The beauty of birds ofprey and communitycollaboration werecelebrated May 5,

when David Stratton’s red-tailed hawk sculpture wasdedicated at the base of theHorse Fork Creek Trail.

A nice crowd dominated byco-sponsors Brescia University

and Daviess County AudubonSociety attended.

“The Birds of the Green-belt series demonstrates Bre-scia’s interest and emphasis oneducation and is at the heart ofpublic information programssuch as this,” Stratton said.

Brescia’s Arts in Service tothe Community is designed to

work with community organi-zations to design, build andinstall public art that promoteslifelong learning, he noted.

Stratton described hisstoneware piece of two red-tailed hawk as “wabi,” a Japa-nese term for organic, flawed

See Sculpture, Page 3

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YJune 2010

www.daviessaudubon.net

An old-fashioned picnicand new-fangled birding toolsare on the menu for the finalmeeting of the 2009-2010Daviess County Audubon So-ciety year.

The annual picnic will beheld at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 1,at the Kuegel Korner shelter-house at Panther Creek Park,just inside the main entrance ofthe park.

Meat and drinks will befurnished by the club. Mem-bers are asked to bring sidedishes or a dessert.

A program on e-birdingwill be presented by ScottHarp of Kentucky Departmentof Fish and Wildlife.

How can you turn youriPod into a tweet machine?Come and find out! Alongwith personal use, he noted

that electronic tools can beused to bring birds in closer foreducational programs. TheDCAS is contemplating pur-chasing electronic equipmentfor club use.

To provide head cook MikeHenshaw with a head count,contact him at 275-4250 ormikesherry@vci.net.

Club meetings resume inSeptember.

Celebrating the occasion, from left, front row, were: Daviess County Audubon Society membersWinny Lin, Brenda Little, Rose Ann Radzelovage, Brenda Eaden and Tony Eaden; back row:DCAS members Bill Little, Kenny Lin, the Rev. Larry Hostetter, Brescia president; Mike Henshaw,Charles Morris, Stratton, Mary Kissel, Judy Adams, Carolyn Williams, Grace Ford, Joe Fordand Lynn Tichenor. (Photo courtesy of Winny Lin)

DCAS, Brescia celebrate sculpture

Picnic, e-birding session conclude club year

Page 2

Thomas calls disease‘unprecedented’ in nature

The devastation ofwhite-nose syndrometook center stage atthe May 4 meeting of

the Daviess County AudubonSociety,

Steve Thomas, ecologist forthe National Park Service’sCumberland Piedmont Inven-tory and Monitoring Network,called the disease“unprecedented” in the annalsof North American wildlife,because of the speed in which ithas traveled and killed.

The disease kills at least90% of those cave-dwellingbats affected with the tell-talewhite fungus around the muz-zle, wings, ears or tail mem-brane.

“They’re like a hunk ofcheese with mold growing onthem,” he said.

They use up their energygrooming and flying about,because their hibernation isinterrupted from the irritation.Their lowered state of immu-nity during hibernation makesthem vulnerable. Those whichsurvive the winter are left withscars and have more difficultyflying.

More than 1 million batshave died from the disease fromNew Hampshire to Missouri, aswell as parts of Canada. No oneis completely sure where itcame from, although it mayhave been accidentally intro-duced from someone in a Euro-pean cave.

“It may be just a matter oftime before it arrives,” he said,acknowledging its presence innearby states. Although batswere tested in Mammoth Cave,results were negative.

What are the signs? Batsflying outside during the day;

shifting locations in a cave;dead bats near caves or struc-tures, he said. Members wereasked to report suspected casesto state or federal fish and wild-life officials.

