Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary

Started by Elantric, January 09, 2015, 11:11:47 AM

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Elantric




A bit off topic  - but still a worthwhile cause!


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avila-Beach-Bird-Sanctuary/705204586229610
Show your support via a Facebook "Like" for the ongoing expansion of the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary, who organizes education and awareness of migratory birds and rescue efforts.
Each spring, many varieties of migratory birds come to Avila Beach,
along with many year round feathered residents of the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary.

Elantric

#1
Thanks for "Likes" to the  Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avila-Beach-Bird-Sanctuary/705204586229610


Growing the number of "likes" makes a difference, as there are other opportunities to organize co-events with with local Audubon, and other Bird Groups.

Strange but true  - in this world today first thing other organisations  ask is:

"How many "Likes" do you have on your Facebook page?"

and they ignore your other efforts. Forces one to "Swim with the social media flow" or sink




shawnb

Yep...

Amazing video...   Love the whale shot behind the birds.   

My cause?   I do tutoring & mentoring at Year Up:


In my decades working in IT & silicon valley, it's always driven me a little nuts that we sponsor immigration visas when this is trainable entry-level stuff & there are unemployed young adults living in the cities & neighborhoods of the companies sponsoring the visas...   Always felt imbalanced & a bit incredulous to me.  Pretty high success rate at Year Up.  Good program. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Elantric

#3
Congratulations on your efforts shawn
borders on this topic

http://www.businessinsider.com/when-steves-jobs-and-barack-obama-dined-2015-1


Quote
Amazing video...   Love the whale shot behind the birds.

Yes - I filmed that myself from Avila Beach Boat Ramp. - it was crazy because the last thing i would be doing is sitting in a Kayak 10 feet away from a Whale who is feeding on a giant school of fish just  50 yards from the beach




Click "Like" here

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avila-Beach-Bird-Sanctuary/705204586229610



Elantric

#4
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Avila-Beach-Bird-Sanctuary/705204586229610
Show your support via a Facebook "Like" for the ongoing expansion of the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary, who organizes education and awareness of migratory birds and rescue efforts.

Here is a photo I took of Buddy" the Red-tailed Hawk - at the 1st Annual Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary Day event,


whippinpost91850

very cool picture , what did you take it with

Elantric

#6
Quotevery cool picture , what did you take it with

Lumix FZ-200

aliensporebomb

My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

jshortz


supernicd

Great photo indeed!  I see you have additional talents outside of the music realm. :)
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric


Elantric


Elantric

Distinguished Group of Senators Stands Up in Defense of Key Bird Law
Ten Senators urge Secretary Ryan Zinke to protect birds and interpret the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the same manner as administrations from both parties the past 40 years.

   

By National Audubon Society
April 04, 2018

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Explained

Snowy Egret. Photo: Andres Leon/Audubon Photography Awards
Defend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Tell Congress and the Department of the Interior to uphold the country's most important bird protection law.

Take Action
WASHINGTON — "While millions of birds are embarking on their spring migration across North America, ten Senate leaders are standing up for them in Washington," said Sarah Greenberger, Audubon's senior vice president of conservation policy, in response to a letter signed by ten U.S. Senators urging the Secretary of the Interior to enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in a way that protects birds from incidental deaths as well as intentional deaths.

"Birds face too many challenges today to weaken the most important bird conservation law we have. The MBTA brings states, conservation groups, industry and other stakeholders together to find common-sense solutions that protect the birds that millions of Americans love. We greatly appreciate the leadership from Senator Carper, Senator Booker and others for speaking up for birds and the places they need."

In addition to Senator Tom Carper of Delaware and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, other signers included Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

Three days before last Christmas, the Office of the Solicitor within the Department of the Interior released an opinion saying it will no longer enforce the MBTA in cases of incidental bird deaths, effectively giving a blank check to industry to avoid gruesome and preventable bird deaths.

The MBTA is one of the Audubon Society and the American conservation movement's earliest victories, and has protected millions if not billions of birds in its century-long history. Congress passed the MBTA in 1918 in response to public outcry over the mass slaughter of birds, which threatened egrets and other species with extinction. The law prohibits killing or harming America's birds except under certain conditions, including managed hunting seasons for game species.

Today, this law protects birds from 21st-century threats by bringing together industry, government and conservation organizations to implement best-management practices. Commonsense solutions like covering oil pits and flagging transmission lines protect countless birds each year from otherwise needless deaths.

Facts and figures on industrial causes of bird mortality in the United States:

Power lines: Up to 64 million birds per year (Source: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0101565)
Communication towers: Up to 7 million birds per year (Source: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0034025)
Oil waste pits: 500,000 to 1 million birds per year (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16988870)
Oil spills: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is estimated to have killed more than 1 million birds (http://www.audubon.org/news/more-one-million-birds-died-during-deepwater-horizon-disaster)
Audubon is asking its 1.2 million members and supporters to urge their members of Congress to defend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more how to help at www.audubon.org and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @audubonsociety.

Contact: Nicolas Gonzalez, ngonzalez@audubon.org, (212) 979-3100.

###


https://www.audubon.org/news/distinguished-group-senators-stands-defense-key-bird-law

admin

#13




chrish

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel *, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum *
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT * now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please! "

By Joni Mitchell

Every year now the honey bees that I purchase to replace my 3 year in a row  total colony collapse losses seem to be weaker and less resilient to disease.

aliensporebomb

Within the last 24 months my wife created a bee garden by our mailbox.  It's for butterflies too but instead of having lawn with a mailbox post in it we have rocks and lots of coneflowers and other flowering plants.   We also added a couple of window boxes by our front window with more flowering plants and we get a pretty good view.

