Editor's Corner - Fort Worth Audubon ...
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September 2020
Newsletter of the Fort Worth Audubon Society (FWAS)
Editor’s Corner
Hello to all FWAS supporters at this, the start of our new season! Like all other organizations, it
is the start of a rather extraordinary one. We are dealing with an environment that does not allow
for the in-person activities we like to sponsor. Instead, we are going to provide online meetings
each month until we can safely meet in our usual location. Likewise, all fields trips and guided
walks are postponed till further notice.
While we realize there may be a good deal of reticence to join an online meeting, this one
coming up September 10 is especially important to the core operation of FWAS. The issue we
are referring to here is that due to the cancellation of the April 2020 meeting, we were unable to
hold an election of our proposed new board members. It was decided to wait until we could have
a meeting again, and the one coming up this Thursday, September 10 is that meeting. We simply
need as many members to join in (at least at the beginning) to help us to vote in the new slate of
FWAS officers. Details on how to join our meeting is in the section of this newsletter regarding
our meetings, but be assured that we will get to the business of voting right away before going on
with our featured presentation. The following is a list of board members and officers that were
nominated in April so you know that you’ll be having to vote on:
Board Nominees for the 2020 – 2021 Season
President (O): Chuck Baskin
Vice-President of Programs
& President Pro Tempore (O) Ann Hoover
Vice-President of Field Trips (O): Debbie Simek
Treasurer (O): Vicki Moore
Recording Secretary (O): Chris Castoro
Newsletter Editor (O): Michael Francis
Member-at-large (O): Jean Ferguson
Member-at-large (O): Gail Morris
Member-at-large (O): Shiela Shallcross
Membership Chair: Amanda Brochu
Education Chair: Jim Jones
FWAS September 2020 Southwestern Flyer 1Grants Chair: Karen Rice
Bird Counts Chair: Michael Perez
Conservation Chair: Jeremiah Kerns
Publicity Chair: Scott Hollinger
Texas Audubon Representative: Tom Haase
Webmaster Jim Jones and Michael Francis (co-chairs)
Hospitality Chair Julie Perez
Past President: Michael Francis
O = Officer
For the 7th year, FWAS is again participating in North Texas Giving Day (NTGD), taking place
on September 17 as detailed in the Supporting FWAS section of this newsletter. This is a tough
time for almost everyone we know, and we believe overall donations will be much lower than in
previous years. However, NTGD has grown in popularity over the years and many generous
supporters use it to disburse all their donations for the year.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge all the wonderful feedback received regarding our online
slideshow of bird pictures provided by our members, and to let you know there was a new set of
pictures that were recently added. We originally started with a Part 1 followed shortly by a Part
2, and now we have a Part 3. All of these can be found on the FWAS.org website, and here are
links to make it convenient for you to find:
Part 1 & Part 2 – https://www.fwas.org/showthread.php?3378-May-2020-Member-s-Slide-
Show-(Part-1-amp-Part-2-now-posted)
Part 3 – https://www.fwas.org/showthread.php?3379-FWAS-Member-s-May-Meeting-Slide-
Show-Part-3
As always, I’ll be happy to continue visiting with you in person, at our meetings, or ‘online’ at
take5birder@charter.net – you can even call/text me at 817-965-7284. Please believe me when I
say that I’d really love to have you submit personal stories and pictures that you wouldn’t mind
having published in this humble newsletter.
Programs
Our 2020 – 2021 season would normally start back up with a meeting on Thursday, September
10, 2020 and be held at the North Texas Health Science Center. However, that facility will be
closed at least through December.
September Member Meeting, Thursday, 9/10/2020
Subject: Nests and Eggs 101
Speakers: Robyn Bailey & Nate Swick
Join FWAS on Thursday evening September 10, 2020, at 7.00 p.m. as we explore the eggs, nests,
and nesting habits of birds from the comfort of our homes, all our historic first-ever virtual Zoom
Webinar meeting! We will start with a brief meeting of the membership to vote on our proposed
slate of board members, which will be followed by a presentation of the American Birding
FWAS September 2020 Southwestern Flyer 2Association (ABA) Virtual Bird Club Meeting titled Nests and Eggs 101. This presentation will be hosted by Robyn Bailey, who is the leader of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Project Nestwatch. Also speaking to us will be Nate Swick, Media Coordinator for ABA. The ABA seeks to encourage and represent the North American birding community and provides a variety of resources to enhance birders knowledge, skills, and enjoyment of birding. They have informative webinars and podcasts on their site (www.aba.org) and on YouTube. They also contribute to bird and bird habitat conservation. The FWAS meeting starts at 7.00 p.m. Everyone is welcomed to attend and you do not need to have a Zoom account. If you use a phone or a tablet, you will need to download the Zoom app ahead of time, but we recommend you use a laptop or desktop computer for greatest ease of use (especially for voting). You will not need to have a camera or microphone, and we will keep the microphones set to mute. Voting and any conversations will be done by the chat function in Zoom. To bring up a chat window, you will need to put your cursor at the bottom of the Zoom screen to view the options and then click on the chat icon. When using and iPad or other device type the chat window can be brought up by touching the top-right corner. If you have not used Zoom before, it is highly recommended