The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService has issued a voluntaryrecreational cave moratorium inaffected states. The risk is con-sidered low at large touristcaves like Mammoth Cave. Butthere are wild cave tours of-fered by the park, in whichthere is climbing and crawling,so they are testing measures ofprevention, such as having cov-eralls for people to wear whichstay in the park, disinfectingboots before and after tours andproviding other equipment,such as lights and helmets.Visitors who have been in acave in the Central or Easterntime zone in the past five yearsare asked to have footwear dis-infected or to refrain fromwearing worn caving items.

Thomas concedes humans’role in transmitting the diseaseis disputed. Scientists are moni-toring Carlsbad Caverns inNew Mexico. Because bats’migration distance is limited, ifit shows up there, that would bea good sign that the disease canbe transmitted by humans.

Once a cave is infected, it’sinfected. Scientists are trying tofigure out how to clean a cavewithout killing off other organ-isms in a cave.

The disease plays havocwith the ecosystem. Throughguano, bats import organic mat-ter in caves, which are nutrient-poor areas for other creaturesthere.

It also threatens the econ-omy, because they are farmers’front-line defense from night-flying insects. An average batcan eat 1,000 insects/hour,which could translate into ahike of billions of insects in-festing crops.

Thomas also explored someof the bats which inhabit Mam-moth Cave. Of the 15 batsknown in the state, 13 can befound on the Mammoth Caveproperty. Nine use caves, fouruse trees and are seldom incaves.

The lineup includes Rafi-nesque’s big-eared bats, a spe-cial concern species; federallyendangered gray and Indianabats, and eastern small-footedbat, which is state-endangered.

Indiana bats roost in thewinter, clustering together.During the summer, the femaleshave their young under the barkof trees. In the last year, speciestotals have dropped 17%.

Gray bats use caves year-round – a winter home and asummer home. Their numbershave been climbing – in twopark caves alone, there are450,000 gray bats.

The cave perhaps has thelargest population of Rafi-nesque’s big-eared bat in thecountry. One cave has about900; normally, they havegroups of 50. They are found incaves, trees or sometimes aban-doned buildings.

Officials have less knowl-edge about the park’s tree bats.Many migrate in the winter:such as Seminole and hoarybats, which are the state’s larg-est (18-inch wingspan). The redbat hibernates on the forestfloor, underneath litter or logs.

One reason for bats’ scar-city is its breeding. Most batsonly have one pup a year,which can fly within three orfour weeks.

As nocturnal creatures, theynavigate through echo location,high frequency calls whichbounce back off an object, giv-ing them an indication of whereobjects are.

Steve Thomas discusses bats of Mammoth Cave at the Maymeeting.

Ecologist braces for white-nose syndrome

Page 3

Mike Henshaw puts another coat of whitewash on the bird blind, as Bill Little, Mary Kissel,Tony Eaden and Brenda Little await their next task. (Judy Adams photo)

Audubon membersand Mother Na-ture continue todo battle at Girl

Scout Camp Pennyroyal fol-lowing an April 28 work dayat the Powell Bird Blind.

Mike Henshaw and JudyAdams powered a coat ofwhitewash over the adobestructure. Tony Eaden hadcleared the easement, wherewildflowers were planted. Hecontinues to work on the rockand soil mixture at the thresh-old of the blind, where soilpushed up at the base wascausing rot. He also repairedthe blind door and drilleddrainage holes in feeders.

Bill Little and Kenny Linworked inside the blind, andthey, Mary Kissel and BrendaLittle worked on rebuildingthe mulch trail to the frog

pond. A frog stump carvedby David Stratton was movedto the frog pond, where bothfrogs received a covering oflinseed oil for protection.

Unfortunately, the greatDerby weekend rains did

wash out some of their seedplantings, although BrendaLittle said the seeded areashows much thicker germina-tion than the area that was

See Blind, Page 5

Blind gets needed overcoat;rains undermine some work

Mary Kissel, left, and Judy Adams re-cover the ramp leadinginto the blind area.

SculptureFrom Page 1

flawed artwork that interprets its sub-ject. But flaws are what make us spe-cial and lead to friendships and col-laborations that promote learning, hesaid.

