Southeast Volusia Audubon Society, Inc. Issue Vol.III - No.
2 February, 2008
The Southeast Volusia Audubon Society promotes the protection of birds, other wildlife and their habitat through education and activism.
Prez Sez
Identity Crisis –Or, Were we even there?
Well, that’s three in a row in just a couple of weeks. Two
articles on the Christmas Bird Count (one in the Daytona News-
Journal and one in the Observer) and the article in the Orlando
Sentinel on our honoring the Bidgood’s with a tree planting
ceremony.
You would think that would be good publicity for our or-
ganization. Except for one critical part. The Southeast Volusia
Audubon Society, which organized and conducted the events,
was not even mentioned by name in the articles.
I guess the implication is clear. The reporters don’t know
who we are. So if you have an opportunity to interact with
reporters, please ask them to include the name of our organiza-
tion in their article or report.
On a positive note, we made $331.90 at the Oak Hill flea
market on Saturday the 12th. Thanks to all who donated items
and helped at the flea market, and who bought items. Our
thanks also to the Oak Hill Flea Market management for their
hospitality.
We are still trying to hold the city of Edgewater’s feet to
the fire in the management of the Scrub Jay habitat behind the
YMCA. They have een passively allowing the plot to deterio-
rate by not conducting the necessary trimming and controlled
burns. They have also been actively destroying it by over-
mowing. As a result, the Scrub Jays that formerly lived there
are now apparently gone.
It is imperative that the city performs the controlled burn
and other maintenance actions to restore the habitat. There is
no guarantee that the Scrub Jays would return, but they may.
Even so, there is also an ethical issue at risk. The city entered
into a contractual obligation to preserve and protect the habitat
in return for being able to destroy some other habitat and
wetlands to construct the YMCA. Soon, the city will allow the
destruction of large tracts of wetlands with the promise of
mitigation in the developments West of I-95. If the city will not
honor its own mitigation agreement, how can we trust the city
to enforce the much more extensive mitigation requirements on
these developers?
We have attracted the attention of the press as well as the
US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Game and Fish
Commission. Wish us luck. Better yet, send Jack Corder, chief
of Leisure Services an email telling him how you feel. His
Meetings
Meetings are held the 1st Wednesdays
Oct. thru March at 7 P.M.
Edgewater Library 103 Indian River Blvd. 7: P.M.
Smoke-free environment. Refreshments are served.
Plenty of parking. Public welcome.
Next meeting is Feb. 6, 2008
Meeting Place Change: Utilities Commission
200 E. Canal St., NSB (see February Speaker p.4)
Speaker: Karen Stauderman
"Wise use of water in the Florida home landscape."
Programs & Field trips subject to change.
Field Trips
Field trips begin at 8:00 A.M. unless otherwise noted.
Meet in the Market Square parking lot Edgewater, Ridgewood
Ave. & 442, between Dunkin Donuts & Chik-Fil-A.
Bring lunch & drinks. Don't forget bug-spray!
Feb. 9 - Vierra Wetlands
See details p. x
Questions? Contact Gail Domroski 428-0447
Audubon members and guests are all welcome.
address is JCorder@cityofedgewater.org .
We have recently been approached by a member of the
NSB city staff with a request to help them build an environ-
mentally friendly habitat at a park near the downtown area.
Ken Gunn is lead on the project. We will keep you informed on
how the project ensues. Maybe you can help????
Until next time, happy birding.
—Don Picard
Editor's Note:
Due to circumstances beyond our control, there will be
no printed edition of the Skimmer in February.
The eSkimmer (this one) will be our only issue.
—G.M.
The Skimmer
Conservation Notes
Our previous conservation chairperson, Lee
Bidgood, was influential in encouraging the State of
Florida to offer financial incentives for individuals
and businesses to use solar energy. My husband
and I have been considering whether we could afford
to switch to solar, so we had a solar company represen-
tative come to our home to give us an estimate. Our home is a
modest stucco/shingle home with 2500 sq feet under roof. We
discovered that there are actually four systems to chose from: 1)
a photovoltaic or “PV” solar system that generates electricity
that is sent to FPL who credits our bill for what we take from
them (~$29,000 after deducting FPL and government rebates);
2) a pool system that only heats the pool water (~$4,000 after
deducting rebates); 3) a solar system that only heats water in the
water heater (~$4,000 after deducting rebates); and 4) a solar
attic fan that only runs the fan (~$1,000 after deducting rebates).
