Volume T, Number 2

October 2015

The Night-Heron The Night-Heron

A Murder of Crows

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On behalf of Manatee Audubon, THANK YOU to all the donors who so gra-

ciously supported our non-profit organization during The 2015 Giving Chal-

lenge fundraising event; (see photo below). Manatee Audubon will receive al-

most $6,000 in direct donations, in addition to the matching fund grant of

$2,500. We need this money to help with all the initiatives, plus the ongoing

maintenance of Felts Audubon Preserve.

This month migration is prime. You’ll see a wide variety of snowbirds arriving in our warm & sunny

climate for the winter.

After a fabulous presentation by Dr. David Sadkin of

Wildlife Inc. & his 4 feathered friends during our Sep-

tember meeting, on Oct. 15th we’ll learn more about the

endangered Whooping Cranes from Tim Dellinger

of FL FWC, so mark your calendars to be there.

Although we love to educate folks in an entertaining

manner, we do need your help. Volunteers are the back-

bone of any organization, and unless the work is spread

across lots of people, the volume of work can burn out

even the most energetic spirits if there are not enough

helping hands. — That’s exactly where we find ourselves.

So you don’t need to be an engineer or construction ex-

pert to help. More people it can actually be more fun!

Almost 20 folks

participated in

the VIP Sneak

Peek of the

new Nature

Center at Rye Preserve. Aedan Stockdale from Mana-tee County Parks & Natural Resources shared so much

historical & interesting information about Rye Preserve. We

need a team of volunteers to help restore the Birding Garden

near the new Nature Center at Rye Preserve so that work

can be completed before the public opening in December or

January.

There are some great bird

walks & field trips this

month, so sign up today!

We’re looking forward to a

fun season together! Let’s

have fun & go birding!!

Nick Nick Ziemba, president

Manatee County Audubon Society

A Bird’s-Eye View… from Nick

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Manatee Community Foundation Board President, Karen Miller

(left) and MCF’s executive director, Marilyn Howard (right), present a

check for $2,500 in The Giving Challenge matching funds to our treas-

urer, Lucette Wombacher. This grant was made possible through the

Unrestricted Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation

through a contribution from the John S and James L Knight Foun-

dation and directed to our organization by the Mosaic Company.

The new Nature Center at Rye Preserve includes a fun exhibit

on Florida scrub jays, perfect for photos of visitors to the larger

than life bird nest!

It’s not every day you see a Whooping Crane. Tim Dellinger,

Assistant Research Scientist, Avian Research, Florida Fish &

Wildlife Conservation Commission is our guest speaker in

October. He will share insights on the various initiatives to revive

endangered Whooping Crane populations, noting which pro-

grams worked, and which were not as successful.

The whooping crane was down to about 16 birds in the 1940s.

They were in one migratory flock that migrates between Texas

and the Northwest Territories of Canada, about 3000 miles. It’s a

long flight, and if it weren’t for an Audubon biologist by the name

of Robert Porter Allan, they would probably be extinct by now.

But he drew attention to their plight and got people to stop shoot-

ing them. The first settlers that came here shot thousands until

1917 when a law was put in place to protect them.

Now it’s reported there are just under 400 whooping cranes.

There are 185 in that original wild flock, and we are working with

a captive flock that needs to be reintroduced. Operation Migra-

tion volunteers introduced a whole new flock that migrates between Wiscon-

sin and Florida to keep the populations separate as an insurance flock in case

something happens to the original one.

Whooping cranes cruise anywhere between 35-40 mph. Operation Migration

flies about 49 days to get these birds 1,200 miles from Wisconsin to Florida, but

the total time flying was about 35 hours. Mature cranes

raised by Operation Migration are more efficient: they can

fly the whole route

in 5 days.

In March 2016,

Manatee Audubon

will head to the

Florida panhandle

in a quest to see

Whoopers!

Oct.15th — “Whoop It Up: Whooping Cranes

...What’s the Story?” OCTOBER MONTHLY MEETING...

