Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4 April , 2008
The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society promotes the protection of birds, other wildlife and their habitat through education and activism.
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The eSkimmer April, 2008
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The eSkimmer April, 2008
Longleaf Pines Species List Fish Crow Hilda is on the advisory board, she has access before the gates
Tree Swallow officially open at 9:00 AM. We successfully birded around the
Double-crested Cormorant Carolina Chickadee information center, a primitive footpath below it and the main
Least Bittern Tufted Titmouse parking lot before opening time and the arrival of several
Green Heron Carolina Wren
White Ibis Ruby-crowned Kinglet busloads of very loud tourists. We spent the rest of the
Black Vulture Blue-gray Gnatcatcher morning birding the road into the forest above the center. It
Turkey Vulture Eastern Bluebird was crowded, but Hilda’s knowledge of where to find birds
Bald Eagle Gray Catbird kept us from being irritated by the masses. The birding was
Cooper’s Hawk Northern Mockingbird excellent but the thrill had to be watching a pair of Orange-
Red-shouldered Hawk Northern Parula fronted Parakeets enter their nest, located in the middle of a
Red-tailed Hawk Black-throated Blue Warbler large termite mound on the side of a tree. The two parakeets
Wild Turkey Yellow-rumped Warbler landed on the mound and one after the other disappeared into
Sora Pine Warbler the hole in the bottom, presumably climbing up into their nest.
Sandhill Crane Prairie Warbler
Mourning Dove Palm Warbler Amazing!
Belted Kingfisher Yellow Warbler Hilda treated us to a fine lunch at a buffet frequented by
Red-bellied Woodpecker Common Yellowthroat local workers. After eating, we drove only a short distance to a
Downy Woodpecker Eastern Towhee power post inhabited by a pair of Puerto Rican Woodpeckers.
Northern Flicker Savannah Sparrow
Pileated Woodpecker Northern Cardinal Both landed on the post about 20 feet in front of us. The
Eastern Phoebe Red-winged Blackbird female dove in and out of their nest hole, facing us, several
White-eyed Vireo Eastern Meadowlark times but both were in the open enough to allow us excellent
Blue Jay looks. The rest of the afternoon, we spent birding subdivisions,
acreages, a cemetery and forested roads on the north and east
side of the forest, with excellent results. Count for the day was
Wandering Members only 23 species but 20 were lifers for me.
That evening Hilda dropped us off at a beach restaurant for
Puerto Rico Birding an excellent seafood dinner, while she went off to attend to
I arranged a short birding trip to Puerto Rico for myself business. She picked us up again at 7:20 PM and we went back
and Gale Yarrow, a friend from Texas, for the week of March to the forest. The gate had been left unlocked for her so we
10. I selected the tour company AdvenTours on the internet were able to drive in to the main parking area. After about an
and it turned out to be a one-lady operation. This choice had hour of searching, we were treated to a good look at a Puerto
both positive and negative features. On the plus side, Hilda Rican Screech Owl, another lifer.
knew exactly where to go to find endemic species and Carib- —Ken Gunn
bean specialties; her hearing was superb and her repertoire of
bird calls was excellent; she was very good at recognizing and
distinguishing the species, sexes and maturities; she had access
to the national forest before and after closing and at night. The Officers & Chairs
downsides were that she took calls from her other guides and
from clients while we were driving, though not when we were
actually birding; and, we only birded a small area east of San President: Don Picard 386-957-1886 sevas@cfl.rr.com
Juan – although this was a very productive area, the two other VP: Vacant
centers that participated in the 2006 CBC both listed a greater
variety of species. I would recommend Hilda to others but Secretary: Jean McNeil 386-423-2508
would suggest doing more homework than I did before finaliz-
Treasurer: Richard Domroski 386-428-0447
ing a schedule.
Newsletter: Gil Miller 386-423-4124 the.skimmer@yahoo.com
We flew into San Juan the afternoon of March 10, arriving
about an hour apart, and took a long taxi ride to the Hotel Programs: Ken Gunn 386-423-2334 gunnsatbeach@cfl.rr.com
Yunque Mar. The hotel was recommended by Hilda and we
had no complaints. It was clean, the staff pleasant and obliging, Field Trips: Gail Domroski 386-428-0447
near the areas where we birded and right on the ocean – waves Conservation: Kathy Booth 386-409--3091 mprademacher@msn.com
literally splashed the base of the building. As most restaurants
in the area were closed on Mondays and we had no car, the Membership: Richard Domroski 386-428-0447
hotel staff kindly prepared a very acceptable dinner for us. We
Publicity: Bill Cox billnmarsha@pshift.com
counted seven fairly run-of-the-mill species that evening.
Tuesday morning, Hilda met us at the hotel just after 7:00 Ways & Means, Education/Outreach, Hospitality: VACANT!
AM and we headed to Yunque National Forest Reserve. Since
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