|
|
|
By Mary Abbott Madrone Audubon is pleased to welcome radio personality and consulting forester Fred Euphrat to its annual dinner meeting on May 20 at the First United Methodist Church. His talk is entitled, "Wildlife Management in Sonoma County." Many Audubon members enjoy Fred's weekly radio essays, "Native Sonoma," on KRCB. This is an opportunity to experience the unique perspective of Fred Euphrat in person. (One of his essays, "Like a hawk" can be found in this issue of the newsletter.) While most of Sonoma County knows him as a crafty wit and a lover of all things native, Fred is a forester in his working life, with a doctorate in watershed management. Through his business, Forest, Soil & Water, Fred implements forest operations and water management, and conducts research in social forestry. He works primarily in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, and has also ranged internationally. Fred Euphrat is the author of three books and more than 20 publications. He serves on the Ernie Carpenter Fund for the Environment and the Friends of the Russian River, and spent six years with the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space Authority. He recently ran for Sonoma County Supervisor and received 42% of the vote in the Fourth District. All Madrone Audubon members and friends are invited to attend this event. The program will follow a potluck dinner and a short business meeting to install Madrone's officers for the coming year. Please bring a potluck dish for six (entrée, salad or dessert), along with your own dishes and utensils. The Chapter will provide beverages (sorry, no alcoholic beverages at the church). Help would be appreciated for setting up and cleaning up. If you can volunteer to help set up at 5:00, please call Virginia McDonagh at 527-9115. Monday, May 20, 6:00 PM (Program at 7:30 PM) First United Methodist Churdh 1551 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa (From Larry West, 7th grade science teacher at Petaluma Junior High School) About 14 months ago I called Betty Burridge and asked her what a junior high science teacher might do with 150 students at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma. She called [Madrone Audubon walkabout leaders] Lew Edmondson and Richard Hurley to arrange an outing. On March 20 of this year, the first day of spring, Lew and Richard came with several more birders and scopes to create a wonderful day of sharing their expertise with twelve- and thirteen-year-olds on a two-mile walk around the park. It was partly cloudy with March breezes. The busloads of students showed, and so did the animals. The students were greeted by friendly domestic fowl; some students had bread in hand. The scopes zeroed in on Sora, a Green Heron and turtles. The students immediately echoed, "Wow!". The fearless leader, in pith helmet and gunstock spotting scope, got a life bird, the Eurasion Wigeon. The most interesting bird behavior of the day for my group was seeing an immature dark-phase Red-tailed Hawk hit the ground from fifty feet up, just missing a jack rabbit. By day's end, we had tallied more than 50 species of birds of the 112 on Bob Dyer's checklist of the park. Many students opened their eyes to the natural world, filling in their journals with descriptions and thoughts of the day. The field trip was a success because of the adults-Audubon Society leaders, parents and teachers-who love kids. When the busses returned to school, the principal asked if I had lost anyone. I replied with the philosophy of the 1930's animal catcher Frank Buck, "Bring 'em back alive." I'm looking forward to next year's trip. Thank you, Madrone Audubon Society. Bodega Bay, Thursday, March 21 Shollenberger Park and Crane Creek Park, March 27 Point Reyes, Thursday, April 4 Howarth Park and Spring Lake, Wednesday, April 10 Those much-needed Birdathon checks have been coming in, with approximately $8000 received so far. While we may not reach last year's amazing total of $10,224, we are truly grateful for the efforts of all our teams and our generous sponsors, including Autodesk Location Services for their matching grant to the earnings of the Snipe Hunters team. Again this year, the Gray-headed Searsuckers led the way with a top count of 130 species in dawn-to-dusk birding. Enthusiastic reports were sent in by each team about their experiences, thanking Madrone Audubon for the opportunity to participate-we can't ask for more than that! Expect a final tally in next month's leaves, and do send in any final pledges that you may have overlooked. Gray-headed Searsuckers: 130 species Snipe Hunters: 111 species Roadrunners: 117 species Northern