DATE: Thurs., Oct. 15

TIME: 7pm

PLACE: Hope Lutheran Church

4635 26th St West, Bradenton

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The term “murder of crows” mostly reflects a time when

groupings of many animals had colorful and poetic names.

Other fun examples of “group” names include:

An ostentation of peacocks,

a parliament of owls, a knot frogs, and a skulk of foxes.

Crows are members of the Corvidae family, which also includes ravens, magpies, and blue jays. Loud,

rambunctious, and very intelligent, crows are most often associated with a long history of fear and loath-

ing. They are considered pests by farmers trying to protect their crops and seedlings. Many people fear

them simply because of their black feathers, which are often associating them with death. But research

demonstrated in the PBS-TV documentary, A Murder of Crows, proves crows are actually very social

and caring creatures, and also among the smartest animals on the planet.

Where do crows live? Crows live all over the world, except for Antarctica.

What do they eat?

Crows are predators and scavengers, which means that they will eat practically anything. Their diet con-

sists of various road-kill, insects, frogs, snakes, mice, corn, hu-

man fast food, even eggs and nestlings of other birds. An adult

crow needs about 11 ounces of food daily.

How many species are there?

There are about 40 or so species in the Corvus genus. These

range from pigeon-sized birds to ravens, which can be as much

as 24-27 inches long.

Social Environment

Crows are very social and have a tight-knit family. They roost in

huge numbers (in the thousands) to protect themselves from

enemies like red-tailed hawks, horned-owls, and raccoons. Crows also use at least 250 different calls.

The distress call brings other crows to their aid, as crows will defend unrelated crows. Crows mate for

life.

Crows and West Nile Virus

Crows are susceptible to West Nile virus, and their deaths are used as early indicators of potential hu-

man disease in an area. West Nile Virus has killed 45% of American crows since 1999, though they’re

still listed as Least Concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

What’s a murder of crows?

A group of crows is called a “murder.” There are several different explanations for the origin of this term,

mostly based on old folk tales and superstitions. For instance, there is a folktale that crows will gather

and decide the capital fate of another crow.

Many view the appearance of crows as an omen of death because ravens and crows are scavengers

and are generally associated with dead bodies, battlefields, and cemeteries, and they’re thought to cir-

cle in large numbers above sites where animals or people are expected to soon die.

See examples of crow intelligence in videos: Crow sledding; Crow using tools; Crow recognizing &

remembering specific people; Crow trying to steal frying pan. Video links at: http://

hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/03/12/crows-intelligence-gifts

How Smart are Crows? Scary Smart! COVER STORY

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Treasurer’s Report

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We were able to complete the year without tapping into the Barbara Singer Memorial Felts Pre-serve Endowment Fund by subsidizing Felts Preserve from the main account. We hope to be able

to do so again this fiscal year in order to build up the endowment fund more quickly, so that it will eventually produce enough earnings to maintain the preserve. Right now, if we pulled the maximum amount allowed from the Endowment Fund, it would only cover about 1/3 of the annual Felts Audu-bon Preserve budgeted expenditures. Thanks to a $40,000 grant, we were able to bring over 3,000 3rd grade students to Felts Audubon Preserve (69 field trips). However it stretched our resources almost to breaking, so this year we are

budgeting far fewer field trips. Our Felts visitors provided enough in donations to pay for all the bird seed we needed this past fiscal year. Because The Giving Partner Challenge was so late in the

year, having just occurred on Sept 1 & 2, we do not expect to receive those donations until November, at which time we will know if we will receive any additional matching money. We received matching funds of $2,500 in addition to the $5,910 that was donated. It is a tribute to all of our members and supporters that we were able to exceed last year's do-nations of $3,297 despite the extremely poor timing of the campaign when most or our Board members were away and we were on a summer break as an organization. As a consequence the Board has decided to postpone any deci-sions regarding the allocation of those funds, including deter-mining how much to add to the Barbara Singer Memorial Felts Preserve Endowment Fund. Our Fiscal Year began July 1, 2015 and ends June 30, 2016.