“The birds aren’t ideal out in thewild, so the flawed the better,” he said.

To maximize its purpose as an in-formation tool, Stratton tinkered withthe mounting structure so the banners,which detail tidbits about birds’ diet,habitat and physical features can bemore wind-resistant. The “Red-TailedHawk” headline is clearly visible todrivers on the U.S. 60 bypass as theytravel between the New Hartford Roadand Frederica Street exits.

Brescia president the Rev. LarryHostettler touted the work as a reflec-tion of Brescia’s mission and educationand community service. Brescia offi-cials also expressed gratitude to theCity of Owensboro’s streets, engineer-ing, public works and parks depart-ments for their assistance.

DCAS president Brenda Little usedthe occasion to tell the gathering thatthe Audubon Society is much morethan a birding club.

“The Audubon Society is interestedin the entire web of life. We love na-ture. We love the beauty, and we real-ize we live in a very, very busy world.This is a perfect place where peoplecome to relax, and they look up in thesky and see the real birds circling.”

She also stressed the organization’semphasis on positive action, recreationand education as weaponry againstthreats on the environment. The sculp-ture project goes hand-in-hand withthat emphasis.

“We want to give to our commu-nity, every mom pushing a strollerdown through here. We want this tospeak to her and those little ones, to thepeople riding their bikes, jogging. Wehave a message, and it is: Slow down alittle bit. Listen if you can.”

She challenged other organizationsto step up and sponsor pieces for theseries. A goldfinch sculpture wasplaced on the trail’s eastern end at Ye-well Heritage Park, Brookhill subdivi-sion.

Bill Little, Kentucky Heritage

See Sculpture, Page 5

Page 4

Sign upohelp wthWKBGclasses atthe Maymeeting.

Carolyn Williams is urging members to contact family and

Previous efforts help fund Audubon Adventures and other

visual and promotional material for the club in its bid to

Bluebird walkalso part of

birding festivalThe birding hotspot of

south-central Indiana lived upto its hype during the Ohio Val-ley Birding Festival April 30and May 1, delivering on somememorable moments for thoseventuring to the Goose PondWildlife Management Areanear Linton.

Daviess County Audubonmembers Charles and LauraMorris, Carolyn Williams, andBob and Judy Adams went onthe May 1 trip, which was high-lighted by a staredown for terri-tory by a pair of American bit-terns, who stood frozen in theirposes for a staggering 45 min-utes. Laura Morris noted shehad never seen anything likethat in her life – and the Mor-rises are veteran waterbirdwatchers.

The sight also left an impacton trip leader Lee Sterrenbergof Bloomington, Ind., for whomthe property is a second home.

In his report for IndianaBirding, he wrote: “One bird

did stretched neck, sky pointingbehavior during most of theencounter, and the other birdmostly did crouching behavior.The crouched bittern did morebobbing or weaving and alsodid some advancing toward theerect bird.”

But grassland speciesthreatened by habitat change

also were represented. CharlesMorris also was thrilled to havesuch a good look at a grasshop-per sparrow, one of the top spe-cies of the National AudubonSociety’s “Birds of Decline”list.

Species spotted or heardSaturday included: barn swal-low, red-winged blackbird,

Canada geese, starling, turkeyvulture, American crow, greatblue heron, American gold-finch, American kestrel, Ameri-can robin, common grackle,mourning dove, tree swallow,house sparrow, eastern mead-owlark, blue-winged teal,northern bobwhite, great egret,cattle egret, grasshopper spar-row, black-necked stilt, double-crested cormorant, lesser yel-lowlegs, killdeer, solitary sand-piper, ring-billed gull, bald ea-gle, mallard, rough-wingedswallow, American coot, red-tailed hawk, northern harrier,purple martin, indigo bunting,green heron, wood duck, black-crowned night heron, Americanbittern, common yellowthroatand great horned owl.

