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Such
Enthusiasm & Joy !!
As the pictures indicate, more than 25 kids at the Chestertown
Wildlife Exhibition reminded us why the Initiative is much more than just
producing more wood ducklings or the "Total Wetland Experience" we’re
trying to provide at times. Their first use of a hammer or drill and then
being able to decorate “their” box made for some proud parent moments and a
fun time by all.
Please Review our Jan. 3rd Activity Report
Predator Guards – Suppliers Arranged
Orders for 158 guards were placed for 16 private program sponsors from
Chappell Central out of Minnesota.
http://www.ChappellCentral.com They will also provide future supplies
for anyone interested. Please see our Predator Guard link for more details.
Metal will also soon be delivered to the Maryland Correctional Institute in
Hagerstown where MWDI’s public lands predator guards will be manufactured
sufficient to last us a few years. Thanks to Bill Harvey (MD DNR) and John
McKay, the metal shop manager. Special thanks to Jason Flynn of the
Roof Center for assisting MWDI by obtaining and delivering the metal
supplies.
MWDI is still waiting for
information from certain local Maryland suppliers on their ability to also
provide guards locally; however, we’re very pleased we have a cost effective
solution finalized in the near term.
6,000+ incremental ducklings since 2004!
Reference is again made to the
Summary Results of the
Maryland Public Lands Nesting Survey. The final report is becoming a
slow process as my other life has gotten especially busy and I’ve spent more
time on predator guard and embroidery things than planned.
2008 Operations Planning Underway
Things are already moving forward even while we are still “cleaning up” some
inspection data from 2007. In addition to 9 new projects already
defined, 3 additional projects are developing:
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Kevin Colbeck, MWDI
Advisory Director, discovered 10 new boxes erected at Tuckahoe State
Park. (Queen Anne Co). Upon learning that they were installed by scouts
but had no ongoing supervision planned (unfortunately a common
occurrence), Kevin offered to adopt them.
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At Lake Roland in
Baltimore, a number of old boxes have been adopted for some time by an
individual has expressed interest in MWDI and we have offered our
support.
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Planning to refurbish the
Liberty & Loch Raven Reservoir sites is also in progress. Once guard
delivery is finalized, field work will begin.
We appreciate the growing
number of offers to assist and we will be in touch!!
Photo Contest Reminder – Jim Taylor’s
duck stamp prints look great! Don’t forget to get your kids to take a few
wetland and wildlife pictures this fall and to submit them for the
Photo
Contest! If we get a surge of entries, we may declare a couple of interim
winners as Jim has donated 4 framed prints to MWDI for photo contest prizes.
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Sincerely,
Cliff Brown
Executive Director
Maryland Wood Duck Initiative
The Maryland Wood Duck Initiative is an all-volunteer wildlife
conservation effort started in late 2004. Our objectives are to
enhance Maryland’s wood duck population and to generate a greater
appreciation of the wetland habitats in which they live by
advocating and demonstrating the merits of a “best practices”
approach in managed nest programs.
Leveraging these focused efforts on the wood duck, we seek to
provide a
Total Wetlands Experience for our volunteers
and the “next generation” through the development of complementary
educational programs, internships and research projects. |
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