The following Article is from the Aug 14, 2015, issue of the “Florida Water Daily” newsletter: http://floridawater-daily.com/2015/08/14/sfwmd-awards-contract-for-caloosahatchee-reservoir-construction/

The South Florida Water Management District today approved a contract authoriz-ing the start of early construction on the massive Caloosahatchee River (C-43) West Basin Storage Reservoir project. The work is a precursor for achieving water storage benefits before the entire reservoir is complete. “While just the first step in construction of the reservoir, this work is crucial to making tangible improvements in the health of the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Daniel O’Keefe. “This is yet another example of the recent pro-gress that is being made on restoration projects throughout our region.” The $10.8 million contract awarded to Blue Goose Construction, LLC, begins the first phase of work on the reservoir. The contract includes:

Demolishing existing agricultural features such as buried pipes, culverts, irriga-

tion pump stations and above-ground facilities across the 10,000-acre reservoir site

Construction of 7 compacted, above-ground earthfill mounds reaching 56 feet high at select locations to

help compact the ground to support future structures

Moving approximately 1.8 million cubic yards of fill for the mounds, enough to fill 1 acre of land to a height

of 1,100 feet, or 120 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower

Preparation of the foundation for construction of the 16-mile dam that will surround the reservoir The work is the first step for the SFWMD to undertake expediting construction of the facility as part of Gover-nor Rick Scott’s commitment to South Florida ecosystem restoration. The project as a whole is a joint effort between the District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Today’s action follows a June vote by the SFWMD Governing Board that authorized entering into an agreement designed to help the District receive federal cost credit for expediting construction. The C-43 reservoir project was authorized by Congress in the Water Resources and Reform Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014. It will one day hold approximately 170,000 acre-feet of water to be used during dry periods to help maintain a desirable minimum flow of fresh water to the Caloosahatchee Estuary. During the rainy season, the reservoir will capture and store excess stormwater and regulatory releases from Lake Okeechobee, helping to prevent excessive freshwater flows to the estuary. Since 2012, the SFWMD has put the reservoir property to use with emergency water storage of summertime rainfall and high runoff. Temporary pumps and levee improvements have helped capture approximately 4.2 billion gallons of water that would have otherwise flowed to the river.

AN UPDATE ON THE C-43 RESERVOIR PROJECT Board Members Jim Griffith President.

Phyllis Gresham Vice President

Susan Harpham, Secretary

Malcolm Harpham Treasurer

Kevin Bowden Betty Harig Joanne Heroy-Giller

Bill Jacobson

John MacLennan Dale McGinley Tom Mustachio

Hugh Verry

The Newsletter of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society

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 PO Box 957, Sanibel FL 33957

AUTUMN

2015 Vol.40 No 1

Newsletter reply only: 440 Glory Circle, Sanibel, FL 33957, 239-579-0720 sdiwi@cox.net

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA AUDUBON

2016 LECTURE PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Held at the Sanibel Community House 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, FL

7:30PM Start Time - Doors open at 6:30PM

Suggested Donation - $5.00 per person

January 7, 2016 – “Making a Dif-ference for Birds” – Join wildlife photographer, educator and guide, Shawn Carey as he again kicks off our lecture season by sharing his latest Migration Productions video presentation showcasing the ex-traordinary work of three individuals: Norman Smith’s Snowy Owl Project, Dr Stephen Kress’ Project Puffin and Tom Sayers’ Kestrel Box Program. January 14, 2016 – "Lee County Conservation 20/20 Preserves: The Natural Place to Play" – Cathy Ol-son, Conservation Lands Manager, Lee County Parks and Recreation educates us on unique public nature lands of the 20/20 Program system with emphasis on the many locations of interest to both birders and nature enthusiasts.

January 21, 2016 – "Birds in

Southwest Florida -- Diversity

and Adaptations for Survival"

– Avian authority, Dr. Jerry

Jackson of FGCU and host of

WGCU’s public radio show,

“With the Wild Things” will focus

on "Gee Whiz" things you might not know about the be-

havior, ecology, and interactions that allow our local birds

to survive here both in natural and unnatural habitats.

January 28, 2016 – “When Eagles Roar – Tales of an African Birding Adventurer” – James Currie, internationally known birder and Host & Crea-tor of Nikon’s Birding Adven-tures TV show will present a don’t miss program on his worldwide birding adventures.

