Manatee County Audubon Society
We are committed to protecting the environment in our community, our state and our country.
Nearshore
Oil drilling
Fades for now
By Barbara Singer, president
A proposal to open Florida’s
nearshore waters to oil and gas
exploration pushed by House
Speaker-designate Dean Can-
non (R-Winter Park) and
Senate President-elect Mike
Haridopolos (R-Melbourne)
was held at bay this session,
largely due to the wisdom of
Senate President Jeff Atwater
(R-Palm Beach) who signaled
his reservations about lifting
Florida’s decades-old ban.
Two weeks ago, Rep. Cannon
officially ended his pursuit of
this legislation, but indicated
his intent to revisit it in com-
ing sessions when the Senate’s
appetite for the measure could
be improved. Congratulations
to Audubon advocates and all
our partners for this hard-won
success.
Sadly, the recent Deepwater
Horizon rig explosion in the
Gulf continues to spill 5000
barrels of crude a day into Gulf
waters. Pensacola may see oil
coming ashore anytime. This
tragic incident has brought
the issue of drilling near Flor-
ida into sharp focus for many
elected officials. Audubon is
now focused on meeting the
challenges this disaster will
pose to our coastal wildlife and
their habitat. Learn how you
can help at the website http://
audubonoffloridanews.org
President’s Letter from Barbara Singer
What a wonderful year!
This is a bittersweet time of the year for your Officers
and Board of Directors. We must bid farewell to our win-
ter friends but also we can think back to what a won-
derful year this has been for Manatee County Audubon
Society.
We have met many new birding friends and members
and accomplished so much through the Bird ID class, the
photography class, Junior Audubon, Felts Open Houses,
nesting Bird Stewardship, our scholarship program and
other events. Funds for the new
kiosk at
I want to thank some members who have been instru- Felts Preserve
mental in making MCAS what it is today. I want to start were donated
by Carol Webster
with Jeanne Schlesinger who has been both a Board in memory of her
Member and a valuable member of the Felts Land Use son David. The
Committee. Jeanne has been almost single handedly re- kiosk was built
sponsible for obtaining grants needed to make improve- by Roger Robson,
left, and
ments and provide for ongoing maintenance at Felts. We Ron Cayer.
will need a very special member to step in and take over
these tasks. Jeanne, thank you, for your time and dedica-
tion to Felts.
My next big thank you goes to Carol Webster, Roger Robson and Ron Cayer. Carol in memory
of her son, David, donated the funds needed for the new kiosk at the entrance to Felts Audubon
Preserve and Roger and Ron made it happen. To quote Roger, “I’m just the designer and rough
carpenter behind this job, Ron is the one who made it what it is.” When you have a chance to get
out to Felts, pay special attention to the kiosk. I believe we have the finest kiosk in the state and
maybe even the country. See page 2 for a photo of Carol and Ron at the kiosk. My final thank you
of the year goes to the Officers and Board of Directors who have given of themselves to make this
past year what it has been.
It is now time to go forward with our plans for the 2010-11 season. We want to begin planning for
next season by asking you, our members, to share with us what you want from MCAS. Within the
next month we will be sending you a survey asking for your input on what you would like to see
from MCAS. Please be willing to participate. Once we have your input we will begin to create a
program that you have asked for. In conjunction with that we will be coming to you, our members,
to help us make it happen. We will need trip leaders – you don’t need to be an expert birder, you just
have to be willing to get the group to a location. We will need members to help with weekend or
longer trips. We will be asking for members to help at special events and don’t forget Felts always
needs your help. The organization belongs to all and we all need to be willing to pitch in to make it
another great year.
Earth Day at Felts draws more than 250 people. Page 2.
Page 2

Earth Day 2010

at Felts Preserve
in Oak Alley, with
face paintings, owls,
music, good food
and good times.

Earth Day 2010 at Felts draws more than 250 people

By Tom Heitzman
Manatee County Audubon held its annual Earth Day festival at the Felts Audubon Preserve on Saturday April 17. Although rain was pre-
dicted, the weather cooperated and we had a beautiful day for the event. Special thanks goes to Lea Ecthels for the planning, organization and
implementation of this year’s event. Lea brought in many new exhibitors like the Mote mobile aquarium with their live fish, Home Depot
with the bird house building for kids and adults and Zirkelbach Constructions “Grill Master” with their tasty chicken and burgers. Another
first this year was a group of folk singers whose music filled the air all afternoon. The only downside to this beautiful music was that we did
not have them play long enough. More than 250 people turned out for the event.