that you click the Zoom link well ahead of time. We will begin letting people in starting at 6:50, but you can click on the link as early as 6:30 to get into the virtual waiting room. Here is the link to join our meeting on Thursday, 9/10/2020 via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88018660807?pwd=TDFqbXVXdmhqM0Y3RFowVlpGaTdiUT09 If you have technical difficulties or questions at meeting time, you can text/call Amanda Brochu (817-308-4986) or Michael Francis (817-965-7284). Please be aware that Amanda and Michael will also be monitoring the Zoom waiting room and answering chat questions. October Member Meeting, Thursday, 10/8/2020 Subject: Uncommon Facts about Common Birds Speaker: Laura Erickson Join FWAS on Thursday, October 8, 2020, starting at 7.00 p.m. as we host another Zoom meeting. This time, we’ll have a presentation from Laura Erickson who will be speaking to us live (not recorded). Laura is the 2014 recipient of the American Birding Association’s prestigious Roger Tory Peterson Award. She has been a scientist, teacher, writer, wildlife rehabilitator, professional blogger, public speaker, photographer, American Robin and Whooping Crane Expert for the popular Journey North educational website, and Science Editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She’s written twelve books about birds, including the ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Minnesota; National Geographic’s Pocket Guide to Birds of North America; the best-selling Into the Nest: Intimate Views of the Courting, Parenting and Family Lives of Birds (co-authored by photographer Marie Read); the National Outdoor Book Award- winning Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids; 101 Ways to Help Birds; and The Bird Watching Answer Book for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She’s currently a columnist and contributing editor for Bird Watching magazine. Since 1986 she has been producing the long-running For the Birds radio program for many public radio stations, and this program is currently podcast on iTunes. Please stick around so you can ask Laura questions! FWAS September 2020 Southwestern Flyer 3
Supporting FWAS
North Texas Giving Day 2020
The Fort Worth Audubon Society (FWAS) will again participate in the annual North Texas
Giving Day being held this year on Thursday, September 17. Scheduled donations have already
started so you can make a difference to FWAS! Please consider making a donation at North
Texas Giving Day’s Website any time between now and the 17th using the following link which
is specific to FWAS: https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/fort-worth-audubon-society-inc
As in previous years, FWAS only uses the money collected from NTGD to help fund the worthy
projects of local (based in Denton, Johnson, Parker or Tarrant counties) community groups
(civic, non-profit, or school-based) that meet the goals inherent in the FWAS mission statement:
To promote awareness, appreciation and understanding of birds and other wildlife while
preserving and protecting their natural habitats.
How to become a FWAS Member or simply renew your membership
FWAS memberships run January 1 through December 31. The amount is $25.00 for a single
membership and $35.00 for a family membership. To use a credit card, you’ll need to do that
online as we do not have a way to process credit transactions otherwise. Simply go to
www.fwas.org and look for the “Join FWAS/Membership Options” section on the left side of our
Homepage and click on the Pay Now button to get started. If you wish to renew the old-
fashioned way, please make a check payable to FWAS and send it to our treasurer Vickie Moore
in care of FWAS at 3023 S. University Dr. #206, Fort Worth, TX 76109.
Conservation
Migratory Bird Treaty Act Upheld
A federal judge issued a ruling in our lawsuit defending the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In
National Audubon Society v. Department of the Interior, Judge Caproni wrote “It is not only a
sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime. That has been the letter of the law for the past
century.” You can catch the full story on National Audubon’s Website as follows:
https://www.audubon.org/news/victory-federal-judge-rules-administrations-bird-killing-policy-
illegal
FWAS September 2020 Southwestern Flyer 4Great American Outdoors Act Passes Congress
Some of the best conservation news in ages was the July 22 passage of the Great American
Outdoors Act. You can read all about it in the following link to Texas Conservation Alliance’s
Website: https://www.tcatexas.org/post/the-great-american-outdoors-act
Lights Out Texas begins September 5th to protect migrating birds
Help "Lights Out Texas" Protect Migrating Birds This Fall and get migration alerts for nights
with the heaviest bird traffic. Get all the details from our very own FWAS Website as follows:
https://www.fwas.org/showthread.php?3386-Lights-Out-Texas-begins-September-5th-to-protect-
migrating-birds
Miscellaneous
How Hummingbirds fly through a waterfall
Scientists film hummingbirds flying through waterfalls, and its beautiful and genius. To get
video and details on this fascinating facet of hummers, click on the following link on the
ScienceAlert.com Website: https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-the-genius-and-beautiful-way-
hummingbirds-fly-through-waterfalls
Leave those hummingbird feeders up!
Migration is just around the corner, and it’s a great idea to keep feeders filled into autumn to
provide a refueling stop for any migrants passing through. You can find more tips and best
practices for feeding hummingbirds in the following link on the Cornell Labs Website:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/youre-seeing-fewer-hummingbirds-at-your-feeder-should-
you-worry
FWAS September 2020 Southwestern Flyer 5You can also read