The Pileated Woodpccker AUTUMN 2015 page 2

February 4, 2016 – “On Heron Time (I've Got the Blues)” - Rejoin Rick Bunting, as he utilizes his unique perspective to cre-ate a photo essay on the family activities of the fa-vorite bird of many, the Great Blue Heron. February 11, 2016 – “Subtropical Field Notes: An Amateur's Appreciation of SW Florida Birds.” – Amy Bennett Williams, Senior writer, watch-dog, and storyteller for The News-Press Media Group, will utilize her special verbal and writing skills to give us a unique perspective on our local birds. February 18, 2016 – “Birds of the Caribbean” – Ken Bur-gener, world birder and founder of CarefreeBirding.com is back to take us on a unique trip to dis-cover the intriguing birds inhabit-ing the exotic lands of the Carib-bean. February 25, 2016 – “SUNDA -A Land of Birds, Beasts & Drag-ons” – Well-known Cali-fornia birding teacher and lecturer, Bob Lewis, birder, photographer and traveler will present scin-tillatingly colorful images of the exotic birds & ani-mals of what was Sunda and is now Indonesia & Malaysia.

The Pileated Woodpccker AUTUMN 2015 page 3

NOTES FROM FLORIDA’S CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT,

https://www.audubon.org/news/the-115th-cbc-florida The 73 CBCs held during the 115th season set the all-time re-cord for Florida. Florida’s CBCs accounted for 9329 accepted observations of 357 taxonomic forms and 2,611,243 individu-als, comprising 290 native species, the reintroduced Whooping Crane, 14 of the 15 countable exotics, 38 non-countable exot-ics, two hybrids (Mallard × Mottled Duck and Ring-necked Duck × Lesser Scaup), one color morph (“Great White Heron”), one intergrade (“Wurdemann’s Heron”), and 10 species-groups. Eight species—Greater White-fronted Goose, Black Swan, Black-necked Swan, Key West Quail-Dove, Lesser Nighthawk, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, La Sagra’s Flycatcher, and Tennes-see Warbler—were recorded solely during count week. Eleven CBCs, including three inland exceeded 149 species: Alafia Banks (168), Jacksonville and West Pasco (165 each), *Zellwood–Mount Dora (161), St. Marks (158), Sarasota (156), St. Petersburg and Merritt Island N.W.R. (155 each), *Gainesville (154), *Lakeland (151), and Apalachicola Bay–St. Vincent N.W.R. (150). Six CBCs, including three inland (*), tal-lied more than 50,000 individuals: *Orange River (854,201, with 850,000 Tree Swallows), Cocoa (151,032, with 70,000 Lesser Scaup), *Kissimmee Valley (105,931, with 65,000 American Coots), *Lakeland (73,280), West Pasco (57,484), and St. Pe-tersburg (50,253). Six species (Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Palm Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat) were tallied on all 73 counts. Nine species exceeded 50,000 individuals statewide: Tree Swallow (962,660), American Coot (171,535), Lesser Scaup (146,055), Laughing Gull (108,356), American Robin (84,834), Fish Crow (76,784), Ring-billed Gull (67,262), White Ibis (62,096), and Red-winged Blackbird (60,806). In contrast, 14 native species or natural vagrants were represented by a single individual each (excluding species-groups and count-week re-ports): Eurasian Wigeon, Common Merganser, Neotropic Cor-morant, Great Cormorant, Purple Sandpiper, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Tropical Kingbird, Gray Kingbird, Bell’s Vireo, Brown Creeper, Wood Thrush, Swainson’s Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Western Tanager. The 5376 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks on 32 counts indicated continued population growth. In contrast, only 72 Fulvous Whis-tling-Ducks were tallied statewide. High totals among 209 Egyptian Geese were 57 at Kendall Area, 43 at Fort Lauder-dale, and 41 at Dade County. Canada Geese continue to qui-etly increase in the peninsula, with counts of 300 at Jackson-ville, 71 at Bradenton, and 60 at Emeralda–Sunnyhill. Other feral waterfowl include 4085 Muscovy Ducks on 52 counts and 3069 (mostly feral) Mallards on 48. There were 15,169 American White Pelicans on 49 counts and 18,356 Brown Pelicans on 51, including 60 of the latter inland at Lakeland. Statewide, storks and wading birds totaled 130,147 individuals, among these 4186 Wood Storks, 219 “Great White Herons,” 159 Reddish Egrets, 62,096 White Ibises, 9252 Glossy Ibises, and 1434 Roseate Spoonbills.