If you would like more informa-tion or detail about our budget, investments or expenditures, give me a call at 941 776-8424. Lucette Wombacher, Treasurer

* $2,000 for educational signage,

$500 to replace stolen weed whacker

& $300 to replace 5 bluebird houses

and the 3-tube feeder

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The new Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp

(popularly called the "Duck Stamp") was released this summer at

the Memphis, Tennessee, Bass Pro Shop. The artwork on this

2015-2016 Stamp shows a pair of lovely Ruddy Ducks painted in

acrylic by Jennifer Miller of Olean, New York.

And on Sept 20, 2015 the new art for the 2016-2017 duck

stamp was chosen. Not since 1967 have swans appeared on the

Federal Duck Stamp. (DRAFT of 2016-2017 stamp at below left.)

The term "Duck Stamp" is a little misleading. While the primary

purposes was originally to conserve habitat for ducks (& hunters)

the second part of the official name is the most important -

"Conservation Stamp." It’s crucial to realize today parts of 252

National Wildlife Refuges (accounting for more than 2.37 million

acres) and over 200 Waterfowl Production Areas (with over 3.0

million acres secured) already owe their existence to the Stamp

investments. These protected areas support many non-game

birds including migratory and backyard species. An investment of

$25 helps conserve habitat critical to many bird species.

ACCESS MATTERS: A FREE PASS TO NWRs

If you want a free pass to all National Wildlife Refuges that

charge for entry – Santa Ana NWR in Texas, Forsythe NWR in New

Jersey, Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico, Ding Darling NWR in Florida, Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware, Parker River

NWR in Massachusetts, Ridgefield NWR in Washington, and more –

get yourself the latest “Duck Stamp.”

Carrying the stamp constitutes a free pass to all the NWRs in the US

that charge for entry. The latest Stamp was released for sale at the

end of June. This is the first of these stamps to cost $25, an in-

crease of $10 over the previous price of the stamp.

Besides being a free NWR pass through next June and a fine collec-

tion item, it is a true conservation-funding vehicle. Proceeds from

the Stamp go into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund

(MBCF) to secure habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System,

mostly grasslands and wetlands today.

If access matters, so should holding a Migratory Bird Hunting and

Conservation Stamp.

You can find out more on the stamp and its conservation uses from

the Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp: http://

www.friendsofthestamp.org

New Duck Stamps — for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017

Welcome New Members!

Join us in the expansion of our

newest birding buddies...

Duane & Nancy Stasiewicz

John & Jane Lampkin

Faith Battan

Lisa McGloin & Jan Alderman

THANK YOU DONORS!!

Non-profit organizations like

Manatee Audubon are dependent

on donations. Thank you to our

September special donor:

Nancy W. Griffin

And Thank You to all who

contributed during

The 2015 Giving Challenge.

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Try New Merlin Photo for Bird ID

It was only a matter of time, but we are now about to get a glimpse of the bird-watching future. Computer researchers and bird enthusiasts have now devel-oped a computer program able to identify hundreds of North American bird species by photograph. Called Merlin Bird Photo ID, the identifier is capable of recognizing 400 of the mostly commonly encoun-tered birds in the US and Canada.

“It gets the bird right in the top three results about 90% of the time, and it’s designed to keep improving the more people use it,” said Jessie Barry at the Cor-nell Lab of Ornithology.

To see if Merlin can identify the species in your photo, you can upload an image of the bird and tell Merlin where and when you took it. Then to orient Merlin, you draw a simple box around the bird and

sequentially click on the bird’s bill, eye, and tail. Merlin, almost magically, does the rest.

Merlin’s success, according to the researchers and developers, relies on collaboration between com-puters and humans. The computer gets to recognize each species from tens of thousands of images identified and labeled by bird enthusiasts. It also taps in to more than 70 million sightings recorded by birders in the eBird database, reducing its search to the species found at the location and time of year when the photo was taken. Perhaps best of all, because the Merlin photo identifier uses machine-learning techniques, it has the potential to improve the more people use it.

