February 22, 2006

Sarasota City Library

Sarasota, Florida

Michael J. Good, MS   founder and president of Down East Nature Tours, Bar Harbor, Maine will present a  slide show entitled, “The Maine-Florida-CUBA Connection: Neotropical Migrants, Microhabitat and the Politics and Business of Land–use Practices Along the East Coast Flyway.”. February 22, 2006  Sarasota City Library, Sarasota, Florida

The isolation of the Caribbean Islands has lead to the evolution of unique Cuban endemics birds rarely seen by Americans because of recently imposed US government travel bands. Many of these Cuban endemic species have been captured on film by Michael Good during educational bird study programs designed to survey bird populations from the Zapata south of Havana to the western hills of Vinales. Cuban author of the “Birds of Cuba”, Orlando Garrido and Michael Good led members of the Sarasota Audubon Society through the Cuban underbrush, forests and swamps in search of anything with wings. Several important sightings were documented including the third record of an American Bald Eagle flying over native Cuban lands in the western mountains. Open a dialog about the ecological significance of CUBA to Neotropical migrants and learn about the Florida connection along the east coast flyway to Maine.

The Gulf of Maine watershed is home to over 400 species of birds including unique assemblages of pelagic, intertidal, wetlands and forest species. Many of these birds, which we consider ours, travel thousands of miles from Neotropical countries like CUBA or Ecuador to nest in Maine. During this slide presentation we will explore the lives of many Warblers, Flycatchers and other Neotropical Migrants which utilize the Island of CUBA during the winter months, pass through Florida and nest in Maine or north during the temperate summer. Along our photographic journey we will discuss our current  land use practices along the East Coast Flyway in terms of bird habitat and open a dialog about the economic and ecological ramifications of our collective land use practices. Each watershed type along the eastern flyway plays a critical role in the biodiversity and life histories of millions of migrating birds.

Florida and Maine are wetland States, thus their constitutes and governments have a responsibility to the nation to maintain healthy functioning watershed ecosystems because of their ecological connections to marine environments and ultimately the nation’s food. Florida’s nature coast, for example, is a vital link and refueling station for millions of migrating birds coming from the Caribbean or South America.. But what about developing regions of Florida and other east coast states? The destruction of unique wetlands on a global scale could tip the ecological balance of the great oceans in a negative direction risking ruination of commerce and community that is hundreds if not thousands of years old, as tragically seen after Hurricane Katrina. 0ur marine fisheries are the life blood of our fishing communities having sustained us economically along the East Coast Flyway until the 1960’ and 70’s when corporate fishing fleets were allowed to deplete many commercially important fish species. From Maine to Cuba there are political and ecological issues surrounding wetlands, but the wetlands utilized by migrating birds are the same wetlands that feed our commercially important fish populations. The way we develop the land and the land use practices that control that, plays an important role in the lives of birds and fish. Get involved with the discussion and learn about Cuba at the same time.