Bill and Brenda Little optedto go on the Friday morningtrip, which she termed as“exhausting but unique.” Al-though hampered by wind, theystill managed to spot or hearmore than 60 species among themud flats and prairie grasseswhich make up the 8,000 acres.

“My favorite sighting of the

See Bitterns, Page 5

Bitterns amaze birders at Goose Pond

A bluebird fusses at visitors at John James Audubon State Park.(Judy Adams photo)

Judy Adams discusses kestrels at the Western KentuckyBotanical Garden.

Beginning birding classes for hundreds of local kids continuedthrough May at the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden.Charles Morris, Mary Kissel, Judy Adams, Ken Hurm, Caro-lyn Williams and Kenny Lin engaged local third-graders using

new fake birds purchased by the WKBG. The International MigratoryBird collection is life-sized, Kissel noted, which makes it easier for thekids to see and identify. Their weather-resistant status has been tested bywindy conditions at the garden, which forced educators inside duringFoust Elementary’s classes.

The 12 birds also came with a teacher’s guide loaded with fun factsabout these common backyard birds, and Kissel delighted in demonstrat-ing how American kestrels kick at their predators with their talons.

They also complement the real-life visitors to the property. Kids have

See Garden, Page 5

Birds, kids flock to garden

Page 5

SculptureFrom Page 3

Land Conservation Fund Boardtreasurer, used the occasion to toutnature license plate sales as a con-servation tool, noting that part ofthe Greenbelt was purchased withthese funds.

The ceremony was followedby a short nature hike on the trail.Species spotted included: ruby-throated hunmingbird, turkey vul-ture, American robin, black-and-white warbler, killdeer, chimneyswift, common grackle, starling,mourning dove, eastern meadow-lark, eastern kingbird, northernparula, red-winged blackbird , red-bellied woodpecker, northern car-dinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, red-tailed hawk, blue jay, Americangoldfinch, great blue heron, north-ern rough-winged swallow, east-ern wood pewee, barn swallowand American goldfinch.

BlindFrom Page 3

not seeded. Eaden said he went over thereand planted about 10 pounds of sunflowerseeds, mostly around the edge of the wild-flowers and all the way up to the gravelroad.

Since the work day, Little also noted a“widow maker” has fallen and taken downthe clothesline that she and Bill used tosuspend a thistle feeder in front of theviewing windows.

As a temporary fix, she’s suspendingthe thistle tube from the 3-tube feeder thathangs closest to one of the front viewingwindows. It will ultimately be attached to a

tree.Adams and Kissel attached roofing tiles

to the wheelchair ramp. Its slick surfacehad toppled more than one child or adultvisitor to the blind, and the new surfaceseems to provide needed traction.

Brenda Little and park ranger Lisa Leo-nard are exploring ways to decrease erosioninto the frog pond. After the heavy rains,she could see neither the tadpoles nor themosquito fish that had been put there lastyear from Carpenter’s Lake. Judy Adamshas suggested some type of wooden descentin the muddiest area next to the blind.

They still need to remove some of thedrippage from the overcoat and find a wayto enhance the relief covered by the over-coat

BitternsFrom Page 4

was a first-year bald eagle doing practiceruns at trying, without success, to fish forhis lunch. I could have stayed and watchedhim for an hour. His colors were gorgeous,and a mature eagle sat nearby lookingbored as all get out while he tried in vain tocatch a fish. We also watched a matureeagle (a la the Lord helps them that helpsthemselves) snatch a fish away from a juve-nile,” Little reported.

They also saw a swimming muskrat anda mama skunk carrying a kit across the roadin her mouth.

