E cobon

November 2008:
No. 295

Newsletter of the Hilton Head Island Audubon Society

Audubon Refuge Keepers

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE NOVEMber Program by Charlotte White

Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 7:30 p.m. at the Seabrook
By Bill Nicol

We are now two General Member A Great Birding Adventure Across the Southern US
Meetings into our program year and the from Alabama to Arizona
programs/speakers have been excellent,
thanks to Charlotte White, our Program Karen and Mike McGinty, members of Hilton Head Audubon for 10 years, took
Chair. The disappointing aspect was that a birding trip across the southern part of the USA during the migration period. They
the meetings were not well attended and will be presenting a review of that trip, during which they captured many pictures
we are not sure why. Was it the topic, of birds. Karen writes, “The trip was a 67 day RV trip, so planning was important.
Or goal was to capture the spring migration across the Southern US. After looking
or the time or location of our meetings,
at maps and birding information, plus the time we had, the decision was made to go
or something else? The September pro- west along the Gulf of Mexico, through the Rio Grande Valley, southwestern Texas,
gram was not specifically about birds New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Our first stop, Ft. Morgan, Alabama was to
but educated us on the potential impact meet and bird with Mary Bess and Paige Mulholland and to watch the bird banding
the dredging of the Savannah River and done there by Bob and Martha Sargent’s group, the Hummer Bird Study Group. On
the port on the Jasper County side of our trip we saw 36 new life birds and 354 different bird species. Many were very
this river will have on wildlife diversity exciting for us, including the Elegant Trogon in SE Arizona.”
and bird populations in the Savannah Mike and Karen are major volunteers at the Pinckney Island Refuge and are
Wildlife Refuge. The Coastal Conserva- participants on the HHI Audubon Board and in founding, along with Clem Dietze,
tion League (CCL) will have the lead on the Friends of Savannah Coastal Wildlife Refuges. They inspire us as both serious
monitoring these Savannah River projects birders as well as activists in bird projects and organizations of our region.
but it is incumbent on other conservation To see beautiful pictures and learn more about this trip, which Karen calls “truly
groups such as Audubon to be knowledge- a birding trip of a lifetime!” come to our meeting on Tuesday, November 11, WITH
able and weigh in when the CCL asks for A FRIEND, at 7:30 p.m. at the Seabrook. The address is 300 Woodhaven Drive,
help. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. And welcome to this great group committed to
learning about and protecting birds.
The October meeting was specifically
about Wild Turkeys and their successful
restoration program but the underlying
point was the good work the Department
of Natural Resources can do when it has
the support of the citizens and govern-
ment of South Carolina.
If you have any ideas on programs or
thoughts on why our programs are not
well attended please let Charlotte, me or
any of the board members know. Your
input is welcome and needed.
See you at the meetings and bring a
friend.

