Least Bittern Ixobrychus exilis Status: Endangered Click Here for some State Information By WGF

• Size: 28-36 cm (11-14 in)
• Wingspan: 41-46 cm (16-18 in)
• Weight: 51-102 g (1.8-3.6 ounces)

• Tiny heron
• Long bill
• Crown and back black or dark brownish
• Neck and sides warm orange-brown
• Front of neck and chest striped orange and white

• Large golden patches in wings visible in flight.
• White lines along sides of dark back.
• Bill yellow with dark upper edge.
• Legs pink at top, green in front, yellow behind.
• Eyes pale yellow.
• Often seen at the base of cattails at the edge of the water.
• Cory's Least Bittern, a very rare dark morph, has dark brown instead of orange-brown on neck, sides, and front.

Freshwater or brackish marshes with tall emergent vegetation.

Breeds throughout the eastern and central United States and southern Ontario from coastal Maine to Florida, and westward to the eastern Dakotas and central Texas. Also in scattered localities in western United States, in Mexico, Caribbean, and Central and South America. 

Winters from the mid-Atlantic seaboard to south Florida and southward.

Threats to Survival:

Maine Declares Least Bittern Endangered in May 2007!

Small Populations

Human Disturbance

In contrast, Great Blue Herons are among the more abundant and widely distributed of the wading birds. However, they often nest in the tops of dead trees where they build large stick nests. These colonies of 2 to 200 nesting pairs are frequently, but not always, located in places with limited human disturbance. Road construction, logging, and human presence within or near established colonies can result in loss of many young herons in a single nesting season and abandonment of the colony in future years.

Pollution

The diet of many wading birds includes fish, amphibians, and large insects placing them near the top of the food chain. Top predators, especially in aquatic ecosystems, such as herons and egrets are vulnerable to accumulation of environmental contaminants. Increased toxins can negatively affect feeding and breeding behaviors and result in a shortened life span and reduced productivity.

