Exposed nests following tree elevation

Tree trimming by the County at Lakes of Windermere a subdivision in close proximity to ours was done a month ago (maybe a little less or more). The trim/elevation was done during migratory bird nesting and breeding season. This is a closer look at what was done via photographic images. Images were taken yesterday, 4/29/14.

The subdivision is on Lake Sawyer and has several retention ponds too. It is abundant with wildlife, passerine birds, songbirds, ducks, water birds, hawks, etc... Lots of birds. I walked a loop through this neighborhood for 5 years and enjoyed bird watching, and was excited about when the birds would migrate to our neighborhood. The community is a few years older than ours so the oak trees are much bigger.

What is concerning to me about this tree elevation is the following:

• The timing. 
• The tree elevation was done during migratory bird breeding and nesting season.
• There has been a recent loss to wildlife habitat in the immediate 1-2 mile area with construction development. See my prior post about this.
• The tree elevation appears extensive. The entire community tree trim elevation is done uniformly showing higher tree elevation. 
• Photographs show exposed nests left by the limb cutting.
• I don't see any limbs spared which makes me wonder what happened to all the smaller passerine nests?

The following additional images were forwarded to my contact NE Assistant Regional Species Conservation Biologist at FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, AD.

See images of County tree elevation at LOW here

Below are some of those here. Click to enlarge or use link above to find a gallery of images

Nests - subdivision tree trimming-orange-plastic-ties

Today we noticed a few oak trees on our street tagged with orange ties. There is no id on them to identify who they may belong to or what they are there for.  I wonder if it is trees tagged with nests in them so they don't get the Orange County trimming, see 4/18/14 post? I took a peek to see what I could see in them. I found large leafy high nests in the main trunk where limbs branch out. Large enough for a squirrel or maybe even a raccoon. Hmmm. So I drove around the entire neighborhood (700 homes situated on an estimated 100-200 acres with 100's of trees) and found 10 trees tagged with the orange plastic ribbon in the front part of the neighborhood (where I live). I believe I checked all but three of them and they all had the same type of nest I describe above, larger nests in the main trunk bifurcation.

During my nest find, I found around 14-15 other nests in oak trees but without the orange tie. They are smaller cupping nests, the size a cardinal makes, and some are flat mourning dove. They are not obvious to see, camouflaged, blending seamlessly in the oak tree branches using oak tree moss, leaves, grass, and twigs. One of the nests, I see a female cardinal sitting in. I first found her on a branch within the tree, and I was patient to stay long enough to see where she went. I have a several pictures of it. This active nest is in a branch hanging over the street  in the trim zone. The tree is not tagged nor is any of the trees with the 14-15 passerine songbird size nests I observed.

the anonymous ribbon found on 10 trees without any identification to whom it belongs or why it is there.

large nests on the main trunk are found in the trees with orange plastic ties. These are not nests of the passerines we were focused to save. These are the easy nests to spot.

this isn't really off the main trunk bifurcation but it's a larger leafy nest - no orange tie.

------------these nests below this line are camouflaged, small, hidden. No orange tie found. One apparent nest is seen with a female cardinal sitting in it.  -----------

-------END female cardinal sitting in what looks to be a nest ---------------------

-------BEGIN sampling of other nests found in oak trees where trunk not tagged with orange tie--------