Wild Turkey at Harris Neck NWR Photo courtesy of Denny Baer

 HHI Audubon
Board of Directors:
President
Bill Nicol 671-4721
Vice President
Ken Neitzke 705-3970
Treasurer
Karen McGinty 681-8498
Fran Baer 686-6348
Recording Secretary
Steve White 837-4597
Corresponding Secretary
Sherman Baker 342-6596
Members‑at‑Large
Howard Costa 842-9447
Jim Currie 681-8525
Marianne Currie 681-8525
Clem Dietze 837-2612
Barry Lowes 671-3537
Nan Lloyd 363-2092
Betty Walter 842-7147
Joan Wilson 837-2874
Committee Chairpersons:
Adopt-A-Refuge (Pinckney)
Clem Dietze 837-2612
Karen McGinty 681-8498
Audubon Newhall Preserve
Joan Shulman 842-9246
Bird Walks/Field Trips
OPEN
Bird House Construction
Jim Collins 671-1240
Bird Seed Sale
Ed Nash 681-5725
Christmas Bird Count
Barry Lowes 671‑3537
Education
Mary Jane Major 342-5804
Historian
OPEN numbers, the program to ensure their safety and shelter at each stopover on their route needs
Hospitality
Thea Luba 785-3214
Legislation
Kay Hodnett 342-7485
Membership
Thea Luba 785-3214
Newsletter Circulation
Marianne Currie 681-8525
Newsletter Editor
Joan Wilson 837-2874 and follow directions.
Programs
Charlotte White 837-4597
Publicity & Public Relations
Clem Dietze 837-2612
Sales Table
OPEN 686-6406
Shorebirds/Conservation
Howard Costa 842-9447
Special Projects
Richard Shulman 842-9246
Sun City Representative
Kevin Cahill 705-3570
Wetlands/Conservation
Sally Krebs H: 757-2973 O: 341-4690
Website: www.hiltonheadaudubon.org
The Ecobon is a monthly publication (September through May) of
the Hilton Head Island Audubon Society. Subscription is a benefit
of membership. Direct inquiries to P.O. Box 6185, Hilton Head
Island, South Carolina 29938 or call one of the above officers
or chairpersons.
Page 2 November 2008
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - Saturday, December 13, 2008
THE BIRDS NEED YOU! YES YOU!
The steady decline in the numbers of birds and species is evident and alarming to all
of us who are attentive to the birds here on Hilton Head. The Fall Sightings list in the Oc-
tober Ecobon can be misleading because while we see species, we do not see the numbers
we should. It is important that we make an accurate count of our birds on Hilton Head if
we want to contribute to the national census. To do this we need at least 150 volunteers
to spend a part of Saturday, December 13th finding and recording what we see.
In the past our Count has ranked nationally in the number of species and the total
number of birds seen, all because a corps of faithful volunteers have stepped forward
and participated. We need you to help. Whether a first time participant, a novice or a
seasoned birder - there is a meaningful role for everyone.
If you counted last year you will be contacted by your area captain. If this is your
first Count, then call me : Barry Lowes, 671-3537. e-mail: BARLOWE59@HOT-
LINE.COM.
You can give 1/2 a day or a full day. Please don't hesitate. Do it! I promise you
an interesting and surprisingly enriching day with fellow birders.
Mark your calendar. Contact your captain or me and come share a memorable day
involved in this important citizen science exercise. I look forward to hearing from you.
BARRY LOWES, Coordinator.
Extending and Strengthening the Migratory Bird Conservation Act
In 2002, Congress passed the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act to help protect
birds migrating from Latin America to North America and back again every year. Now the
bill must be reauthorized—and time is running out on the 110th Congress.
The Act supports conservation programs through habitat preservation, education, and
research. The program is a cooperative, international effort in the United States, Canada,
and Latin America. Each year the number of applications for conservation projects far
exceeds available funds. With more than half of our migratory bird species declining in
to be renewed and expanded.
Senator Ben Cardin and Representative Ron Kind, along with bipartisan groups of
cosponsors, have introduced legislation in the Senate and the House to reauthorize the
migratory bird conservation act and to increase funding—from the current level of $6.5
million per year up to $20 million per year in 2015. The Senate bill, S5490, is currently in
the Committee on Environment and Public Works; the House bill, HR5756, is currently in
the Committee on Natural Resources.
Consider contacting your Senators and Congressman immediately. The easiest way to
do so is to go to the American Bird Conservancy website, which is www.abcbirds.com,
BIRDING AT HONEY HORN
The Coastal Discovery Museum has announced a series of birding programs to be
held at Honey Horn this year and in 2009. Participants will be led by an experienced
bird watcher around the 68-acre property at Honey Horn. The Honey Horn property
has a unique combination of habitats including Salt Marsh, Maritime Forest and open
fields. These varying areas allow participants to see many different species of birds
- making Honey Horn one of the best bird watching sites on Hilton Head Island.
Depending on the time of year, diverse birds can be found at Honey Horn - you may
see: Summer Tanager, Eastern Kingbird, Painted Bunting, Yellow-bellied Sapsuch-
ker, Egrets, Herons and many, many others.
Walks are scheduled from 7:30 am to 9:30 am each month through May 2009.
The first in the series is November 12th and reservations may be made by calling 843-
689-6767 ext 223. Cost is $10.00 per person and you must be at least 12 years old to
participate. December 10, 2008 is the next in the series.
NOTES FROM THE NEWHALL PRESERVE recent AREA bird sightings
by Joan Shulman
WORK DAY in the Preserve on Saturday, November 8, from
9:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. Come for the whole time or just for an
hour or so--any and all help is appreciated. Bring gloves, clippers,
rakes, pruning shears, small saws, etc., and bring your energy. As
usual, we need to trim back the sides of the trails and take out
unwanted young trees along the edge of the pond and clean up
the flower beds. Water and cookies will be provided. If you have
questions, call me at 842-9246.
The guided walks in October went well. More people seemed to
be interested in participating on a weekday rather than on a Satur-
day. All who came out were from out of town. Most had learned
about the walks from the tourist magazines---Island Events and
Where to Go on Hilton Head. Two garden clubs also asked for
guided walks in October. Both came on the same day and were
accommodated. There were about 20 in each group.
In case you know of a group that would like a tour in the spring,
call me at 842-9246. We ask groups for a minimum donation of
$25.00. (The fee for regular walks is $7.00 per adult.)
Only a few scattered flower blossoms remain. Now is the time
for seeing seed pods and graceful stems and for savoring the or-
anges and yellows of fall. Soon the berries of the holly trees will
become a deeper red to vividly contrast with the dark green leaves.
Did you know that we have four types of holly in the Preserve?
Yaupon, Savannah, American, and Dahoon.
The reflection of the sky and trees in the pond surface should
inspire painters and photographers on these clearer, crisper days.
NOTE
Virginia Culter of Wild Birds Unlimited has advised
us that there has been a confirmed case of conjunctivitis
(pinkeye) reported in the Marshland Road area. The bird
infected was a House Finch and was completely blind. To
minimize the occurrence of this disease, please make sure
