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2003 Falls Lake Wildathon



2003 WILDATHON at Falls Lake SRA
Fund-Raiser for the New Hope Audubon Society
May 7, 2003

Once again this year I will be conducting a 24 hour Wildathon at Falls 
Lake to raise money for the New Hope Audubon Society.  I will again try 
to do a FULL 24 hour count starting at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday the 7th to 
7:00 a.m. Thursday the 8.

I will take pledges for each species group counted.  If you wish to 
donate a dollar for each reptile I count and 10 reptiles are seen during 
count day, total donation is $10.00.  Below is my average totals for 
each group, to help guide your donation (weather can affect numbers 
seen).  Flat dollar amount donations will also be accepted.  

**This year, anyone who donates $20, and is not a member of the National 
Audubon Society will receive a FREE ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP and receive a 
quarterly newsletter and the incredibly informative Audubon magazine.

Donations can be remitted after the event upon notification of the 
results.  Checks will be payable to Auduon Birdathon.  Included below is 
a description of where your wildathon contribution goes.

Here is a list of what species I will be counting, and an approximation 
of species totals for each group.

    Birds                    90-100 species
   Mammals                8-10 species
    Reptiles                9-11 species
    Amphibians                9-11 species
    Butterflies                20-25 species
    Odonates (Dragonflies and Damsels)    15-20 species    
    Fireflies                5-7 species
    
Anyone interested in donating contact me at Brian.Bockhahn@ncmail.net or 
676-1027.


If actual species counting or donation soliciting is not your forte, 
please volunteer to help with other aspects of our fund-raiser, such as 
dissemination of information, including posters and fliers, follow-up 
for pledges, etc.
    
New Hope Audubon Society Wildathon Pledge Form 2003
Name    
Address    
City _______________________   State _______   Zip ____________   Phone 
_________________
____    My tax-deductible gift of $_____________ to support the 
Wildathon effort is enclosed.
    Please make checks payable to New Hope Audubon Society.
____    I pledge $__________ per species identified by 
the                                                     Team.
    (Team leaders will be listed in the newsletter).
____    A matching gift is enclosed.  My company name 
is                                , and matches my charitable gifts.

I wish to receive the FREE introductory Membership Offer  _____________

Signature ____________________________________



WHERE YOUR WILDATHON CONTRIBUTION GOES

Mason Farm Biological Reserve

    What is now the Mason Farm Biological Reserve and surrounding lands 
were willed to UNC by Mary Elizabeth Mason (great-granddaughter of the 
first settler of the area, Mark Morgan), and her husband, Rev. James 
Pleasant Mason.  The land, given in memory of their only heirs- their 
daughters- who died of typhoid fever in their early twenties, passed to 
UNC in 1894.  Mason Farm supports around 50 research projects and 
fieldwork for 10 - 20 different undergraduate courses each year.  It 
also provides great enjoyment to local naturalists, including New Hope 
Audubon Society and Chapel Hill Bird Club members, many of whom 
congregate yearly to watch the Woodcock mating displays.  Mason Farm is 
an area of such concentrated study because of its diversity of 
wildlife.  Three areas within Mason Farm have been nominated (but never 
approved) for the NC Natural Heritage Program- the Big Oak Woods, the 
Shagbark Hickory Forest and the Rhododendron Slope.  The entire Reserve 
has recently been nominated as an Important Bird Area; an official 
announcement of this designation will be forthcoming.  These and other 
diverse habitats, including wetlands of various types, open fields and 
edges, support 65 species of butterflies (out of 78 found in the entire 
country), 215 avian species (one less than the entire country), 
mammalian predators including the bobcat and 100 species of other 
vertebrates.  Even longtime frequenters of Mason Farm need to stop and 
remind themselves of how truly important this place is to all of us as 
adjacent areas continue to encroach.  It is one of the last large, 
undeveloped areas remaining in the Piedmont.  There are fewer places for 
the bobcat to roam, and Mason Farm continues to be one.  Despite all of 
these impressive statistics, the only funding the Mason Farm receives 
from UNC is for road upkeep.  The dollars you give will go toward open 
field maintenance, new construction and repair of benches, addition or 
replacement of interpretive guide posts and fences, and registration 
materials.


North Carolina Coastal Islands Sanctuary

    The Audubon Society began protecting coastal birds in North Carolina 
in the very early 1900's, when plume hunters had nearly wiped out many 
of our species.  The practice of killing birds for their feathers has 
long since vanished, but equally devastating problems associated with 
coastal development and a rapidly growing human population threaten many 
birds.  National Audubon recognized this threat and launched the North 
Carolina Coastal Islands Sanctuary program in 1989 to acquire and 
protect habitats critical to the survival of wading birds and seabirds.  
Today, Audubon's Coastal Islands Sanctuary includes 20 islands between 
Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras that support more than 60,000 nesting 
seabirds and wading birds.  Walker Golder, the Sanctuary's one full-time 
employee, must (with volunteer help) count nests, monitor the 
sanctuaries, raise money to support the sanctuary, keep trespassers 
away, coordinate research and management projects, and work to acquire 
new sanctuaries.  That's where we come in.  The money we raise assists 
him in these endeavors.  And his work is paying off.  Fully one-half of 
the nesting seabirds and wading birds on the coast of North Carolina 
nest on Audubon Sanctuaries.  Audubon recently restored 7 acres of 
nesting habitat on Wainwright Island, which now supports 1600 nesting 
pelicans and 11,000 nesting terns.  Since Golder began posting Battery 
Island, the number of nesting ibises has doubled to almost 18,000.  
Golder says, "Thanks to our conservation efforts along the coast, many 
water birds are doing well.  All they needed was a little help- and I'm 
glad New Hope Audubon was there to assist."


Brian Bockhahn
Falls Lake State Park Ranger
Falls Lake SRA
13304 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest NC 27587
919/676-1027
Brian.Bockhahn@ncmail.net