Message From the President

Our Mission: Promoting Interests in Wildlife on Sanibel and Captiva Islands, and

fostering the Cause of Conservation with Emphasis on Birds and their Habitat.

The Pileated Woodpecker THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SANIBEL-CAPTIVA AUDUBON SOCIETY

SUMMER 2009 Vol 34 No 4

PO Box 957 Sanibel, FL 33957

Hello to you all from my retreat in Downeast Maine where we have had a cool wet spring and sum-

mer. Despite the torrential rain and bad economy, the birding hot spots have stayed busy. When the

bear mother and cub weren‟t removing my bird feeders, the neighborhood birds were active and in-

cluded pine siskins, purple finches, downys and hairys, and goldfinches among the chickadees and

nuthatches. I was informed that Maine is second only to Montana in terms of birding participation

rates with 39% of Mainers as self-proclaimed Birders vs. 40% for Montana. Downeast puffins, loons

and lobster still bring the visitors. In southern Maine, the director of the Scarborough Marsh Audubon

Center counted visitors from 22 countries over Memorial Day. Michael Good, the director and foun-

der of the Acadia Birding Festival which just celebrated its 11th season, noted that birding is big busi-

ness and protecting ecological systems is going to benefit the Maine economy in the long run. Unfor-

tunately, there has been a long red tide outbreak along the coast of Maine—one of those indicators we

observe is SW Florida and most of the shell fishing was impacted.

On a more positive note, I‟ve heard that some of the northern migrant birds are already back

on Sanibel beaches and a rare leatherback turtle nesting and hatch occurred on August 2nd with 90

hatchlings and 4 live released at night. Congratulations and thanks to all turtle volunteers and also to

the Audubon Bird monitors on the Blind Pass Dredging Project which Mother Nature opened up on

August 3rd. It won‟t be long before Sanibel-Captiva Audubon will be represented at Ding Darling

and another season of Audubon on Sanibel will be in full swing. I hope to see many of you in the

months ahead.

Personally, Chris and I had some proud moments this summer. We witnessed the wedding of

my son David in Estes Park, Colorado, and then had the pleasure of hosting our 8 year old nephew

Matthew from Long Island for a week in the Maine wilderness. Taking up the challenge of “The Last

Child in the Woods”, we did a three day canoe/camping trip with many side hikes at Petit Manaan

Wildlife Refuge. Observing nature through the eyes of a young person listening to midnight loon

calls and spotting waddling porcupines, and roasting marshmallows on an open fire is well worth the

effort. May we all do out best to keep such moments alive for future generations.

Best wishes to you all in your outdoor adventures,

Paul

Board

Members

Paul Andrews, Pres. Jim Griffith, Vice Pres. Susan Harpham, Sec. Dolores Mishell Treas. Chris Andrews Kevin Bowden Phyllis Gresham Malcolm Harpham Elaine Jacobson Dale McGinley Brian Mishell Jean Reuther Hugh Verry

Newsletter reply only: 14720 Lake Olive Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33919 239-415-0935 jeanted@embarqmail.com

STORKS ENJOY GOOD NESTING SEASON (Reprinted with permission from the Corkscrew

Swamp Sanctuary Volunteer Newsletter)

Final, official figures are in for this season‘s wood stork nesting. According to Jason Lauritsen, assistant sanctuary director, the colonies at Corkscrew initiated just over 1,100 nests without any significant abandonment of nests or nest failures. Early nesting birds, those that initiated nesting by around mid-January, had approximately 2.7 chicks per nest on average. Stork pairs that waited until after mid-January to begin nesting had approximately 2.1 chicks per nest. Approximately 28% of the birds nested early (about 320 nests), but the bulk of the nesting (72%, or about 800 nests) started late as usual. Together, the 1,120 nests pro-duced 2,570 chicks.

In addition to lower productivity (chicks per nest), the late fledging chicks faced a more difficult feeding environment as water levels were ex-ceedingly low when they came off the nest, and some early heavy rains fell in May diluting what was left of the foraging base. The earliest chicks to fledge probably had ample time to build their flight muscles and hone their feeding skills, giving them a much better chance of survival during

Photo by Denny Souers

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 2

their first year when chick mortality rates are the highest. Com-pared to recent years, 2008-2009 was a great nesting season, helping compensate for the lack of nesting during the previous two years. The three most successful years in recent past were in 1992 with 1,200 nests/2,750 chicks; in 2000 with 1,720 nests/2,540 chicks; and in 2002 with 1,240 nests/3,160 chicks. The average for the last ten years is 610 nests and 1,100 chicks per season. Complete nesting data from 1958 through 2009 is at www.corkscrew.audubon.org/Wildlife/Birds/Nesting_Data.html.

