PRAS participated in this important event with a booth to distribute information and an activity for children. We had 30 people stop by to talk with us and several children went home with the feathered bird they made. Our PRAS president, Bren Curtis, made a presentation on the Florida Scrub Jays which was very well received. Many thanks to PRAS members, Vicki, Evelyn, Phyllis and Bren for working at the booth. It was fun to network with other organizations present and get to know our own PRAS members better. Next time join us!
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Our speaker for this meeting was Reinier Munguia, president of the Lake Region Audubon Society. Glad we had good attendance to see this program of “Love is in the Air”, all about bird’s breeding habits. Reinier has a history of making his talks quite humorous and this was no exception. Not only does he gives us lots of information but he is also a charismatic speaker and animated in his presentation….he had us all laughing! Did you know that in bird species where the male and female look alike, the birds use their ultra violet vision to see color patterns that the human eye can’t see? We were also happy to see that the winner of the 50/50 raffle donated their winnings to the Ron Mills Youth Summer Camp Scholarship Fund. Also, many great field guides on countries like Belize, the Galapagos, Mexico, and Costa Rica, were added to our PRAS Field Guide Library. Thanks to all who dug through their bookshelves to share with those who are traveling. PRAS is still looking for members to join the board…the new slate of officers is presented at the May meeting so now is the time to be a part of this great organization.
Reinier Mungua – Speaker
On April 15th, 10 of us traveled to Fort DeSoto to see if we could catch some of the migrating species in their spring migration. The passerine count was fairly low as there were no NW winds in the preceding days. Overall, we had a good day with 58 species seen or heard (blue jay and great crested flycatcher heard only). The best aspect of the trip was the waterbirds seen. Please see the list (Ft De Soto Sat, April 15). Best spots for waterbirds were on the turn around past the East Beach picnic area, and the far end of the North Beach parking lot. To get to this latter spot (if you missed the trip), go to the end of the road and turn left onto the North Beach parking lot, go to the far end of the lot and park near to the beach at its most northern end. You’ll need to cross a shallow waterway walking north sticking to the edge of the water towards all the anchored pleasure boats. There’s a shallow bar holding several hundred shorebirds of all types including all 5 plover species, godwits, gulls, terns, ruddy turnstones, red knots, dunlins, reddish, snowy, great egrets, etc. We were there at a dropping tide, so it may or may not be there. A great chance to see man y of our local and migrating shorebirds. BY TRIP LEADER MIKE KRZYKOWSKI
PHOTO OF A WHIMBREL BY MICHAEL WEISENSEE
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