Volunteers Needed – 2015 Chr istmas Bird Count

San-Cap Audubon will conduct its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Saturday, December 19, 2015. The results of the lo-cal count will be forwarded to the National Audubon Society for inclusion in the 116

th

National Christmas Bird Count. Volun-teers are needed. Birding skills are desir-able but not necessary. If you have not participated in the Sanibel-Captiva CBC before and would like to, you may obtain addition information by calling (239) 246-1054. . Notes from last year’s Christmas Bird Count: Dec. 20 was the day of the annual Christmas Bird Count for

the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society and the 120 birders

who were in the field spotted 14,154 birds divided among 102

different species. That is up slightly from 2013's totals of

about 12,000 birds and 96 species. (In 2012, 104 species

were seen.) Bill Jacobson, the Master Tabulator, said. “Just

like every year, we had some species that had higher num-

bers than the average and others were lower.” The Count

managed to find one Great Black-Backed Gull, the first in

many years; twelve Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were also

spotted (vs. six in 2013). A Surf Scoter appeared this year,

and it replaced the five Black Scoters that were seen in 2013

(Black Scoters were not spotted in 2014). Osprey numbers

are closely watched on Sanibel-Captiva. In 2013, 398 were

counted and that was the highest total of any Christmas Bird

Count; in 2014, 365 were counted. Another excellent number

Saturday came from the closely monitored Snowy Plover-

SCCF monitors Snowy Plover nesting and last season was

seen as a successful one with 28 in 2014, more than double

last year's number of 12, which Jacobson said is average.

There were 17 Bald Eagles in 2014, down a bit from 2013’s

22. The Tree Swallow presented the most individuals from

one species with 1,883 being counted. This bird demon-

strates how bird populations can fluctuate on count day- in

2013 only nine were seen, all in one area. This year six of the

nine areas had Tree Swallows with one area recording 712

and another 587. Second on the most-abundant list was the

ubiquitous White Ibis with 1,793. Willet, a very common

shorebird, was third with 1,018 with more than half coming

from one of the nine areas. Brown Pelicans numbered 805

with White Pelicans checking in at 256.

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, DECEMBER 20, 2014

The Pileated Woodpccker AUTUMN 2015 page 4

SPECIES 2014 2013 2012

10yr

avg

28yr

avg

87-96

avg

Anhinga 107 74 101 106 125 139

Bittern, Least 1 0 0 0 0 0

Blackbird, Red-winged 0 3 0 7 62 143

Bunting, Indigo 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bunting, Painted 0 0 0 0 0 0

