Rare Bird Alert - report any rare or unusual bird sightings to Tony Menart at (850)234-8042 or e-mail him at amenart@bellsouth.net. Your cooperation and help in keeping the public informed about what birds are in the area is very important. These records are sent to the Florida Ornithological Society for submission to the Florida Field Naturalist publication. They are also sent to the American Birding Association for inclusion in their reports.
Bird Counts - Bay County Audubon Society participates every year in the National Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count, and North American Migration Counts. For information on how to participate, contact coordinator/compiler Lisa Keppner at 850-769-6247 or lkeppner@bellsouth.net.
Bay County Audubon has participated in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) since 1965. Our count circle is a 15 mile diameter centered near Airport Road and 19th Street of Panama City in Bay County, FL and our CBC is usually conducted the Saturday between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We welcome feeder watchers within the circle as well as experienced and inexperienced birders to join our field teams. We gather the evening of the count for a nice dinner before compiling results and sharing stories. All of our CBC data can be accessed at http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/. This year it will be held on Dec 19th with an after count tally and dinner at Sonny's BBQ on St. Andrew's Blvd near 23rd Street
The Great Backyard Bird Count is held annually in February. Individuals are encouraged to participate in this count independently but if you need help with bird identification or with data entry, our members are available to help. For more information and to participate, go to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.
Bay County Audubon has participated in the North American Migration Count since Fall 2004. Counts are conducted on the second Saturday of May and the third Saturday of September each year. Feeder watchers living anywhere in Bay County and birders of all levels are encouraged to join us for this county-wide count.
Unofficial summary of the BCAS 106th Annual Christmas Bird Count:
Number of participants: 34
Total number of species: 122(105 all time low; 151 all time high)
Total number of individuals: 13,796 (7,000 all time low; 27,000 all time high)
Most numerous birds seen: European Starlings (1,916); Double-crested Cormorants (1,150); and Mourning Doves (1,118)
Birds observed in each of the 10 sections of the count circle: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, and Laughing Gull
Most unusual species documented: Buff-bellied Hummingbird and Archilochus sp. feeding on Shrimp Plants in a backyard within count circle.
Audubon Travel Adventure Film Series. This is our only fund-raising activity for the year. Each January and February we offer three high quality nature/travel films which are personally narrated by the cinematographer. The films are held at J.R. Arnold High School at 550 Alf Coleman Road near Back Beach Road at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $5.00 per film; season tickets for all three films are $12.00. For no waiting in line, purchase season tickets at the January membership meeting, by mail, or at the first film. A nice door prize will be given at each film.
The 2010 films were:
Jan 7 -“Beneath the Jungle and Beyond” by Dale Johnson.
Feb 4 - “Yellowstone: Trails and Tales” by Sandy Mortimer.
Feb 11 - “Cruising Russia, St. Petersburg to Moscow” by Clint Denn.
These were outstanding films. If you missed out last year, plan to attend the next series in January, 2010.
Thanks to our underwriters and sponsors for making the film series possible:
Underwriters:
The Jelks Family Foundation
Los Antojitos Restaurant/Harbison Family
Peoples First Community Bank and Insurance Company
Carmody Family Charitable Fund
Sponsors:
Adams Pharmacy
Animal Medical Care Clinic of Panama City Beach
Bay Printing Company
Bay Radiology Associates
Boars Head Restaurant
Callaway Animal Hospital
Coin & Bullion Reserve
Cook-Whitehead Ford, Inc
Dick & Annette Lippincott
Digestive Diseases Center
Dr. G. Joseph Parell - ENT and Plastic Surgery
Dr. Elizabeth Kelly, DMD
Dr. Dale C. Mortenson
Dr. Michael D. Hanson
First National Bank of Northwest Florida
Gail & Fred Casteel
Gulf Power Company
Janet Gladis
Jinks & Moody, P.A.
Lloyd Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC Truck - Nissan
News Herald
Michael Hanson, DDS
Panama City Toyota, Inc.
Parkway Dental Associates, Dr. Gregory Goodreau
Paul Komarek, Attorney
Paul G. Little & Associates, Inc.
Peaden Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing
Prosperity Bank
Ray A Morse, DMD
Segers, Sowell, Stewart & Johnson, PA
Southern Orthopedic Specialists, PA
Surgical Associates of NW Florida, PA
The News Herald
Vision Bank FSB
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