Sarasota News Leader

02/21/2014

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Siesta Seen The information in the brochures is of the common sense variety, Luckner added. "Don't harass the birds. If you do, we're going to have an officer come visit you with a big gun and badge." When that comment elicited laughter, Luckner added, "Seriously. We did last year." At the end of the 2013 nesting season, the SKA recognized representatives of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office for their help in deal- ing with people whom witnesses had seen vandalizing nesting areas. Although Siesta only had six snowy plover chicks survive last year, that was the highest count for any Suncoast community, Luckner pointed out. Storms and natural predators such as crows are threats to the plover chicks, he said. "But we'll try again this year, and we've been more and more successful." Catherine Luckner added that Sarasota Audubon always welcomes volunteers to help keep an eye on the chicks — from a distance — after the birds hatch. "We call it 'chick chasing,'" Bob Luckner said. Because a baby snowy plover looks like "a cotton ball on a toothpick," he continued, it easily can be stepped on when it begins roam- ing the beach on its own. The brochures Bob Luckner referenced are published by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). They explain that snowy plovers "are small, pale birds with short beaks. Snowy plovers begin to forage on their own just hours after hatching." For more information, visit the FWC website. ANNUAL MEETING The SKA will hold its annual member- ship meeting on Saturday, March 1, in the Community Room at St. Boniface Episcopal Church. The church is located at 5615 Midnight Pass Road. Special guests will be Commissioner Nora Patterson, who will offer remarks on various county topics, and County Administrator Tom Harmer. The event will begin at 8 a.m. with coffee, tea and juice service. The breakfast buffet will open at 8:30 a.m. The organization will be celebrating 65 years of service to the community. Priority for reservations will be given to mem- bers, President Catherine Luckner pointed out at the Feb. 6 meeting. Membership is $30 per year. More informa- tion about the organization is available on its website. % Take Your Time You Have All Week Enjoy The News Leader Anytime - Day or Night Sarasota News Leader February 21, 2014 Page 111

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