Sterrenberg reported that the day washighlighted by three Wilson’s Phalarope

and a black-crowned night heron.The trips also reconnected DCAS mem-

bers with several Evansville-area birders.They also met Steve Gifford, a Haubstadt,Ind., resident who is a stellar nature pho-tographer. He accepted the group’s invita-tion to attend the sculpture ceremony thefollowing week and lunched with members,offering heartfelt advice on advancing theDaviess County Audubon Society mission.His pictures from the festival may be foundat http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_gifford/page2/

The Adamses and Williams also at-tended the bluebird program at John JamesAudubon State Park that morning, whichfeatured Bob and Judy Peak, who have setup bluebird trails at Land Between theLakes and other parts of the tri-state.

GardenFrom Page 4

peeked at the barn swallow and robin nests inthe garden’s gazebo. Education team mem-bers also were happily surprised by a nicepopulation of birds at the resident feeders,even in poor weather conditions. Kids loveseeing the bright patches on the red-wingedblackbirds, and the sight of a male cardinal atthe feeder prompted one Cravens student tourge all to “make a wish on the redbird.”During the second week, brown thrasherswere of note.

This spring has seen an uptick in theEurasian collared dove at the garden, andDCAS team members were pleased to beable to point out the differences between thelarger, paler invasive species and mourningdoves.

Perhaps the best birding moment at thegarden, alas, occurred before Cravens kidsarrived one morning. A group of gracklesteamed up to mob a soaring red-tailed hawk.

Schools participating in May were: FoustElementary, Newton Parrish; Cravens Ele-mentary, Deer Park Elementary; SorghoElementary; Tamarack Elementary and East-view Elementary.

Sculptures salute red-tailedhawks and American gold-finches.

Page 6

Mike Henshaw and Bob Adams prepare for Trash for CashMay 22.

Chapter turns trash into cashFive miles of southwestern Daviess County are a bit cleaner

– and the club a lot richer -- thanks to Trash for Cash effortsMay 21 and 22.

Because of the manpower, they were able to complete thefour-mile Saturday session by early afternoon. Club directorsopted to try five miles, because the county’s reward/mile hadbeen slashed in half. The weekend’s work netted the club $500before recyclables were turned in.

Bill and Brenda Little spearheaded Team Bailey efforts onFriday, picking up mile-long Ashbyburg Road. The next day,David Stratton, Bob Adams, Judy Adams, Mike Henshaw,Henry Connor, Pat Augenstein, Mary Kissel, Carolyn Williamsand driver Charles Morris tackled Burns Road. Its segmentsstretch from U.S. 431 to Windy Hollow Restaurant on Kentucky81. Grabbers and stick and ski poles helped fish items out of therain-filled ditches flanked by tall grass and cornfields. Allagreed the amount of trash was down from previous pickups,particularly noting the lack of Styrofoam containers. Aluminumcans were set aside for recycling.

The effort was boosted by a barbecue lunch provided by JanHoward of Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, topped by Williams’ sweetbreads.

Brenda Little noted the event is considered part of KeepAmerica Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. The nation’slargest community improvement program takes place annu-ally from March 1 through May 31, involving an estimated 3million volunteers and attendees. Volunteers donated morethan 5.2 million hours in 2009 to clean, beautify and improvemore than 32,000 communities during more than 30,000events in all 50 states and beyond.

Ford library moving to Ford centerThe Joe Ford Nature Library is closed until later this sum-

mer, when it completes its move from Brescia University tothe Joe Ford Nature Park behind the GRADD offices on U.S.60 West this summer. Anyone who would like to help with themove may contact Grace Ford at gcarford@aol.com or 302-2755.

Polo shirts available

Interested in a Daviess County Audubon polo shirt, shownhere worn by Judy Adams and Mary Kissel? Prices start at$15, and they may be ordered with Sheryl Lott of Lotts ofStitches, lottsofstitches@yahoo.com (Bob Adams photo)

Take a hike, celebrate Trails DayKentucky will be taking part in National Trails Day on June

5 with events to recognize the miles of excellent trails in thestate.

