The Rookery
The Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc.
Volume 19, Number 2
Summer 2014
Two Spring Events –Well Done!
Heather Davidson Book Signing
Our front page story in the March Rookery previewed an upcoming book signing by one of the
most beloved of Eastern Shore photojournalists,
Heather Davidson, to take place here at the Lodge
on March 22. With cooperative weather, the event
was a great success, with many of Heather’s
friends, and some new admirers, coming especially to reminisce with her and have her sign a personal tidbit. She and collaborator Joe Lupsha sold
32 copies of their new book Ospreys: Images of
their Fascinating World. A good day!

Heather explains what’s happening in a set of pictures in the book.
The bookstore was busy!
Don’t
forget!
We
still have
signed
copies of
the book
for sale in
the
bookstore!
A Well-deserved Night Out
for Appreciated Volunteers
Once again, on May 14, Refuge Manager
Cindy Beemiller, ably aided by Michele
Whitbeck, dressed up the back deck of the
Lodge to entertain and thank the Refuge’s
many volunteers at the Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. While the weather was not
promising most of the day, when the time
came for the attendees to get their dinner and
find a place on the deck to eat, it proved once
again that this day is special – and while the
sun could only barely be seen, the clouds
were benign and the temperature was just
right for a lovely dinner.
Between thirty-five and forty volunteers were
treated to a meal catered by Uncle Charlie’s
Bistro of Chestertown. Chesapeake Marshlands Refuge Complex manager Suzanne
Baird continued the festivities with remarks,
stating that, officially, 58 volunteers had
clocked over 4000 hours in the last fiscal
year, which is the equivalent of three full-time
personnel. She thanked us and encouraged us
to continue, because the Refuge wouldn’t be
as attractive to visitors without our help. Then
Cindy, assisted by Suzanne, presented certificates and gifts to those who had amassed certain levels of volunteer hours. Cindy closed
the session with some remarks of her own,
again emphasizing how much she enjoys
working with all the volunteers and also how
much she appreciates our contributions to the
Refuge’s mission.
See pictures of the festivities on page 4. 
The Rookery
2
President’s Message
Summer 2014
The Rookery
Friends:
Summer is poking its head out at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The sheep flies, deer flies, or whatever you call
them, are out in force. Turtles cross the road in abundance.
Songbirds continue to migrate. Fishermen and crabbers stand
on the piers and bounce around in boats. Human spiders, in the
form of kayakers, have taken to the waters.
The Board has begun researching the feasibility of a kayak putin on the western side of the Island at Ingleside. This will allow
for a person to visit the western side of the Island without having to paddle all the way around. More on that later as plans
firm up.
Please consider visiting the Bayscape Butterfly Garden this
summer. The bulk of the butterflies have not arrived, but the
beauty of the flowers is starting to be in full swing. After our
volunteers retired after years of service we could not find replacements for them. (Also see
Cindy’s report on the next page.)
The board made a commitment to
the effort by contracting with professional gardeners to keep up with
the weeding. We did not want to
lose all the progress that the volunteers had made over the years, and
we recognize the value of the gardens for the wildlife and people. I
hope you enjoy them. We have
received many positive remarks about them already. Volunteers are always welcome in the garden; just give Cindy a call
at 410-639-7056.
Save October 4, 2014, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., on your calendar
for the Friends of Eastern Neck social gathering. I look forward
to seeing you there and spending some time visiting. Have a
great summer!
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc. is to provide
support to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Eastern
Neck National Wildlife Refuge through educational outreach programs and volunteer service on the refuge, including the operation of the refuge bookstore.