Lack of Information

Journal Entries

Daily Reflections	Personal Teaching Connection
Monday Monday morning greeted us with great fog banks hovering over the bay and keeping us cool. Breakfast was simple yet filling as we descended the stairs to the main lobby. Following Lennie's reading about the days when the central plains were filled with great stands of a variety of tall grasses for miles and miles, we went to our workroom where we were divided into teams to dissect and analyze the Fading Footprints Expedition of KMS's Windsor 7. Having navigated around the site, our discussion turned to the recognition that the site actually echoed the guidelines of ELOB. Next we ventured into the world of web design using Netscape Composer. We all began the work of setting up our individual species page for our final group product. Following lunch in the SMCC cafeteria, we met David Sparks of Sparks Ark. He is a certified animal rescuer and is full of stories of people and animals. I chose to use the video camera in order to practice for my return to school and our new video system. David Grant gave Carol and me a few extra pointers about filming this sort of experience: do not focus on his stories or the perfect animal shot, get the reactions of the audience as new animals are exposed. It grew very, very cold a during the event and several members went inside (away from the cold and the snake!) Then it was time to leave my comfort zone and head in for art with Ellen! I knew we were going to paint a water color of our species and now it was time! Ellen is a veteran of this project, technique, and of working with those who were fretting over the experience. My bird, the least bittern, was sitting on a pair of reeds. We learned how to make a grid and take a bit of the free-hand drawing out of the equation. That helped until I hit the feet. Artist trick # 12.3 A, I believe is to cover what you cannot draw with something you can! Alas, wide grasses now cover the feet of my bird. We then transferred the drawing to water color paper by covering the reverse side of the drawing with pencil shading and outlining the drawing with a pen. It transferred nicely and I shall practice water color tomorrow! Following a delightful dinner, we returned to the lab to learn about sharing Images on the web using Google site. We Exported pictures where we could all access them later. We then worked on our own to complete our sites and practice our new tools.	Product Design Carol and I chose to attend this Summit in order to become familiar with the design of video editing and web design. The endangered species content is simply our vehicle to practice the Image capture and insertion techniques. As with most computer applications. etc, "you must use it or lose it." Teams are collecting more and more digital images of their worked need a reliable and simple way to download, catalog, and store the info for easy retrieval. Me MUST be made to allow faculty and students to play with the sites, etc. in order to become familiar to the point where it is not a burden. Find the "Experts to Assist Teams" Make Time. Be available. Help out! Find the curious students. Keep RT informed and involved.
Tuesday Following breakfast, we had a short planning meeting which featured a reading by Tom about his passion, birding. We boarded vans and headed for Goose Rocks Beach where we met Joy and Jordan who worked for the Maine Audubon Society. We were introduced to the nesting areas of the Piping Plover and the Least Tern. We observed their behaviors as they scurried around the beach searching for food and taunting one another. Joy found a new Tern nest and took photos for us while being chased by the adult birds for nearing the nest. Following lunch at the McKernan center, we read an article by David where he discussed the Anatomy of the Fading Footprints Expedition. On the lawn, we gathered to react to the reading. Most of the group related the plan to the work they had done or were planning to do at their schools. We all nervously moved for our second art lesson where we would practice the skills necessary for our bird watercolor. We drew and colored a tree, some hills, an apple and a cylinder. Shading techniques brought out the direction of the light source. The apprehension of the group was palpable, yet we were all successful! A dinner of Thai Food filled our bellies in preparation for a check in section and another of David's famous analogies: The computer as hotel...terrific!	Anatomy of an Expedition My dilemma continues to be two-fold. What is the best the method to bring this information back to the school in a manner that the faculty can use. How do I keep practicing the skills that I have learned here. I see possibilities of using this technique to to bring information and ideas to the faculty, students, and families. I see methods of conducting " virtual faculty meetings"?
Wednesday Breakfast was 90 minutes earlier today so that we could travel to Scarborough Marsh to board canoes and paddle out to spot the marsh birds. The foggy morning on the point gave way to an overcast and moist paddle. We spotted willets and egrets and ate local vegetation. Giggles and apprehension on the shore gave way to "oohs" and "ahs" on the water.   To see a complete list of Bird Species seen by the group click Here. Upon our return we went to the lab and began the section of the summit on iMovies. We worked with a series of clips that showed a terrific young lady (related very closely to Dave?) making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The clips were not in the correct order and included extended shots that needed to be cut. After a quick intro on how to use the software, we went to work. I also worked with Scott and Dave to download the video that was shot at the marsh this morning. I look forward to working with the clips to produce a nice video of our trip. After lunch, we returned to art. Ellen had outlined our birds with masking film. The film would protect the bird from our paint as we painted the background. We then practiced more straight lines, shading a circle to make it appear 3-D. We mixed paints and completed the background. With our backgrounds complete it was time to give our attention to a first attempt to paint our birds on practice paper.  My background and bird came out pretty good for my first attempt. I can see why painting is so time consuming. I did enjoy it, especially when it looked better than my idea of what I could produce. Downstairs following art, we continued to work on our species pages, played with video and went through an initial check-out with Dave or Scott. This gave them, a handle on where we were and also gave us a chance to do what we had been taught.  I have learned a lot and hope to use it before it disappears! Dinner out in Portland tonight...lookout Portland!	Fieldwork and Community Fieldwork for a purpose beyond the classroom is a vital link for EL work. The video editing procedure using iMovies is deceptively easy. Learning what is good video and what is better will take some time and study. Have already learned to cut to action and from action, shoot and allow someone or something to travel through the shot rather than always follow someone/thing. Below is the photo of my bird that was used for my watercolor effort.
Thursday Today we began to see how the classroom might be structured to work in the EL environment. We watched the Riverworks Expedition CD done by KMS as an example of a Final Product and then analyzed the Book Planner Descriptor that was developed to see what needed to be done to complete that particular "job" in the production of the book (Final Product), relate that to the Instruction that was needed to do the "job", and then what that would mean for planning considerations for the team. Scott showed us the various necessary planning, assessment, rubrics, and resources that had been gathered by the school team to plan and carry out the Fading Footprints Expedition at KMS. Copies were available for collection. Web 2.0 resources were next for us as Dave showed how Wikis and Blogs could be used to increase communication and facility around a project. ART was ahead of us following lunch as we dared to begin our bid on the final project. Many of us found lots to do before finally putting brush to paper, but the final results were remarkable for us all...what someone can do when properly instructed and motivated! Most worked on their bird watercolors until much past the 3:00 stop time. The COUNTDOWN MEETING once again raised our discomfort level as the "work to be completed" list grew and new tasked were laid out. Teams were formed that would produce Topic pages for our final product. Our topic pages would be Product Design, Anatomy of an Expedition, Fieldwork, Assessment & Differentiation, and Technology. I joined the Product Design Group with Robin and Raka. This work continued through dinner and until 10:00 when Robin and I left Raka with her brush, still at her bird...	Differentiation and Assessment Seeing all the PLANNING sheets and honoring the time necessary to touch base at the many far-reaching corners of the field for preparation was a key for me today. Our faculty teams do have a planning period each day, but that is often usurped by the mundane routine work that falls to them. We must find a more efficient way to carve out the time for them. During the year is difficult...InService Independent Study Group work? The step-by-step Book Planning Sheet is very clear and was a nice representation of how to attack the planning process. LEO by EL has some of the same attributes, but some folks struggle with it. Completing the bird to the level of success I achieved clearly illustrated that individuals can produce quality work when properly motivated...motivation is a key...finding it for each student is a piece that may be found in our team structure where the faculty grow to know each student well. Many faculty eyes may be helpful here. Wikis and Blogs would certainly motivate a segment of our population.
Friday Today's major topic, Critique Week, tells the story of the Summit. Actually Critique Week is slated for 90 minutes and is a most insightful and heart-warming moment in our week. The Topic Teams present their website work to be viewed by the group. We get to see our efforts on the big screen and receive feedback from the others who have learned together during the week.  The caring and constructive energy of the group leaves each group excited to return to work and move their page closer to our best effort. Working with Robin and Raka has illustrated that complementary skills, attitudes, and strengths can drive a project to great places. As Final Edits were completed, some folks moved into making the Additional pages needed for the project (Indexes, Crew Page, etc). Dave taught a lesson on image sizing on the web using the ideas of resolution, dimension, and compression. We have a Final Product Meeting scheduled for 7:00PM where we will finalize all our personal (adding the scanned image of our bird painting) and team pages before uploading them to the server for QC testing before launching it on the web.	Technology The Guiding Questions for the day were, What technology goals might you set for yourself after the summit?   To reach your goals, in what areas do you need to develop skills and knowledge?  What structures and supports do you need at your school to make it possible? The Technology area offers two areas of exploration for me. I will continue to use and expand the skills and conventions of the video, sound, and image media while using my bully pulpit as assistant principal to rally for increased school use, professional development, and necessary software and hardware to support the initiative. Opportunity and Time are factors that must be addressed in order to attract increased facility and use by faculty and students. We discovered that our current computers have too little storage space so the new ones will allow for greater use with video editing and images. Increased EL work would be a basic answer, but was we learned, the structures and expertise must be present or frustration will increase as the project continues.