From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 11:32 PM
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - December 2007
THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
December 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 2 November, a golfer with an interest in birding found a curious bird on
the back nine at the Dave White Municipal Golf Course in Casa Grande,
southeast of Phoenix, Arizona. He was without binoculars or field guide, but
the description - "about the size of an avocet, all black with rust wings
coverts, grayish-green legs, light yellow straight bill, wading around the
edge of the pond"- seemed to fit a Northern Jacana. By the next day, the
bird's identity had been confirmed and a string of birders began to visit,
all hoping to see this rare visitor from Mexico.
Problems of access soon arose, however: birders and photographers were not
allowed on the grass or pathways of the golf course, even if there were no
golfers present. Those interested in seeing the Northern Jacana had to do so
only from a dirt-coated construction area just outside the golf course and
its ponds. Brush near the northern edge of the pond often made the bird
difficult to see, but with patience the jacana could usually be seen around
the edges of the pond. Curiously, the Northern Jacana seemed to particularly
enjoy walking on synthetic lily pads, made of Styrofoam and located in the
pond.
There have been three prior records of Northern Jacana in Arizona accepted
by the Arizona Birds Committee: Kino Springs and Guevavi Ranch, Nogales, 7
June 1985 - 3 January 1986; Mittry Lake, near Yuma, 6-30 June 1986; and
Arivaca Lake, 15-23 October 1998. (For identification details of this unique
wetland-bird, see the National Geographic guide, page 160-1, the Kaufman
"Focus" guide, pages 182-3, or the "big" Sibley, page 160.)
According to another golfer who carried a birding field guide in her golf
bag, the Northern Jacana has been on the golf course for at least one, and
perhaps two, previous years! A birder who talked with a course groundskeeper
relayed the information that the bird may even have been around for up to
three years.
By the end of November, the bird was still on site, birders were still
arriving to see it, and managers of the golf course were satisfied that
there had been no negative golfer-birder interaction,
For photos of this unusual visitor taken by Brendon Grice, Richard Ditch,
Chris Benesh, and Oliver Niehuis, see:
http://azfo.org/gallery/noja.html
IBA NEWS: SAN FRANCISCO BAY OIL-SPILL
Readers of the E-bulletin are undoubtedly aware of some of the impacts of
the container-ship accident that took place in San Francisco Bay on 7
November. The tanker, "Cosco Busan," hit the Bay Bridge and dumped 58,000
gallons of bunker fuel oil into the bay. Toxic bunker fuel oil is the dregs
left from refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. It is
heavy-duty oil that breaks down very slowly.
Following the spill, oil has tarred thousands of birds and dozens of marine
mammals, closed fishing, and threatened crucial habitat. One of the things
that make this spill especially unfortunate is the threat it has created to
nearby Important Bird Areas (IBAs) that represent critical habitat for a
number of species of bird and sites that are recognized as key components
for bird conservation.
There are about 15 Important Bird Areas in the San Francisco Bay area, at
least four of which were directly impacted by this initial spill (Richardson
Bay, Brooks Island, East Shore Wetlands, and Bolinas Lagoon). See the map
from Audubon California:
http://www.sfbayjv.org/110807OilSpill/OilSpill_SFBay_Nov9.pdf
As for potential damage to the area, "San Francisco Bay just dwarfs all the
other estuaries on the Pacific Coast," said Dave Shuford, a wetlands
biologist at PRBO Conservation Science (originally called Point Reyes Bird
Observatory). "The estuary size, the diversity of the habitat, the flow of
fresh water and the mild climate all come together to support large numbers
of birds," he said.
The general public has undoubtedly seen some of the dramatic images of oiled
birds resulting from this spill. At the start of the assessment, more than
half of the oiled birds appear to have been ducks - often scoters and scaup
- which would dive in clear water but would then come up in water covered
with oil. Other affected species included Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets,
Western Gulls, Western and Eared Grebes, Brown Pelicans, and multiple
species of shorebirds.
There are additional repercussions that that some people may be unaware of.
