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Sarasota News Leader July 19, 2013 Page 48 Moreover, he said, it appeared a chick hatched in another nest on July 16, with one more preparing to come out of its shell in that same nest. Yet a third egg has been seen in the nest, Worms noted. The mother hen in that case found good ground cover to camouflage herself from predators, he pointed out. New Audubon volunteers can stand just outside the buffer area and fail to spot her, he added. Veteran volunteers "can see the hen with the naked eye. … That hen just picked a really good spot." Regarding the two older chicks, Worms said, "They are starting to stretch little wing-like structures." Soon, he said, they should be able to wave their wings and try jumping into the air. "Typically, for a few days, they fall on their beaks," he pointed out. Then, at last, they fly about 6 or 8 feet on their first real airborne adventure. Next thing the volunteers know, they are flying all over. "You don't know where the heck they've gone," he said with a chuckle. MORE PROTECTIVE MEASURES Dr. Allan Worms. File photo In the meantime, Worms said he could not The key to helping these endangered bird spe- offer sufficient praise for the volunteers who cies survive, Luckner said, is education. She have been patrolling so diligently this year. is hopeful that Sarasota Audubon can begin "They are the meat and soul of success out working more closely with rental offices, con- there on the beach," he added. dominium complex boards and the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce on means to alert vis- Anyone interested in volunteering to work itors to the presence of the endangered birds on the "chick patrol" may visit the Sarasota Audubon website, where email addresses are that nest on the beach each summer. available, or call the chapter at 364-9212. "That's just going to have to take place," she People also are welcome to call the Siesta Key Association at 364-4880. % said of such an initiative.