Kite Tales - February 2017

ISSUE NUMBER 6 • FEBRUARY 2017 Kite Tales the Great Florida Birding & Wildlife Trail's monthly newsletter Limpkins at Babcock Webb WMA Wings Over Florida Field Trips for 75th WMA anniversary 2017 is the 75th Anniversary of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Management Area system. As part of this year long celebration, Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail staff Andy Wraithmell and Whitney Gray will be leading several field trips around the state. Feb 12 - Florida Keys WEA April 29 - Three Lakes WMA June 3 - Apalachicola River WEA Sept 9 - Joe Budd WMA Oct 7 - Guana River WMA Nov 18 - Hungryland WEA Dec 2 - Tosohatchee WMA NOTE: Registration is currently open for the Florida Keys WEA and Three Lakes WMA trips ONLY. Registration for the other trips will open soon. There are many other events taking place throughout the year including bio blitzes & volunteer workdays. For more information about those opportunities visit the MyFWC 75 WMA website. Questions? andy.wraithmell@myfwc.com whitney.gray@myfwc.com For more information about our Wings Over Florida program http://floridabirdingtrail.com/wof/ Great Backyard Bird Count 2017 Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time. Now, more than 160,000 people of all ages and walks of life worldwide join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds. We invite you to participate! For at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, February 17-20, 2017, simply tally the numbers and kinds of birds you see. You can count from any location, anywhere in the world, for as long as you wish! For more information visit the GBBC website Great Crested Flycatcher by Judy Lyle Nest Boxes! Placing a nest box (sometimes called a birdhouse) in your yard or neighborhood is a great way to attract birds that nest in holes. Participants in The Birdhouse Network, a citizen-science project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology, monitor the birds that nest in their nest boxes, gathering information such as the number of eggs or young in the nest, then submitting their data over the Internet to Lab scientists. The Birdhouse Network's website has lots of great information about nest boxes and the birds attracted to them. Florida Scrub-Jay at Salt Lake WMA Andy's WMA Big Year! To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Florida's wildlife management area system Andy has decided to do a WMA Big Year! During 2017, Andy will attempt to see as many species as possible in Florida's WMAs. So far he has visited 4 WMAs (Babcock Webb, L. Kirk Edwards, Salt Lake and Apalachee) and has tallied 70 species including Florida Scrub-Jay, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Limpkin and Bald Eagle. Follow our Facebook and Twitter accounts for regular big year updates and tips on where and when to go birding on our wildlife management areas.  Share your WMA experiences and sightings with us on Twitter by using this hastag #WMAzing  In this issue WMA75 Field Trips Great Backyard Bird Count Nest Boxes WMA Big Year The Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail (GFBWT) is a network of 510 sites. The Trail is a program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, supported in part by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida. The Trail is possible thanks to dozens of federal, state, and local government agencies, non-governmental organizations and private landowners. Continued, broad-based support and grassroots community investment will continue to make the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail a success for Florida and for our feathered friends. VISIT OUR WEBSITE Kite Tales - February 2017

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