. General Meeting, BZA, 7:00 p.m. Paulette Ogard & Sara Bright, “Butterflies; Gosse Nature Guides”

20 BAS Field Trip, Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

21 Audubon Teaches Nature, The Wildlife Center, 2:00 p.m. Art Henderson, “Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the Talladega National Forest ~ Meet the new Neighbors”

1 Flicker Flashes articles due, November/December issue

2 BAS 1/2 day Field Trip, Oak Mountain for butterfly & Hawk watching

8-10 Alabama Ornithological Society meeting, Dauphin Island, AL

16 BAS Field Trip, Skyway Motorway & Kymulga Grist Mill

17 Audubon Teaches Nature, The Wildlife Center, 2:00 p.m. Larry Davenport, “The Making of Nature Journal”

21 Board Meeting, Birmingham Zoo Auditorium (BZA), 5:45 p.m. General Meeting, BZA, 7:00 p.m. Dick Mills, Malia Fincher and Jim Brown, “Bhutan”