It would take a huge PV system (lots of roof space and lots of
panels) to generate enough electricity to heat the pool and water
heater and provide all the other electricity we need. We do not
have enough roof to put all the PV panels it would take. But a
pool solar system and a water heater solar system reduces the
amount of electricity needed, meaning fewer PV panels. To get
the most solar benefit per dollar, the representative recom-
mended installing a pool system plus a water heating system,
then adding PV panels to generate electricity for uses other than
the pool and water heater. All the solar panels needed for this
configuration would cover the entire south and east sides of our
roof. The electricity generated by this PV system still would not
offset all the electricity we use. To completely offset our elec-
tricity use would take more money and roof than available.
The pool system has both a water thermostat and an atmo-
sphere thermostat. To prevent the solar system from cooling the
water instead of heating it when ambient air temperature is
cooler than the water temperature desired for the pool, the
system shuts off. From April to October, the pool could be
heated to 90 by solar only and the electric heat pump would not
be needed.
The PV system is attached to the trusses of the roof to
prevent them lifting off during a hurricane. All the systems
require holes in the roof, with all the risks that could entail.
Warranties cover manufacturing defects (and maybe improper
installation), but not wind damage. The cost vs savings break
even point of the pool system would be ~ 3 yrs. The other 3
systems could take the rest of our lives to recoup the purchase
price.
Because of this, the potential customer should ask them-
selves if they plan to live in the house long enough to recoup
their costs. If not, would the sale price of the house recoup the
investment? Because alternative energy, including solar energy,
is a relatively new focus, there is likely to be technological in-
novation and improvement in the future, with increased avail-
ability and a corresponding reduction in cost of the systems. So
a reasonable question is, might there be a benefit of waiting a
few more years?
There has been a lot of talk, but no actual results yet in
regards to two local conservation issues SEVAS is involved
2
February, 2008
with: dogs harassing migratory birds nesting @ Smyrna Dunes
Park and the neglected scrub jay habitat at the Edgewater
YMCA. Those SEVAS members who are prepared to assist
with educational programs at the scrub jay habitat, I ask for
your continued patience as we await final word from the
school system and the results of a meeting from the City
and the USFW.
Richard Domroski and I finished reviewing the latest re-
sponses from developer, Canin Associates, regarding “Restora-
tion”, a huge potential development West of I-95. The follow-
ing is Richard’s summary of his review:
He found it interesting that the development is now named
“Hammock Creek Green”. The Regional Planning Council staff
are doing an outstanding job of reviewing all responses and not
accepting anything that is not crystal clear or does not meet set
criteria. The staff have covered all of the items of interest to
SEVAS e.g.: water, wildlife & natural communities. Also, staff
have noted that many responses are insufficient for this project
to proceed and, question the need for such a project at all and
use the term "premature". As noted in several staff comments,
neither New Smyrna Beach nor Edgewater are prepared for a
such a massive project in terms of supplying water, sewage and
other services with Edgewater being the furthest behind in
future planning. As of this review, Richard states he does not
see anything that SEVAS needs to comment on but this project
has a long way to go and there will be changes.
Thank you, Richard, for keeping us updated about this
matter that potentially greatly impacts the quality of life of
current residents of Edgewater and NSB. If any of you would
like to review this document yourself, call Kathy @ 409-3091.
—Kathy Booth
Around Town
NSB Myrtle Park
On Tuesday, 22 Jan 08, a meeting between members of
the NSB Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), Lind-
ley’s nursery and SEVAS was conducted at the park at the
intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Canal Street. Attending
were: Noeleen Foster and Kevin Fall of the CRA, Debbie
Pell of Lindley’s Nursery, and Don Picard, Ken Gunn, Gail
Domroski, and Bill and Marsha Cox of SEVAS. The
purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas for develop-
ing some type of ecological area at the park. The city is
rebuilding Canal Street on the West side of U.S. 1 to the
intersection of Myrtle Avenue. The CRA members wanted
to include the park in the rebuilding scheme.
