September 2010 Eagle's Nest Newsletter, Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society

8/8/2019 September 2010 Eagle's Nest Newsletter, Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society

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KVASs Jenny Welch is a volun-teer with Audubon of FloridasEagleWatch program. She has

been assigned to the Bald Eagle

nest located on the campus of Highlands Elementary School inKissimmee for several years. Inthis capacity, she has done anoutstanding job of collectingdata, photographing, and protect-ing the eagles.On January 14, 2010, Jenny veri-fied that the eagles had two

young eaglets in the nest. Her photographs clearly showed two individual beaks peeking over theside of the nest. While Bald Eagle clutch sizes range from 1 to 3 eggs,almost 80% of all clutches consist of two eggs (Va. Dept. of Game andInland Fisheries). Only two months later, on March 16, one of the ea-glets was taking a practice flight out of the nest and was sadly electro-cuted on a nearby municipal utility pole. Jenny contacted KissimmeeUtility Authority officials, and some risk remediation features wereadded to the utility pole connections, with more scheduled for the fu-ture. [Continued on Page 2]

Bald Eagle parent in January with new eaglets atthe Highlands Elementary School eagle nest.Photo by Jenny Welch

Our 45th Year of Environmental Activism!

Donegan Street Eagles Update by Andrea Ayala

September 2010

Upcoming Events:

Sept. 16: Volunteersneeded for DiscoverOsceola. 4pm to8:30pm. Contact

Jenny [email protected]

Sept. 28: KVAS Gen-eral Meeting. 6:45pmto 9pm. KUA Build-ing, Kissimmee.

Oct 15: Woods Walk at the Lake LizzieSouth Loop. 9am toNoon. Registration

required. 321-697-3000. (Not a KVASevent.)

Oct. 16: Field Trip toSaddle Creek Park.7am to 1pm. Lake-land area.

Nov. 14: Field Trip toOakland Nature Pre-serve.

Dec. 18: ChristmasBird Count. All day!Kissimmee & St.Cloud area.

KVAS is dedicated toEducation and theConservation of our natural resources .

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KVASs September General Meeting will be held at the KUA build-ing, 1701 W. Carroll St. in Kissimmee, on Tuesday, September 28

from 6:45 to 9 pm. Come hear Disneys Animal Kingdom Keeper Jeff Wells talk about Floridas bat species and meet an Egyptian Fruit Batup close! As always, you do not need to be a member to attend and

programs are free to all.


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Interested in Becoming a Citizen Scientist ? By Andrea Ayala The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has been a bridge be-tween communities and the birds that inhabit them since the1960s. From school classrooms to bird feeders, project partici-

pants vary as widely as those who love the birds themselves.Called Citizen Science projects, these activities range from do-

ing a recurring point count in your neighborhood ( Celebrate Urban Birds ), to doing win-ter surveys of your at-home bird feeders ( Project Feederwatch ), to just going out, birding,and typing your results into a database ( eBird ). In fact, the eBird database was created col-laboratively by Cornell and the National Audubon Society. Ive started using it this spring inorder to create my electronic life list. Although Im not finished, eBird has created lists for me counting the numbers of birds Ive seen throughout my birding life, and throughoutwhatever state I happen to be in. In addition, the data is used by scientists to determinethings like: population trends, migration patterns, and arrival dates onto breeding grounds.Over time, these data entries can be integrated to fill in the gaps of knowledge missing for so many species, in addition to providing baselines of bird data for entire hemispheres. An-other Citizen Science project is one that youve probably heard of: The Great Backyard BirdCount. Every February, birders throughout North America count birds at a time and place of their choosing, submit their data, and help ornithologists continue to monitor bird popula-tions. The Great Backyard Bird Count is run through the cooperative efforts of the CornellLaboratory of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and spon-sored by Wild Birds Unlimited. For more information on their numerous available projects,visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science site: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/about

Donegan Street Eagles Update [Continued from Page 1]The county is in the process of constructing a replacement school structure on the property.Jenny has kept careful watch over the activity, and has contacted and met with planners andconstruction supervisors when necessary. A planned retention pond, thanks to Jennys inter-vention, has been constructed with a gently sloping littoral zone to provide habitat for wad-ing birds and wetland plants. Temporary fencing has been placed around the nest tree andthe eagles main lookout tree to protect against accidents. According to Jenny, the first

phase of the construction plan is complete, meaning that the pond is done and most of the pavement has been laid down. Phase two, which consists of the construction of the newschool building itself, will not occur within significant distance of the eagles habitat. Themated pair has been visible in their territory throughout summer visits. The lifelong couplewill be able to re-nest come October without likely disturbance from the project. By theway, the lone remaining eaglet fledged right on schedule this spring.