you clean your feeders on a regular basis. Virginia recom-
mends a thorough scrubbing on a monthly basis.
Special Thanks
To Wade and Associates, LLC
for their tax form preparation
for Hilton Head Island Audubon Society!
We really appreciate their efforts on our behalf.
November 2008 Page 3
by Jack Colcolough
We are having our ”best ever” migration this fall! A remark-
able thirty (30) warbler species and six other migrants have
been reported to date, many of them rare and uncommon for
our area. This outstanding migration has lasted well over two
months and the number of birds has been high. What a ride
it has been! This follows one of our poorest migrations last
spring.
Rare warblers reported include: Connecticut, Nashville,
Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Canada, Tennessee, Wilson’s,
Hooded, Worm-eating, Swainson’s and Yellow-breasted Chat.
Uncommon warblers found were: Orange-crowned, Blackpoll,
Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Prairie, Yellow, Ovenbird
and Northern Waterthrush ... not to mention the fairly com-
mon and common warbler species (11) found. Other unusual
migrants include: rare Scarlet Tanager & Yellow-bellied Fly-
catcher and uncommon Baltimore Oriole, Blue-headed Vireo,
Veery & Swainson’s Thrush.
A little “hot spot” for migrants has been found at Crystal
Lake in Indigo Run on HHI. For ten consecutive days multiple
migrants have been sighted there, mostly Redstarts (12-26
daily) and Palm Warblers plus eight rare/uncommon migrants
and fairly common and common ones mixed in.
Other rare finds were: Sandhill Cranes flying over Sea Pines
beach, Reddish Egrets at Fish Haul Creek, Virginia Rail at Sa-
vannah NWR, Roseate Spoonbill at the Savannah River Spoils
Site and Lesser Black-backed Gull at Tybee Island and HHI as
well as an uncommon American Bittern at Savannah NWR.
Winter arrivals reported: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern
Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Sharp-shinned Hawk, White-throated Sparrow, Hermit Thrush
and Marbled Godwit.
Other good finds: Wild Turkey, Purple Gallinule, Piping Plo-
ver, Loggerhead Shrike and Black-throated Blue Warbler.
This has been such a fantastic migration that all the birds
reported could not be shown here but they are all regularly
reported on Birding Friends. Keep up the great reporting!
Many thanks to all those reporting their sightings:Kay Hod-
nett, Annette Houseman, Wendy Hansen, Doris McCullough,
Roger Hough, Howard Costa, Peter Zachmann, Dottie Bass,
Diane Faucette, Fran Baer, Karen McGinty, Marianne Currie,
Richard Shulman, et al.
To report a rare, uncommon or first-of-the-year (or season)
bird sighting in our area, please e-mail: Jack Colcolough@
aol.com, call at 689.3455 or send a blank e-mail to:
BirdingFriends-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join the
group and report your sighting.
TICK TOCK – TICK TOCK by Clem Dietze
In the latter half of the 20th century fear for the end of the world was nuclear holocaust. Many still remember the tension and fear of the Kennedy/
Khrushchev Cuban missile crisis and its potential ramifications. Today we worry about terrorism and 9/11 atrocities. We should be concerned but the end
of the world ,as we know it, is likely to be much more subtle. In his classic poem, “The Hollow Man”, T.S Eliot wrote “This is the way the world ends not
with a bang but a whimper”.
Forget opinions you hold of his politics and person. Take Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” to heart. Overwhelmingly, the world’s scientists believe
that humans are pushing the earth’s inhabitants to Eliot’s whimpering end. The clock is ticking and we had best take action before it strikes midnight.
In our October meeting we were eloquently presented with steps to limit our individual destructive footprints. We need to heed these but also do much
more. Our government must realize that we don’t want an Ostrich, head in sand pretending everything is okay when in reality disaster looms. Together
we must make it see the truth. Without US leadership rapidly developing countries like China and India are unlikely to follow suit in cleaning up, and
preserving for the future. Many major US corporations are starting to see the light on their own. They are taking initiatives. We need to tell the others.
It isn’t just our intransient White House causing the problem. The rationale we are up against is typified by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) who recently
blocked a motion to celebrate Rachael Carson’s centennial by naming a post office after her. He referred to her laments about DDT as “junk science”. We
birders know all too well what would have happened to Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons and more had the outrage caused by Carson’s “Silent
Spring” not caused the curtailment of DDT and other pesticides.
There are a number of organizations actively enlisting support in letter campaigns to stop egregious projects or begin constructive ones. Letters go to
decision makers easily sent from a website. Recipients include both elected officials and others appropriate to the issue such as the Army Corps of Engineers,
project developers, local planning commissions, preservation leaders in other countries, etc. Use their stock letters or personalize them. For example the
number of writers in one campaign caused the Navy to stop sonar experiments confusing the signals whales were sending to each other. We also (at least
for now) stopped oil drilling in The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Positive examples include construction of wildlife corridors over and under major highways which bisect critical habitat and in SC defeat of a habitat
destroying highway.
I researched and belong to a number of organizations where the majority of donations received go to projects, not salaries and overhead of manage-
ment. Worthy of your consideration are: American Bird Conservancy (www.abc.birds.org), National Resources Defense Council (a very effective and
powerful organization) . (www.nrdc.org/), Ocean Conservancy www.oceanconservancy.org/), National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org/), World Wildlife
Fund (www.wordldwildlife.org/), The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org/, South Carolina Wildlife Federation (www.scwf.org), Trust for Public Land
(www.tpl.org), National Wildlife Refuge Assn. (www.refugenet.org/), Sierra Club (you don’t have to agree with all their positions) (www.sierraclub.org/)
, National Park Foundation (www.nationalparks.org/), South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (www.coastalconservationleague.org/), League of
Conservation Voters (www.lcv.org/), and of course National Audubon (www.audubon.org/). There are many others but some have a rather dubious record
when it comes to where the bucks go. Be sure to check their statistics. Also, get involved with the Citizen Science programs offered by Cornell Laboratory
of Ornithology. Explore the options open to you at www.birds.cornell.edu/.
There is an old song whose lyric included the line “I’m turning out my night light feeling satisfied that there’s nothing more that I can do”. Don’t
believe it. ACT NOW!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Please Note: Current members are encouraged to use this membership form to sign up friends, relatives, and neighbors as new
members. Our Chapter benefits significantly from a “return of dues” from National if our local form is used for new memberships