The park is divided into two parts, about three fourths
includes a playground unit and one-fourth on the other side
of a canal spanned by a stone bridge. We decided that the
ecological area should be on the smaller side. We discussed
a butterfly-type garden with native plants, trails through the
garden and benches or possibly even picnic tables. The
SEVAS would sponsor bulletin
See Park p.4
The Skimmer February, 2008

From the Field Native & Nice

January Field Trip Report
Common Loon Eastern Redbud
Pied-billed Grebe For all of you who didn’t join us
American White Although they
on our Merritt Island trip this month,
Pelican maybe deciduous
you missed a good day of birding. We
Brown Pelican saw 84 species (side-bar) on a refresh-
right now, Eastern
Double-crested Redbuds (Ceris ca-
Cormorant ingly cool & drizzly day. Had good
nadensis) are about
Anhinga looks at the small tern-like
to decorate the out-
Great Blue Heron Bonaparte’s Gull feeding near shore at
doors for Valen-
Green-backed Heron the causeway in Titusville.
Little Blue Heron tine’s Day. With
Cattle Egret Behind pumphouse road, we saw their profusion of
Reddish Egret Black Skimmers, Royal & Caspian small, sweet pea-
Great Egret Terns, Yellowleggs, Black-necked shaped, pink flow-
Snowy Egret Stilt & many other birds. The ditch ers, this native tree Photo - Gil Miller
Tri-colored Heron beside pumphouse road was filled with will charm its way
Wood Stork all the beautiful wading birds. On into your heart. Following the show, the native will leaf out in
Glossy Ibis Black Point Wildlife Drive we saw all handsome, broad heart-shaped leaves. Fast growing, reaching
White Ibis the usual ducks and had a great close- 25-35 feet, the eastern native can make an effective specimen
Roseate Spoonbill
Mottled Duck upview of Spoonbills. tree in full sun or a colorful understory tree because they can
Northern Pintail also tolerate light shade. When placed on the edge of wood-
For those (who) that stayed after
Green-winged Teal lands, redbuds are hard to miss with their attractive silhouette of
lunch, we saw a Bald Eagle take a
Blue-winged Teal rounded but still horizontally tiered branches.
Coot for his lunch. On Biolab road, we
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler had good looks at a Swamp Sparrow, a When planted in full sun, redbuds would like a moist soil,
Lesser Scaup life bird for some, Northern Flicker but not too soggy. It helps to plant them in a lightly shaded area
Hooded Merganser and a passing glance at a Common to reduce their watering needs. Yet, established trees can be
Red-breasted Snipe. quite drought tolerant. They tolerate a range of soils from
Merganser alkaline to acidic. However, to help with blooming they would
Turkey Vulture Please come & join us for our next
appreciate a light, acidic fertilizer two to three times a year
Black Vulture trip on February 9th to Viera Wetlands.
between March through September. This can also be accom-
Red-shouldered Hawk plished by using coffee grounds. Coffee grounds help to build
Bald Eagle February Trip
the moisture content and acidity of the soil. A couple of neat
Northern Harrier
Osprey Our February 9th trip will be to facts about this eastern native is that it is as a member of the pea
American Kestrel Viera Wetlands. The wetlands are a or legume family and the redbud has the ability to fix nitrogen
Clapper Rail series of connected ponds created to from the air to use as a nutrient.
Sora treat wastewater from the central
If you really want to impress your loved ones this Valen-
Common Moorhen Brevard area. This site, just North of
American Coot tine holiday, try the new variety, ‘Forest Pansy’. This particular
Melbourne, has raised dikes that offer
Killdeer redbud still has the profusion of rosy pink flowers in early
good birding from a vehicle. There are
Black-bellied Plover spring but continues the show with a colorful flush of purple
observation towers that look out over
Ruddy Turnstone heart-shaped leaves that fade to burgundy-tone leaves in sum-
the ponds and during fall & winter
Common Snipe mer. This variety appreciates some afternoon shade in the
Willet many species use these wetlands and
summer months. It makes a great ornamental accent in a
Greater Yellowlegs nearby Prairies and Hammocks. We
Florida garden.
