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FW: Birding Community E-bulletin - November 2007

From:

Norm Saunders

Reply-To:

Norm Saunders

Date:

Mon, 5 Nov 2007 20:04:19 -0500

 


  _____  

From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 7:00 PM
To: 
Cc: Wayne Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - November 2007



THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
            November 2007
 
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed through the
generous support of Steiner Binoculars as a service to active and
concerned birders, those dedicated to the joys of birding and the
protection of birds and their habitats. You can access an archive of
our past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge
Association (NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
            and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
                                    
                        
RARITY FOCUS
 
On the afternoon of 6 October, Hugh Ransom discovered a Dusky
Warbler at Elings Park, Santa Barbara, California. The park, called
Las Positas Park by most locals, is perched atop one of Santa
Barbara's tallest hills. The Dusky Warbler was found foraging
between 2 and 5 feet in mixed shrubbery along with various other
birds, including Magnolia and Yellow Warblers.
 
The Dusky Warbler is a vagrant from Asia. It breeds in Siberia and
northern and central China, and typically winters from southern
China and the north Indian subcontinent throughout much of southeast
Asia. (For identification details, see your National Geographic
guide, page 348-9, or in the "big" Sibley, page 395.)
 
There are about 10 previous reports of this species from Alaska
since 1977, most of them in the fall. California also has nearly as
many reports since 1980, most of them occurring between late
September and early November, and almost all from coastal locations.
There are also two reports from Baja California, in Mexico.
 

The Dusky Warbler at Elings Park was still present on 7 October, but
could not be found the next day. 
 
You can view photos of this bird taken by Wes Fritz on 6 October at:
http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/duwa100607.htm
 
 
WANDERING FLAMINGOS
 
Louisiana's first documented Greater Flamingo occurrence was a
surprise discovery. The flamingo was documented on the weekend of
29-30 September near the Calcasieu Ship Channel, southwest of Lake
Charles, Louisiana.
 
Incredibly, there were actually two flamingos, the same "mismatched"
pair that had previously been associating with one another at the
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas,
starting in December 2006. The amazing thing about these birds is
that both flamingos had been originally identified by leg-band
numbers - one a wild Greater Flamingo that had been banded in 2005
as a flightless juvenile at the Ria Lagartos Reserve, in the
northern Yucatan, and the other an African flamingo that had escaped
from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, in late June 2005!
Apparently, the two flamingos simply traveled together up the coast
from Texas to Louisiana.
 
The big puzzle: How did these two flamingos, species cousins - one a
wanderer from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the other on the lam
from a zoo in Kansas - ever got together in the first place?
 
These two birds had actually been seen by locals for about three
weeks in the Calcasieu Ship Channel area before they were reported
to birders. You can find more details and photos about this
remarkable event here:
http://www.losbird.org/bulletin/flamingos.html
 
After the weekend of 29-30 September, the two flamingos could not be
relocated, except that two flamingos spotted in flight over the town
of Cameron, Louisiana, on 9 October had to be the "Odd Couple."
 
Given the circumstances, this curious twosome could appear almost
anywhere in Southeast in the days and weeks ahead! 
 
 
SCAUP ON THE MOVE
 
We introduced our E-bulletin readers to the "Scaup Tracker" in May
2006
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/maySBC06.html#TOC14
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/may06.html
 
Once again this season, the Long Point Waterfowl & Wetlands Research
Fund (LPWWRF), a study coordinated by Bird Studies Canada, is
tracking migrating scaup. The monitoring of scaup migration through
the use of satellite transmitters is a major component of this
ongoing project. 
 
