Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 9-12, 2000 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife.

Titusville Area Chamber of Comerce
200 South Washington Avenue
Titusville, Florida 32780
321-267-3036
FAX: 321-264-0127

Dear friend of the Flyway Festival:

Thank you for your interest in the Space Coast Flyway Festival. The three year old festival was created to showcase the unique nature, wildlife and space alliance in Brevard County, Florida.

The festival takes place November 11-14, 1999 with activities at the Brevard Community College, North Campus in Titusville, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore. The festival is comprised of four primary components: Birding Competition, Seminars, Field Trips and Family Programs and Activities. All seminars are free of charge. Selected activities and field trips cost from $15 to $45.

With a comprehensive schedule from sunrise to sunset, the Space Coast Flyway Festival offers participants many opportunities to enjoy the beauty and wonderful climate of East Central Florida. Field Trip Highlights include:

Wild Side of Kennedy Space Center: Join Dynamac Corporation Chief Scientist Ross Hinkle and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Education manager, Billy Specht for a guided bus journey through the working launch complex of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and into the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Learn how Kennedy Space Center, working with the Fish & Wildlife Service sets the example of how nature and technology co-exist peacefully and benefit one another. Ross will talk about the ongoing ecological studies at KSC related to such areas as fire ecology, remote sensing, and global climate change. In addition, you and your guides will identify at least 20 ­ 40 species of rare Florida wildlife including endangered species such as the Florida manatee, wood stork and the threatened Florida scrub jay.

Mosquito Lagoon Estuary Boat Tour: Join Dr. Grant Gilmore and Wildlife Biologist Robert Day on a sunset dinner cruise down the intracoastal waterway from New Smyrna Beach to Oak Hill to use underwater microphones to listen for and record the sounds of the red and black drum as they call their mates to spawn. The aquatic environment is extremely noisy, particularly at night. Sound carries much faster (5 times faster) in water than in air and many fish use sound to communicate, mostly for reproduction. The black drum male and female talk to one another with rhythmic robust sounds that are so loud that we must turn the speaker volume down to protect our ears. There's a possibility of hearing many animals communicate in this fantastically diverse estuary, including shrimp (which sound like castanets), manatees and dolphins.

Florida Scrub Jay: Join Dave Breininger, Wildlife Biologist, on a NASA tour bus for a free trip on Kennedy Space Center to areas closed to the public, where Dave has been studying several scrub joy families for years. The tour will go into scrub habitat to get a glimpse of these fascinating birds and the interesting social structure that they build around them.

Black Rails and Rail Habitat: Enjoy a sunset walk with Wildlife Biologist Mike Legare at the St. John's National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge is closed to the public, so take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience this pristine marsh. While walking into the marsh, Mike will talk about black rails, their secretive habits and habitat and the research he conducted on these elusive birds at this site. As dusk approaches, Mike will stop at different areas to listen for black rails calling.

Whooping Cranes and Dry Prairie Habitat: Join Naturalist Judith Buhrman on a trip into the Florida outback to view members of the second largest flock of wild whooping cranes in the world. This tour will take you to Crescent J Ranch (home of the Forever Florida Nature Preserve) and Overstreet Ranch for an in depth look at the Florida dry prairie habitat. At the Overstreet Ranch, participants will climb into the back of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trucks for a ride deep into the ranch to Lake Jackson to look for whooping cranes. You might see alligators, bald eagles, deer, gray foxes, otters, snakes, sandhill cranes, wild turkeys, vultures, hawks, crested caracaras, snail kites and more on either ranch. At Forever Florida, participants will board custom made, photographer friendly, "Cracker Cruisers" for a tour through dry prairie, cypress swamps, grasslands, pinewoods, creeks and dense oak hammocks.

These are just a few of the exciting field trips planned for the Space Coast Flyway Festival. The Festival Committee is presently working on the program and registration forms. As soon as these become available, we will get them in the mail to you. Thanks again for your interest in the Festival. We hope to see you in Titusville in November.

Sincerely,

Laurilee Thompson
Festival Chair

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