You can try it with some of your own bird photos here: www.AllAboutBirds.org/photoID

Tip of the Month: High Tech Birding

Bird Festival at Fairchild Oct. 1-4, 2015

This year’s keynote speaker will be Kenn Kaufman. The festival begins with 2 days of off-site tours of

South Florida bird habitats led by Tropical Audubon Society experts. The festival continues at Fairchild

on Saturday & Sunday with activities for birders of all ages, including presentations by bird experts, bird

walks, amateur bird photo contest and exhibit.

Location: Miami, FL

Organizer: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Contact: Vanessa Cook Ph: 305-663-8077

Website: http://www.fairchildgarden.org/Events-Community-Outreach/Bird-Festival

4th Annual Wings & Wildflowers Festival Oct. 2-4, 2015 Join us for keynote dinners, vendors, classroom presentations, field trips to over 21 locations (birding, paddling, and wildflower hotspots), classroom presentations, Birds and Brews, wildlife shows, butterfly tent, Hook Kids on Fishing Program, and many other fun and exciting events! Location: Venetian Gardens, Leesburg, FL

Organizer: Lake County Economic Dev. & Tourism. Contact Person: Yvonne Powers

Phone: 352-742-3918

Website: http://www.wingsandwildflowers.com

1st Annual Indian River Birding Festival Oct. 16-17, 2015 Location: Sebastian, FL. Register & pay in advance for choice of: Owl Prowl, lectures, Jungle Trail tour, Scrub Jay tour, Butterfly Talk, Beginning Birding seminar, Sunset Cruise. More info on Facebook: Treasure Coast Bird Art Show or call: 772-494-6306, Deb Avery.

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Monthly Photo Contest

With another birding season already underway, it’s time to share your birding through the lens” memo-ries. Our friendly & fun Monthly Photo Contests start

with voting at our general membership monthly meeting on Oct. 15th.

MCAS Photo Contest Rules Photos should be submitted no later than midnight the Thursday before our General Meeting to

manateeaudubon@gmail.com . Photos should be original work of the submitter. Images submitted will become part of the MCAS photo library. First, Second, and Third place winners will be determined by votes of all attendees during the

monthly General Meeting.

Criteria is quite subjective since not all of our meeting attendees are photo enthusiasts. Both com-mon and rare species of birds seem to attract votes. Tight shots & well-cropped images will likely yield more votes. Prizes: Bragging rights & inclusion in the following newsletter & on the Manatee Audubon website. Questions? Contact Scott Niblick, contest chairman: 757- 613-3948

Lake Apopka & Circle B Overnight Field Trip — Nov. 6Bird lovers have a new way to enjoy the wildlife of the Lake Apopka North Shore with the open-

ing of the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. Spanning

11 miles, the drive offers people the opportunity

to see some of the 362 species of birds (16 of

which are exotics) that have been identified on

the property as well as alligators, bobcats, otters,

turtles and other wildlife.

You can share this experience with your bird buddies on Fri-Sat, Nov. 6-7. Ed & Amy Francis

have planned a fabulous weekend of birding,

starting with a stop at Circle B Bar Reserve in

Lakeland during the drive to the hotel near the

Lake Apopka area. Saturday includes birding along the new North Shore Wildlife Drive, and after your box lunch, folks will tour the Avian recondi-

tioning Center (ARC) for close encounters with Florida’s Hawk, Kite, Falcon & Owl species, plus a

Falconry demonstration.

IMPORTANT: Trip signup required

(limited to 20) so call or email Ed at:

720-357-4447, ecf361@gmail.com.

Cost is $35 (ARC donation & box lunch)

plus Hotel ($99 incldg breakfast) and Gas.

A Wildlife Drive map and birding list are available on a website

at: floridaswater.com/recreationguide/lakeapopka.

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Felts Preserve: “All Hands on Deck”

Thanks to a small group of dedicated volunteers, the boat that was dumped on Felts Audubon Preserve property has been removed and taken to the Lena road Landfill. Billie and Jerry Knight and Richard Pope managed to pull it out of the ditch. One of the neighbors, Kevin Bridges, brought his tractor, which was used to lift the boat onto the pickup truck that Jim Stephenson had borrowed from Tom Heitzman. Jim donated a tank of gas

plus the landfill tipping fee in addition to driv-ing down to the landfill. Fred Allen brought

the heavy duty strap and clamps used to lift the boat and to then secure it to the truck. It was estimated that the boat weighed be-tween 700 and 1,000 pounds. It took the

combined efforts of Jerry, Richard and Fred to maneuver the boat into the truck and se-cure it. Billie had her camera and took some photos; Lucette Wombacher pitched in &

wrote this article.

