Peace River Audubon Society 2007-08 OFFICERS & DIRECTORS:

(941)

White Bird
President Gregg Klowden ‘08 613-6753
Vice President Stu Lewis ’09 235-2590
Secretary Mary Ann Hughes ‘08 637-7855
Treasurer Walt Williams ‘09 235-3352

February 2008 Volume 31, Issue 6 Additional Phyllis Cady ‘08 575-4009
Directors: Mike Krzyzkowski ‘08 812-0764
Sandy Artman, Editor Eleanor Marr ‘08 624-4182
Dan Artman, Dispatcher George Ruby ’08 423-0174
Sandy Artman ‘09 575-0651
www.PeaceRiverAudubon.org Cathy Olson ‘09 613-6753

Please Join Us For Our

as author Jo Morrison presents
Babcock Ranch: Tales of Bygone Days
A chronicle of the sights, sounds, and legends of the
cattle ranching days on the Crescent B “Babcock” Ranch
Ms. Morrison will be signing the just released 2nd edition of her book.

Seats are limited so

Thursday March 20th, 2008
At the Twin Isles Country Club make a reservation today!
301 Madrid Boulevard, Punta Gorda 33950 Non-members welcome
Cash Bar - 6:00 pm / Dinner - 7:00 pm Please bring a friend or two

Proceeds benefit the Reservation deadline is March 12th

Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center & Tickets NOT available at door
our other Environmental Education Programs
Mail check for $30/ person to:
Dinner - Catered by Twin Isles Country Club Linda Blondheim PRAS c/o Phyllis Cady
Menu Options: Chicken Marsala or Salmon 425 Fireball Ct / Punta Gorda, FL 33950
*Please include Name(s), Phone, & Meal choice*
Silent Auction - Bid on many great items
Photo Contest – For your favorite unique nature shots For more information contact
(see rules below) Phyllis Cady at 941-575-4009 or
banquet@peaceriveraudubon.org
***Sponsor a whole table (8 people) for $240 and receive special recognition*** or visit www.PeaceRiverAudubon.org

Silent Auction Donations Needed Photo Contest Rules

The silent auction during our banquet is our major fundraiser
each year. Please donate new items, artwork, gift certificates,
services, baked goods, etc. Contact Cathy Olson at 613-6753 or
banquet@peaceriveraudubon.org
Annual Banquet Photo Contest Enter your latest and greatest
pictures in our annual photo contest! After the judging, all the
pictures will be placed in the silent auction fundraiser. Please
be ready to sign your picture for the auction winners. Banquet
attendees will judge the competition.

Banquet Volunteers Needed Rules are as follows:

To make our banquet successful requires the help of many people. • 8x10 color or black & white print of any nature oriented subject
Please contact Gregg at President@PeaceRiverAudubon.org or 613- • Photoshop enhancements are allowed
6753 if you can help out with any of the following: • No signatures or identification on the print.
• No frames. PRAS will provide black poster board for display.
1. Help make centerpieces
2. Help setup banquet and auction on March 20 Entry fee: $5 for one print
3. Assist Bill with photo contest $10 for 3 prints
4. Help distribute items to silent auction winners
 Next Meeting, February 21 at 6:30 PM
Speaker, Pascha Donaldson
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 2565 Tamiami Trail,
Port Charlotte (just south of Midway)
Come listen to Pascha Donaldson, Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, talk
about burrowing owls in Cape Coral at our February 21, 2008 members
meeting. Come learn more about these wonderful diurnal owls.
2008 Birdathon Saturday, April 5, 2008
PRAS has been holding Birdathons for a number of years to raise
money for environmental education. Teams solicit sponsors who pay
an amount determined by the team, based on the number of species
the team finds. This year’s Birdathon will be held on Saturday April 5.
We will have some new categories for participants as well as modifica-
tions for the old category. The traditional Birdathon Category I will con-
sist of the usual teams of 2 – 4 people who will find as many species as
they can in Charlotte County beginning at a time of
the team’s choosing, and ending at 4 PM. Bir-
dathon Category 2 is for people who want to par-
ticipate but don’t want to travel. A team of 2 will
find as many species as they can in their yards,
neighborhoods, and/or feeders, beginning when
they choose and ending at 4 PM. Birdathon Cate-
gory 3 will be a Photothon. Individuals will photo-
graph as many species as they can until 4 PM. At 4 tershed Building at 2 PM. CHEC is located at 10941 Burnt Store Road,
PM, the participants will get together and share their day. It is not too
early to make your plans to participate in this worthy activity. More
information will be provided at the February PRAS meeting.
January Walkabout Report by Eleanor Marr
On Jan. 8, 30 people turned out for a combined Walk-
about/Photo Shoot/ Parks and Recreation walk. Dave
Mathewson from Parks and Recreation, entertaining as
always, drew on his extensive knowledge of natural his-
tory and local lore, providing information on plants, in-
sects, reptiles and more. Twenty-five species of birds
were seen or heard, including low-flying wood storks and pileated
woodpeckers. The crowd dispersed around 10:00 AM, some to re-
turn home, some to visit the visitor’s center, and some to follow Dave
to nearby Amberjack Park to the lake overlook, where wetland birds
and an Empidonax sp. flycatcher (that did not call and so went uni-
dentified) increased the count for the morning to 34.
Volunteer of the Month
Bill Marr
Congratulations to Bill Marr who is our volunteer of
the month. Bill has been an active member for
many years and has recently taken on several new
duties. He helped to redesign our Christmas Bird
Count PowerPoint presentation to include all 21
years of PRAS survey results, he is organizing and leading the PRAS
Photo Club, and will be running the Photo Contest at our upcoming
banquet. Many thanks to Bill for all his work. Over the past 31 years
volunteers like Bill have been essential to making PRAS an important
part of our community.
March Field Trip: Babcock Ranch
Led by Cathy Olson
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The PRAS field trip on March 8 will be to the Babcock Ranch Pre-
serve. We will be receiving a guided tour
by preserve staff who will show us portions
of the preserve beyond the publicly open
Babcock Wilderness Ecotour. This trip
requires pre-registration, has a limit of 40
people and is open first to PRAS mem-
bers. Those registered should meet at the
Winn Dixie at the intersection of US 17 and Bermont Road at 7 am to
carpool to the preserve. If you would like to attend, several spots are
still open. Provide Cathy (Cathyolson@comcast.net or 613-6753)
with your name, phone number and email address. PRAS and Bab-
cock Ranch Preserve liability waivers are required. Please let Cathy
know if you have registered and are unable to attend so she may
contact people on the waiting list.
Photography Group Report by Bill Marr
Cameras were in evidence at both the Cedar Point walkabout and the
Carlton Reserve/Laurel Landfill field trip. The group
had its first discussion meeting at CHEC on January
22. Upcoming events are as follows:
February 26: Meeting will take place at CHEC in the Wa-
Punta Gorda. The Watershed Building is located near the gazebo, across
from the office. Bring CD or prints of pictures to share. There will be an
informal discussion of equipment and techniques, and questions will be an-
swered.
March 10: Photo Shoot at Ollies Pond at 9 AM. Meet in the parking lot on
York St. on the north side of the pond.
Directions to Ollie’s Pond from Edgewater Drive in Port Charlotte:
Take Edgewater Drive west, not far from the end of Edgewater, to Collings-
wood Blvd. Turn right and head north on Collingwood to Bly Ave. Turn
right on Bly to Felda Street where you will see the pond ahead. Turn left on
Felda to York, then right to the parking lot.
If you are coming from the Murdock, North Port or Englewood area, you can
head south on Collingswood Blvd to Bly, turn left and follow above directions
from there. Collingswood intersects Rt. 776 just south of Murdock Circle.
PRAS Garage Sale to benefit CHEC
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The PRAS garage sale to benefit the Charlotte Harbor