Pygmy Owls (Pee Wee Audubon): 51 species Elinor & Jim Taylor: 34 species Green Creepers: 65 species Richard Hurley Viansa Winery Robyn Beattie Our thanks to the store managers, Tom and Barbara Hendricks for making this possible. Betty Burridge Peter Leveque From "Native Sonoma", by Fred Euphrat When I lived in a city apartment, I watched my neighbors like a hawk. Would they mess with my mail, make too much noise, or not respect my own freedom? I remember a time when the meditators at the Julia Morgan Center came over to complain I don't know why, the Hendrix drowned out the sound of the vacuum so well. When I lived in a city house, I watched my neighbors like a hawk. Was the fence just right and what were they doing there? How many people live there, anyway? Why are they having a party tonight? And why should they freak out when I cut that branch I was just cutting it back for the health of the tree, anyway. When I lived in the suburbs, I watched my neighbors like a hawk. Can they see me over that fence, and what are they doing in their yard so often? I hate it when they barbecue or burn stuff, when they paint or spray for termites Their lawn management really doesn't inspire me. They should do like I do, and just let it 'go', naturally. Are they staring at me? I moved to the country, to a four-acre farm. I watched my neighbors like a hawk. Why do they drive like that? Why don't they wave? Who are those people, anyway? Their horses sure make a mess; you call that a garden? Why do they need their compost right here? I may not raise llamas, but I do like the look of my golden, ungrazed meadow, acres of it right out my window, running up to the road and back to the woods. I kept going out, to a thousand-acre ranch. I watched my neighbors like a hawk. What are they doing over there? Are they putting in grapes or just pulling out the trees? Are they selling to developers, and how much did they get? If anybody's in the land accumulation business out here, it better be me. Of course sheep are a money loser, but they're better than cattle, always stolen, strayed, or stuck. At least they keep the fire hazard down. Does Fish and Game know what they're doing? I'd never call 'em, but on my land, well, I'm careful. I wonder if I should put in grapes, too . I became corporate, found my hundred thousand acres. I watched my neighbors like a hawk. Is that another company, cutting faster than I, leaving me to hold the bag on habitat reserves? Is that the federal government, eyeing my land for a takeover? Are those little neighbors organizing, trying to stop me at every turn? Is that the regulators, telling me how to run my business, sampling water and waving papers? And why is that wildlife trespassing me into oblivion? Better cut the trees, now, before I can't. I watched my neighbors like a hawk. And they stared right back. They were hawks. They watched my trees and meadows, my rodents and roadkill, my streams and soil, my fences and my developments. They acted like it wasn't mine at all, but theirs. And they watched me as only hawks can. Fred Euphrat is a consulting forester in Healdsburg. He writes essays entitled "Native Sonoma", that are broadcast on KRCB radio. A collection of his essays, "Sonoma Mandala", is available at local bookstores. Governor Gray Davis has made the decision to delay removal of MTBE from the gasoline supply in California until 2004. MTBE moves through the soil into the water and stays in the air without changing its chemical nature, and the contamination level of this substance in our county's groundwater is one of the highest in the state. You are urged to use gasoline in your car that contains ethanol instead of MTBE. Union 76 presently uses ethanol, and Shell and Mobil are considering using it in the place of MTBE. By Daniel Kahane Dr. Luis F. Baptista was an internationally renowned biologist known foremost for his study of the songs of the White-crowned Sparrow. He was the chairman of the department of ornithology and mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Luis had engaging personal warmth and the ability to interpret complex concepts in a readily accessible style. His intellect was dazzling and his enthusiasm for life and knowledge was boundless and highly contagious. I first met Luis in 1987 when I was a graduate student in biogeography at UCLA. His colleague, co-researcher and close personal friend (and my thesis chair), Dr. Hartmut S.Walter, invited the "Zonotrichia" guy to speak at an afternoon seminar. Hartmut had told us about Luis's work with bioacoustics and the linguistic patterns of the White-crowned Sparrows. I certainly did chuckle to myself at the thought