From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 4:10 PM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin - May 2009

 


THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
            May 2009
 
 
This Birding Community E-bulletin is being distributed 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 past E-bulletins
on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
 
 
RARITY FOCUS
 
Readers might remember the Loggerhead Kingbird found by Carl Goodrich and
Ron Hamburger in early March 2007 at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, at the
southern end of Key West, Florida. This was the first verifiable record for
the U.S., a bird presumably from Cuba. For more details on that sighting see
our coverage here:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/aprSBC07.html#TOC01
 
As if to prove that lightening actually strikes twice in the same place, on
12 April, Carl Goodrich found another Loggerhead Kingbird at the same Fort
Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, at the fountain area near the parking
lot. For a number of days (at least until 23 April) it was found either at
the original site or at the nearby Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park. Because if
its extended stay, many observers from far and wide had an opportunity to
see this rare Caribbean rarity.
 
This Loggerhead Kingbird - a unique leucistic individual - will undoubtedly
become the third record for the U.S. The second record occurred at the Dry
Tortugas for about a week in March 2008.
 
We were all set to profile the Loggerhead Kingbird as the "Rarity of the
Month," but lightning kept striking.
 
On the morning of 17 April, Goodrich found a rare Bahama Mockingbird at the
local Botanical Gardens, a bird that also was reported for several days
either at the gardens or at an assisted living facility adjacent to the
gardens.  
 
Then on the afternoon of 20 April, Larry Manfredi found an adult male
Yellow-faced Grassquit back at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. The bird was
located along the nature trail not too far from the parking lot. The
grassquit was found, off-and-on, at various locations in the state park
through 29 April.
 
But the lightning- or the magic - at Fort Zachery Taylor State Park (and
nearby locations) was continuing. Rarities persisted, and the "Rarity of the
Month" became the "Rarity Location of the Month."

On 25 April Bob Wallace found a Fork-tailed Flycatcher near the dumpster at
the state park. The next day, the flycatcher was relocated near the fountain
area.

Then on the afternoon of 28 April, Cindy Cummings and Ruth Kerr saw a
Western Spindalis at the same Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. The next day,
birders found the bird in the general area of the water fountain in the
park. A second Western Spindalis was then found by the High Lonesome Bird
Tour group at Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park. 
 
Thus, Key West (with an emphasis on Fort Zachary Taylor State Park) was
clearly the place to be birding last month!
 
 
CUBAN BLACK-HAWK IN GEORGIA:  A CURIOUS ONE-DAY WONDER
 
On 10 April, a very dark and large buteo-like raptor was reported at
Callaway Gardens - a vacation lodge, golf course, and spa resort outside of
Pine Mountain, Georgia, only about an hour's drive southwest of Atlanta. The
raptor appeared at the resort's birdfeeder area at the Callaway Gardens
Discovery Center. Photos of the bird were obtained, and within a couple of
days, the raptor was identified as a Cuban Black-Hawk (Buteogallus
gundlachii). The species is normally only found in the mangroves and coastal
swamps of Cuba.
 
This bird was not seen after 10 April.
 
While the identity of the black-hawk is generally agreed upon, its origin is
not. The debate over human-aided vs. natural-origins is to be expected. For
fascinating details and photos by three photographers, see here:
http://www.gos.org/sightings/19-hawks/cubh.html
 
 
SPOONBILL SANDPIPER NUMBERS CONTINUE TO FALL
 
Among mega-rarities in North America is the Spoonbill Sandpiper, a
tundra-breeder from extreme northeastern Siberia which winters in isolated
locations in Southeast Asia. There are only a handful of North American
records, mostly from remote coastal areas of Alaska. (If you are unfamiliar
with this species, see the most recent National Geographic guide, pp
184-185.) 
 
This enigmatic shorebird is rare almost everywhere, and recent winter
surveys have not been encouraging. A pair of surveys this past winter
illustrates the plight of this unusual sandpiper. A survey on the coast of
Burma (Myanmar) found a new wintering site for the Spoonbill Sandpiper, but
numbers overall were down from the previous year. In the Red River delta of
Vietnam, where more than 27 Spoonbill Sandpipers were recorded in the
mid-1990s, not a single individual was reported last winter. 
 