Environmental Center was a great success. Kudos to Cathy Olson, Gregg
Klowden and Jason Hale for setting up and tending to the sale for two early
and long days. Several items have been placed on Ebay, so the final tally
earned is not yet in. The final amount and a check will be presented to
CHEC at the next members meeting. Many thanks to all those who donated
items including Phyllis and Ray Cady, Dawn Carriere, Pat Davis, Amanda &
Peter De Witt, Monica & Rich Dorken, Ken Ferris, Chuck & Joan Froman,
Mark & Sherry Furnari, Norma Hamilton, Gail Hopper, June Hulse, Jimmy
Jewell & Laura Wewerka, Gregg Klowden & Cathy Olson, George & Joan
Kufrin, Louise & Stu Lewis, Bill & Eleanor Marr, Bob & Jennet Repenning,
Edward & Kate Staber, Dawn Terry, Frank & Jan Walker (and their
neighbors), Bob & Joanne Winter, Linda Wright, Alfreda Wuerz, and all the
mystery donors.
 January Field Trip Report by Stu Lewis
Despite a foggy morning, 19 people led by Stu Lewis found good
birding activity at the Carleton Reserve. Red headed woodpeckers
are usually a sure sighting in the parking lot area and were seen.
The next stop was the recently acquired
Sleeping Turtle Preserve, a beautiful prop-
erty with trails through mossy live oaks, old
pastures and abundant wild coffee in full
berry. The Preserve consists of 211 acres
along 2 1/2 miles of the Myakka River. A
redstart, blue-headed vireo, priairie warbler
and goldfinches were among the birds seen
in trees along the river. People commented that they really enjoyed
this preserve and would come back again.
Onto the Laurel Road Landfill: Because of the drought, the wetlands
along the entrance road are now dry - usually a wonderful place to
spot all kinds of wading birds. Once into the landfill area, bird activity
was fairly quiet. But the pond at the end had the usual bevy of wood-
storks and some other waders. Bald eagles flew overhead amidst the
swarms of gulls, grackles, crows, etc.
A total of 56 species were seen on this trip.
New Membership Fees
The PRAS Board has decided it is necessary to
increase the cost of a local membership from $10 to
$20 per year. This reflects increases in our costs
for printing and mailing of the Whitebird newsletter, insurance costs,
and other areas. There are still two membership options available.
“Local Membership Only” includes the White Bird newsletter and all
proceeds remain with PRAS. “National Membership” includes the
Whitebird newsletter as well as the National Audubon magazine.
Normally about 2 or 3 dollars of a National membership is returned to
PRAS. The local membership cost has not been raised for many
years and we felt that $20 is a very good value for all of the great
things that PRAS does for our community. We hope you agree. If
you have any questions about membership, please contact Phyllis
Cady at (941) 575-4009 or cadyp@peaceriveraudubon.org.
A Hearty Welcome to the following New Members
Bobby & Anna Wrenn
Meredith L. Myers T. Stratus
Larry Bordsen Robert & Patricia Childs
The Liegl Family Joan Kufrin
Mr. & Mrs. T.D. Galvin Elsie Darney
Al & Alice Novak Robert Bolton
Mr. James E. Jacobs Raymond & Lynn Day
Ms. Angela Smith Joseph & Jettie Minucci
Ms. Beverly Caporossi Isabelle Frasier
Speaker Schedule
February 21: Pascha Donaldson - Burrowing Owls
March 20: Annual Banquet, silent auction and photo contest
Jo Morrison Babcock Ranch:Tales of Bygone Days
April 17: Missy Christie - Sea Turtles & Shorebirds
May 15 : Members night: PRAS members present slides
Field Trips and Walkabouts
March 4: Walkabout: Hathaway Park
Eleanor Marr 941-624-4182
March 8: Field Trip: Babcock Ranch Preserve
(pre-registration required - limited to 40 persons)
Cathy Olson 941-613-6753 (East carpool location)
April 1: Walkabout: Audubon-Pennington Park
Dave Lancaster 941-625-0979
April 13: Shorebird identification at Bunche Beach
Kevin Edwards (South carpool location)
April 19: Field Trip: Corkscrew Swamp
Eleanor Marr 941-624-4182 (South carpool location)
May 6: Walkabout: Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center
Phyllis Cady 941-575-4009
May 17: Field Trip: Fish-Eating Creek
Mike Krzyzkowski 941-812-0764 (East carpool location)
***For Walkabouts: meet at the park entrance at 8 AM ***
*For Field Trips meet at designated place (*see below)
at 7 AM unless otherwise noted
Carpool locations:
North: Peachland Mall:24133 Peachland Blvd., Pt Charlotte
East: Winn Dixie lot: 27680 Bermont Road, Punta Gorda
South: Sweet Bay lot: 10175 Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda
Surprise Field Trips
Soon we will be announcing two special surprise field
trips. We would like to make such surprise trips periodi-
cally. If you would like to hear about these trips you will
need to be signed up to either our ‘PRAS Updates’
email group or our ‘Nature Alert’ email group. .
Subscribe to ‘PRAS Update’ to receive 2 or 3 monthly email re-
minders of upcoming meetings and field trips.
To sign up or for more information
contact webmaster@peaceriveraudubon.org or visit
http://www.PeaceRiverAudubon.org/
Subscribe to ‘Nature Alert’ to communicate with others concerned
with nature, wildlife, and protecting the environment in the Charlotte
County area
Audubon Pennington Park
Our beloved Audubon Pennington Park needs your help to maintain
the trails and keep out non-native plants. Please join other Audubon
volunteers every Wednesday from 8 to 10 am for a bit of gardening.
If you can, please bring along gloves and gardening sheers.
Audubon-Pennington Park is located in central Port Charlotte on
Alton Road, between Midway Blvd. and Peachland Blvd.
 Non-profit Organization
The Peace River Audubon Society U.S. Postage Paid
PO Box 510760 Punta Gorda, FL
Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0760 Permit No. 100