Published Quarterly By
The Friends of Eastern Neck,
Inc.
www.friendsofeasternneck.org
Editor
Leann Miller
Direct Inquiries and
Correspondence to:
P.O. Box 450
Rock Hall, MD 21661
or
[email protected]
Friends of Eastern Neck
Memberships
Friend: $25
Patron: $50
Eagle Society: $100
Blue Heron: $250
Tundra Swan: $500
Board of Directors
Officers:
Melissa Baile: President
Phil Cicconi: Vice President
Carol DeGennaro: Secretary
Leann Miller: Treasurer
Members:
Penny Brown
Lew Halin
Jolene L’Tainen
Bob Parks
Meg Parry
Committee Chairs
Jackie Cicconi and Kay Snelson:
Bookstore
Melissa Baile:
Membership
The Rookery
3
REFUGE UPDATE
What’s Happening on Your Refuge
By Cindy Beemiller, Refuge Manager
The Bayscape Butterfly Garden located by the
Bayview Trail is a wonderful place to have visitors go
and look around. Hundreds of species of butterflies,
moths, dragonflies and damselflies can be seen at the
garden. There are 36 species listed on our web page.
A few months ago our primary garden volunteer,
Dave Gauntt, retired from tending our garden to pursue other activities. This spring the plants started to
come up green while last year’s brown, dead stems
were still attached. The Friends decided to begin to
rescue the garden by
employing landscapers
to clean up the dead
stems. The Friends also
donated a new bench so
everyone can relax,
enjoy the flowers and
wildlife and the view of
the Chester River.
Now the garden can use every little bit of help we
have. If you would like to keep the garden going,
please contact me at the refuge office. If you can’t
volunteer, at least stop by to relax and enjoy the view.
In April, six youths enjoyed a successful Youth
Turkey Hunt. Only five of the hunters harvested a
turkey, but everyone had a chance at a turkey. The
hunt is a great opportunity for any youth hunter between 10 and 15 years old. A non-gun-carrying parent
is permitted to accompany their young hunter. Eastern
Neck has over 50 turkeys; some have claimed to have
counted up to 75! Applications are free and hunters
are selected in a random drawing. On the day of the
hunt, volunteers from the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) guide hunters during the hunt. The
refuge staff could not operate a quality hunt without
the help of the NWTF guides, who give up a Friday
night and a Saturday and a hunt day to invest in these
youth. On Friday night before the hunt, refuge staff
hold a safety meeting/orientation for the hunters and
guides. This year applications came from as far away
as Fredrick County, and all applications came from
Marylanders.
Every year the refuge takes aim at invasive plant
species. This is a battle! In 2014 Blackwater NWR
funded a short term contract to employ last year’s Invasive Plant Biological Technician (bio-tech), Ford
Van Fosson, until the new bio-tech could be hired for
the summer months. This year’s tech, Alex Wong, has
worked for the National Park Service in the past identifying plants. He started May 19. Our plant” hit list”
includes Canada thistle, Johnson grass, mile-a-minute,
princess tree and a few more. This project has been
and continues to be funded by Blackwater NWR, although in 2013 the Friends paid for the position because the federal budget could not.
The refuge has conducted an annual winter Duck
Banding project. In 2014 four spots were selected to
set up traps based on duck sightings. Forty-three
ducks were trapped and banded. Of those trapped, 29
were black ducks and 8 were mallards. The remaining
6 ducks were repeats banded last year or this year.
(Some ducks are trapped more than once in one winter.) The unusually frozen winter of 2014 presented
many challenges for the banders, and the banding season was only a few
days long. In years past
the banding season was
over a month long.
Not only was it a
tough winter for our
banders, the weekly waterfowl survey volunteers
endured this colder than usual winter. Every winter for
the past 15 plus years a group of volunteers has
braved terrible conditions to count and record winter
waterfowl numbers. (See the feature story in the
Spring 2014 Rookery.) The numbers collected during
these surveys are used by refuge staff to look at
trends. At this time there are no crucial environmental
factors or duck population issues to warrant intense
data analysis. However, this data may be crucial in
any future change or area event. For example, if the
question arose concerning the impact on waterfowl
from a local recreation or commercial activity, we
have years of baseline data to monitor any possible
changes during such activity.
In June we will welcome James Stankewicz as our
Visitor Services Intern. James is a Washington College student and will be working at the refuge for 53
weeks, a little over a year. The internship will help the
refuge reach out to school groups, plan and conduct
public programs, and work with volunteers. The internship is funded and supported by the Friends. I look
forward to reporting on the wonderful contributions
this internship will make to the refuge.
(Continued on page 4)
The Rookery
4
(Refuge Update – Continued)
Annual Fishing Event Coming Up!
