PRAS FEBRUARY VIRTUAL PROGRAM- 2/23/21-“Ornithology and Audubon Florida”

Hello everyone, this year we are most fortunate to be able to partner with the Venice Audubon Society in their monthly programs which are being held virtually due to the pandemic. The next meeting will be held on 2/23/21, with ‘Ornithology and Audubon Florida’, By Dr. Paul Grey. It’s a discussion about the history 0f ornithology in Florida, how our knowledge of Florida birds grew over time, and finally how it helped spawn the Audubon societies. How Audubon led to large scale restoration projects such as the Kissimmee River and Everglades restoration.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM with Venice Audubon hosting. The speaker will go on at about 6:45 PM. Anyone with interesting bird sightings is free to enter via the chat icon.

The meeting invite is: https://zoom.us/j/91975796857?pwd=UHBHZnBmMzRZTm5nS2dkRmdDUElzQT09 Meeting ID: 919 7579 6857 Passcode: VAAS

I believe the meeting invite, meeting ID, and passcode will remain the same for the duration of the fiscal year, so you may wish to save this data. We will email another notice again shortly before the meeting date and throughout the year.

Thanks so much, Mike Krzyzkowski Program Chair, PRAS

February Field Trip – Celery Fields- Feb. 15-21

You can learn a bit of history and see a wide variety of birds in several different habitats at our choice for February, the Celery Fields in Sarasota. As January comes to an end, 141 bird species have been seen at the Celery Fields, according to E-bird.  In addition to a number of walk ways and paths, there are elevated boardwalks to two mid-marsh viewing areas. A volunteer naturalist with scope is usually there on weekends. There are restrooms and a small covered picnic area.

Our dates for this month’s self-birding at the Celery Fields are Monday, February 15 to Monday, February 22.  Please submit a list of birds you’ve seen to Ron and Char at crob80517@aol.com by Thursday, February 25.

In the late 1800’s, the land was drained and used for agriculture. In the 1920’s, the property was purchased by the Palmer family and used to grow celery commercially. They were one of the largest celery producers in the state in the 1920’s. When the county purchased the property in the 1990’s, they renovated it back to its natural state to help flood and storm water abatement. There are placards with pictures around the park to tell you more about this interesting area.

If you need directions, please advise and we will email them to you. For a map of the site indicating where you might see the birds, please let us know your mailing address, and we’ll send one along.  Although it is a bit of a drive, it is well worth your time. We have been there may times and have never been disappointed.

Stay well and hope you can join in this month.

Ron & Char crob80517@aol.com

Babcock-Webb Field Trip Results

PRAS just completed our January Self Guided Birding Activity at Babcock Webb.  We select a birding hot spot for members to visit on their own,each month, then ask those members to submit a report listing the birds they saw.

Babcock-Webb  is a wonderful birding hot spot in southwest Florida. There are miles of well maintained dirt roads and one paved road, all very sparely visited, that pass by dry fields, wetlands, ponds, and lakes. Birds can be seen in those wetlands, on the ground, in the air, and in the trees.

Here are the stats for the four self guided birding activities thus far.  For those of you that joined in, glad you did, and we’re always open for more to attend.

#                 #                   #                Average Month      Location   Reports    Participants  Species Seen  Per Report September   Bayfront           7                9                      39                  15.1

October        Prairie Creek    8              14                     78                  40.6

November    Ollie’s Pond      8               11                     36                 13.1 January        Babcock           11              15                    67                 24.8

Here is the listing of birds seen in January  at Babcock Web  by our group and the number of reports listing each bird species.Anhinga- 9Bittern-American-  1Blackbird-Red Winged-9Bluebird-Eastern -4Bluejay-5Cardinal-Northern- 7Catbird-Gray-7Cormorant-Double Crested-8Crow-American – 2Dove-common ground-1Dove-Mourning-6Eagle-Bald 1Egret-Cattle 2Egret-Great- 11Egret-Snowy- 5Flicker-Northern-5Flycatcher-Great Crested-1Gallinule-Common -2Gallinule-purple-1Gnatcather-blue gray-6Grackle-Boat Tailed-8Grackle-Common-4Grebe-Pied Billed-6Gull-Ring Billed- 1Hawk-Northern Harrier-1Hawk-Red Shouldered-6Hawk-Sparrow- 2Hawk-Swainson’s-1Heron-Great Blue-11Heron-Green-7Heron-Little Blue- 10Heron-Little Blue Morph- 2Heron-Tricolored -7Ibis-Glossy -1Ibis-White- 5Kestrel-American-1Killdeer-4Kingfisher-Belted-8Limpkin-1Meadowlark-Eastern-4Merlin- 1Mockingbird-Northern- 9Osprey-3Phoebe-Eastern- 6Sandhill Crane-4Shrike-Loggerhead- 4Sparrow-Swamp- 1Swallow-Tree 2Vireo-Blue-headed 1Vulture-Black-2Vulture-Turkey -7Warbler-Palm-10Warbler-Pine-7Warbler-Prairie-1Warbler-Yellow Rumped-8Warbler-Yellow Throated-  1Waxwing-Cedar-1Woodpecker-Downy-3Woodpecker-Pileated-1Woodpecker-Red Bellied -8Woodpecker-Red Cockaded-2Woodpecker-Red Headed-1Woodstork- 1Wren-Carolina  1Wren-House-1Yellowlegs-Greater- 1Yellowthroat-Common-2

Thanks to those joining in and we hope more will join in as time goes on.

Ron and Char Robinson Crob80517@aol.com