Photo courtesy of Steve Matherly.

Florida’s birding trail symbol is often spotted gliding around Walton County

FWC report

The swallow-tailed kite is a snack-food junkie if ever there was one. It spends most of the day aloft, eating on the run – catching bugs and eating them in one swoop, then circling and diving to devour another.

Elanoides forficatus is also an energy miser. The kite uses thermal uplifts and winds to spend the day gliding, merely flipping one side of its forked tail to change direction. From its nest in the top of tall pines and cypress trees, it spies arboreal vertebrates – reptiles, amphibians and sometimes a fledgling from another nest – and can seize that prey mid-flight. Read More…

Posted under Birding, Nature

Killdeer on Western Lake. Lori Ceier/Walton Outdoors

This territorial killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) was spotted along the shallow mud flats of Western Lake in Santa Rosa Beach on Feb. 21. The bird must of been nesting in the area as she was not delighted with the presence of paddlers near her spot.

Posted under Birding

Tricolored Heron. Photo courtesy Debbie, Hurlburt.

Annual event fun for all ages

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the U.S.

Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds

How to Participate:
1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, February 12–15, 2010. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in other locations on that day. Read More…

Posted under Birding, Home/Garden

Locals prepare for peaceful protest against pending legislation on Feb. 13, 2010

As the pending legislation for near shore oil drilling looms over the coastlines of Florida’s beautiful beaches, local businessman, Dave Rauschkolb has taken action to protest and bring awareness to the public.

Rauschkolb has created ‘Hands Across The Sand’  as an action dedicated to protecting our coastline and waterways from the devastating environmental effects of oil exploration and support industries, and are organizing a protest along the Gulf Coast.

Mission Statement
1. To raise awareness about pending Florida legislation to drill for oil in our coastal waters.
2. To organize a Gulf coast wide and perhaps a statewide coastal movement to protest this legislation. This protest will bring thousands of Florida citizens to our beaches and will draw metaphorical and actual lines in the sand; human lines in the sand against near shore oil drilling in our waters. This event will be held on Saturday February 13, 2010.
3.  To convince our Legislators and Governor to drop any and all Legislation that would allow this folly.

Walton County area beach locations:

Main Protest Site: Seagrove Beach to Grayton Beach
(parking in Seaside and at the Van Ness Butler Jr. Beach Access between Watercolor and Seaside)

Additional Protest Sites with ample parking: Blue Mountain Beach Access, Dune Allen Beach Access, Ed Walline Beach Access, Gulfview Heights Beach Access, Inlet Beach Access, Miramar Beach Access

For more information, go to http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/

Posted under Birding, Fishing, Kayak/Canoe, Nature, paddle/surf/boat

Photo courtesy Rick Thomason.

Screech owl peers out wearingly from its tree home

This Eastern Screech Owl was photographed in the Mack Bayou area of Santa Rosa Beach. He (she) sat patiently as the photographer climbed into the bed of a pick-up, then up on the toolbox to grab the shot.

Although the photo is not recent, it was the third consecutive spring the owl had made this tree its home. A slightly cropped version of this photo appeared in an ad in the October, 2007, edition of National Geographic Magazine.

Rick Thomason is an avid local photographer who enjoys shooting both nature subjects and architecture. He may be contacted at rickthom@yahoo.com To learn more about Rick’s photography, click here

Posted under Birding, Nature

Photo courtesy OperationMigration.org

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
winter home to endangered birds

On Jan. 13, Operation Migration successfully escorted 10 young endangered whooping cranes more than 1,100 miles to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Wakulla County, Fla.

Initially, 20 young cranes left Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin on Oct. 23, 2009. The group was split in two in Jefferson County, Fla., with the second half now on their way to winter at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Homasassa Springs, Fla. This is the second time whooping cranes will be wintering in Northwest Florida. There was an enthusiastic crowd of spectators cheering the fly-over at the refuge as they arrived.