Cardinal 58 65 96 67 52 34

Catbird, Gray 92 95 125 99 84 74

Coot, American 42 40 32 32 42 67

Cormorant, Double- 573 314 599 413 595 743

Cowbird, Brown-headed 0 0 0 0 1 0

Crow, American 14 31 46 14 9 4

Crow, Fish 555 444 513 303 715 1,139

Cuckoo, Mangrove 0 0 0 0 0 1

Dove, Ground 33 33 58 44 60 90

Dove, Eurasian Collared 58 79 96 111 125 85

Dove, Mourning 474 345 649 621 521 499

Dove, Rock 0 1 0 0 0 0

Dove, White-winged 22 2 0 8 4 0

Dowitcher, Short-billed 219 25 0 77 169 178

Duck, Am. Wigeon 0 0 0 0 27 66

Duck, Blue-winged teal 43 40 29 85 110 138

Duck, Green-winged 0 0 1 3 2 1

Duck, Hooded Mergan- 2 4 4 3 3 4

Duck, Lesser scaup 0 0 18 6 3 0

Duck, Mallard 0 0 0 1 0 0

Duck, Mottled 91 118 108 109 81 61

Duck, Pintail 0 0 0 0 2 4

Duck, Northern Shov- 0 0 0 0 0 1

Duck, Red-breasted Merganser 23 95 42 47 85 124

Duck, Redhead 0 0 2 1 0 0

Duck, Ring-necked 0 0 1 0 0 0

Duck, Ruddy 0 0 0 0 0 1

Dunlin 466 286 2 216 256 213

Eagle, Bald 17 22 22 14 9 5

Egret, Cattle 35 12 29 23 36 34

SPECIES 2014 2013 2012 10yr avg

28yr

avg

87-96

avg

Egret, Great 175 199 149 176 214 196

Egret, Reddish 9 5 4 10 10 11

Egret, Snowy 161 134 163 162 290 268

Falcon, Peregrine 1 1 1 1 1 0

Flicker, Northern Yel. Shftd 1 0 1 2 18 36

Flycatcher, Great Crested 5 5 4 4 6 6

Frigatebird, Magnificent 47 378 25 66 57 25

Gannet, Northern 2 2 10 6 3 0

Godwit, Marbled 0 1 0 0 0 0

Goldfinch, Am. 0 0 2 9 25 48

Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray 49 42 63 47 96 138

Grackle, Boat-tailed 35 33 38 76 105 119

Grackle, Common 123 171 163 395 304 170

Grebe. Pied-billed 61 77 55 52 61 71

Grebe, Horned 0 0 0 0 1 2

Gull, Bonaparte's 0 0 2 1 1 0

Gull, Great Black-backed 1 0 0 0 0 0

Gull, Herring 6 67 20 32 76 78

Gull, Laughing 744 1653 690 1,225 2,036 1,917

Gull, Lesser black-backed 12 6 11 3 1 0

Gull, Ring-billed 121 287 381 265 526 760

Hawk, Broad-winged 2 2 0 1 0 1

Hawk, Cooper's 5 0 3 3 1 0

Hawk, Northern Harrier 1 0 1 1 0 0

Hawk, Red-shouldered 46 40 39 41 48 56

Heron, Great Blue 88 42 99 72 81 94

Heron, Green 23 4 7 9 19 34

Heron, Little Blue 265 219 75 163 206 216

Heron, Tri-colored 74 52 63 64 93 114

Heron, Black-crowned night 9 8 2 7 9 8

Heron, Yellow-crowned night 37 9 59 30 44 59

Ibis, White 1793 1061 879 1,085 1,139 1,116

Jay, Blue 1 3 2 4 5 7

Kestrel, Americanl 16 18 29 25 28 32

Killdeer 77 35 77 65 56 47

Kingbird, Eastern 0 0 0 0 1 1

The Pileated Woodpccker AUTUMN 2015 page 5

SPECIES 2014 2013 2012

10yr

avg

28yr

avg

87-96

avg

Kingfisher, Belted 29 12 37 40 56 73

Knot, Red 164 46 20 62 304 715

Loon, Common 4 3 6 13 11 8

Merlin 2 1 2 1 1 1

Mockingbird, Northern 35 21 28 41 61 82

Moorhen, Common 63 22 39 61 113 166

Osprey 365 404 468 339 290 229

Ovenbird 0 0 0 0 0 1

Owl, Barn 0 0 0 0 1 1

Owl, Great-horned 1 0 0 2 2 1

Owl, E. Screech 9 2 5 2 4 5

Oystercatcher, Am. 0 2 0 16 9 7

Parakeet, Monk 0 2 0 0 0 0

Pelican, Brown 805 849 1224 1,392 1,183 1,023

Pelican, White 256 561 208 286 160 24

Phoebe, Eastern 20 29 28 22 20 19

Plover, Black-bellied 167 225 52 131 169 213

Plover, Piping 0 0 0 0 1 2

Plover, Semi-palmated 27 7 67 45 39 28

Plover, Snowy 28 12 2 6 13 17

Plover, Wilson's 0 0 0 1 10 24

Rail, King 0 0 0 0 0 1

Robin, Am. 0 0 38 12 30 62

Sanderling 563 620 377 702 917 1,150

Sandpiper, Least 81 32 21 36 72 71

Sandpiper, Spotted 21 9 17 23 31 33

Sandpiper, Western 26 21 30 80 119 166

Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied 3 2 6 6 5 6

Scoter, Black 0 5 48 5 2 0

Scoter, Surf 1 0 0 0 1 0

Shrike, Loggerhead 1 0 2 4 3 0

Skimmer, Black 6 271 577 196 137 123

Snipe, Wilson's 0 0 0 0 1 1

Sparrow, House 0 0 0 2 13 27

Spoonbill, Roseate 13 29 31 53 53 38

Starling, European 295 160 428 295 315 326

SPECIES 2014 2013 2012 10yr avg

28yr

avg

87-96

avg

Stork, Wood 16 25 31 26 45 56

Swallow, Tree 1883 9 1212 641 260 0

Tern, Common 0 0 7 1 3 6

Tern, Caspian 0 0 0 0 0 1

Tern, Forster's 27 18 99 114 176 287

Tern, Royal 348 424 822 589 782 898

Tern, Sandwich 177 295 872 726 611 490

Thrasher, Brown 0 0 0 0 0 1