National Trails Day was launched by the American HikingSociety in 1993 to help promote exercise, trail developmentand the outdoors. It has grown to more than 1,100 eventsaround the country.

“Kentucky’s trail system is an incredible asset to our statethat deserves to be recognized,” said First Lady Jane Beshear ina news release. “Kentuckians should take advantage of themany wonderful hikes at our state parks to get active and enjoyour state’s beautiful landscapes.”

The Kentucky State Parks have nearly 300 miles of hikingtrails and sponsor the Trail Shape program – a challenge tohike 16 trails in one year. For more information, visitwww.parks.ky.gov

Kentucky has more than 2,500 miles of hiking trails. Tofind a trail in your area, visit www.getoutky.com

At John James Audubon State Park, Henderson, the day ishighlighted by the Creatures of the Night Adventure Trek.

Visitors can venture out with the interpretation staff anddiscover the mysticism of nighttime creatures. Interested?Bring a flashlight and come to the Audubon Museum. The hikelasts from 6:30-9 p.m. Contact Julie McDonald at 270-826-2247 or juliea.mcdonald@ky.gov

At Pennyrile Forest State Park, Dawson Springs, guestscan hike parts of the Lake Trail and Pennyroyal Trail. Hikersare encouraged to bring hand clippers to tidy up the trail. Thisevent is open to adults and children ages 5 and up. All childrenages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Thisevent is free and will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 800-325-1711.

Page 7

From the President’s Perch

Delegating is typically easier saidthan done. That observation iscoming from someone who takes“The Little Red Hen” concept to

extremes. However with our chapter mem-bers, the past year has been smooth and syn-chronized as people stepped up to fill theroles where their talents served all of us well.No one person had to take on the yoke ofresponsibility for an unfair share of thethings it takes to make a successful year.Oftentimes during directors’ meetings, Iwould hear someone say, “I can do that!”,and it was said with enthusiasm, too. Notonly did our people volunteer to do whatneeded doing, they followed through. We didnot have a problem with broken promises.

We’ve spent a lot of money during thepast nine months, but our expenditures havebeen carefully thought out and have helpedour club to be able to present better programsand to have higher name recognition in ourcommunity. Following the unveiling of thefirst Greenbelt Birds, we invited professionalphotographer Steve Gifford, of EvansvilleAudubon Society to have lunch with us. Wepeppered Steve with excited chatter about theprograms, field studies and projects we havesponsored this year. Steve replied that he hadlooked at our website and realized that wewere really doing a lot of exciting things.And then he added, “You are doing a lot withvery little in the way of funding.”

The third observation I want to shareabout the year that is fast coming to an end isthat we have had a lot of fun while accom-plishing a lot. That is one thing that is sogreat about Audubon. Education is our majorgoal, but we do not take a sky-is-falling ap-proach. Rather we concentrate on the posi-tive, what can be done about the problems

that we learn about. And we have fun all thewhile, as we watch birds, hike, turn overrocks to see what we can find, we enjoy eachother’s company, diverse as we are. Prob-lems and all, this really is a wonderful world.

I guess my final observation about theyear almost ended is a strong feeling ofpride. I am so very proud of us. Not of me,though I am happy about how well thingshave gone, it is us as a group of which I amproud.

I am proud of how hospitable we havebeen to our exciting new members, to our

visitors, to our speakers. Proud of how wehave urged friends to attend our programsand field trips. Proud of how we set highgoals and then set about reaching them.Proud of how we had courage to take ourtreasury lower than it has been in a few yearsknowing that we would roll up our sleevesand raise funds to replenish our bank ac-count.

It has been a good year.We have been very good to our commu-

nity. We have learned a lot, and we have hada lot of fun!

Teamwork, good investments, fun mark year

Brenda Little, Mike Henshaw, Kenny Lin and Tony Eaden share lunch in the midst of awork day at the Powell Bird Blind.

Your next Goldfinch will comebefore the September meeting.

Have a great summer!