The birds were led by a group of experts and volunteers, Operation Migration, in what is called an aircraft-led migration. Operation Migration has played a leading role in the reintroduction of the endangered Whooping cranes into eastern North America since 2001. Read More…

Posted under Birding, Nature

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) nicknamed “Ruferocious.” Photo courtesy Mary Ann Freidman

Local bird lover excited about a returning winter guest

Local hummingbird enthusiast and butterfly expert, Mary Ann Friedman of Niceville is excited about a winter guest she has coming to her yard year after year. A Rufous Hummingbird, nicknamed “Ruferocious” has been returning to Mary Ann’s yard each winter for six years.

“We call her Ruferocious because she is pretty possessive and usually kicks any other would be winter hummingbirds out in a very short time. Before she started “living” here we had several species each winter (Buff-bellied, Black-chinned and Ruby-throated) that chose our yard,” Mary Ann explains.

As several hummingbirds do stay in the Florida Panhandle during the winter, people interested in attracting the birds can put up feeders when flowers are not in bloom.
Read More…

Posted under Birding, Home/Garden

One of the recently planted food plots on a closed road in the Point Washington State Forest. Lori Ceier/Walton Outdoors

U.S. Forestry and FWC plant grasses to stimulate turkey brooding habitat

The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Point Washington and the Florida Fish and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are working together to promote wildlife brooding habitats in the Point Washington State Forest. 18 food plots have been planted on closed road areas throughout the Forest.

Working with cost share funding from the National Wild Turkey Federation, Forestry and FWC started with warm season grasses in July 2009, with brown top millet, sorghum, pearl millet and iron-clay peas planted. In December, the cool season was planted with clover, wheat, rye and oats.

Eastern portion of food plot map in Point Washington WMA.

“The planting is for young turkey brooding habitats,” said Fred Robinette, District Wildlife Biologist for FWC. “The plots also encourage quail and dove feeding, however take a few years to fully develop. In March, April and May when these grasses go to seed, it provides excellent bugging for the birds,” Robinette continued.

The benefits are two-fold as the plots also provide excellent feeding for sub-tropical migrating birds as well as good feeding for deer.

The plots are spread out along the closed roads and range in size from .2 acre to 2.5 acres and approximately 16 ft. wide, with more than 18 acres planted. Read More…

Posted under Birding, Hunting, Nature, Trails/Hiking

This Southern Bald Eagle stands perched on dead tree on Western Lake. Lori Ceier/Walton Outdoors

A Southern Bald Eagle scans the waters of Western Lake in South Walton County Florida on Dec. 22. Locals and visitors have been enjoying the unusual sightings of the bald eagles the last few weeks. Local Jamie Conley first captured a great photo of an eagle last week perched on the same tree.

According to park service specialists at Grayton Beach State Park, the raptors have been fishing on the northern portion of Western Lake since the outfall to the Gulf of Mexico has opened.

For more information about the come back of our national bird in Florida, Click here

Posted under Birding, Nature

Ruby-crowned kinglet

79 species, 10,202 birds counted

For 110 years, the Audubon Society has been documenting the bird population across the United States. Each year local Audubon Society chapters head out for the day to collect bird species and population counts in their areas. Three counts are held; a spring migration, fall migration and a Christmas count. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations – and to help guide conservation action.

Locally, the Choctawhatchee Audubon Chapter hosted their annual Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 14 in the Okaloosa and Walton area. This year, the count was expanded geographically on Nov. 17 to include a new area along the Choctawhatchee River and its tributaries in Walton, Holmes and Washington counties.

As a “test run” of an official bird count, the event was spearheaded by James Hill, III, a local wildlife biologist who has been studying evidence of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Choctawhatchee River basin for several years. In 2006, Hill was the supervisor of image surveillance by Auburn University to search for the nearly extinct bird for six months.

Don Ware, the Choctawhatchee Audubon Society’s president presided over the count. Fifteen volunteers participated, with 79 species and 10,202 birds recorded.

Some of the most prevalent populations counted were robin, black vulture, ring-neck duck, mourning dove, red-bellied woodpecker, American crow, blue jay, northern flicker, eastern phoebe, pileated woodpecker, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, ruby-crowned kiglet, eastern bluebird and Carolina wren.Click here for birding map

To learn more about the local Audubon chapter, go to: www.choctawhatcheeaudubon.org

Posted under Birding