27 The spoonbill comes into its own 



boatman, tourist, and resident in the area. In the winter of 1950- 

 1951 the spoonbill population had increased to seven separate 

 nesting colonies, and a total of 64 occupied nests. This number 

 reached 81 nests the following winter. By this time the entire 

 area of Florida Bay was within the boundaries of the National 

 Park, and protection was in the hands of regular park rangers. 



Also at this time the National Audubon Society instituted 

 wildlife tours in this and other parts of Florida, so as to take the 

 public by car and boat, with competent guides, to see such spec- 

 tacles as a colony of roseate spoonbills in Florida Bay. When I 

 think of the lonely days and nights of that first difficult winter on 

 Bottlepoint Key at the start of our spoonbill studies in 1939, it 

 is hard to realize that more than 12,000 people have now taken 

 part in these tours, the greater part of them visiting Florida Bay, 

 chiefly to see the spoonbills. Only a few people had seen this beau- 

 tiful bird a few short years ago, but it can be said now that its 

 friends and well-wishers number in the thousands. Once you have 

 seen the spoonbills flashing their pink and carmine wings against 

 the blue of a Florida sky you'll get some idea of the satisfaction 

 of those who have fought to protect this bird. 



In this way the main purpose of our roseate spoonbill study has 

 been served. The new knowledge that has been gained as a result 

 of our research is important. Because of it we have known what 

 steps must be taken and where and in what direction to take them. 

 In our continuing efforts to increase this lovely bird on our shores 

 we will not be working in the dark. But the main job has been to 

 interest the public in the spoonbill, including the local public that, 

 in considerable measure, has a part in controlling the destiny of 

 these birds. I now make my home in Tavemier on the lower end 

 of Key Largo. It looks out on the open Atlantic on the one hand 

 and on the shallows of Florida Bay on the other. From the roof 

 of my study I can see Bottlepoint Key, and from this vantage 

 point I have also seen spoonbills flying across the harbor toward 

 their feeding place on Dove Creek Slough, just north of town. 

 When I first saw the pink birds here, more than twenty years ago, 

 they were frequently shot as they crossed the old Key West 

 highway alongside this same slough. Once we had to put up a warn- 



