[Bristol-Birds] BBC Clinch Mountain Eagle Group unveils early results at January meeting.

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:55:20 -0500

















The Bristol Bird Club's Clinch Mountain Golden Eagle Group
unveiled its first three weeks of results, studying and monitoring
birds in Russell County.  The group includes members of the
Russell County Bird Club who are instrumental with much of
the on-site field work.

BBC President Dave Worley, Tom Hunter and Michele Sparks thrilled
the capacity crowd at Steele Creek Park with the program for the January
meeting of BBC.  Birders were leaning forward in their seats and some
moving closer to the front to see the three presentations laced together
by the team members.

Worley said that special remote cameras, set in the field in Russell
County, which have unique sensors, made 7,500 photographs in the
last three weeks.  Of that number, 3000+ are photos taken of
Golden Eagles coming to deer carcasses the group carried to remote
sites and placed within feet of the cameras.

A few select images were
shared with birders who
attended the meeting, 
including dramatic and 
rare photos of a Golden
Eagle feeding pieces of
meat to another Golden
Eagle at a carcass.  The
protocol for the Eastern
Golden Eagle Working 
Group was shared to
show how this scientific
study of wintering eagles
fits in as part of the bigger project which extends into Canada and
includes many state wildlife agencies and colleges and university
researchers.  The BBC was selected to carry out the field work in
Southwest Virginia by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland
Fisheries.

The remote camera device
is battery powered and senses
motion within its field of view.
It then takes a digital photo.
It has infrared equipment to
make night photos which
turned up amazing results.
A second camera within a
couple of miles distance
captured 500+ photos of
Bobcats coming to the deer.
It also made photos of Spotted Skunk, Red Fox, domestic dogs and Raccoons.
















Michele Sparks presented two educational elements which she has 
developed as part of the group's educational component.  In the photo
above, she showed two young Bobcats on the left with an apparent
adult coming to feed at a deer carcass not far from the Clifton Farm on
the Stuart Land & Cattle Co. property.  Her presentation has already been
presented to her fifth grade class at Indian Springs Elementary as she
learns more about how to organize, explain/teach and determine what
elements appeal to students and can be significant learning tools.  She
will eventually help design materials for others, including higher education.
Sparks had the pelt of an adult Bobcat which had been picked up many years
ago as a road kill and preserved for educational purposes.  Even the birders
loved to see it up close as did college students who attended the BBC 
meeting.  But few enjoyed as much as the students in her classroom.

The birders enjoyed looking closely at a
camera and how it works.  In one 
segment of the presentation, they were
shown a fairly-detailed computer
generated map of several Southwest
Virginia counties with the extensive
plotting of a Golden Eagle which had
been affixed last winter with a satellite
receiver after having been trapped at
Laurel Bed Lake on the Clinch Mountain
Wildlife Management Area near Saltville.
The bird traveled over an extensive
area including portions of Russell,
Smyth, Washington and Tazewell counties during the late winter months.

The receivers are being placed on the eagles
and monitoring satellite signals which are stored
in packets of data and delivered to cell phone
towers as the unit makes contacts with such a
tower.  Eventually, that data along with the
many photos captured from the cameras,
will be used to make an inventory of both
the numbers of eagles wintering in the state
and their wintering areas and movements.

State trappers have come to the BBC-established sites where at least
6 to 10 Golden Eagles have been photo documented at one site alone
near the Clinch River.  As late as midnight, biologists have set up blinds
in the field and spent the night in the 4x4 foot blind in temperatures as
low as zero in order to be there by daylight.  So far, no eagles have
been captured this winter but the project still has six weeks remaining.

One exciting announcement tonight was that BBC member Victoria
Hanson has paid a life membership to the club.  

Among those in attendance at the meeting were (* indicates those
having dinner at the Mad Greek Restaurant):

Lois Cox, Wilma Boy, *Rick Knight, *Dave Worley, *Diana Worley,
*Roy Knispel, Michele Sparks, *Laverne Hunter, *Tom Hunter,
*John Hay, Janice Martin, Fred Martin, *Judy Roach, *Mary Erwin, 
*Neal Henson, *Jean Henson, *Faye Wagers, *Sam Cross, *Rack
Cross, *Wallace Coffey, *Carolyn Coffey, Paul Freiberg, Victoria
Hanson, Sidney Marie Hanson, Marin Dimitrov, Ani Dimitrov,
Chelsea Groulding and Shane Stallard.
[Bristol-Birds] BBC Clinch Mountain Eagle Group unveils early results at January meeting.

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