Many scaup begin their tracked migration in Alaska and northern
Canada. By late October, many Lesser Scaup have already arrived at
major staging areas in southern Manitoba. Greater Scaup have moved
from areas in the Northwest Territories and northern Québec to areas
around the Great Lakes. To obtain more information about scaup
movements check out the "Scaup Tracker" on the LPWWRF tracking page
for continued updates on fall scaup migration:
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/Website/scaup/viewer.jsp
 
 
CANADIAN WILD SPECIES REPORT (2005) NOW AVAILABLE
 
Also out of Canada, the "Wild Species Reports" are released every
five years through the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation
Council. The latest report, "Wild Species 2005," has just been
released and can be downloaded in English or French from their
website. The report provides general status assessments for over
1,600 wild species in Canada, using results from provincial,
territorial, and federal monitoring efforts. Status reports about
various species of birds can be accessed from this page:
http://www.wildspecies.ca/wildspecies2005/index.cfm?lang=e
<http://www.wildspecies.ca/wildspecies2005/index.cfm?lang=e&sec=52>
&sec=52
 
 
BIRDING CONTEST FOR SCHOOLS
 
The National Biodiversity Parks (NBP) has recently launched the
National Schoolyard Birding Challenge. The event is part of the
NBP's Fledging Birders Program. The contest has been designed to
promote awareness of local bird life for youth through the use of an
interactive format. 
 
The Challenge is a monthly birding contest open to students in all
public and private schools in the contiguous United States. Student
participants will work together to observe, identify, and record
various species found on their school grounds. The main objective is
to get more young people outside and exploring nature through a
birding portal.
 
Sharing birds with youth is an invaluable service to the birding
community, and, hopefully, an investment for the future of birds in
North America. 
 
For more information, visit:
www.fledgingbirders.org/challenge.html
<http://www.fledgingbirders.org/> 
 
                                    
THIRD NWRA REFUGE PHOTO CONTEST ANNOUNCED
 
The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) announced its third
annual digital photo contest, showcasing America's Refuge System.
Entries for the 2008 Refuge Photo Contest may be submitted until 15
December 2007. Results will be announced in March 2008 in connection
with the 105th anniversary of the establishment of the first
national wildlife refuge. Images submitted for the photo contest may
be of birds, mammals, insects, fish, and other animals, as well as
plants, people, or simply shots of scenery. The images must be from
taken on Refuge System property.
 
This year, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has donated the grand prize: a
2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Other prizes include a class at the
Art Wolfe Digital Photography Center, a Canon EOS 40D Camera,
Steiner 8x42 Peregrine Binoculars, a TrekPod, and offerings from
Barbara's Bakery, Wild Bird Centers of America, and Houghton
Mifflin.
 
At least 200 images will be selected for inclusion in the NWRA
Refuge Image Library, and every photographer submitting an entry
will receive a one-year membership in the National Wildlife Refuge
Association.
 
For photo contest details, submission categories, requirements, and
procedures, visit:
http://www.refugenet.org/contest/2008ContestHome.html
 
 
75th STAMP ARTWORK CHOSEN
 
Last month, the new image for the 75th "Duck Stamp" was chosen.
 
Judging for the art contest took place on 12-13 October at the Big
Arts Cultural Center in Sanibel, Florida, not far from the Ding
Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The qualifying images for this
contest were Green-winged Teal, Harlequin Duck, Northern Pintail,
and Canvasback. There were 247 original submissions illustrating the
waterfowl.
 
For the first time in history, there was a three-way tie for first
place, which necessitated an additional round of judging. Once the
tie was broken, the winner proved to be Joe Hautman.
 
Hautman has actually won twice befor , once for the 1992-3 stamp
with his Spectacled Eider, and then again for 2003-3 with a Black
Scoter. Joe Hautman obviously comes from a talented family, since
his two brothers have also won previously, James three times and
Robert twice. Between them, they have now won eight Federal Duck
Stamp contests. Kudos to Joe Hautman for this impressive
accomplishment.
 
For details, including the winning and runner-up images, see:
http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/
 
The "Duck Stamp," officially called the Migratory Bird Hunting and
Conservation Stamp since 1977, has been a great conservation success
story. Over $700 million has been collected through the sale of the
Stamp since 1934, and over 5.2 million acres of Refuge System land
secured. (Ninety-eight percent of the proceeds from the $15-Stamp go
to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which supports the
acquisition of wetlands and grasslands for inclusion into the
National Wildlife Refuge System.)
 
Purchase of the Stamp is required by all waterfowl hunters - 16
years of age and older - but the "Duck Stamp" also serves as a
"pass" for all refuges that charge an entry fee.
 