If significant numbers of local birds are oiled, there could be long-range
impacts on the total regional populations of some species, principally
because recovery rates from rehabilitation are low and reproduction may
ultimately be compromised. Additionally, if bunker fuel oil permeates area
wetlands, it is likely to persist in the environment for decades, often
producing pernicious long-term impacts.
For continuing background, check PRBO:
http://www.prbo.org/cms/452
a summary of links on the spill from the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture:
http://www.sfbayjv.org/news_110807OilSpill.html
and a blog recommended by birders in California:
http://www.sanfranciscooilspill.org/
For additional information about IBA programs across the U.S., check the
National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:
http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
SCAUP DIE-OFF INCREASES CONCERN
Last month, we discussed the scaup-tracking efforts of the Long Point
Waterfowl & Wetlands Research Fund (LPWWRF), an ongoing study coordinated by
Bird Studies Canada, designed to follow migrating Greater and Lesser Scaup.
At that point, scaup were concentrating around a number of locations,
including southern Manitoba and the Great Lakes:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/novSBC07.html#TOC03
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/nov07.html
Unfortunately, it appears that some of these ducks' brethren may not have
made it much farther south.
In early November, an estimated 3,000 Lesser Scaup and several hundred
American Coots were found dead on Minnesota's Lake Winnibigoshish. Initial
reports suggest that the birds died as a result of an exotic trematode, a
small intestinal parasitic fluke. When waterfowl consume infected snails,
the trematodes attack the birds' lower intestines, which eventually cause
ulcers and hemorrhaging. The birds can be infected in less than a day and
die within the next week.
The die-off is another indication of vexing problems recently facing scaup
populations. During the 1970s and early 1980s average scaup breeding
populations were in excess of six million, but for most of the last decade
numbers declined to less than four million.
"There is no single cause implicated in the decline," says Dale Humburg,
Chief Biologist for Ducks Unlimited. Wetland losses and degradation, lower
hen survival and nest success, the impact of contaminants and parasites,
poor body condition during migration, and harvest impacts all have been
studied. Wetland preservation efforts include "key breeding areas such as
the western Boreal Forest, important migration areas such as the Great
Lakes, and southern wintering areas including the Gulf Coast." Humburg says
that comprehensive solutions are required to reverse the downward trend in
scaup numbers.
For the Associated Press story on the initial die-off check:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gOuDW626JIURx9k7dg8ae-B2HTZwD8SODTUG0
For more on "The Great Scaup Mystery," see the DU story in their
November/December magazine:
http://www.ducks.org/DU_Magazine/DUMagazineNovemberDecember2007/3446/TheGrea
tScaupMystery.html?from=newsrelease
MAJOR LAND CONSERVATION INITIATIVE IN CANADA'S NW TERRITORIES
In late November, the Government of Canada announced one of the biggest land
conservation agreements on the North American continent since the ANILCA
settlement of 1980, which effected Alaska conservation.
The Canadian announcement will secure over 25.5 million acres of land in the
Northwest Territories. During a 21 November celebration at the Canadian
Museum of Nature, Environment Minister John Baird and Indian Affairs
Minister Chuck Strahl announced plans to create a new national wildlife area
along the Mackenzie River (3.7 million acres), a new national park on the
East Arm of Great Slave Lake (8.3 million acres, of which 6.5 million is
actually new protection), and the Akaitcho Settlement Lands, ecologically
and culturally important lands to Native people (15.3 million acres to be
conserved and managed under tribal direction for environmental protection
and sustainable development).
While plans and agreements are finalized, the lands are protected from
diamond and uranium companies doing any mining in these areas. Official
designations for each area are expected within five years.
More details are available from the Environment Canada website:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En
<http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=714D9AAE-1&news=73BDC06C-DA04-4E5
3-9FE2-A42C7D887EF1> &n=714D9AAE-1&news=73BDC06C-DA04-4E53-9FE2-A42C7D887EF1
and the website of the Boreal Songbird Initiative:
http://www.borealbirds.org/landnov07/
WILDLIFE FUNDING IN CLIMATE-CHANGE LEGISLATION
There continues to be movement on wildlife funding as part of climate-change
legislation. This important issue was covered in the March E-bulletin:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/marSBC07.html#TOC06
and
http://www.steiner-birding.com/bulletin/march07.html
At least seven of the proposed Congressional bills on climate-change include
a specific dedicated source of funding (through a portion of cap-and-trade
credits) for wildlife conservation in the states. (The important vehicle for
these bills would be the existing Wildlife Conservation and Restoration
Program Account of 2000 that would cover wildlife education and
appreciation, as well as conservation.) A few other bills address in more
general terms funding for wildlife needs.