Wood stork nesting, continued

Phyllis Gresham, our newest board member, reports from western New York State that the weather has be-come nice and, as she says, “we have lots of young cedar waxwings catching the bugs in the evening over the pond, and a hooded warbler flew in to a shrub next to me while I was walking to the meadow to look for turkeys (which I saw).

Anyone have an interesting sighting?

POSTCARDS FROM

THE NORTH

CAN WE TALK??? At the risk of overkill, the subject

of memberships and mailing labels needs one more visit. Except for the winter issue, it is often a guessing game as to where to send the newsletter. National sends monthly updates of members‘ addresses. For reasons not clear, they either delete or transfer out of chapter those trav-eling north during part of the year and they don‘t share your away address since to them you are not a chapter member here. Thus we do not know if you have left in a huff, are no longer a member, or have expired on the tundra. National de-letes liberally, and anyone not paid up gets the boot as well. They often omit the expiration date of membership, which leaves critical questions unanswered. Sounds like passing the buck, doesn‘t it? But we think you should understand why de-livery is not run like a well-oiled machine. If you are known to us, we ignore these deletions and try to gather as many away addresses as possible to send the newsletter to you. But even then, when do we send it? Eve-ryone has a different pattern of travel, leaving from March to June and arriving from October to December. The only issue most likely to hit its target is the winter issue. One would think that since the newsletter goes first class, it would follow you just as your mail does, and in some cases it seems to do that, but there are always those troublesome ‗rejects‘ that arrive back in our mailbox. What to do! 1) Get a new membership chairman, 2) Fix the program to accommodate these circumstances - Chris has spent many hours here trying to tweak Access to accept all the variables. 3) Go electronic—ah hah!!! If you signed up for an e-newsletter, you would get your copy wherever you are, as long as you have internet.

And no more dull shades of black—your copy would be in glo-

rious color. It would be instant, and available to read any

time you choose. Dolores Mishell says that she keeps a file for each newsletter she receives. They are quickly accessible, and she can delete them periodically. Why don‘t you give it a try. If you don‘t like it, you can go back to mailed newsletters. Just send your request to: jeanted@embarqmail.com. One more thing—check the expiration date on your address label. If it is wrong, tell us. If it is overdue, you might want to renew before National gets you! There are 50% off cards stuffed in each Audubon Magazine. We always save them and would be glad to send you one if you wish.

It’s so easy! Go to audubonofflorida.org, click on

‘Take Action’, then click on ’sign up’. Done!

Can make our voices heard who You!

Be sure to visit

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 3

Bringing Nature Home, How You Can Sustain Wildlife

with Native Plants

by Douglas W. Tallamy

Timber Press Portland, Oregon; 2007 (Second Printing

2009); 358 pages; $17.95

How can we welcome more different kinds of butterflies

and birds into our yards? Doug Tallamy, Chairman of the

Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the

University of Delaware explains how in this carefully re-

searched, richly illustrated, entertaining book for garden-

ers and those who care about ecology and conservation.

Dr.Tallamy makes a strong case for using native plants

and tells why. Native plants attract a much greater variety

of beneficial insects and birds than non-natives do. Native

insects can only eat plants with which they share an evolu-

tionary history. Birds need insects to feed their young and

provide energy, so bugs are necessary for bird reproduc-

tion. As the number and diversity of native plants de-

crease, so do the number and diversity of bugs, and there-

fore, so do the number and diversity of birds. Only people

can inhibit the spread of alien plants.

Tallamy offers a plan for the suburban gardener to play a

key role in restoring the habitat of native plant and animal

ecosystems in the gardener‟s own back yard. He includes

lists of aesthetically pleasing native plants with wildlife

value and desirable landscaping attributes appropriate for

each region of the country and explains how to incorpo-

rate native plants into a landscape plan. His extensive list

includes shade and specimen trees; shrub and understory

trees; conifers; vines; stream-

side plants; ground covers;

herbaceous perennials for dry

sites; herbaceous perennials

for moist and wet sites;

grasses, sedges, rushes; and

ferns. If you enjoy gardening

and nature, read this book!

