Message:

[

Previous   Next

]

By Topic:

[

Previous   Next

]

Subject:

Re: Missing _______?

From:

Dan Haas

Reply-To:

Dan Haas

Date:

Mon, 7 Jun 2010 23:33:11 -0400

These posts regarding the WOOD THRUSHES, the KENTUCKY WARBLERS and the
other 'missing breeders' really got me wondering...

Being 'relatively' new to birding, I've found the affliction to be a
never-ending learning experience.  Population. Habitat.
Identification. Distribution. Behavior. Migration. Breeding. Plumage.
Predicting where and when to be for the best birds.  Understanding why
this bird chooses to breed here and not there.  Best places to find
this _____ bird in _____ county.  Wondering why ______ bird isn't
regularly found _____.  Of course, finding rarities and lifers is
endless amounts of fun.  But it's the knowledge gained and the
enjoyment of watching something as simple as a swallow take a drink
from a pond in flight that makes birds and birding so enjoyable.
Which brings me to a series of observations:

Take the Bank Swallows from Warren Strobel's post this afternoon...

In recent years, I found this particular swallow quite difficult to
find in Anne Arundel County.  Friends told me of the good old days,
when dunes at a quarry outside of Crofton near the Patuxent NT (now
long since gone) hosted breeding Banks.  Now a new suitable
(man-made?) breeding habitat appears to have opened up near Sands Road
Park in Southern AA.  Bank Swallows can now be easily found in decent
numbers at Sands Road Park.  Good news for the Bank Swallow (and
anyone who needs this bird in Anne Arundel).  But, could Bank Swallows
be suffering habitat loss in other breeding locations?  (**a great
reason to eBird**)

Mysteriously, the Northern Rough-wing Swallows that bred (the past
three years) on the cliffs on the North side of the Severn River
appear to have all but vanished this year.  I will be kayaking over to
the cliffs this week to make sure I'm not just imagining their
absence. But where did all the NRWings go? Are they having a great
year somewhere else?

The more I bird, the more I learn, the more questions I have, the more
I worry about our effects on habitat and the environment, the more
questions I have, the more I learn, the more I want to go bird, etc.

Wood Thrushes, Kentucky Warblers, Whips, Chucks, Carolina Wrens,
Northern Bobwhites, etc all have suffered from habitat loss and/or
degradation.  This applies not only in our region where these birds
breed, but on their wintering grounds as well.  Add massive storms to
the equation and wow... it's difficult being a bird.

What's more, this region's deer overpopulation situation is messy at
best.  Personally, I enjoy preserving our breeding bird's habitat, so
I favor trimming the herd.  But some people love the deer, and
couldn't even imagine thinning the population.  Who was here first?
Birds? Deer? Humans? Feral Cats?  Sigh.

Yet another example: one of my favorite birds is the American Kestrel.

This small falcon loves large, weedy, overgrown fields filled with
birds, insects and rodents.  With today's monoculture farming
practices, the overuse of pesticides and fertilizer, and the loss of
farms to our sprawl, it no wonder why this bird is in decline.  When I
read Sue's hawk watch numbers over the past several years from Ft.
Smallwood Park, I found the decrease alarming.  But that begs the
question: without us humans, would our region naturally have open,
weedy fields?  Or would it be forest and brush?  Would the Kestrel
fair any better or worse in our region without us doing what we do?
Did they overpopulate when the colonists cut down trees for farms?
And are the Ft. Smallwood numbers reflective of a much larger national
trend?  I know, I know... I could research these questions, learn more
and get some answers. And I will... just after I eBird my sightings
from this afternoon.

The imbalance we create in nature, intentional or otherwise, is the
new balance.  From kudzu to CAGO, monitoring man-made nest boxes to
planting natives, banning DDT to supporting BP... we've left a sizable
footprint on nature.

My Dad always used to tell me that every action has an equal and
opposite reaction.  The theory sounded plausible and I think he and I
were on a boat.  I had just learned to sail, so the words made sense
what with my overuse of the tiller.  I've tried to remember that
morsel of information every  time I fill up the gas tank to go birding
all over Maryland.

I'll end my far-too-long post with this:  I was delighted to observe a
local CLIFF SWALLOW today at the Oxbow Preserve in Anne Arundel.
That was a county bird for me.  But not a single Wood Thrush, Kentucky
Warbler or Ovenbird made their presence known during my brief
lunchtime visit.

I also saw a Cattle Egret at the Navy Dairy Farm later this afternoon.
 Funny enough, while I was watching the egret chase bugs kicked up
from a tractor, above the farm pond flew one Bank Swallow, feasting on
insects.

Good Birding,

Dan Haas
West Annapolis, MD