 
POTHOLES ON THE ROAD TO USFWS HABITAT GOALS
 
As readers of the E-bulletin may know, about half of the annual
distribution of the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (made up mainly
of "Duck Stamp" revenue) goes to secure wetland and grassland
habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region. This is money well spent.
It's not "just for ducks"; it's for a broad sweep of wetland and
grassland birds that benefit.
 
On this very subject, there was a powerful Government Accounting
Office (GAO) report, released in the last days of September,
concerning habitat protection in the Prairie Pothole Region. It's
lengthy title was, "Prairie Pothole Region: At the Current Pace of
Acquisitions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Is Unlikely to
Achieve Its Habitat Protection Goals for Migratory Birds."
 
The full document can be found here:
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1093
or a one-page highlight at: 
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d071093high.pdf
 
As the 40+-page GAO study illustrates, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service (USFWS) has purchased outright 700,000 acres and acquired
easements on 2.3+ million acres of wetlands and grasslands in the
region since 1959. At this pace, to reach the desired goal of 12
million acres saved in the Prairie Pothole Region,  it could take
the USFWS another 150 years!
 
Reasonable solutions to help address this crucial acquisition
backlog include investing more of the Land and Water Conservation
Fund (LWCF) from offshore oil and gas revenue, creating a new
Wetlands Loan Act (WLA), and increasing the "Duck Stamp" price.
Unfortunately, there was no discussion in the report on possible
efforts to increase the sales of the Stamp. Regular readers of this
E-bulletin will recall that we have covered all these important
proposed options - one at a time - within the last year.
 
 
STEINER/NWRA STAMP OFFER
 
And finally on the Duck Stamp, Steiner Binoculars has entered into a
unique agreement with the National Wildlife Refuge Association,
NWRA, wherein Steiner customers can get a Migratory Bird Hunting and
Conservation [Duck] Stamp and a one-year membership in NWRA upon
purchase a Steiner Peregrine or Merlin Binocular. This may be the
first time that any corporate organization has actually bought Duck
Stamps for its customers, a thoughtful and creative conservation
contribution. The NWRA participation also makes this a unique
partnership.
 
For more information on this generous offer, see: 
http://www.steiner-binoculars.com/special/documents/SteinerNWRADuckS
tampPromotion.pdf 
 
 
IBA NEWS: MORE CARIBBEAN SITES ANNOUNCED
 
Important Bird Areas (IBAs) for six Caribbean islands/countries were
released online in mid-October. These new additions are for the
Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Montserrat, Barbados, and
Anguilla. These additions build on the IBAs posted in July from
Bermuda, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis. All
of these IBAs can be accessed from this page, where you can select a
location from the island/country list:
http://caribbean.birdlife.org <http://caribbean.birdlife.org/>  
You can find more information about IBAs in the U.S. through the
National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area website:
http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
 
 
NEOTROPICAL BIRDING 
 
The Neotropical Bird Club, designed to promote bird research and to
increase awareness of conservation in Latin America and the
Caribbean, has recently published the second issue of its birding
magazine, NEOTROPICAL BIRDING.
 
It is hoped that the magazine will fill a niche among bird
publications, with articles of practical use for those birding the
Caribbean, South, and Central America. The publication is seeking to
commission future articles. If you have an idea for a feature on
Neotropical birds, want to share your Neotropical birding
experiences, want to share with other birders details on great
birding sites, wish to discuss bird identification issues, or any
other related issues, contact the editor, James Lowen:
<>
 
Club members will receive NEOTROPICAL BIRDING annually, and COTINGA
(the complementary ornithlogical journal) biannually. For more
information visit the Club's website:
www.neotropicalbirdclub.org <http://www.neotropicalbirdclub.org/> 
 
 
RESULTS OF CALIFORNIA LEAD-BAN EFFORT
 
Last month, we described the efforts in California (and Arizona) to
get the lead out of hunting bullets to help protect California
Condors that were ingesting deadly lead fragments: 
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/octSBC07.html#TOC12
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/oct07.html
 
Thirteen October was a busy day for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
because he signed 101 bills and vetoed 58. Among those he signed was
AB821, the Ridley-Tree Condor Conservation Act, creating a
non-lead-bullet area for big-game hunting in California.
 
