Avian Researcher To Speak At Annual Meeting March 23Dr. Ken Meyer, a biologist at University of Florida in

Gainesville, executive director of Avian Research and Conservation Institute, will be the keynote speaker at

The International Osprey Foundation annual meeting at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 23.

Using his modern continent-spanning satellite and radio transmission techniques, Dr. Meyer is gathering swallow-tailed kite data in an effort to determine their current nesting regi-mens. One of the most beautiful birds in Florida, the unmistak-able, elegant swallow-tailed kite is recognizable for its deeply forked tail, distinctive black and white plumage, and graceful aerial displays.

These kites arrive at their breeding grounds in Florida from South America in late February to mid-March. They are most obvious at this time of year as they carry nesting material to their chosen nest site often in the very tops of the tallest tree. They spend most of the day gliding and simply flipping one side of their forked tail to change direction. These birds are almost always seen in the air and, if you are lucky enough to be able to watch one for any length of time you may notice it swoop to pluck an insect out of the sky or dive for drink from the surface of a river or lake. They rarely land.

Dr. Meyer also is tracking snail kites, short-tailed kites, mag-nificent frigatebirds, great white herons and reddish egrets. He has tagged two birds in the “Ding” Darling Refuge and may do more.

After serving as a post-doctoral associate and then research associate at the University of Florida from 1988 to 1992, he con-ducted studies of red-cockaded woodpeckers and the bird com-munities of south Florida pinelands for the National Park Ser-vice in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park.

In 1997, he co-founded ARCI and soon branched out to oth-er research challenges on a broader range of species. He has served on species status-review committees for state agencies and biological review panels for National Wildlife Refuges; and as a graduate student advisor and committee member in his position as an adjunct associate professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. He received a Partners in Flight Research Award for his contributions to bird conservation.

The annual meeting will be held at The Community Center, Periwinkle Way, Sanibel. All are welcome. A $3 donation is re-quested of non-members.

March 2014Sanibel Island, Florida • www.ospreys.com

Dr. Ken Meyer Dr. Meyer with a swallow-tailed kite fitted with a radio transmitter

Sanibel Island Nest Watch Data

Ospreys Fledged Last Year: 97A total of 97 osprey chicks fledged on Sanibel

in the 2013 nesting season. That’s down from the 2012 total of 125, a 30-year record, but

still a healthy total. Five bald eagle chicks were also noted by TIOF

nest watchers. TIOF has eight nest watch groups, with a total

of 36 watchers who monitor nests January through May and sometimes beyond. They observed 133 nests every two weeks.

Fort Myers Beach Nesting ActivityOn Fort Myers Beach, volunteer nest monitors

June Franklin and Sandy Ent observed 26 nests in 2013.

They reported 24 active nests and 48 chicks fledged.That’s the most in four years and twice as many as in

2012.

TIOF NEWSLETTER2

Flying FishDear TIOF,

On Monday April 30 we were driving along Captiva drive after stopping at the beach. We heard a loud bang. I

wasn't sure if we had been shot or if a rock hit our windshield, but no sign of a crack. I did however notice that the cover of the dome lights had fallen off.

My husband pulled off the road into the lot for The Bubble Room. I quickly got out of the car and walked back to the road and all I saw was a fish in the middle of the road. I walked up to it and picked it up. My hus-band asked what I was doing, I said I wanted him to take a picture of the fish. I had already looked around to see who had thrown the fish at our car, only the fire station was around and there wasn't anyone looking at us.

My husband then said, it must have been dropped by an osprey. Attached are the photos we took.

Julie & Dave Hohman

Life Members:Mr. and Mrs. Porter GossDr. Eugene MajerowiczHarvey RothsteinCharles RubrightJim Fowler, San-Cap Nature CalendarMs. Margaret SmithMrs. Carmen SanchezMr. and Mrs. William AlquistDwight AndersonMr. and Mrs. David LaddJames and Martha KannryRobert and Rita SouthernRJW FoundationBrenda and Sam TischlerDon ScottCarol GardnerDavid LovelandJudy Samelson and Bill SchawbelDr. Jorge GalanteRichard G. PreservatiGary PokrantJim Griffith

TIOF BoardJim Griffith, PresidentAnne Mitchell, Vice President

& Newsletter EditorInge Glissman, Treasurer/SecretaryMark “Bird” Westall, Project DirectorDebbie Friedlund, Volunteer

CoordinatorHartley KleinbergSusan Tucker

TIOF Grants Awarded in 2013The International Osprey Founda-tion has made the following research grants in 2014:

Philip M. Goppola

Department of Biology

University of West Florida

“Status of the Snail Kites’ exclusive diet of Apple Snails”

Francisca Helena Aguiar-Silva

Raptor Research Foundation

National Institute of Amazonian Research

“Harpy Eagle habitat use and range in Brazilian Amazon”

Avian Research and Conservation Institute

Gainesville, Florida

“Expand Reddish Egret research on habitat, forage,and movement from Florida Keys to Sanibel and adjacent coastal areas”

A Volunteer Through And Through

One of TIOF’s 36 dedicated nestwatchers is Sanibel islander Doris Hardy, a nine-year volunteer at the JN “Ding” Darling National

Wildlife Refuge and vice president of the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge.

Unlike most nest monitors who remain on dry land, she leads her team in kayaks and small boats to check on 12 active osprey nests on Clam Bayou.

We are proud to report that Doris is a recipient of the 2013 Exceptional Volunteer Award from Phi-lanthropy Journal. The award is a result of nomina-tions culled from nonprofit organizations through-out the nation.

Doris, who began serving on the DDWS board of directors in 2009, heads the education committee and has effectively expanded the refuge’s student scholarship and teachers’ grants programs in the field of environmental education. She actively fundraises for DDWS was on the society’s $1.8 million Preservation Campaign Committee to save Woodring Point and upgrade the “Ding” Darling Education Center.

“She has been a very enthusiastic volunteer from the start,” said refuge ranger and volunteer coordinator Jeff Combs. “Doris saw the problems we were having with birds and other wildlife being entangled in discarded monofilament line and volunteered to lead a crew of volunteers to remove the line from the mangroves.”

Other recent projects with Hardy’s fingerprints on them include a new, sophisticated sight-ings board outside the refuge education center and upgrades and added exhibits to the Calusa Shell Mound Trail.

The fish that an osprey dropped on Captiva

Doris Hardy

TIOF NEWSLETTER 3