For a summary of the two recent winter surveys, see:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/03/sbs_surveys.html

To see the species account from RAREBIRD YEARBOOK 2009, see:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/03/RBYB2009_Spoon-billed_sandpiper.pd
f 
 
 
ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SPOTTED OWL PLAN
 
On 31 March, the Obama administration filed a motion in U.S. District Court
in Washington, D.C., indicating that it would not defend the Bush
administration's decision to decrease Northern Spotted Owl protection. This
will essentially require a re-visitation of the recovery plan and critical
habitat designation released by the Bush administration.
 
The new administration in Washington is concerned that a former Interior
Department official may have tainted the recovery plan, an opinion based on
an Inspector General's report late last year that determined political
interference by Julie MacDonald, a former Deputy Assistant Interior
Secretary who played a major role in measuring out owl protection.
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the Northern Spotted Owl a
Threatened species in 1990. Lawsuits over owl protection by environmental
groups prompted the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan, which reduced
logging on federal lands by 80 percent.
 
The Bush administration opposed this plan. It preferred a policy known as
the Western Oregon Plan Revisions, or WOPR, which would nearly triple timber
harvests on 2.6 million acres in western Oregon. The WOPR plan was finalized
weeks before President George W. Bush left office.
 
Interior Department lawyers have indicated that they will try to negotiate
with the timber industry and conservation groups over 30 days to set the
terms for reconsidering the owl's protections while trying to resolve
pending litigation.
 
It is unclear how much of the Western Oregon Plan Revision will be scrapped,
how much of the Northwest Forest Plan will be revived, or how all the
parties involved will react.
 
What is clear is that another round of charges and counter-charges on
Northern Spotted Owl protection is in the works.
 
 
BOOK NOTES: NEW PHOTO GUIDE AND REFERENCE
 
At 744 pages, this book is somewhere between a hefty field guide or a small
reference book. In either case, the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY BIRDS
OF NORTH AMERICA (2009, DK: Dorling Kindersley) with Francois Vuilleumier as
editor-in-chief, is worth a look. Vuilleumier, a world-renowned
ornithologist and Curator Emeritus of the Department of Ornithology at the
museum, has assembled a book profiling more than 650 species of our birds. A
full page is devoted to each species, including a large photograph as well
as several smaller photos highlighting the species. These photos are
presented creatively and artfully.
 
Each species profile includes information on behavior, nesting, and habitat
along with the expected range-map covering North America.
 
Though the book is not intended to be a field guide, each species account
includes ID information. The volume is more like a field guide supplement,
and as such it should be appreciated.
 
 
NEW BIRDING TRAILS
 
It is not always easy keeping track of all the newly emerging birding trails
launched and improved across the continent. Two recent developments deserve
mention, however.
 
The first is the Makoke Birding Trail in central Iowa which features some 22
key sites, including Saylorville Lake, Red Rock Lake, and Neal Smith NWR,
all within a 40-minute drive from Des Moines. (Makoke means "bird" in the
Ioway tribal language and was chosen to honor the native people once
inhabiting much of central Iowa.) The trail guide may be unique in using
aerial photographs as the basis for maps of each site described on the
trail. A guide may be downloaded here:
http://www.iowabirds.org/places/documents/Makoke_Trail.pdf
 
The second birding trail development is the newly released route of the
Great Washington State Birding Trail, the Sun and Sage Loop, and the fifth
loop for the trail. This loop has 52 stops in South-central Washington in
the Tri-cities area, located in the heart of Washington's wine country. The
sites include Big Flat Habitat Management Unit (USACE), Cowiche Canyon
(BLM), Johnson Park, Ft. Simcoe State Park, and McNary,Umatilla, and
Toppenish NWRs. In the first month upon release, birders purchased more than
500 loop maps. For access to the site locations, see:
http://wa.audubon.org/BirdingTrailMaps/TM_index.html
 
 
OBSOLETE LOGBOOKS?
 
Are old-time bird-sighting logbooks and sighting clipboards at park and
refuge visitor centers becoming a thing of the past? Are these worn pages
with their rain-splattered edges and pencil-marked submissions, simply
remnants of 20th-century birding?

Perhaps.
 