These and many other exhibitors filled up the spaces in our shady oak alley to make quite a showing for all that attended. Along with the ex-
hibitors we had hikes all day both to the south past the wildflower meadow and to the north into the woods around the ponds where we have
a pair of wood ducks nesting. It was the wood ducks that so captivated Otis and Anita Felts so many years ago that they wanted to see some
habitat left for them. How thrilled they would be to know that the ducks and many other birds have found a home at the Felts Preserve. In
between the hikes we had three very educational talks on backyard feeders, planting for birds and butterflies and the different bats of Florida.

Those who had the time to sit a while in the bird blind were not disappointed as the buntings put on quite a show. The Indigo Buntings were
out in force along with the female Painted Buntings. And although the male Painted Bunting was a little shy he did make a few appearances.
One new addition this year was the kiosk that was financed by Carol Webster and built by Roger Robson and his brother-in-law Ron Cayer.
This beautiful structure is a great addition to the Felts Preserve and now serves as an informative entrance for all visitors. Thanks goes to
the many members who gave their time before and during this special event, from getting the property cleaned up beforehand, helping park
cars the day of the event, welcoming the arrivals, staffing one of our many exhibits, leading one of the hikes to cleaning up after it was over.
It could not happen without your help. A wonderful event, and I hope a good time had by all.

Thanks to hosts at Felts Preserve

By Carol Webster

March 6: Ivan Marion hosted 51 visitors on a bright sunny morning

with little breeze and temperatures ranging from 45 to 60 degrees,
Eight Junior Auduboners were busy with their activities. Twnety-eight
bird species were noted. Ivan registered three new members and a $15
donation.

April 3: Russ and Carole Luttinen greeted more than 55 visitors on a

beautiful sunny morning, a little cool but warmed up nicely with a light
breeze. They had a large group of butterfly enthusiasts visit. Birders
viewed 30 species. Highlight of the day were the Painted Buntings and
the Indigo Buntings. One raccoon and seven pond turtles were noted.

Pictured right are Carol Webster, who donated funds to build the new kiosk at Felts Audubon Preserve in memory of her son David. The kiosk was constructed
by Ron Cayer, pictured with Carol, and Roger Robson, pictured on the front cover of the newsletter, along with a photo of the completed kiosk, which
has display windows. Lucette Wombacher has been working to create a series of posters of birds and other wildlife for the kiosk windows.
 Page 3
Thanks to Johnson Middle School for helping clean up Felts Preserve
By Nancy Dean
Our favorite Manatee County 8th
grade teacher, Anne Cruickshank,
brought over 20 students from John-
son Middle School to Felts Audu-
bon Preserve on Friday April 30 to
remove invasive exotic plants as a
service project. Recently, this school
earned International Baccalaureate
status, quite an achievement for a
largely minority school. Also help-
ing us was Karen Fraley of Around
The Bend Nature Tours, who runs
the Spring Break Camp sponsored Anne Cruickshank’s students were prepared to work hard .
by Manatee Audubon. Some of the
children spoke limited English, but all followed our direction and worked hard for two hours, removing three super-large bags of Caesar
Weed and four to five large bags of Philodendron, which someone had dumped on the property years ago. The kids were just great, in large
part because they were so well prepared by Mrs. Cruickshank. We always enjoy working with her. Sadly, she completes 30 years of service
this Spring and will retire.