Lesser Yellowlegs hope to see Bald Eagle, Crested Cara-
Dunlin cara, Northern Harriers, several spe- While many express their love with flowers, adding an
Short-billed Dowitcher cies of duck, wading birds, and just Eastern Redbud to your garden will give love for many years to
Sanderling maybe a Purple Gallinule. come with their flowers being one of the first signs of spring.
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt Bring a lunch, snacks, water etc. —Lauren Pell
Great Black-backed and don’t forget bug spray. Editor's Note: Lauren is the youngest member of the family owned
Gull business, Lindley's Nursery on W. Canal St. New Smyrna Beach .with
Herring Gull Call Gail @ 428-0447 if you have
mother Debbie and sister Jenny,
Ring-billed Gull any questions.
One of these three women will be writing in this space each month.
Laughing Gull —Gail Domroski
Bonaparte’s Gull
Forester’s Tern
Royal Tern
Caspian Tern We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.
Black Skimmer
Rock Dove ~Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

3
The Skimmer
Park
board(s) to provide interpretive information on the ecology in
the park.
The city’s landscape planner would do the design. Lind-
ley’s Nursery would nominate plants with input from the Native
Plant Society. Irrigation would be needed during the setup and
establishment of the plants using drip irrigation and a gas pump
taking water from the canal. The pump could be removed after
the plants were established. Drip irrigation would be nearly
invisible. The cost would be nominal as long as volunteers did
much of the work. We could get the Middle School and High
School students to help with planting and maintenance. Then
the students could benefit from filed trips, which we could
organize and conduct. Debbie also suggested that we should
contact Steve Beeman of Beeman’s Nursery because he had
done experiments using mats of plants to remove bad stuff from
bodies of water. The canal going through the park appeared to
need cleaning.
We all left the park excited about the results of the meeting.
We agreed to the following tasks:
• The CRA staff was going to meet with the Atlantic
Center for the arts for their input.
• The CRA staff would talk with the city’s landscape
designer and to the city for funding.
• I would take lead with Ken as my backup for organizing
the project.
• I would contact Dana Thompson about getting the
Middle Students involved.
• Gail would contact the Native Plant Society.
• Ken would contact Steve Beeman.
• Debbie would contact the someone at the High School
to see if FFA students might be interested.
• After the CRA team left, we decided that everyone
should email the group by Friday on the status of their taskings.
Don’s Input
I contacted Dana Thompson, media coordinator for the
NSB Middle School. She was quite excited about the project
and indicated she would contact the teacher who sponsors the
ecology group and other science teachers to see if there would
be any interest.
Ken Gunn input
Debbie Pell recommended that we visit with Steve Beeman
of Beeman's Nursery. Among other things, Steve does creek
and pond salvage at golf courses and Debbie considers him an
expert.
I met Steve at the park and his recommendations were very
simple, although my spelling will make it seem more complex.
1. The ugly stuff growing under the surface of the water
should essentially be left alone, although a channel should be
cleared through it to facilitate drainage when it rains. This stuff
- cannot be killed / eliminated anyway, provides cover and food
4
February, 2008
for the fish, is one of the plants that they are paying good
money for to reintroduce as part of the Everglades cleanup.
2. The stuff on the side, bacopa, is related to dollar weed but
here it is a good thing. It is stabilizing the banks and should be
kept in place for that purpose. The bits of it that are growing
on the surface of the water can be removed, while standing on
dry ground with a rake, and should be placed (thrown) on the
banks in spots where it is currently sparse. Since it is related to
dollar weed it will root and grow there.
3. The Picheral Weed (sp?), the stuff with the purple flowers,
should be left in place as should the Colosia (really sp?). The
palmetto along the side can be removed as they don't belong
there anyway.
4. The only real work involved is to clear the channel,
probably about 2 feet wide or so, down the middle and to
remove the palmetto leaves. Steve thinks this will need to be
done every month or so.
Steve's other suggestions were to get rid of the azaleas
as they probably won't do well anyway. My thought on that is
to wait and see - I have a real problem killing anything that is
growing. His other suggestion I thought was brilliant. He
looked around and did not see any native orchids growing in
the trees but thought that there certainly should be. In the case
that there isn't, he suggests starting some there. Then, since we
are promoting nature, put up a sign pointing them out. This
would go along with our butterfly and bird posters.