Witness the Cornell-developed "eBird Trail Trackers" that have been slowly
finding their way to parks and refuges as the next-new-thing in bird
record-keeping at public locations. Not only are the Trail Trackers a way to
record bird sightings on location, they also includes photos, audio, video
and life history information for the birds observed at a particular site.
One tough model of the podium-like units is even totally weather-resistant
and vandal-proof, so that it can withstand rugged outdoor use..
 
These may signal a new way to share sightings and information at public
visitation birding locations. To get more information on how the Trail
Trackers work, see:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/is/ett/
 
There are now at about half a dozen National Wildlife Refuges with e-Bird
Trail Trackers at their Visitor Centers; others are located at state parks
and Audubon centers. Here are the ways that two National Wildlife Refuges
and one Texas State Park are beginning to share eBird Trail Tracker
sightings online (from Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico, Santa Ana NWR in
Texas, and Estero Llano Grande State Park in Texas):
http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/Friendsindex.html
http://www.friendsofsouthtexasrefuges.org/default.asp?id=296
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/weslaco/
 
These developing eBird Trail Trackers are not likely to be the last word in
how sightings will be recorded and shared in the future, but they are
currently the first word.
 
 
EVERGLADES DEAL BEING READJUSTED. AGAIN
 
Florida's celebrated $1.34 billion deal to buy 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar
Corporation land to help restore the Everglades is being scaled back by more
than half. Governor Charlie Crist announced last month that the state simply
can't afford the original deal.
 
The reduction means that the state will now buy 72,500 acres of land for
$533 million, but will retain a 10-year option to buy the remainder. The
decision means the original bold deal will be far less ambitious than
planned, although the long-term outcome may end up at about the same place.
 
In June, Crist announced the $1.75 billion deal that included U.S. Sugar's
assets, such as its mill, railroad, and citrus processing plant. In
November, a revised $1.34 billion deal was announced that didn't include
those assets.
 
We reported on the implications of both of these moves in July
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/julSBC08.html#TOC02
and in December:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/decSBC08.html#TOC10
 
The South Florida Water Management District has planned to borrow money
through bonds for the deal and intends to pay off the debt with property
taxes (from a 16-county region stretching from Orlando to the Keys).
However, property values dropped 12 percent last year. Florida, moreover, is
now facing about a $6 billion budget gap between anticipated revenues and
expenses.
 
The vision behind the U.S. Sugar deal is to re-establish a natural water
flow from Lake Okeechobee through the broad Everglades "River of Grass" to
Florida Bay, a cleaner and more reliable flow. Among other things, this
water restoration is crucial for Florida's legendary waterbirds. Over the
decades, the Everglades, long known for its abundant bird life, has seen its
wading bird populations squeezed out of vital habitats.
 
Even if the deal ends up "at the same place" as originally envisioned over
the next decade, some observers are concerned about the wait and the damage
accumulated in the interim.
 
The adjusted deal still represents the largest single purchase of land in
Florida's history. The Governor said. "Even though it's scaled down, it's
still the biggest ever."
 
 
IBA NEWS: NEW WHSRN SITES

The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) recently announced
the addition of three new sites to the Network and the first ever Landscape
of Hemispheric Importance for inclusion in the Network. 
 
WHSRN sites often overlap with IBA sites, in the U.S. and elsewhere in the
Western Hemisphere.
 
These new WHSRN sites include three wetland locations in Latin America (in
Chile, Colombia, and Mexico) and one in the U.S. Two of the sites - in Chile
and Colombia - are the firsts for their nations. The WHSRN Hemispheric
Council approved the four nominations to designate these important areas at
its meeting in Santa Marta, Colombia, earlier this year. The new U.S.
Landscape of Hemispheric Importance is the Rainwater Basin area of Nebraska.
With these additions, including two new-country firsts, the Network is now
74 sites strong in a dozen countries, with partners conserving and managing
a total of 29 million acres of habitat for shorebirds.

For more information on WHSRN sites, see:
http://www.whsrn.org/

For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, and those across
the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program
web site at: 
http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
 
 
TIP OF THE MONTH: IT'S SPRING MIGRATION, DON'T KEEP IT TO YOURSELF
 
For many birders, May is the month they most look forward to all year. It's
a time to appreciate migration at its glorious best. (Admittedly, late April
may be that special time for birders on the southern edge of U.S., and early
June may be the equivalent at the northern extremes in Canada and Alaska.)
 
