Celery Fields naturalists provide birds-eye view

You don’t have to be an expert birder to appreciate the vast array of birds that frequent the Celery Fields off Palmer Boulevard.

Every day from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Nov. 1 to May 1, a bird naturalist from the Sarasota Audubon Society’s Celery Fields Naturalist Program is on duty at the Palmer Boardwalk to help spot some of Florida’s most common — and elusive — birds throughout the manmade wetland.

“Show up with a desire to learn something about birds, and the (naturalists) will take care of the rest,” says the program’s creator, Owen Comora.

The naturalist program made its way to the Celery Fields in November 2012 and is in its second season.

The naturalists are there to answer questions and educate visitors. There are currently 30 bird naturalists in the program, ages ranging from 15 to 82, and shifts for each day of each week are filled through April.

According to Comora, the program is full but they could use an additional substitute or two. They are also looking at other opportunities to expand the program, both at the Celery Fields and at the Raymond Street Boardwalk.

Matthew Press
Youngest member of the naturalist program
Matthew is on the boardwalk Fridays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Press discovered his love of birds when he was 6 years old. As gifts from his grandparents he received a pair of binoculars and the “Peterson Field Guides: Birds of Eastern and Central North America Fifth Edition.” The rest was history. The homeschooled 10th-grader is the youngest member of the naturalist program.

What is your role with the naturalist program?
My job is to meet and greet visitors at the boardwalk, help them identify birds, answer questions about the Celery Fields and let them know about other birding hotspots in the area. I also record the number of visitors on the visitor log.

In 2012-13, the first season, we had 2,500 visitors at the Palmer Boulevard boardwalk and also spotted 100 species of birds.

What is your favorite part of birding?
Wherever you are, you can always go birding, and you never know what you will find. Another favorite part is traveling to different places and adding a life bird to my list.

How do you plan to continue your passion?
I want to continue studying birds when I go to college and pursue my doctorate in ornithology. I would like to teach others about the beauty of birds and our environment. Whatever I do, I will always go birding and will always be a birder.

Claire Herzog
Herzog is on the boardwalk Tuesdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Last year, after realizing sometimes naturalists had a hard time communicating with birders about where to look for birds, former Selby Gardens director of horticulture and retired school teacher Claire Herzog used her knowledge of plants to create a picture booklet identifying the common plants at the Celery Fields. The booklet, which is available to the public online, also notes wildlife, especially birds. Because it helps naturalists to identify plants, it also increases the likelihood of spotting different species that interact with particular plants.

Herzog considers herself relatively new to birding. This is her second season as a naturalist.

“A lot people are thwarted about the program because they feel they aren’t knowledgeable,” says Herzog.

She says she’s learned a lot, as well as taught a lot.

Herzog’s favorite parts of birding are making sure she’s outside every day and spotting the most elusive birds.

“Many birds have wonderful camouflage, and people are totally amazed when they spot one of these birds,” she says.

Herzog is at the Celery Fields at least two times a week and sometimes birds with her dog, Mango, an adopted lab/chow mix.

“I think its really enlightening to go to a certain place every week so you can get a deeper sense of what’s happening there.”

Owen Comora
Naturalist program founder
Comora is on the boardwalk Thursdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Eighty-two-year-old Owen Comora found his love of birding as a 13-year-old in New Jersey. While fishing one morning, a beautiful bird caught his eye. Comora noticed another person on the water who was birding so he asked him what type of bird it was. Comora left his fishing pole behind — he’s been a birder since.

After moving to Sarasota as a retired advertising and public relations professional, he found himself spending a lot of time in front of the TV before his wife, Betty, urged him to get out and do something he loved.

He got up, went out to Myakka State Park and started a bird naturalist program, which still exists today.

But after 14 years out east, Comora decided to start a program a little “closer to home” and pitched the idea of bringing it to the Celery Fields to Jeanne Dubi, president of the Sarasota Audubon Society.

“People who are part of the program come from different backgrounds with one thing in common: a love of birds and nature and the desire to share the knowledge,” he says.

Comora’s hope for the program is that it will continue to be educational and fun and facilitate an appreciation for the nature that is so close to us.

“You never know when you are going to interest someone so much that they make it their hobby or even a way of living,” says Comora.“It can become obsessive.”

Terms of the trade
Life bird — a bird of a species a birder is seeing for the first time.

Fallout — when a mass of birds, during migration, gathers at a certain location, usually due to rain and weather fronts.

Tools of the trade
Spotting scope
Binoculars
Field guides or smart phone with apps

Birding apps
Birdbrain
Ibird Pro

For more information, visit sarasotaaudubon.org

Contact Randi Donahue at [email protected]