National Audubon Society Chapter

Membership Form  New  1 YR. - $20  2 YRS. - $30
NEW MEMBERS ONLY  Senior  1 YR. - $15  2 YRS. - $30
 Junior  1 YR. - $15  2 YRS. - $30
Name _ ______________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________________
City ___________________________________________State__________ Zip_ ________________
Phone__________________________ Preferred First Name(s) ____________________________
Full Year Resident ______ Part Year Resident ______ I/We first joined Audubon in _______________
Mail a check payable to National Audubon Society U50
National Audubon Society, Chapter Membership Data Center, P.O. Box 51001, Boulder, CO 80322-1001 7XCH

Page 4 November 2008

 Mark your calendars!
December 9th is our Annual Holiday Party 7 pm at Seabrook. Bring your
favorite dessert and friends! The Program begins at 7:30. Barry Lowes
will review the birds in our area to prepare us for the very important
Christmas Bird Count!

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November 2008 Page 5

295 Issue #:
Hilton Head, South Carolina 29938
P.O. Box 6185
Hilton Head Island Audubon Society Organization:
Monthly Sept.-May Frequency:
November 2008 Issue Date:
Permit #39
Ecobon Title:
Hilton Head Island, SC
PAID
U.S. POSTAGE Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29938
Non Profit Organization
P. O. Box 6185
Ecobon

NOVEMBER ~ DECEMBER 2008 Calendar

0
novemBER B E Q U E S T S
Thurs. Nov. 6 Board Meeting at the Seabrook .......................... 2:00 pm If you wish to honor a family
Tues. Nov. 11 Monthly Meeting at the Seabrook . .................... 7:30 pm member or friend with a memorial
gift, or remember the Audubon Ne-
whall Preserve or the Hilton Head
Island Audubon Society in your will,
your gift may be in the form of secu-
rities, cash, life insurance, real estate,
or other property.

DECemBER Contact your own estate planner

or our Audubon Chapter at P.O. Box
Thurs. Dec. 4 Board Meeting at the Seabrook .......................... 2:00 pm 6185, Hilton Head Island, South
Tues. Dec. 9 Monthly Meeting at the Seabrook . .................... 7:00 pm Carolina 29938.

Sat. Dec. 13 Christmas Bird Count........................................ All Day Sharing your estate with Audubon
not only reduces the taxes on your
estate but will help protect birds,
Monthly meetings of the Hilton Head Island Audubon Society are regularly scheduled wildlife, and their habitat in the years
at 7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, September through May, in the to come.
Auditorium at the Seabrook, 300 Woodhaven Drive. Members and guests welcome!

Page 6 Printed on recycled paper November 2008