These proposed bills also address differences in the amount of targeted CO2
reductions, the amount of funding that might go to wildlife mitigation, and
any state-based matches that might be required. In any case, bills designed
to reduce CO2 emissions, in combination with wildlife funding to the states,
merit careful consideration from bird education-and-conservation advocates.
Recent leading proposals, particularly in the Senate in the last month or
so, deserve special attention, especially since they consider much needed
wildlife education and wildlife appreciation components.
For more information about these multiple opportunities, visit:
http://www.teaming.com/funding/climate.html
"BANKING ON NATURE" 2006 RELEASED
Since 1997, the USFWS has released "Banking on Nature" reports that attempt
to estimate the economic benefits to local communities that result from
National Wildlife Refuge visitation.
The latest report, the fourth in this series and a study approaching almost
400 pages, was released in the last days of November. (The study only
reflects figures for the lower-48 states and for refuges with more than
1,500 annual visitors.) This most recent "Banking on Nature" report
announced that recreational use on National Wildlife Refuges generated
almost $1.7 billion in total economic activity during fiscal year 2006. As a
result of this spending, almost 27,000 private sector jobs were sustained
and $542.8 million in employment income was generated.
The report also revealed that recreational spending on refuges generated
nearly $185.3 million in tax revenue at the local, county, state and federal
level. In addition, it demonstrated that about 87 percent of refuge visitors
traveled from outside their local area to visit refuges.
About 82 percent of total expenditures came from non-consumptive recreation
(activities other than hunting and fishing) on National Wildlife Refuges.
Fishing accounted for 12 percent of total expenditures, while hunting
accounted for 6 percent. For the first time, birding as an activity, both
for area residents and non-residents, was separated out in the "Banking on
Nature" report for at least 66 of the 80 sample refuges that received
specific examination.
Due to a lack of specific birding data for all refuges, birding impacts were
not extrapolated nationwide. One would hope that this initial look into
birding in "Banking on Nature" would be expanded and examined more closely
in future studies in the series.
Still, in an overview on the role of birding (p. 352-4), the newly released
study charted sample high-volume birding visitation (i.e., refuges with more
than 50,000 birding visitors per year) and high-expenditure birding NWRs
(i.e., refuges with local birding expenditures of over $1 million per year).
The study also pointed out that "quality birding is an outgrowth of the
Refuge System's national and international role in conserving quality
habitat. In fact, one-third of all Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the Unites
States are located on National Wildlife Refuges... illustrating the key role
that refuges play in attracting both birds and bird enthusiasts."
For a copy of the full report, see:
http://www.fws.gov/refuges/pdfs/BankingonNature2006_1123.pdf
SO, HOW DOES THAT BIRDSONG MAKE YOU FEEL?
In a study costing over $410,000, researchers from the Department of
Anthropology at Aberdeen University, Scotland, will spend two years
investigating how bird songs, calls and cries become a part of people's
lives
Dr Andrew Whitehouse, the project's lead researcher, said, "We are
interested in understanding how people come to focus on particular sounds
and how they develop the skill of identifying songs and calls.... We also
intend to explore how bird sounds evoke time, place and season and how
people experience and draw upon bird sounds in science, art, music and their
everyday lives."
"Listening to birds: an anthropological approach to bird sounds" has
received substantial funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC).
The team is interested in hearing from anyone interested in birds from
across Britain and throughout the world. For more details, including how to
participate:
www.abdn.ac.uk/birdsong/ <http://www.abdn.ac.uk/>
BOOK REVIEW: RTP BIO
Douglas Carlson's new book, ROGER TORY PETERSON: A BIOGRAPHY (University of
Texas Press, 2007) is more than simply a look into the life of a giant.