We have over 240 members, yet only six showed up for our monthly Work Day at Felts Audubon Preserve. Even though that is double the usual 3 work day volunteers, it is very dis-couraging we only had this small group show up when our organization was facing penalties from Manatee County Code Enforcement if the boat was not removed promptly. Two special

emails asking for help were sent.

We MUST have more volunteers. If even half of our members would volunteer just once, it would make a huge difference. Some of our trails are now completely overgrown because there is no way the three of us can keep them all groomed. —Let us know how we can effec-tively encourage more folks to show up.

Audubon Adventures Starts Sat, Oct. 10 @ 9am

Now that the kids are back into their school routines,

it’s time to get them having fun while learning about

nature. Audubon Adventures is a great program de-

signed for elementary & middle school kids primarily,

but high school kids are also welcomed to partici-

pate. Our first topic is migration as we explore Felts Preserve.

We meet in the parking lot at Felts Preserve in Palmetto on the 2nd Saturday

each month from Oct to April, 9-11am. Parents should have a bag lunch & bot-

tled water for their kids; binoculars & field guides are provided while the kids

are at Felts Preserve. — Questions? Call Steve Black 376-0110 or Karen

Willey 794-8773 .

Manatee County Audubon Society

P.O. Box 14550, Bradenton, FL 34280

Ph: 941-729-2222 www.ManateeAudubon.org

Manatee County Audubon Society is a chapter of National Audubon Society Inc.

INJURED BIRD HELP:

2015-2016 STANDING COMMITTEES (* = Board member) Beach Nesting Bird Stewardship ...… Dee Hanny …………… 745 -1553

Christmas Bird Count …………… Dick Comeau* ……… 752 -1835

Conservation …………………… Open

Education ………………………… Deb Comeau* & …… 752 -1835

Jim Stephenson*… 301- 466 -1973

Field Trips ………………………… Connie Zack* ………… 758 -2929

Felts Audubon Preserve …………… Fred Allen ………… 723 -6045

Felts Open House ………………… Amy Miller* …………. 758 -7478

Historian ………………………… Deb Comeau* ……… . 752 -1835

Hospitality ………………………… Ed*& Amy Francis… 720-357 -4447

Jr Audubon / Audubon Adventures.. Steve Black* ………… 376 -0110

& Karen Willey ……… 794 -8773

Membership Directory & Dues ….... Lucette Wombacher*.. 776 -8424

Membership Recruitment ………..… Open

Newsletter Editor ……………… Lori Roberts* ….... 678- 521 -1965

Photo Contests…………………… Scott Niblick* …... 757- 613 -3948

Photo Displays…………………… Deb Yodock* …… 228 -1269

Publicity …………………………… Open

Social Media—Facebook …….……. Billie Knight ……… . 592 -7622

Webmaster ………………………… Jim Stephenson*… 301- 466 -1973

Member at Large…………………... Kim Jones*………… 587-2037

CHAPTER OFFICERS 2015-2016

President — Nick Ziemba ……716- 785-4732

Vice Pres — Deb Comeau…………752-1835

Secretary — Jim Stephenson ….301-466-1973

Treasurer — Lucette Wombacher 776-8424

Asst. Treas -- Jack Schneider …. …. 792-1794

Monthly Meetings of Manatee Audu-bon are held the third Thursday of each month from September through April. Fellowship starts at 6:30pm; the featured speaker starts at 7pm.

Location: The public is invited to attend monthly meetings held at Hope Lutheran Church, 4635 26th St West (south of Cortez Rd.), Bradenton.

Manatee Chapter Board meetings are monthly on the 2nd Wed at 6pm in the main Manatee County Library. These meetings are open (if you want to attend).

Upcoming Events & Key Contacts

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Audubon Adventures - Oct. 10