Don’t forget to bring your favorite children to the annual Youth Fishing
Event, which takes place this year on Saturday, June 14, from 9:00 a.m. to
1:00 p.m. It’s free to the public, and T-shirts and lunch are provided by the
Friends. It takes many volunteers to pull off this event. In years past we have had up to 90 kids and
their families at the event. That is easily over 150 people! Grandparents, parents and friends always
remark what a good time they have. In order to include the usual fish printing table, pictures of the
kids, and helping the kids remove hooks, we needs lots of help. If your young angler has a fishing rod,
you’re welcome to bring it. The Refuge has rods on hand for those who need them. The Friends supply
the bait (worms!) for the young fisherman. Fun!
The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Pictured
The tables were ready…
and so was the food…
and so we ate.
Suzanne opened with some welcoming
remarks, then she and Cindy presented
goodies to volunteers such as world’s
best birders Nancy Martin (above) and
Walter Ellison (right)…
…faithful bookstore
volunteer Anne Bricker
(left)
and Friends
secretary Carol
DeGennaro (right)…
…”Mower Man” Bill Burritt…
…and everybody’s friend, Ed Hatfield.
The Rookery
5
Friends Doings in the Bookstore
Been there…..
I (your editor) have a confession to make: When I go on a trip, I look for a small souvenir from my
destination, and many of these have been – are you ready for this? – refrigerator magnets. Yes, but
tasteful ones, of course. (Are there any of those, you ask?) And made in the USA. (There still are
some.) And they’re not all on my refrigerator…..but I digress. If a visitor to the Refuge wants a
small reminder of said visit, we have a few that should fit the bill. And one actually is a refrigerator
magnet – albeit a tasteful one.
This is our version of
the ‘frige magnet.
Many people like cloth
patches; our new
smaller one is only
$3.00.
Car window decals are a
good way to find your
car in a parking lot!
Of course,
many of our
wearables have
a distinctive
logo. Top to
bottom: Ladies
denim shirt,
sweatshirt,
hoodie, polo
shirt and our
original denim
shirt. In addition, most of
the t-shirts on
our racks have
ENNWR IDs.
Even some of our
nail files have
ENNWR ID on
the back.
IN MEMORIUM
Perhaps our smallest souvenir
is this enamel pin, but it is
always popular.
(Still the best!)
It is with sadness that we tell you of the passing in early April of George Bankey, a real friend of
the Refuge and the Friends. He was a volunteer extraordinaire for more years than anyone can count
and was Volunteer of the Year in 2008. He loved to mow lawns, clean trails, collect trash and help
with the check station during the annual deer hunts. He always had a smile for everyone - in fact,
there was always a smile on his face. He was just like that. And since George and his wife Jean lived
on the western shore, he had to travel over an hour to get to the Refuge. We will miss him acutely.
Our heartfelt wishes for healing go out to Jean and to his daughter Laura, whose position with the
National Aquarium in Baltimore allowed us to work with her on many projects over the years

The Rookery
6
THANKS TO OUR MEMBERS
Once again we are listing the names of members who contributed $100
or more in the past six months. I’m always amazed at how generous our
members are – and at how many long-time members increase their
membership levels. Thank you, thank you!
And don’t forget that we’re grateful to all Friends members for
continuing to support us and our work at the Refuge. You’re all
very special to us!

Blue Heron
Bob and Linda Kramer
Alan and Penny Griffiths
Herbert M. Cullis
The Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc.
P.O. Box 450
Rock Hall, MD 21661
Friends of Eastern
Neck
Memberships
Friend: $25
Patron: $50
Eagle Society: $100
Blue Heron: $250
Tundra Swan: $500
Eagle Society
Dayl R. Baile Melissa Baile Allen and Arlene Katz
William and Barbara Noll Lou and Cheryl Cadwell
Vic and Patricia Pfeiffer Jim and Joanne Rich
Ed and Karen Robison
Peter and Nicole Selhorst
Frank and Sandy Kheradi The Fordi Family
James and Ann Goodman Ford and Marilee Schumann
Jane Kitz
Ted and Gretchen Knowles