Nature

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Welcome first day of fall

The autumnal equinox, the official first day of fall, is Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 On the autumnal equinox, the sun is directly over the earth’s equator, and there are equal hours of day and night. Since the summer solstice, days have been getting shorter, and from now until the vernal equinox, the days will remain shorter than nights....

Railroad vines bloom along South Walton beaches

Beautiful plant strengthens sand dunes Always a pleasant sight along our beaches, the beautiful blooming railroad vine is also an important protector of our sand dunes. As with the sea oats, the plant helps to stabilize the dunes by rooting at nodes all along its length, and is often planted for that purpose. Each flower opens only once, in the morning, but keep blooming almost all year long, peaking from May through November. The railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-caprae) is native...

Does the ivory-bill woodpecker still exist?

No recent evidence of bird existing in Florida From the Desk of FWC –  By Stan Kirkland, FWC In the spring of 2005, news swept the United States and much of the world that the ivory-billed woodpecker, long thought to be extinct, had been found in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Arkansas. The news was electrifying to birders and conservation groups. Gene Sparling, an amateur ornithologist from Hot Springs, Ark., reported seeing a single adult male ivory-bill...

Choctawhatchee Audubon events and programs for October

Learn and explore with Choctawhatchee Audubon OCTOBER 6: MONTHLY MEETING: Birder fanciers and aspiring citizen scientists will find much to digest at the next meeting of the Choctawhatchee Audubon Society on  Thursday, October 6. Rick West, Coordinator of the Florida Ornithological Society’s “Breeding Bird Atlas of Florida II” project, will present an overview of this important work. This effort attempts to record the breeding distribution of all bird species in the state, and helps to detect changes in the distribution...

Learn about sharks at Topsail Sept. 15

Learn about these fascinating creatures Thurs. Sept. 15 at 1:30 p.m. The Department of Environmental Protection’s Topsail Hill Preserve State Park will be having a presentation on sharks. Sharks are fascinating creatures that can range in size from 6 in. small to an enormous 39 ft. long. Come out and join Topsail for a presentation to learn more about the sharks that roam the coastal waters of Florida. Meet at the Day-Use parking area on Hwy 30A and take a...