VOLUNTEERS FOR SCCF NATIVE

PLANT NURSERY Jenny Evans, director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Na-tive Plant Nursery, tells us that the nursery has recently expanded its vol-unteer program. Working in teams of two, their industrious crews are rising to the challenge of propagating plants and

helping customers with answers to their questions. If you are interested in sharing in this interesting pro-ject, contact the Native Plant Nursery at 239-472-1932.

Photo by Steve Bullock

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 4

On the night of August 2, a nest of leatherback sea turtles

hatched on Sanibel‟s East End; this is the first known docu-

mented leatherback nest in Lee and Collier counties.

Volunteer Linda Gornick, a walker in SCCF‟s Sea Turtle

Research & Monitoring Pro-

gram, found the nest on June

3. Gornick notified permittee

Tom Krekel, who quickly de-

termined it was not a logger-

head crawl. It was identified

as a probable green sea turtle

nest but the very large crawl

and body pit raised the possi-

bility that it was a leatherback

nest. Photos of both the nest and crawl were provided to the

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and

confirmation was received that it was probably a green.

SCCF Sea Turtle Coordinator

Amanda Bryant with Herpe-

tologist Chris Lechowicz dug

the nest on the morning of Au-

gust 3. There were 94 empty

eggshells, 29 unhatched eggs

and four live leatherback

hatchlings were recovered.

The hatchlings were released

that night. Hatched nests are

normally dug after three days

but the nest was dug early be-

cause it was in immediate dan-

ger of predation (a ghost crab

was already digging in the nest

when Bryant arrived).

Leatherbacks very rarely nest in Southwest Florida; one

leatherback nest was documented in Sarasota County.

Leatherbacks do nest along the Florida panhandle and the

east coast; a few leatherback hatch-

lings from the east coast were re-

leased by Charles LeBuff on Sani-

bel in the „70s as part of an experi-

ment.

The crawls of loggerheads are eas-

ily distinguished from those of

greens and leatherbacks because

loggerheads alternate the front flippers when

they crawl on land. Greens and leatherbacks

use both left and right flippers at the same

time, creating a parallel crawl. The June 3

crawl was wider than a loggerhead crawl, there

was a very large body pit and a large mound of

sand camouflaging the nest area.

SCCF coordinates over 100 volunteers who

monitor sea turtle nesting on the islands each

season, from May through October.

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. —Bill

Watterson (1958 - )

cartoonist, “Calvin and Hobbs”

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. —Samuel

Johnson (1709—1784)

Leatherback Turtles on Sanibel

Courtesy of Karen Nelson,

SCCF Communications Coordinator

Amanda with hatchling

Books and Paper

MacIntosh Books and Papers is honored

To support

The Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society.

Best Sellers Local Interest books:

Birding, Gardening, Shelling

Fishing, Boating

Fine Custom Stationery, Boxed Notecards

Greeting Cards, Gifts

2365 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL 33957

239-472-1447

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 5

It's 6:43AM, a bit warm but breezy, as the three of us slip our

binocular straps over our shoulders and head out of the Blind Pass

(BP) parking lot. Our task for the next seventy-five minutes--locate

any courting or nesting behavior and actual nests of the four pro-

tected shore bird species that, at sometime in the past, nested on the

8/10th mile of open beach within the Blind Pass dredging/beach re-

nourishment project area. The subjects of our hunt are the black

skimmer, snowy plover, Wilson's plover, least tern. This is the

162nd consecutive day, as of August 22 (Sundays excepted) since

the project start-up on Feb 16th that fifty-nine(59) different San-

Cap birders volunteered to be "the first on the beach" each day

to identify and protect our treasured avian beach homesteaders early

enough to allow the project contractor to start his beach work by

8:00AM. Yes--we were rained on a few times-- had to deal with

unleashed dogs--and sometimes had to wait out early morning light-

ning; but it has been

a very rewarding

experience and we

are committed to

continue thru the

project completion

now estimated for

mid-October 2009

(we think!).

What were our

findings?

The first Wilson's

plovers (WP) were

spotted the first day,

Feb 16th.

