Team Bird Year (TBY) visit to Brevard County

By Jim Meyer

TBY gave a fantastic and very informative presentation on March 15 with about 50 people in attendance. CC Mayor Rocky Randels gave them a very impressive "Key to the City" Plaque to open up the presentation. More than $600 was donated to their Bird Conservation Fund and several people signed up for pledges to Wendy's Bird Day Challenge which was conducted on Sunday, March 16. Wendy told me that it was one of the most fun and beneficial presentations they have made.

TBY got off to a flying start in Brevard with the launch of the Endeavour early on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, Eileen and I joined them at Viera with the American Bittern being the target bird. Ken and Wendy had been trying to see it for 8 years. Malkolm had spotted one in the Everglades but it seems it was while Ken and Wendy were having coffee. Not 15 minutes after we started biking along the North side, Wendy and Ken had their lifer! In all, four American Bitterns were seen and 2 Least Bitterns were added. Malkolm spotted a Great Black-backed Gull on the ride to Cape Canaveral which was their 2nd new species for the trip for a 467 total.

When they arrived about 6:00 pm, my garage turned into a bicycle barn! Next was a tour of the house and selection of sleeping quarters. I had pre-selected the spare bedroom with Mom's handmade quilt and queen size bed for Wendy and Ken. However, as I was to learn later, they preferred the back porch underneath the palms and gurgling pond.

Team Bird Year kayaked 1000 Islands on Thursday morning, hosted by Jim Durocher of Space Coast Kayaking. The highlight of the trip was when some 50 Great Blue Herons lifted off of a mangrove island close to our boats. When TBY arrived home, lunch was on the agenda along with two interviews with Florida Today and Hometown News. This was considered to be a rest day so we biked around my exercise loop at the Port to get them familiar with it. Another "easy" rest day, with only 26 miles biked, 2 hours of interviews, and 4 miles kayaked!

Friday saw TBY heading to KSC's Visitor's Center at 0800. Upon arrival, with the "Gray Ray" escorting due to lack of shoulder on Space Center property, TBY checked out their wheels for the day-a lithium battery powered PT Cruiser. TBY toured all the Shuttle facilities and then biked back to Cape Canaveral to set up their camp at Jetty Park. Another rest day, with only 36 miles biked! Before returning my garage to me, Malkolm asked "How much light will the Delta Rocket put out and how far is it from the Jetty"? "Oh, about half the light as the Shuttle you saw today would put out", I answered. Some guy named Ken told them I was a Rocket Scientist. Off to Jetty Park to get ready for a 0209 liftoff, if the rains stop and the clouds part. They did and Malkolm got some great shots of the Delta II delivering another GPS satellite into low earth orbit. Wow, are these folks lucky-in 4 days, 2 launches and 2 new species!

It's a real rest day on Saturday but a presentation at the Cape Canaveral Library is on the agenda. I should have chosen the Cocoa Library so they could have gotten some proper exercise. At 0845, TBY plus one, bike to the the Cape Canaveral Library. Upon arrival, Dee Livingstone opens up the conference room and TBY takes the opening to ask if they can bring their bikes inside. Dee says "No, someone else did that and the Mayor didn't like it. Now it's 0910 and I'm hoping to see Jason and his audio/visual magic gear. He soon appears and says "no one showed up at Tosahatchee" and gets setup for the presentation on time. Oh my gosh, it's the Mayor checking for bicycles! Wow, he's spiffy looking and is carrying a plaque. It's got a great big key on the top and it reads:

The City of Cape Canaveral is proud to present the key of our city to Ken, Wendy and Malkolm: who set off from their home in the Yukon Territory for a year-long 12,000 mile Fossil-Fuel-Free Adventure in search of birds - a birding "Big Year". Upon reaching Cape Canaveral, they have traveled over 8,700 miles entirely by bicycle. We will be watching your national efforts to protect birds and their habitat on your website www.birdyear.com/

Following the TBY presentation, about 13 folks joined TBY at Rusty's Seafoof Bar at the Port. Rhett Fischer, Rusty's manager, was kind enough to host TBY. I had talked to Rhett a week earlier and he told me that one of his favorite places at the Port, with the exception of Rusty's, was Advocet Lagoon. Some might remember that Rusty, Rhett's father, had donated to our Viewing Platform at Avocet Lagoon. This was, in deed, a rest day for TBY with only around 12 miles biked which is a good biking day for most of us.

I arrived at Jetty Park at 0700 on Sunday morning and Ken and Wendy were just finishing up with breakfast. This was Wendy's Bird Challenge Day and Malkolm and I were going to accompany her while Ken secured the campsite. We decided to head to the Canaveral Lock first, in order to see the Black-crowned Nite Heron. The only problem was it took us a long time to get there due to all the bird spottings on the way! However, at 0830 there still were several hanging around for last bite. Avocet Lagoon was really loaded with Roseate Spoonbills, Avocets, Reddish Egrets, N. Shovelers, Blue-winged Teals, and all the other normal characters. The West cove held Lesser Scaup and Red-breasted Mergansers. A quick stop near Rusty's got N. Gannet and Great Black-backed Gull for the Bird Challenge list. In all, when Team Bird Year pulled out around 1100, Wendy had tallied 51 Species. As she rode off, I heard her say "Maybe, I should take it easy on my donors" as Malkolm and Ken encouraged her to go for it! As it turned out, Wendy ended up with 75 species and over $1000 in pledges.

TBY's final day in Brevard County yielded them a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow right where David Simpson said it would be around Turnbull Creek. In all, while in Brevard, TBY added 3 new species to their Bird Year list for a total of 468 and over $1600 to their Bird Conservation Fund.

Go Team Bird Year!