Towhee, Eastern 0 0 0 0 2 4

Turnstone, Ruddy 200 318 110 199 275 343

Vireo, Red-eyed 0 0 1 0 0 0

Vireo, Blue-headed 1 0 0 2 2 2

Vireo, White-eyed 3 1 3 2 3 3

Vireo, Yellow-throated 1 0 0 0

Vulture, Black 0 3 2 15 23 35

Vulture, Turkey 45 218 430 163 224 255

Warbler, Black and White 0 0 0 1 5 10

Warbler, Comm Yellow-throat 14 16 6 15 19 18

Warbler, Palm 163 133 288 155 160 138

Warbler, N. Parula 1 0 0 0 1 1

Warbler, Pine 1 4 16 6 3 1

Warbler, Prairie 3 0 3 3 10 16

Warbler, Yellow-rumped 87 105 235 224 306 183

Warbler, Yellow-throated 2 4 6 6 6 6

Waxwing, Cedar 0 0 0 0 4 0

Willet 1018 615 187 410 455 469

Woodpecker, Downy 8 4 5 3 4 3

Woodpecker, Pileated 55 41 55 52 49 49

Woodpecker, Red-bellied 175 136 149 147 138 131

Wren, Carolina 9 9 45 17 13 8

Wren, House 8 0 19 10 5 1

Wren, Marsh 1 0 0 0 0 0

Yellowlegs, Greater 2 2 3 13 10 10

Yellowlegs,Lesser 6 0 2 6 8 7

Total Birds 14154 12411 14060 13,933 16,494 17,555

Total Species 102 96 104 100 102 103

Total Participants 119 120 125

The Pileated Woodpecker AUTUMN 2015 page 6

BIRDING NOTES:Notes from Birdwatchers Digest about

Belted Kingfishers; pictures from France Paulsen’s Blog

In the winter, male Belted Kingfishers tend to remain in the northern nesting areas, protecting their terri-tory. Females are more likely to migrate to south-ern areas, thus it is more likely that you will see a female Belted Kingfisher (with the brown bib) in Sanibel than a male (no

bib). - one of the reasons that Tree Swallows stay up north for so long is that they have adapted their diets to eat berries when insects are scarce. -October 13, 2015: CROW recently received a total of 69 red knots from Ft. Myers Beach who were weak and unable to stand or fly. Due to the volume of red knots, multiple agencies assisted with their rehabilitation including the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Save Our Sea-birds and Peace River Wildlife Center. All have recovered and were released last week. Here are some being re-leased on Sanibel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv6kL-RzpRs

. BIRDWATCHING NOTES: -The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival takes

place in Titusville FL from 20-25 Jan 2016. For more in-

formation, go to

www.SpaceCoastBirdingandWildlifeFestival.org or call

321-268-5224.

an excellent study on mangroves, titled “Mangroves

for coastal defense: Guidelines for coastal managers

and policy makers” is available at tinyurl.com/

MangrovesWI-TNC

- Ozzie the Bald Eagle, RIP: Ozzie and Harriet, a

paired couple of Bald eagles, became famous as the

subjects of the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam,

www.SWFLEagleCam.com. It is with heavy hearts, we share the news that Ozzie passed away recently. It was a gift to observe his and Harriet’s bond over the last three seasons and we will remember his dedication, commitment and love for many years to come. Fly High & Free Ozzie. (A replacement for Ozzie is now in the nest)

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA AUDUBON SOCIETY 2016 BIRD WALKS

SATURDAYS 8:00 AM…SUGGESTED DONA-

TION $ 2.00 / PERSON: NO DONATION ACCEPTED AT “DING” DARLING

WILDLIFE REFUGE

OPEN TO ALL LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE, FROM NOVICE TO EXPERT

www.san-capaudubon.org BIRD WALKS

DIRECTIONS

BAILEY TRACT: Take Island Inn Rd across from Bailey’s. Free parking at end of road in field at back entrance to the Bailey Tract. BOWMAN’S BEACH: Park in the beach parking lot at the end of Bow-man’s Beach Road. Meet at the Wooden Bridge on the way to beach. Non-Resident parking $3.00/hour BUNCHE BEACH: Across causeway approx. 2.5 miles. Right on John Morris Rd to beach parking lot. Waterproof shoes a must. Parking fee $ 2.00/hour DING DARLING REFUGE: Meet in overflow parking lot near trolley stop. Free Parking. POND APPLE TRAIL: Meet in the FRONT parking lot of Matzaluna Res-taurant on Peri-winkle Way. Free Parking. SANIBEL LIGHTHOUSE: Meet in the Fishing Pier parking lot at the Lighthouse. Non-Resident parking $ 3.00/hour.

