President's Message
Thank you to all who voted last month in our annual election for Bylaws amendments and Board of Directors candidates. The Bylaws update passed unanimously, as did our Board candidates election. Members re-elected Eileen Gerle (Director), Linda Moore (Membership Coordinator), Barbara Zittel (Secretary) and Jean Pichler (President). Also elected is new Director, Aletha Boyle. We’re grateful for your confidence in this leadership team and look forward to new suggestions and ideas for birding field trip locations, topics or speakers, and anything else you’d like to share with us. Our email is info@veniceaudubon.org.
During the summer months, we take time to review and improve the programs and activities that were offered over the last year. All things don’t come to a screeching halt completely, though. Stay connected and active with:
1. the monthly Book Club, in person or via Zoom. Book titles and additional information are on the Calendar.
2. the Purple Martin Monitoring project. Join our citizen science volunteers on Saturdays and Wednesdays at 11:00 AM to collect our colony’s breeding data.
3. two Audubon Florida bird monitoring opportunities need volunteers as well. Details are below.
Lastly, I urge everyone to take action this month to support wildlife and natural habitats. This ChipNote includes updates and recent changes concerning critical Florida state and national environmental issues that need your voice. Whether you reside in Florida, vacation here, live in another state or travel in the U.S., please speak up to preserve local, state, and national wildlife and their habitats. Proactive environmental stewardship is more cost-effective than attempting to restore a species or a habitat – if restoration is even possible.
Spring is a wonderful time of year to savor the Great Outdoors. Enjoy a park, a trail, a view, even your own backyard! Collect great memories as you take in the large and small wonders around you.
- Jean Pichler, President |
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Congratulations, Eileen Gerle!
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At the Annual Meeting in April, Eileen Gerle was enthusiastically selected as Venice Area Audubon Society’s newest Fellow. Nominated by Board member Linda Moore, Eileen’s long-standing dedication to environmental education, service as a VAAS Board member, field trip host, international trip organizer, founder of the Little Naturalists program, and program speaker, along with her overall generosity as a volunteer for many years, resulted in a unanimous “YES!” vote. Eligibility to be named a Fellow includes active VAAS members of at least two years standing who have made a significant contribution to the affairs of VAAS, preferably as an Officer, Director, or Committee member, and/or a significant contribution to the VAAS mission. Congratulations, Eileen, and thank you for your generosity of time and talents to further our organization’s success! |
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Our Growing Purple Martin Colony
BY BARBARA ZITTEL
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Last month we reported on a single clutch of five Purple Martin eggs laid on March 20th. That clutch of eggs hatched on April 14. The ‘pinkies’ are born featherless with closed eyes (altricial). However, they grow very quickly! In the photos below, the last picture shows them at 14 days. They’re really beginning to look like Purple Martins, aren’t they?
In the meantime, many more couples have been joining together to increase the size of the colony. As of our last count, on Wednesday, April 23, we had 118 eggs and a walloping 171 young!!
If you would like to participate in our nest checks, please join us any Wednesday or Saturday at 11 am, when we take down the housing and examine each apartment for eggs and hatchlings. The checks take less than an hour and they are lots of fun. All are welcome to join us.
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Call for Jay Watch Volunteers
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Florida Scrub Jays live nowhere else but Florida and, as our state’s lone endemic bird species, monitoring their numbers is an important step to protect them and their unique scrub habitat. If you’d like to learn more about Florida Scrub Jays, the population’s status, or to volunteer as a Jay Watch monitor this summer, check out Audubon Florida’s Jay Watch page: https://fl.audubon.org/get-involved/jay-watch
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Be Aware of Shorebird Breeding Season
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Late spring through summer is a critical time for Florida’s coastal bird populations. Due to changing beach habitats, our most vulnerable coastal bird populations are challenged to successfully nest and raise their young. To help compensate for declining beach conditions, some birds resort to nesting on flat, gravel-covered rooftops along coastal areas, but even those options are disappearing due to roof replacements with newer materials.
What can you do to help vulnerable shorebirds during the summer? It’s pretty simple: keep your eyes open while at the beach or on a boat and act responsibly. Read up on Florida Audubon’s best practices to protect coastal birds: https://fl.audubon.org/news/2025-nesting-season-southwest-florida-coastal-birds-underway.
Volunteer nest site surveyors and monitors are needed along Sarasota County beaches throughout the summer and particularly around the busy Fourth of July week. If you’d like to volunteer to be a nesting site steward, even for a limited time, please apply soon by completing the online Audubon Florida Coastal Stewardship Volunteer Interest Form.
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Your Action Needed - State and National Issues
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State legislators and members of Congress need to hear from constituents NOW to urge them to protect parks, land, water, and air from development and commercial exploitation in Florida and throughout the U.S. Read an update on the current Florida legislative session as well as plans to roll back protections for endangered species, migratory birds, critical habitats and much more on the national level. Links to find your representatives and helpful hints to call or email them are also provided. Whether you live in Florida or not, every voice matters at this most critical time for environmental conservation.
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Black-and-white Warbler
BIRD OF THE MONTH BY MARGARET F. VIENS
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Photo by Margaret Viens -
North Street Recreation Trail, Waterville, ME. May 5, 2017. |
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The Black-and-white Warbler is one of the most distinctive of the wood warblers, both for its pied coloring, and for its unique bark-foraging behavior. It is the only member of the genus “Mniotilta” meaning “moss plucking,” so named for its habit of creeping along trunks and limbs, similar to a Nuthatch, to probe for insects, caterpillars and spiders with its pointed bill. It will also forage in the foliage like other warblers; focusing mostly at mid-height, but can be found anywhere from the canopy to the forest floor.
Both sexes have black and white streaking above, and a white belly, but the female has a lighter cheek and black line through the eye, rather than the black cheek and throat of the male. They can be easily confused with the Blackpoll Warbler, but the Blackpoll has a black cap and does not forage along trunks and limbs.
The Black-and-white Warbler has an extensive range, breeding in Central and Northeastern United States and into Canada, and wintering in Florida, Mexico and Central and South America. It is one of the earliest migrants to return to its breeding grounds in spring. Males arrive first to mixed deciduous-coniferous forests. Black-and-white Warblers nest on the ground near the base of a shrub, tree or stump, in a small hidden nest of leaves, pine needles and bark. They lay 4-5 eggs which the female incubates for 10-12 days. Both parents feed and defend the young,which leave the nest about 8-12 days after hatching.
The Black-and-White Warbler has non-threatened status with an estimated breeding population of 20,000,000.
References:
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This message was sent to you by the Venice Area Audubon Society.
veniceaudubon.org / PO Box 1381 Venice, FL 34284 / 941-496-8984
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