Check the “Exp” date on your address label!

“1208” means your PRAS and/or National membership expires
December 2008. To save the cost of sending reminders, please
use the application below to renew your membership. If you
have questions please call Phyllis Cady at 575-4009 or send an
email to: membership@peaceriveraudubon.org

February2008
White Bird

Printed on Recycled Paper

C & R Graphics (folding donated)

The Peace River Audubon Society is a 501 ( c )(3) non-profit organization. Our Federal tax ID number is 59-2190872. We do not engage a professional solicitor and 100% of the
funds generated by this request will be used to support our Chapter programs. Our registration number with the FDA Division of Consumer Services is SC-040701.

Electronic White Bird: If you would like to receive the White Bird via e-mail, please send a request to : whitebird@peaceriveraudubon.org

Bird of the Month: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)

by Cathy Olson, PRAS Board member

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is unique among eastern North American woodpeckers in that it is migratory.
It breeds in northern North America and winters in the southeastern quarter of the United States down
through Panama and the West Indies. The bird gets its name from its feeding habits. Two types of holes are
made to get sap from trees; deep round holes which it inserts its bill to lap up sap and shallow rectangular
holes which are continuously maintained to keep a flow of sap. Other animals also lap up the sap and eat the
insects that are attracted by the flowing sap. This woodpecker is easily distinguishable from other similar
sized woodpeckers by the white vertical stripe on its side and its yellow belly. Here in Florida, we see them
during the winter in open forests. .

------------- ---------- ----------- ----------- ---------- --------------- --------------- ---- --------

Peace River Audubon Society Membership Application / Renewal

Join us for some fun and birding. Help protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, & the wildlife we love...help us protect Florida.
___ New Membership
___ Renewal Chapter Code: E14-7XCH ( ) $20 Local Audubon Membership Only
Includes the “White Bird” newsletter with local news articles,
Name: ______________________________________ local meetings, field trips, bird walks, & special events.
All proceeds stay within local chapter
Organization: ________________________________
Address: ___________________________________ ( ) $20 Local and National Audubon
City, State, Zip: ______________________________ Includes all of the above plus National Audubon magazine.
Phone: ( ) _______________________________ ( ) Additional Gift for PRAS
E-mail: _____________________________________ Please help PRAS continue our educational and
MAIL CHECK WITH THIS FORM TO: conservation programs with a tax deductible contribution.
PRAS, PO box 510760, Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0760 Total Enclosed $ _________