Despite considerable pressure to veto the legislation, particularly
from gun interests, the governor responded positively to the
overwhelming evidence that indicates that lead from bullets left in
carcasses can be deadly to California Condors if ingested.
 
The president and executive director of the state's Fish & Game
Commission had even asked the Governor to veto the bill, maintaining
that a narrower regulatory ban would be an improvement. The
California Department of Fish and Game had also recommended that the
state commission prohibit the use of lead ammunition, but only in
those areas where California Condors are now flying free.
 
With Schwarzenegger's signing of the bill, big-game hunters will be
required to use non-toxic bullets in a broad zone in California,
covering not only the coastal areas where California Condors
currently range, but also in additional sections of the state that
represent portions of the condor's historic range. See sample map
here:
http://www.venturacountystar.com/photos/2007/oct/12/21175/
 
The ban will go into effect in July 2008, and the Fish and Game
Commission will have to consider how to modify hunting regulations
to make that possible. To the extent that funding will permit, big
game hunters within this broad zone in California will get coupons
to acquire non-lead ammunition at a reduced rate, or possibly at no
charge at all.
 
 
CALIFORNIA WINDPOWER GUIDELINES RELEASED
 
Also from California, in late September the California Energy
Commission voted unanimously to adopt voluntary windpower
guidelines. The 80-page "Guidelines to Reduce Impacts of Windpower
on Birds and Bats" is a joint product of the Commission and the
California Department of Fish and Game. Regionally, Audubon
California, the Golden Gate and Los Angeles Audubon chapters,
Defenders of Wildlife, and Sierra Club all strongly supported the
guidelines.
 
Starting in 2006, key players from both the windpower industry and
wildlife conservation groups met to discuss possible solutions to
windpower problems. These initial discussions ultimately led to the
80-page set of guidelines.
 
The guidelines can be downloaded at:
 
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-700-2007-008/CEC-700-
2007-008-CTF-MINUS-APF.PDF>
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-700-2007-008/CEC-700-2
007-008-CTF-MINUS-APF.PDF 
 
 
SHEDDING LIGHT ON OFFSHORE OIL PLATFORMS
 
Also on the subject of potential barriers to bird flight, there is a
recent case of illuminated offshore oil platforms in Europe. Each
year, millions of birds migrate across the North Sea; under certain
weather conditions, they encounter and potentially become attracted
to illuminated offshore oil platforms. At these sites, the birds can
sometimes become disoriented, circling the platforms until they
become too exhausted to reach the coast. 
 
Royal Philips Electronics and Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij
(NAM) have experimented with 380 floodlights on one platform by
using a new type of green light. Preliminary results suggest that
birds may be less disoriented by the green lights than they are by
standard lighting. 
 
The platform has been monitored through fall migration, and if
observers conclude that the new green lights contribute to a
significant decline in bird deaths, then the lighting could be
changed on all the platforms. (Already, the initial experience for
this fall is positive, showing an improvement of over 90%. Other
potential contributing factors will still have to be evaluated, but
so far these results are encouraging.)

For a description from Philips/NAM, see:
http://www.lighting.philips.com/gl_en/news/press/projects_events_cam
paigns/archive_2007/press_birds_lighting_nam.php?main=global
<http://www.lighting.philips.com/gl_en/news/press/projects_events_ca
mpaigns/archive_2007/press_birds_lighting_nam.php?main=global&parent
=4390&id=gl_en_news&lang=en> &parent=4390&id=gl_en_news&lang=en


"BOW TRAPS" CLOSE TO EXPIRING IN EUROPE
 
Bow traps for capturing birds are efficient, simple, and ancient.
The traps date back to the Bronze Age and could still be found
across Europe well into modern times. A small stick and a cord will
keep the bow - traditionally a hazel branch - under tension. Birds
will be attracted by berries to the perch, and at the slightest
touch the bow will fly apart. Almost instantly, the bird is hanging
upside-down with its legs trapped in the device. Almost all the
birds caught are songbirds: mostly European Robins, but also Song
Thrushes, Winter Wrens, Goldcrests, Chaffinches, and Bramblings -
mere morsels for the human table.
 