of this "nutty" professor who lived with a few-score sparrows and assorted doves flying free in his home. After seeing Dr. Baptista's sonograms of the sparrow's songs and hearing his intriguing explanations of the significance of regional dialects of this beautifully voiced bird, I was hooked. I didn't see Luis again for many years, during which time his work emerged in the vanguard of bird song study and he made a distinctive mark on conservation biology, with Hartmut Walter in the Revillagigedo Islands, for example. Just two weeks before his death at his home in Sebastopol on April 12, 2001, the New York Times gave Dr. Baptista the international recognition outside of academic circles that he well deserved. Bemused and a bit proud is the way I would describe his reaction to his well-deserved notoriety. He was a scholarly botanist, interpretive naturalist, vertebrate
morphologist, behavioral ecologist, conservation biologist, musicologist,
humanist, wit, lousy driver, and a gentle and kind man. I continue
to nurture and treasure the succulents that Luis gave me-pups
from specimens he collected in Madagascar, Argentina and South
Africa. He, of course, knew all of their binomials as well as
those of all their congeners. The many eloquent eulogies delivered after Luis' passing are a testament to the breadth of this man's contribution to science, art and humanity. He is considered to be among the premiere scientists ever affiliated with the California Academy of Sciences. Please join us at 8 PM on Wednesday, May 22, at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco as many of Luis's countless friends and colleagues gather for an evening of astonishing music and warm remembrance. To honor Luis, Jeffrey Kahane and three distinguished musical colleagues will perform Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. Messiaen methodically studied the structure, timbre and tonality of birdsong and incorporated it in his works. The concert will benefit the Luis Baptista Memorial Fund and will pay tribute to a brilliant scholar and friend. Please call the City Hall Box Office at (415) 392-4400 for ticket information. By Liz Thach New LOCAL Madrone Audubon Members: Petaluma: Sandra Kelly, Janice Cader-Thompson. Sebastopol: Lorie Silver. New NATIONAL Madrone Audubon Members: Bodega Bay: Carolyn McLeese & Charles Rettke, Bruce Branscomb. Cotati: Gene Schaumberg. El Verano: Tommy Gilliam III. Forestville: Paul Paddock, Richard Naegle, Ron Jaramillo. Geyserville: Marion Gauer. Graton: Hazel Cooper. Healdsburg: Jack & Ruth Strebel, Dale Amtower, Nancy Foulk. Kenwood: Charlotte Martin. Occidental: Pam Sheridan, Alison Mellander. Penngrove: Lorraine Bartch. Petaluma: Linda Botts, Judith Brunner, Elizabeth Cheatham, N Hoogendyk, Donald K. Howard Jr., Shelley Jakobsen, Karen Kibler, Robert McMillian, Len Nelson, Mary Shearer, Joyce Tappan, Gary Carol Hollingslead. Rohnert Park: Lola Felix, Howard Gobbs, George Noller, Jerry Sweet. Santa Rosa: Celia Andersen, Diane Bayada, Wayne Clark III, Jane Collins, Gertrude Davis, Catherine Delany, Howard Doughty, Gordon Elliott, Carl Fry Jr., Tom Gaffney, Hildy Gallagher, Susan Gilliland, Anne Goetsch, Herbert Hansen, Evelyn Hornsby, Frank Kappeler, W Lawler, Susan Matthewan, Jonathan McClelland, Lillian Rhinehart, Carolyn Roberts, Bruce Sawyer, Marilynn Scott, James Simpson, J. Sorensen, Barbara Starke, Leonard Swenson, Francis Tracy, Bille Van Ry, Ralph Watters, G. Withington, Larry Zech, Chris-Rick Cummings, Richard Bloom, Edna Hammond, Mildred Krauss, Erin Lyon. Sebastopol: Michal Capella, Margaret Boy, Nadine Foreman, Ann Hannant, Jody Hymes, Karne Kubrin, Frederick Pfeffer, Susan Stover, Lisa Cahn, Jean Mekemson. Sonoma: Monica Schaeffert, James Scharnikow & Vicotira Hansen Scharnik, Louise Travanti, Cedora Del Scheiblich, Sherry Dunn, Vakila Friedman. Windsor: Kathleen Clader, Veronica Lococo, Lori Westerhold. It has been a busy spring for the Bolinas Lagoon Preserve's heronry. On the opening day of our public season an immature Golden Eagle dove into the heron trees, flushing most of the adults off their seven nests. Happily, after lots of squawks, a very disappointed teenager flew off, and all the Great Blues returned to their nests. One week later, however, a feisty pair of Ravens barrel-rolled down the canyon, dive-bombed the heron trees, and picked off three eggs in one nest. At the time of this writing, there are eight Great Blue nests and lots of Great Egrets arriving each day. They are courting, displaying with dips and stretches, and beginning to lay eggs and incubate. Please be sure to come see the show, and walk our trails during our public season, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, March 16 through July 14, 10 AM to 4 PM. If you can help host on a weekend day, we'll be ever so grateful....and can promise you an inside scoop on this year's heronry. 