Another of Steve Beeman's points was that he is quite against
grass or flowers of any sort along the creek for safety reasons.
He feels that almost any type of foliage might seem a barrier to
a small child if they should wander into the water and they may
not attempt to get out.
Another point concerned the sound barrier. His advice is
to forget it and live with the noise. Anything high enough to
block any significant amount of sound would be so high that it
would block law enforcement line of sight.
—Ken Gunn
Will urban sprawl spread so far that most
people lose all touch with nature? Will the day
come when the only bird a typical American child
ever sees is a canary in a pet shop window? When
the only wild animal he knows is a rat - glimpsed
on a night drive through some city slum? When
the only tree he touches is the cleverly fabricated
plastic evergreen that shades his gifts on Christ-
mas morning?
~Frank N. Ikard, North American Wildlife and
Natural Resources Conference, Houston, March 1968
The Skimmer February, 2008

February Speaker Eco-Spun™ Bags

Our February speaker will be Karen Stauderman the newly Our popular bags are back!
appointed Volusia County Urban Horticulture Extension
Agent. Karen will speak to us on the wise usage of water in the Two years ago, we introduced these bags as an environ-
Florida home landscape. mentally sensible way of
toting goods home from
the store. We sold out
Karen was awarded two Bachelor of Science degrees from two orders and figured
Oregon State University, one in Horticulture and one in Plant that was that, we had
Pathology. Since moving to Florida, she has worked as a reached everyone we
Biological Scientist for the University of Florida, Plant Pathol- were going to reach.
ogy Department, for 11 ½ years, stationed at Sanford and at the Wrong. A chapter mem-
Apopka Research Station. She has since spent five years as a ber, Marita Buchy ,
science teacher in the Eustis High School. called and encouraged us
to order some more. We
did.
Karen is originally from the Northwest but has lived in
Florida for the past twenty years and is a true convert. While Our chapter's logo
with the University of Florida, Karen and her husband estab- looks great in black on
lished a U-Pick strawberry farm and U-Cut Christmas tree farm these off-white bags.
in Sorrento. The former also features jams, salsas and straw- Eco-Spun™ is fabric
berry desserts during the season. made from recycled plastic bottles. It's bright, soft and very
durable. Leave them in your car so they'll be handy when-
ever you go shopping. We use ours for a weekly shopping
Ms Stauderman is the first of two environmental pro- trip to the supermarket.
grams made available to Southeast Volusia Audubon as part of We'll have them at every meeting.
the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission Customer Out-
reach Program. The presentations will be given in the De- We think they're a good deal at $10 ea.
Barry Room on the third floor of the Utilities Commission
Building, 200 Canal Street in New Smyrna Beach. Parking
will be available in the parking lot behind the building and
entry will be through the back door and up the elevator. We are Why should man expect his prayer for mercy
grateful to Ms Ellen Mahle for helping to make this happen and to be heard by What is above him when he
for arranging the use of the Utilities Commission facility. shows no mercy to what is under him?
~Pierre Troubetzkoy
NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE.

Officers & Chairs

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own
government to save the environment.
President: Don Picard 386-957-1886 sevas@cfl.rr.com
~Ansel Adams
VP: Vacant
Secretary: Jean McNeil 386-423-2508
Our Email Address
Treasurer: Richard Domroski 386-428-0447
the.skimmer@yahoo.com
Newsletter: Gil Miller 386-423-4124 the.skimmer@yahoo.com
If you'd like to have The Skimmer emailed
monthly, contact us at the above address. Programs: Ken Gunn 386-423-2334 gunnsatbeach@cfl.rr.com
Type Subscribe in the subject line.
Field Trips: Gail Domroski 386-428-0447
Our Website
Conservation: Kathy Booth 386-409--3091 mprademacher@msn.com
http://sevolusiaaudubon.org/
Membership: Richard Domroski 386-428-0447
Publicity: Bill Cox billnmarsha@pshift.com

Please forward this Skimmer to friends. Ways & Means, Education/Outreach, Hospitality: VACANT!