Astonishingly effective, the bow traps have been part of European
cultural history for centuries. But, fortunately, they are also now
mostly part of the European past. In Germany, they were banned in
the 19th Century, yet they persisted until about a hundred years
ago. In Italy, the traps were banned in the 1950s, but are
nonetheless still used in a few regions. One pocket of continued
activity for these "archetti" has been the northern Italian province
of Brescia, in Lombardy, an area in the mountains between Lakes
Garda and Iseo. There, into the 1990s, an estimated 150,000 bow
traps were set in the autumn season, a period traditionally lasting
from mid-September to mid-December.
 
In 2001, some 12,000-bow traps were shut down. In 2002, the number
had been reduced to 9,500. In 2006, the figure was 1,436, an
encouraging number and probably the result of deterrence due to
poachers being arrested by the police. Still, the use of bow traps
continues, with about 1,100 bow traps already collected this year,
as of the last days of October. 
 
It is possibly to monitor daily updates from the Committee Against
Bird Slaughter (CABS) from their migrant bird-protection camp in
Brescia. Updates will be posted on their web site until the
beginning of December. You can see how many traps and nets have been
located and removed, how many poachers have been caught, and how
many live bird decoys released:
http://www.komitee.de/en/index.php?campdiary2007
 
 
REVIEWERS ASSAIL SPOTTED OWL PLAN
 
A USFWS draft recovery for the Pacific Northwest's harried Northern
Spotted Owl has come under withering criticism lately. According to
FWS-ordered and independent peer reviews, the plan "failed to make
use of the best-available science," and "selectively cited from the
best-available science to justify a reduction in habitat
protection." 
 
One review was jointly written by the Society for Conservation
Biology and the American Ornithologists' Union; another was from The
Wildlife Society. Both identified similar flaws in the recovery
plan's selection and use of scientific data, concluding that the
proposed plan might actually result in the need to up-list the
species' official status from Threatened to Endangered under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA).
 
The proposed plan deviates significantly from current management -
the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) - by recommending the reduction of
available Spotted Owl habitat. 
 
In addition, the draft plan rests heavily on the proposed control of
another owl - the Barred Owl - that apparently out-competes its
threatened cousin and appears to be increasing in historic Spotted
Owl habitats. But the Society for Conservation Biology and the AOU,
as well as additional owl experts, all felt that this emphasis was
peculiar (a "red herring," if you will). They claim that habitat
loss due to logging is clearly the major cause for the Spotted Owl's
decline.
 
The plan's striking diversion from the current NWFP's provisions has
swelled the conservation community's criticisms of the Department of
the Interior's (DOI's) record of political interference in recent
ESA implementation. 
 
In recent testimony before Congress, Dominick DellaSala, from the
National Center for Conservation Science and Policy and a member of
the USFWS Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Team stated that, "The
apparent misuse and 'cherry-picking' of scientific research
represented in the present draft of the recovery plan is
particularly disturbing considering that the Northern Spotted Owl is
one of the most studied species ever listed under the Endangered
Species Act," 
 
To view the 2007 Draft Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl
and its peer review, go to:
http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/NSORecove
ryPlanning.htm 
 
 
- - - - - - - -
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the National
Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
 and on the birding pages for Steiner Binoculars
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin.html
 
If you wish to distribute all or parts of any of the monthly Birding
Community E-bulletins, we simply request that you mention the source
of any material used. (Include a URL for the E-bulletin archives, if
possible.) 
 
If you have any friends or co-workers who want to get onto the
monthly E-bulletin mailing list, have them contact either:
 
            Wayne R. Petersen, Director
            Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
            Mass Audubon
            718/259-2178
            <>
 

                        OR
            
            Paul J. Baicich 
            410/992-9736
            <> 
            
We never lend or sell our E-bulletin recipient list.