3600 Schoolchildren and 200 Docents Guided Nature Walks through Newts and Meadows Two Pee Wee programs this month. Please call Claire Shurvinton at 527-6118 for reservations and information. Participants in our outdoor programs should be sure to dress in layers and be aware that there may be chilly breezes near the coast. Bring water, hats, sunscreen and snacks. Wear rubber boots or other sturdy shoes that can get wet and muddy. Saturday, May 11, 10 AM to Noon Saturday, May 18, 9:30 to 11:30 AM From the Pee Wee mailbag: International Migratory Bird Day. Saturday, May 11, at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Alviso. A family event, with bird walks, speakers and live bird presentations. Call (408) 262-5513 for information or go to: http://desfbay.fws.gov. Early birding with Becky. Saturday, May 11, 8 to 11:30
AM at Fairfield Osborn Preserve (at the end of Lichau Road on
Sonoma Mountain). Join Madrone Audubon's own Rebecca Olsen to
visit year-round residents and get reacquainted with returning
Neotropical migratory birds: Lazuli Buntings, Orange-crowned
Warblers and Bullock's Orioles. Preregistration is required;
for information call 795-5069. Introduction to Birding with Brock Dolman on May 19, 10 AM to 1 PM at the Occidental Arts and Ecology. For information, call the Center at 874-1557 or send an e-mail to oaec@oaec.org. For Gardens and Gardeners Get acquainted with the California Native Plant Society. General meetings are at the Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa, Santa Rosa, 7:30 PM, on the third Tuesday of the month. Open to the public with no charge. May 21 program is on native gardens, June 18 is on native plants and galls. Save The Bay's Summer Teacher Institutes Gold Rush to the Golden Gate, June 23-28 Finding Our Roots in Restoration, July 14-19 The cost for each institute is $150. Two continuing education units from Dominican University are available for an additional fee of $90. For more information or to register, contact Josh Bagnato at Save The Bay at (510) 452-9261 or by e-mail: jbagnato@savesfbay.org. Check out our website at www.savesfbay.org. March-April 2002 By Dan Nelson 762-3811 Pied-billed Grebe (pr.) 4/3 Windsor Golf Course KM *Please report your arrival dates for our returning summer
resident birds. We all enjoy sharing these notes so feel free
to join in! (Partial list) Karen & Jay Abbe, All Tails Waggin Veterinary Clinic, Nadine Amoss, Ann Anderson, Avis Anderson, Claire Anderson, Judi Barker, Jim Batchelder, George Batchelder, Dennis Beall, Peter Bellman, Evelyn Berger, Karen & Kent Coulter, Kit Daine, Ellen Bingell, BJ & Malcolm Blanchard, Janet Bosshard, Sam & Viola Brown, Jane & Owen Buscho, James Clegg, Beth Combs, Neal Conner, Olive Corey, Rachel Corso, Beverly Cowden, Carol & Dick Dean, Gwen Dhesi, Steve & Dianne De Salvo, Harriet Draper, Louise Eddy, Lew & Marilyn Edmondson, George & Phyllis Ellman, June England, Nora Ernst, Florence Evans, Janette Evans, Pegge Fields, Don & Donna Friedrich, Sara Gerboth, Sandy & Jim Gilmer, Barbara & Jules Glaser, Stan & Hedda Gold, Leslie Goodrich, Claire Green, Gordon Harlander, Betty Hall, Susan Harris, Helen Hay, Steve Hemenway, Katherine Hichwa, Catherine Hickey, Claramae Hoffman, John & Barbara Hopper, Richard Hurley, Ed Jackson, Connie Joachim, Karen Kasper, John & Jo Kleis, Juhani Klint, Bill Knill, Frances Kohn, Tony Kroha, Shirley Leaphart, Ralph & Joyce Lynch, Pat & Jim Marsh, Sandy Martensen, Shirl & Tom Maxson, Don McCarthy, Virginia McDonagh, John McMahon, Jr., Ellie Miller, Edith Moran, Judy Morrison, Barbara & Doug Murray, Charlotte Oldaker, Craig & Kelly Olson, Carol Orme, Margaret Owles, Mike Parmeter, Beverly Penn, Britta & Bill Piper, John & Polly Post, Dave & Chris Powell, Bob & Bertha Rains, Eldon Ramsland, Cynthia Rathky, Frank & Marilyn Rathman, Rhio Reigh, Betty Richardson, Jaci Rienecker, Maureen Rumford, Jack & Joy Ryan, Teresita Salter-Haag, Don & Marilyn Sanders, Steve Sapers, Phyllis Schmitt, Jack Schuyler, Lucille Shepard, Ann Shrader, Dorothy Small, James Smith, Bobbie Sparrow, Laura Stanley, Ruth Stanton, Lise Stevens, Virginia Stewart, Cy Stewart, Marilyn Strand, George & Thelma Stratton, Carole Sunlight, Ardis Talburt, Barbara & Laurence Taylor, Judy Temko, Barbara & Gene Toschi, Jack Troutfetter, Terry Van Horn, Danna Vough, Gene Wachspress, Linnea Westerberg, Frances Waska, Mary Winkler, Betty Witchey, Nancy & Bryan Yamasaki, Ann Young. |
|
|
|