Great job, Jenny! To check out Jennys Photo Journal of the nesting eagles and the con-struction site, visit the KVAS Facebook page: http://bit.ly/bxCpIr

The Eagles Nest Page 2
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/http://ebird.org/content/ebird/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://bit.ly/bxCpIrhttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1478http://bit.ly/bxCpIrhttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/citsci/abouthttp://ebird.org/content/ebird/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/


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KVAS tries constantly to raise the consciousness of the population regarding the importance of having naturearound us and countering the forces that would reduce or destroy many of our natural areas. The huge Gulf oilspill raised another alarm about the ongoing trashing of the planet that we all have to live on. The value of ahealthy environment may have been an abstract, evenloony concept to many, but when it came down to beingable to get your favorite Gulf seafood or enjoy a pristine

beach, many could start to see the connection. I mustsay that what kept coming to my mind was the situationin movies like WALL-E , Silent Running , and Soylent Green , where Earths environment had been completely trashed and humans had to resort to

absurd technological solutions to survive. We seem to be sliding toward that kind of even-tuality!KVAS does what we can to affect governmental policy in favor of saving the natural eco-systems that support us (and yes, we need your help doing that). We try to select programsfor our meetings that will educate the public about wildlife and conservation. We attend nu-merous community events with our literature and our knowledge to reach out and further educate the public. And we have our great field trips so members and future members canenjoy the thrills of the wild.By participating in this way over the last ten years or so, I have learned a lot, and have triedto adapt accordingly. The outdoor environment around the home is one area where I canmake a difference, and so can you. Development has wiped out native meadows, marshes,and woods that animals need to survive. We must reject the post-World War II lawn-and-little-bushes mentality and replant with native and Florida-friendly vegetation. This attractsthe native insects (which generally want nothing to do with you or your house), which are inturn food for birds and other animals.Lets take the lawn-centered virtual biological deserts created by homeowners associations(HOAs) and many retirement communities and throw them out the window. HOAs nowhave less say in your landscaping thanks to a new Florida law encouraging Florida-friendly(and water-conserving) landscapes. See what you can do to transform (or ignore) your local

rules. If you need help getting started, just ask!Please take advantage of KVASs September-to-May season of meetings, field trips, andother activities. As always, you will be glad you did!

Larry

Find KVAS on Facebook! The first person to post: Roseate Spoonbill on the KVAS Face-book fan page wall will get a $10.00 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops, which can be picked up at the September General Meeting. Good Luck!

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE by Larry Rosen

An example of xeriscaping in Central Florida.Downloaded from Outdoortravels.com

The Eagles Nest Page 3


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The Eagles NestPublished by

Kissimmee Valley Audubon SocietyPO Box 420115

Kissimmee, FL 34742-0115

Articles for the newsletter are welcomed.

Email: [email protected] with newsletter submissions.

Try a Field Trip!

Kissimmee Valley Audubon SocietyBoard of Directors 2010-2011

KVAS Treasurer Dick Diener communing with a Florida Scrub-Jay atLyonia Preserve in Deltona, Florida. Photo by Larry Rosen

PRESIDENTLarry [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENTPeggy Cholley

[email protected] SECRETARY

Available!TREASURER

Dick Diener [email protected]

MEMBERS-AT-LARGEMike [email protected]

Bob [email protected] Welch

[email protected] FIELD TRIPS

Peggy Cholley [email protected]

PUBLICITYGrayce Woessner [email protected]

PROGRAMSStacia Hetrick [email protected]

MEMBERSHIPSusan [email protected]

NEWSLETTER Andrea [email protected]

EDUCATIONJenny [email protected] CONSERVATION

Available!FUNDRAISING

Available!

What makes coming on aKVAS field trip so great?Well, all the new friendsyoull make and all thecool birds youll see. Andsometimes both happen inthe same encounter! AtLyonia Preserve in VolusiaCounty, you can get upclose with some of theScrub-Jay families thatconsider the park their territory a rare interac-tion with a threatened spe-cies. Note: No animals were fed in the creation of this

photograph.

KVAS on the Web

Website: www.kissimmeeaudubon.org Facebook: http://bit.ly/KVASociety
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]%20mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.kissimmeeaudubon.org/http://bit.ly/KVASocietyhttps://floridaaudubon.ticketleap.net/buy-tickets/conference-registration/2010-audubon-assembly-protecting-floridas-resilient-coasts-and-special-places/st-petersburg/1FAD41C1-AF30-474F-9474-0F9CFE0D46Bhttp://fl.audubonaction.org/site/PageServer?pagename=fl_homepagehttp://bit.ly/KVASocietyhttp://www.kissimmeeaudubon.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]%20mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

September 2010 Eagle's Nest Newsletter, Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society

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