The First WP nest

(3eggs) found May

12th just outside the

project area near

Clam Bayou cut. This nest produced three

chicks, two of which fledged and took up

residence within the BP project (still here).

Four more WP nests were located within the

BP project work area from May 20 to June

20. Sadly, two 3egg nests were predated the

day after egg lay, possibly by bobcats. The

next two WP nests were predated by rac-

coons on the day of hatch. Interestingly, all

ten WP parents and the two surviving chicks

remain in the work area to this day.

The first least tern (LT) nest (1 egg) oc-

curred on May 26th but was quickly aban-

doned. However, the next seven LT nests

between June 12th and July 9th produced 14

eggs and 13 chicks. Amazingly, all 13 chicks

fledged. The fact

that we roped off

the nesting area

(160ft X 540ft)

aided this very high

survival rate, along

with the 'gang style'

aggressive protec-

tion nature of LTs,

the cooperation of

the project contrac-

tor, the SCCF sea turtle patrols, the Sanibel Police beach

patrols, and the support of the Lee County and Sanibel City

people involved in the BP project.

The Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Board

thanks all the birders who supported this

project to improve our Island's wildlife

habitat. We may be part of re-

establishing the past nesting area for the

diminishing least tern population,

Oh Yes--The Pass opened by itself

on the night of July 31st just hours be-

fore the coffer dam retainers were to be

removed mechanically the next day.

The following morning virtually

every local species of waders (except

Black Crown Night heron) and even

a Spotted Sand piper (with spots)

were lining the now flowing Pass

shoreline near the BP bridge snatch-

ing breakfast.

Least tern chick by Lorraine Cowl

The pass opened by eroding around the Sanibel side of the remaining sheet pile wall. This area was the last to be dredged and the remaining beach berm was not strong enough to hold.

Aerial view taken by SCCF prior to the breach

Blind Pass Is Open—We Did It! By Jim Griffith, Vice Pres.

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 6

Bird Watcher's Digest, The Ohio Ornithological Soci-

ety, and The Lakeside Association will host this pre-

mier birding event in September 2009 along the

shores of Lake Erie. The 2009 MBS will feature bird-

ing in the area's best birding spots, programs and per-

formances by some of North America's leading bird

watchers, a huge vendor area with nature products and

services, and, of course, the opportunity to enjoy the

company of hundreds of your fellow birders.

Phone: 1-800-879-2473 x314

Mail: P.O. Box 1683 * Westerville, OH

43086

The Midwest Birding Symposium is coming BACK TO OHIO!

Anyone passing through northern Ohio, or living nearby, you may want to see this:

* Cancellations are allowed minus a 10% fee up until 9/1/09 and minus a 50% fee up until 72 hours prior to the event.

Space is limited, so please register today!

BIRDS IN FICKLE CLIMATES SING FANCIER TUNES

DURHAM, N.C. -- Why are some birds simple singers and others vocal virtuosos? Researchers at the National Evolutionary Synthe-sis Center (NESCent), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and McGill University suspect that inconsistent climates may play a role.

A large-scale study of mockingbirds in diverse habitats re-veals that species in more variable climes also sing more complex tunes. ―As environments become more variable or unpredictable, song displays become more elaborate,‖ said Carlos Botero, a post-doctoral researcher at NESCent in Durham, NC. NESCent is an NSF-funded collaborative research center operated by Duke Uni-versity, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.

Local climate patterns are good indicators of how challeng-ing life is in a given location, Botero said. ―Survival and reproduction become more complicated when weather patterns are unpredict-able because you don‘t know when food will be available or how long it will be around. What‘s more, the consequences of picking a mediocre mate are magnified in harsher climes. In really difficult or demanding environments you would expect females to be choos-ier.‖

Male mockingbirds sing primarily to impress mates, said Botero. Superior singing skills are a cue that a male is a good catch. ―Complexity of song display – how many song types a bird sings, how hard the songs are − is a good predictor of the quality of the individual. Males that sing more complex songs tend to carry fewer parasites, and have offspring that are more likely to survive.‖

Songbirds aren‘t born knowing their songs, however: they have to learn them over time. Since birdsong is a learned behavior, Botero and colleagues suspect that song-learning ability may also be a display of learning ability in general. The bird equivalent of sparkling conversation, complex songs may indicate which males have not only brawn, but also brainpower. ―Birds that sing better are telling others, at least indirectly: Hey, I‘m a good learner.‖