Dec 19 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

Jan 2 BAILEY TRACT Jan 9 DING DARLING REFUGE

Jan 16 BUNCHE BEACH

Jan 23 POND APPLE TRAIL

Jan 30 BAILEY TRACT

Feb 6 DING DARLING REFUGE

Feb 13 POND APPLE TRAIL Feb 20 DING DARLING REFUGE

Feb 27 BAILEY TRACT

Mar 5 BUNCHE BEACH

Mar 12 BOWMAN’S BEACH

Mar 19 DING DARLING REFUGE

Mar 26 POND APPLE TRAIL

Apr 2 BUNCHE BEACH

Apr 9 SANIBEL LIGHTHOUSE

REMEMBERING ELAINE JACOBSON Mary “Elaine” Jacobson, 73, of Jaffrey NH and Sani-bel FL died July 10, 2015, at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough NH after a period of failing health. She was born in Boston MA April 3, 1942, daughter of John T. Biagi and Annetta (Simoni) Biagi. She grew up in Hyannis MA., later moving to Milton MA, where she graduated from Jeanne d’Arc Acad-emy. After marriage she settled in the Monadnock Region NH and raised her children. In 1980 she met her husband, William “Jake” Jacob-son. Together, they traveled west to Arizona where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Arizona. They then moved to the Portland OR area and got married, and she began her career as a phar-maceutical representative. In 1985, to be closer to family, the couple returned to Dublin NH where she continued her 18-year career before retiring from Aventis Pharmaceuticals. They moved to Jaffrey NH in 2007 and spent their winters in Sanibel FL since jointly retiring in 2000. Elaine was very active in their Sanibel community. She and her husband volunteered at the J.N. “Ding” Darling Natural Wildlife Refuge. As a self–taught ex-pert on the local Florida flora, she would conduct weekly plant walks for visitors to the wildlife refuge. The Jacobsons were also guides on bicycle-birding tours, held weekly in the refuge. Elaine was a board member and the program chairperson for the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society. In that capacity, since 2005, she planned and coordinated their very suc-cessful annual weekly lecture series in January and February on birds and the environment. In addition, as a volunteer at the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), she was a leader and organizer of their native plant education program, "Weeds & Seeds." During the summer, she was either home in Jaffrey, where she loved gardening, or taking RV trips with her husband to locations such as the coast of Maine, Canada and western United States. Elaine will be sorely missed by all who had the privi-lege of knowing her. She was always enthusiastic about everything she was interested in, and it was a contagious enthusiasm. With a unique knack for mak-ing friends, she was the kind of person her friends always loved seeing. A vibrant and lively person who enjoyed life to the fullest while being amazingly giving and loving, Her curiosity and excitement about plants, nature, history and her passion to explore the world were admired by many. The world seemed brighter around Elaine.

————————————————————————— Thanks to France Paulsen for

this wonderful tribute to Elaine: When I became a volun-teer for Ding Darling, I had the pleasure of attending many plant walks that were taking place every Tues-days at the Bailey Tract and this is where I got to meet Mary Elaine Jacob-

son. She was very passionate about the fauna and loved to share her knowledge, she was also a fun gal, very warm and generous. She also gave her time to the Sanibel Captiva Audubon Society group and I vividly remember how she would greet every-one who came in and made them feel as if they were the most important people in the room, myself included. Since I walk the Bailey Tract on a regular basis, I can't help but remember her comments and her exuberance as I look at the wild flowers in bloom, I see now that she is within the blooms.... though I miss hearing her voice. Just recently I read: "There is no death only a change of worlds" and I truly believe that she has found eternal blooms to tend to.

Mary Elaine - these are for you. http://www.birdstring.blogspot.com/2015/09/

eternal-bloom.html

The Pileated Woodpccker AUTUMN 2015 page 7

The Newsletter of the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society

P.O. Box 957 Sanibel, Florida 33957

Newsletter reply only:

440 Glory Circle Sanibel, FL 33957 sdiwi@cox.net 239-579-0720

Sponsored by

We’re proud to give back to the community

we call home

An Update on the C-43 Res-

ervoir Project

The 2016 Lecture Series

2015 Christmas Bird Count

Birding and Birdwatching

Notes

The 2016 Walks Schedule

Remembering Elaine Jacob-

son

AUTUMN 2015

Please visit

www.san-capaudubon.org

Note, updated web page (the hyphen is required)

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