2006
Project Report
2006 has been a banner year for the Flyway Foundation
and everyone involved is very excited about our prospects for
the future. The hen houses we constructed and erected last year
are being used and interest is starting to build. Our message
is starting to get out to conservationists from Ontario to Florida
and it is being well received. At the Southeastern Wildlife
Exposition and Palmetto Sportsman's Classic, the Flyway Foundation
picked up new members and much needed donations.
Preliminary data from our first round of hen houses
has been quite exciting. With a little over 20% occupancy and
brood survival around 93% by mallards, we are happy to report
a long-term commitment with our partners in Pennsylvania and
with Bird Studies Canada. With no other studies out there to
compare to, we are excited to see 1 in 5 hen houses being utilized
in their very first year. We certainly expect these ducks to
use the houses more and more over the years. Thus far, 118 mallards
have been banded or web tagged (nesting hens and ducklings).
Look for them in your bag this winter!
On a sweltering day outside Columbia S.C. in July, 450 new hen
houses were erected by dedicated volunteers.
We are in contact with other sites in the Great Lakes Region
that continues to be vital breeding grounds for ducks that migrate
to the Southeast. Our plans are to have some houses in place
in '07 in parts of Michigan and farther north into other areas
of Ontario.
We are still accepting donations to further fund
this bold venture with hopes to start new projects based on
sound, scientific data from our studies. It seems the more people
hear about what we are trying to accomplish the more enthusiastic
they become, so spread the word! Thanks again for all your support
and here's to putting more ducks in the sky for us to enjoy
this winter!
Bird Studies Canada
We are also happy to report our partnership with Dr Scott Petrie
and his staff of waterfowl biologists associated with Bird Studies
Canada .
Based on Long Point, a noted waterfowl wintering
area on the northern shore of Lake Erie, the Long Point Waterfowl
and Wetlands Research Fund will study the nesting success of
hundreds of hen houses provided by the Flyway Foundation for
installation at Long Point.
SMI Steel supports the Flyway Foundation
Thanks to a donation of nearly 6,000 feet to rebar
by SMI Steel South Carolina, the Flyway Foundation is building
over 500 hen houses for shipment to the eastern Great Lakes
region. Glen Shealy, environmental manager for SMI, says the
steel that was donated was manufactured from 100% recycled material.
The hen houses will be built by volunteers at workdays throughout
South Carolina.
Delta Waterfowl of SENC
The Delta Waterfowl Chapter of Southeastern North
Carolina has donated all 400 galvanized poles, pvc overlap poles,
and the hose clamps for our projects in Pennsylvania and Canada!
A special thanks to Al Raynor for working to get this project
funded.