42 kids splash, bird, recycle, build forts, parade during Spring Break Camp

The first day of camp, left, was wet but wonderful. The last day of camp, right, was was parade day with a banner about bugs.
Photos by Karen Fraley and Lucette Wombacher.
By Karen Fraley

Spring Break Camp at Felts Preserve run by Around the Bend Nature Tours, sponsored by
Manatee Audubon and funded by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program Tarpon Tag was a big Volunteers Needed
success. Forty-two campers spent their week learning about wetlands and mud puddles, By Dee A.Hanny
birding and bugs, and planting a butterfly garden and building forts. Guest speakers came The Beach-nesting Birds program
every day with a different animal. Camp director Karen Fraley started the week discussing needs volunteers for the Steward pro-
trash and recycling with each group. A competition was set up to see which group could gram to help protect nesting areas on
produce the least amount of trash at lunchtime – recycling bins were provided and were Manatee County beaches. We need peo-
exempt from the trash requirement. ple to monitor nesting sites especially
over the Memorial Day and July 4th
The week started out with a three-inch rainfall on Sunday – which created ephemeral ponds holidays. This involves spending two
in the already saturated ground. The campers came in muck boots on Tuesday and puddle hours or more at the nest site to help ed-
play was the rule of the day. ucate beach visitors regarding protect-
ing nest sites and to help insure that the
Art on Monday included making Nature Journals, which the campers wrote in during the nesting birds are not disturbed. Please
week to document their adventure. On other days, they decorated wands made out of sticks contact Dee A. Hanny at ynnahda@ya-
that they found, did pinch pots with clay, did tie die to create parade banners and made sun hoo.com or (941) 745-1553 to volunteer
catchers with contact paper. The Recycling contest was a draw – every group had zero trash and for additional information.
in their buckets on Friday and were very conscientious about their recycling.
 May 2010 Newsletter

Manatee County Audubon Society, P. O. Box 14550, Bradenton FL 34280-4550

MCAS awards two scholarships

By Bunny Schneider, scholarship chair
Manatee Audubon awarded two $1,000 scholarships to two Manatee
County graduating seniors who are pursuing careers in environmentally
related fields. Megan Body will be a June graduate of St. Stephen’s Epis-
copal School where she has distinguished herself with outstanding leader-
ship, community service and academics (3.9 gpa). Megan will attend High
Point University in North Carolina where she will have a double major in
Biology and Marine Biology.

Sheri Borkowshi will be a June graduate of Bayshore High School. In

addition to working year round, Sheri is an outstanding soccer and track
star and maintains straight A’s in her Advance Placement classes. She will
attend University of South Florida, majoring in Marine Science. Of par-
ticular interest to Sheri is the migration pattern of whale sharks.

Both girls, accompanied by family members, were introduced to MCAS members at our April supper meeting. Megan and Sheri expressed
their deepest appreciation to MCAS for our financial help and interest in their education goals. The Scholarship Committee includes Bunny
Schneider, chair, Barry Rossheim and Jean Turner.

Girl Scouts invite us to participate in Environmental Fair

By Barbara Singer, president
MCAS was asked to participate in an Environmental Fair presented by
two Girl Scouts as the project for their Girl Scout Silver Award. The girls
arranged for the fair to be on Saturday April 24 at the Girl Scout camp,
Camp Honi Honta, which was the perfect setting for the fair. MCAS mem-
bers Steve Black and Lucette Wombacher worked with the Junior Girl
Scouts covering all phases of bird watching including an actual outing
to complete the requirements for their Wildlife Patch. The girls eagerly
searched the camp for the birds they learned. While Steve and Lucette
were busy with Junior Girl Scouts; Carol Webster, Carole Luttinen and I
worked with 100 Daisies and Brownies making squirrels using pine cones.
This craft taught the girls about using items from the environment and
about animals found in the environment and taught Carol, Carol and me
what working with 100 girls was all about.

Junior Auduboners end the year with a picnic at Felts Preserve

By Steve Black, vice president
For our final Junior Audubon event of
the year – a May 1 picnic with family
members – we had a good turnout of 19.
Since we won’t meet again until the fall,
we gave each Junior Auduboner a Na-
tional Audubon Field Guide to Florida
Book. Lucette Wombacher printed a list
of some of the things we saw and put
it in the book for each child. When we
asked them to name their favorite thing
on the property, all the kids had a dif- One said Painted Bunting, one said Indigo Bunting, one said Pal-
ferent answer. The answers were just as metto Walking Stick, one said Eastern Mole, and one said they liked
varied as the lessons we studied. everything and didn’t want a summer break.

Send your items for The Night Heron to newsletter editor Molly McCartney
at msmccartney@sprintmail.com or call 778-3228