Sometimes in the summer I'll sit down there by the mailbox with my camera with a zoom lens to take pics of the bees just because you can see they are pretty purposeful creatures and with the latest news one can never tell what will happen with them but I hope they stick around. 
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

chrish

#16
Quote from:  philjynx on April 02, 2019, 10:42:02 AM
Yeah, but a handful of people at Beyer need to be rich....
here's a Snappy tune.



chrish


jimmyj

#18
I grew up in a very rural area in the midwest. You couldn't walk barefoot in the yard without getting stung. Now I mow about 5 acres and don't see any honey bees and I'm lucky if I see a half dozen small black bumble bees, which I watch for so I don't run over them. There were also literally thousand of little frogs in the spring and now the majority of them are gone. I used to see around fifty bats every evening and now I'm lucky to see one. The butterflies are mostly gone. I don't see flying squirrels, pileated woodpeckers, tree frogs and I'm sure several more species I'm can't think of now. There are almost no blackberries and peaches here anymore due to blight. All of this in just my lifetime. The sad part is I have relatives and friends who will argue that the climate or anything else is not changing and they have children which will have to suffer what happens in the future.  I'm not saying some of these animals and plants don't exist somewhere else but if they are disappearing here in the middle of nowhere it's just a matter of time before they will be gone everywhere.

chrish

#19
Quote from: jimmyj on April 04, 2019, 04:53:56 AM
I grew up in a very rural area in the midwest. You couldn't walk barefoot in the yard without getting stung. Now I mow about 5 acres and don't see any honey bees and I'm lucky if I see a half dozen small black bumble bees, which I watch for so I don't run over them. There were also literally thousand of little frogs in the spring and now the majority of them are gone. I used to see around fifty bats every evening and now I'm lucky to see one. The butterflies are mostly gone. I don't see flying squirrels, pileated woodpeckers, tree frogs and I'm sure several more species I'm can't think of now. There are almost no blackberries and peaches here anymore due to blight. All of this in just my lifetime. The sad part is I have relatives and friends who will argue that the climate or anything else is not changing and they have children which will have to suffer what happens in the future.  I'm not saying some of these animals and plants don't exist somewhere else but if they are disappearing here in the middle of nowhere it's just a matter of time before they will be gone everywhere.
what you just described is accurate world wide. And as Phil says everything we do has an impact. This article refers to that concept, as the old saying goes, Death By A Thousand Cuts. This sets up negative feedback loop.

https://relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/animals/2019/02/why-insect-populations-are-plummeting-and-why-it-matters

For me personally I try to pick an issue close to home and deal with it, simular to Steve's bird sanctuary work.

I purchased part of an old cattle ranch and have been keeping two of the parcels out of development and built my home on one acre. So around 74 acres is returning to wildlife habitat.

Having money tied up in this effort means I don't get to fly to exotic places to vacation. But that's also good for the planet. A positive feedback loop.

So the State of Wa purchased 260 acres of this same ranch with  federal grant money designated for Wildlife connectivity corridors and habitat preservation.

However the local Good Ol Boys Club in the state agency, who manages the land, wanted to lease the land to graze cattle.

Through a lot of research into the title documents I found a deed restriction that came with the Federal grant money which says that the land is required to be used for the benefit of Wildlife.

After a 3 year local battle, I finally took the issue to the head of the State agency and it appears now that the land will remain protected.

Needless to say the local cattle ranchers are not too happy with my actions.That state land was to be their Cash Cow so to speak.

They saw money where I saw habitat restoration and the honey bees are part of that process.

We now have a wolf pack that has returned and moved into the protected area.

Those wolves are legally protected however some of the local cattle ranchers and good old boys have a saying, shoot, shovel and shut up.

Attitude is everything.

admin

#20
Greed is everywhere

a timeline history of the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary

http://www.avilabeachbirdsanctuary.net/history/
QuoteAs time moved on, and political personalities arose, unfortunately good things end. The temporary restricted holding account/fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Avila Beach Community Foundation had reached the end of it's utility and was closed, although verbiage appears as a line item on the original resolution from the County, it can not be rewritten, however, the ABCF is no longer taking donations on behalf of the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary. Thus, future events, sadly, have all been suspended indefinitely. A non profit (using the same name) was formed by an individual outside of Avila Beach. The Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary founder, Shirley Goetz, has NO affiliation with this organization or any business the public conducts with them.

Despite our multiyear effort to create the Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary,  sadly the local government colluded with a local photographer from a nearby city to establish with the state a non-profit with identical name "Avila Beach Bird Sanctuary,Inc. - without informing the founder  = Profit from Confusion and a money grab for the local buddy network with zero proceeds for actual public bird awareness activities in Avila Beach - its a tax writeoff for a few key local government "swamp creatures" who collect "management fees"  from these public donations.
https://www.taxexemptworld.com/organization.asp?tn=2428201

The public contributes tax exempt donations to the "bogus ABBS" ,  but no funds are distributed for any events, and none are planned - which basically killed the annual "Bird Sanctuary Day" myself and Shirley Goetz put on annually for 3 years ( now on hold )

The lesson - To maintain what you have in your local environment requires public awareness and a coalition to wage battle with the countless sharks.
Often the very folks in the local government who should be your support network are your enemy, as they conspire to exploit any opportunity to line their own pocket books with cash.
   

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/irs-complaint-process-tax-exempt-organizations
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organizations-audit-process
Apparently they can accumulate up to $50k /year and nobody cares