Instead, the book reveals the flesh-and-blood character of an icon that
changed the face of birding forever. From Peterson's unremarkable
beginnings, followed by his lifetime of collegial birding adventures and the
publication of his historic A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS in 1934 (at the
tender age of 26), we trace the life history and the development of a
master.
Carlson effectively separates Peterson's literary abilities from his
practical shorthand for field guides and instruction. Similarly he
distinguishes between his field-guide art and from his more "painterly"
work, artfully portraying the tension existing between illustrator and
creative painter.
Readers can trace Peterson's life as an independent writer, artist,
photographer, and lecturer, along with appreciating his self-doubt and
uncertainties over the very value of his works, both as an artist and as a
writer. One can also track Peterson's self-identity as a conservationist and
teacher, beginning as early as the mid-1930s.
The volume is worth a thoughtful read for anyone wishing to gain insight
into Roger Tory Peterson the man, his times, his influence. Not
insignificantly, 2008 will witness the centennial year of his birth.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH WINTER WHEAT?
Winter wheat, planted in the fall and harvested the following July, is
beginning to draw attention from bird-observers, simply because it's
beginning to draw attention from the birds. Increasingly, there is evidence
that winter wheat, especially in the American Great Plains and the Canadian
Prairie Provinces, may be improving things for certain bird species. Ducks
and Ring-necked Pheasants seem to be doing well nesting in winter wheat
fields, and Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, and Willets have also
increasingly been found in wheat fields at nesting season. Even certain
grassland songbirds seem to be taking to winter wheat cultivation.
When the nesting-season starts for many species, winter wheat has already
had a head start growing, and is ready to provide nesting cover for
grassland birds early in the season. By the time winter wheat harvest
begins, in mid-July in the Dakotas, for example, young birds nesting in the
wheat fields are either developed enough to avoid harvest combines, or else
have already fledged from the fields. In contrast, alfalfa, which reaches
harvest height in May, is typically cut within the first 10 days of June - a
dismal predicament for nesting birds and young in areas like the Dakotas.
Marbled Godwits have also recently been found nesting in other crops, such
as several other varieties of cereal grain crops, flax, and stubble fields
of these same crops; however, the winter wheat appears to be the most
promising.
U.S. farmers annually plant about 40 million acres in winter wheat. Across
Canada, more than 1.2 million acres of winter wheat is grown. Is this great
for birds? No, it's a monoculture. Nevertheless, it is a somewhat attractive
crop , and one that usually reaches a suitable height at the right time of
year to benefit breeding birds. It is a crop that won't be harvested until
most nesting birds safely fledged their young. . Winter wheat will never be
a substitute for idled grassland, like CRP (Conservation Reserve Program)
land, but if cropland goes into a rotation with winter wheat, there may
actually be some benefits for certain ground-nesting birds. (It should also
be noted that farmers usually don't plant winter wheat in the same field in
consecutive years.)
Right now it's unclear whether winter wheat is truly a win-win crop for both
agriculture and bird conservation, but indications appear to be positive.
Further evaluation is certainly warranted.
For a Ducks Unlimited Canada summary of Long-billed Curlews nesting in
winter wheat in Canada last spring, see:
http://www.ducks.ca/aboutduc/news/archives/2007/070619.html
AND NOW FOR 2008...
We are clearing the decks for your upcoming issues of the E-bulletin for
2008. We will hit our fourth anniversary of writing and distributing the
E-bulletin this coming April. In anticipation of this anniversary, we invite
you to let us know how we're doing and what additional features you might
like to see in future E-bulletins. () Are you looking for more news of
birding discoveries in the field? More - or less - bird conservation
information? No book reviews? More book reviews? Longer E-bulletins?
Shorter? Whatever! Please send both of us any thoughts or ideas that you
might have.
And don't be surprised if the January issue is a bit shorter than most; the
holiday season (including Christmas Bird Counts and travel) will keep us
busy for most of December!
We wish all of our readers the very best for this coming holiday season!
- - - - - - - -
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
<>
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