Enjoy it! Revel in it. Be sure to go birding as much as you can.
 
But don't do it alone. Spend some time taking out some neighbor, some child,
some friend who needs to connect to the wonder of nature through birds.
There may be no better time to get their attention.
 
Besides, sometimes it's just fun to watch others as they "discover" their
first tanagers, orioles, thrushes, and warblers. 
 
Don't keep this miracle to yourself.
 
 
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MOVES TOWARD LEAD PHASE-OUT
 
In the past couple of months, the National Park Service (NPS) has indicated
that it would begin a phase-out the use of lead ammunition and fishing
sinkers on its lands. The reason for the move is the harm to birds and other
wildlife caused by the ingestion of spent lead shot, bullets, or sinkers and
the danger of dissolved lead contaminating groundwater. For example, a
single lead shot or fishing sinker is enough to kill a large swan.
 
Non-toxic substitutes for lead bullets are now available including those
made from tungsten or copper. And several alternatives to lead fishing
sinkers are available or under development including sinkers made of
stainless steel, tin, tungsten, brass, and zinc.
 
The call to make all parks lead free by the end of 2010 was announced by
Acting Park Service Director Dan Wenk, who said, "We want to take a
leadership role in removing lead from the environment." The move may have
relatively little impact on hunters, more though on fishing activity.
(Hunting is currently permitted in about 60 NPS units, and fishing is widely
allowed across the system.)
 
The Park Service eased off the bold 2010 claim slightly with a clarification
that it would "look at the potential for transitioning to non-lead
ammunition and non-lead fishing tackle for recreational use by working with
our policy office and appropriate stakeholders/groups, [which] will require
public involvement, comment, and review."
 
Still, the actual phase-out of lead is in play, and 2010 remains the NPS
ideal goal.
 
In 1991 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned lead shot nationwide in
waterfowl hunting. Lead is also outlawed in Yellowstone National Park (which
has one of the few remnant populations of natural Trumpeter Swans left in
the lower 48 states). In November 2007, we reported on the lead bullet ban
in much of California, designed to protect California Condors and other
wildlife. See here:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/novSBC07.html#TOC12
 
A number of states beyond California have at least partial restrictions on
the use of traditional lead bullets or sinkers (e.g., Maine, New Hampshire,
New York, and Massachusetts). Nevertheless, the U.S. as a whole continues to
lag behind Canada and several European countries on the issue. Britain
banned all small lead fishing weights in 1987. Denmark did so in 2002. In
1997 Canada banned lead fishing gear in all its National Parks and Wildlife
Areas.
 
Proponents of a lead ban have tried to stress that their efforts are not
anti-gun, anti-hunting, or anti-fishing. As Michael Frye of the American
Bird Conservancy remarked on this very issue, "[I]t is pro-wildlife and
pro-human. [a cause] we should all embrace for the sake of future
generations who will inherit the environment we leave behind."
 

OHIOAN WINS JR, DUCK STAMP CONTEST

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a creative
arts curriculum that helps teach wetlands and waterfowl conservation to
students in kindergarten through high school. On Earth Day last month, the
national art competition was held in Washington D.C. There, 16-year-old Lily
Spang of Toledo, Ohio, took first place. Her winning image was of a male
Wood Duck, a regular species favorite.

Participation in the program nationwide included more than 28,000 students
entering state art contests this year. You can get more details on this
year's winners here:
http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/
 
 
ESA SECTION SEVEN RULE REVOKED

On 28 April, Secretaries Ken Salazar (Interior) and Gary Locke (Commerce)
announced that the Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultation rule issued
at the tail end of the Bush Administration has been revoked. We wrote about
this issue and its implications in the April E-bulletin:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/aprSBC09.html#TOC04

The Obama Administration was able to bypass an otherwise expected lengthy
rule-chaining process only because of Congressional action. The recent
Omnibus Appropriations Act, Congress gave Interior and Commerce 60 days to
revoke this rule, and that's what happened. Here is the press release on
rescinding the rule:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090428_esa.html
 
 
CAHOW RETURNS TO NONSUCH ISLAND AFTER ALMOST 400 YEARS 

In April, 2008, we reported on the investigation of nesting sites by Bermuda
Petrels (also known as Cahows) on a small Bermuda islet:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/aprSBC08.html#TOC07
 
Only about 300 of the birds exist on Bermuda, breeding nowhere else in the
world. Most of their recent nesting sites are beset by habitat approaching
"full occupancy."
 
