PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE 2012/2013              August 22, 2012

Hello Four Rivers Audubon,        
                                            
As your Board of Directors plans the 2012-13 season ahead it is rewarding to review our accomplishments for the year behind us.  
            
Although we did plan some new trips for 2011-12 our monthly walks (Alli-walks) at Alligator Lake remained extremely popular.  Seeing the habitat and birds change with the seasons provides opportunity to learn, practice and share our knowledge with both beginners and experts. 

In April we hosted our 3rd Alligator Lake Spring Festival.  With the help of our partners at GWHO (Gateway Wildlife Habitat Organization) we pulled off another successful event.  A special feature of the day was the unveiling of the Chimney Swift tower.  The tower was planned and built (with the help of a few friends) by Jerry Krummrich with a grant from National Audubon. It was featured on the back of our annual festival t-shirt!   Over 600 people attended the festival.  Mark April 13, 2013 on your calendars for Spring Festival 2013! 

Hoping to influence better management of Alligator Lake Park for birds several of us met with Dale Williams the Columbia County Manager and Parks Director Clint Pittman to discuss alternate mowing patterns and landscaping that would benefit wildlife and save money.  The county has been extremely open to our ideas and has provided manpower whenever possi- ble for our projects.  They have requested educational signage that we hope to provide.

A select few (now very experienced) members spent another season working with Sarah Lauerman on the Red Cockaded Woodpecker relocation program. 
Four Rivers Audubon hosted the Florida Ornithological Society Spring 2012 meeting at Camp Weed for the kick-off of the Breeding Bird Atlas. We planned the social hour and the field trips, the most popular parts of the weekend!
For those of you who would like to hear the birdie details of what is going on around our area “Bird Notes” continues to entertain us with stories and other chatter about birds. If you wish to be added to this list send an e-mail to Virlynw@earthlink.net.    
Thank you for your engagement and support in making this past year the most successful yet!  Read on to find out how you can become involved in the year ahead!

Would you like to know how to participate more with other chapter members, and make a difference in our community?  Please take a look at some suggestions about how you can become involved with Four Rivers Audubon.

• Join a bird walk, an “Alli Walk”, the first Saturday morning of each month, September through May.  Make friends, learn new birding ID skills, and enjoy nature.

• Come learn about our region’s water resources at Our Water, Our Future, at Florida Gateway College on September 7 at 7p.  Better yet, volunteer to help with this important event.  Contact Jacqui Sulek if interested at 386 497 4187.

• Participate in a Christmas Bird Count, the Great Backyard Bird Count or the Breeding Bird Atlas – become a Citizen Scientist.

• Volunteer to help our chapter organize and put on Lake City’s wonderful Alligator Lake Spring Festival.  If you can’t volunteer, please come out and enjoy a fun, nature based and educational day on April 13.

• Check out the birds in your own backyard, for the Great Backyard Bird Count in February.  See audubon.org or contact Valerie Thomas for details.

• Work with other chapter members to enhance Florida’s Special Places, like Alligator Lake.  This year we will add educational kiosks and bird houses.

• Save your Audubon magazines, and other nature related publications to donate to others who might enjoy them.

• Create a wildlife habitat and certify your yard as bird and wildlife friendly.  Contact Lauri Shubert at gatewaywho@gmail.com or (386) 961-3361.

We rely on e-mail to communicate with our members throughout the year. We send out a periodic short messages each month and an occasional call to action on a local conservation issue. So…PLEASE send your e-mail address to (jsulek@audubon.org) so we can keep you informed, engaged and excited about being part of the Four Rivers Audubon Society. 

Cheers,

Valerie Thomas, President and the Four Rivers Audubon Board of Directors