More importantly, singing skills may be a sign that males are clever enough to cope with ‗iffy‘ environments. ―Individuals that are more intelligent tend to be better able to compensate for the difficulties of unpredictable climates. For example, if some individu-als are able to invent new foraging techniques, then they are going to be better at surviving harsh winters than the poor guys who only know one way to forage. The more intelligent you are, the more resourceful you are, and the more curve balls you‘re able to han-dle.‖

The connection between birdsong and climate is new and somewhat surprising, Botero explains. ―We‘re connecting two dots that were far away before.‖

For Botero and his colleagues, the next step is to see whether this pattern holds true for other animals. By studying ani-mal communication, Botero ultimately hopes to shed light on how language evolved in humans. ―You can‘t help but wonder what is it about humans that made our vocal communication so incredibly complicated compared to other animals.‖

―It has long been hypothesized that one reason why hu-mans have such exaggerated displays – not just language, but mu-sic, art, and even math – is because females have selected for sig-nals of intelligence,‖ explains Botero. ―What we have now is a nice arena – outside of humans − where we can test these ideas and start understanding processes that are fundamentally important for our own species.‖

The Pileated Woodpecker Summer 09 page 7

NEW MERCHANDISE

Save the Dates: October 18—24 on Sanibel Island

Mark your calendars for this year‘s ―Ding‖ Dar-ling Days birding and eco-festival at J.N. ―Ding‖ Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The theme of this year‘s event is ―Let‘s Go Outside!‖ Family Fun Day kicks off the week this year with free fun on Sunday, Oct. 18. It features all-free refuge tram tours, live wildlife presentations, hot dogs, a touch tank and butterfly house, and kids nature crafts. Art Through Conservation Day winds up the celebration on Saturday, Oct. 24 with visits from Fed-eral Duck Stamp winners and a nature cartoonist, chil-dren‘s author, and art teacher. Free and discounted birding, biking, kayaking, and sea life boat tours will fill the week between the two events. The 20th Annual ―Ding‖ Darling Days celebrates the birthday of the refuge‘s namesake father of the Duck Stamp program and Pulitzer Prize-winning car-toonist, Jay N. ―Ding‖ Darling. This year‘s event promises to be the best ‗Ding‘ Days ever,‖ said Wendy Erler, ―Ding‖ Days committee co-chair for the ―Ding‖ Darling Wildlife Society. ―We‘re very excited about the addition of the art day to honor our Duck Stamp Winner and get families involved in na-ture through the arts.‖ Visit www.dingdarlingdays.com for updates on events and to sign up for weekly bulletins, or call the refuge at 239-472-1100.

In response to member interest we now have a shirt

patch available next season. Measuring 4 by 1inches,

it will be sold with accompanying Velcro strips. You

can wear it on several shirts in your collection by

sewing the appropriate Velcro strip on the back of the

patch and on your shirt. Price to be determined, but,

like all our items for sale, will be quite reasonable.

Don‟t forget the other items offered:

HERE’S ANOTHER WELCOMED POSTCARD

TO SANIBEL-CAPTIVA AUDUBON:

Audubon Center for Birds of Prey 1101 Audubon Way Maitland, FL 32751 Dear Friends at San Cap Audubon, Once again, thank you for supporting the Audubon Bald Eagle Stamp Program with your dona-tion of commemorative stamps and/or postcards. This volunteer-run program allows 100% of your dona-tion, minus this postage, to help with the medical ex-penses for sick and injured birds of prey. Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely, Dianna Flynt Rehab Supervisor

shirts Patches

Pins Earrings

Caps

Bird List

s

The Newsletter of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society

P.O. Box 957 Sanibel, Florida 33957

Newsletter reply only:

14720 Lake Olive Dr Fort Myers, FL 33919 jeanted@embarqmail.com 239-415-0935

Sponsored by

We’re proud to give back to the community

we call home

In This Issue…….

….Good nesting for wood storks

….Leatherback turtles on island

….Blind Pass open and running

….Birds sing fancy tunes

….Midwest Birding Symposium

….Ding Darling Days

….New merchandise

Summer

2009

Please visit

www.sancapaudubon.org

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