Last year, as many as four of the extremely rare Bermuda Petrels
investigated Nonsuch Island, a small islet at the entrance of Castle Harbor,
Bermuda, for potential nesting. The birds successfully returned to where
they had been translocated as nestlings in an experiment to repopulate
Nonsuch Island with nesting petrels.
 
The islet had been made a potential nesting area following the removal of
rats and domestic animals.
 
This year, Cahows began preparing burrows on Nonsuch, with activity from at
least seven pairs of the translocated chicks (from birds released in 2005
and 2006). The birds usually do not produce their first chicks until they
have nested for about two years. Still, last month it was announced that one
pair of the petrels on Nonsuch had produced a chick.
 
This remarkable event represents the first Cahow chick to be hatched on
Nonsuch Island since 1620. It is expected that other Bermuda Petrels will
fill in appropriate nesting habitat in seasons to come.
 
Here is a local story with details:
http://www.bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24
<http://www.bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=4
1168&TM=42367.79> &SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=41168&TM=42367.79 
 
 
 
WHOOPING CRANE NUMBERS DROP
 
Last month we reported that the Whooping Cranes on the Texas coast had
witnessed the first drop in their numbers since 2001:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/aprSBC09.html#TOC02
 
We now have some more details to share with you on this Endangered species.
 
According to Tom Stehn, Whooping Crane coordinator with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2008-2009 was the worst winter on record for the Texas
group. The wintering cranes, centered at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
near Rockport, Texas, will spend their summers at Wood Buffalo National Park
in Canada.
 
Stehn reported that with 21 Whooping Cranes lost during the winter and 34
birds that left Texas in spring 2008 and failed to return, 20 percent of the
flock has been lost during the last 12 months. This marks the first year
crane numbers have declined since 2001.
Winter losses have been attributed to poor habitat conditions in wintering
grounds on the middle Texas coast. Low rainfall last year resulted in
saltier bays and fewer blue crabs, the prime food source for the wintering
cranes. Several emaciated Whooping Crane carcasses were found. (The virus
IBD - infectious bursal disease - was even found in one of the juveniles).
Refuge staff even took the unusual step of providing supplemental feeding
over last winter in addition to burning upland areas to make acorns more
available.
 
Further details can be found here: 
http://www.birdrockport.com/tom_stehn_whooping_crane_report.htm
and here:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20090331a
 
 
WHITE HOUSE ROBINS HATCH

Associated Press photographer Ron Edmonds found nesting American Robins in a
bush just outside the White House press briefing room late last month. Here
are details, in case you missed the story and the photos:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_robin_s_nest
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090425/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_robin_s_nest
%0b%0b> 
 
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
 
As the Birding Community E-bulletin begins its sixth year, we have decided
to share a few remarks from among our valued readers. Their comments are
reproduced below.
 
In place of "Letters to the Editors" we will perhaps include one or two
comments most months this year. We are placing these statements at the very
end of the monthly E-bulletin so if you wish you can simply stop reading
now! 
 
"I enjoy and rely upon your Birding Community E-bulletin to keep me informed
and in touch with events and issues of interest and importance to me. I get
all the magazines. They sit on the coffee table waiting to be read. I field
a blizzard of calls and emails that have already transmuted events into
issues and concerns. Thanks for cutting out the middlemen and giving me the
skinny."
  - Pete Dunne, author and director of the Cape May Bird Observatory
 
"The E-bulletin is a hugely valued source of information both for my work as
a conservation professional and for my enjoyment as a birder. It manages to
distill the essence of stories of interest as can only be done by thoughtful
editors who have a killer sense of what's crucial and of what's fluff. No
other source comes close."
  - Charles D. Duncan, Director, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve
Network, Executive Office
 
- - - - - - - - -
You can access past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association
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http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html
                                    
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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
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            Mass Audubon
            718/259-2178
             
                        or
            Paul J. Baicich             
            410/992-9736
             
                                                            
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