From: Paul J. Baicich [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2012 4:32 AM
To: Paul J. Baicich
Cc: Wayne Petersen
Subject: Birding Community E-bulletin: January 2012
THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
January 2012
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.
This issue is sponsored by the producers of superb quality birding
binoculars and scopes, Carl Zeiss Sport Optics:
www.zeiss.com/SPORTS
Description: logo copy
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National
Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://refugeassociation.org/news/birding-bulletin/
Note: this is our new archival location. See more details at the end of this
month's E-bulletin.
RARITY FOCUS
On the morning of 8 December, Dan Tankersley found a male Falcated Duck at
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in California about 60 miles northwest of
Sacramento. The duck was first viewed from the auto route observation deck.
This 4,500-acre refuge consists mainly of intensively managed wetland
impoundments along with substantial riparian and grassland habitat. Located
in the Sacramento Valley, the refuge plays host to large populations of
wintering waterfowl, sometimes up to a quarter of a million birds.
The Falcated Duck was accompanied by many other species, including Northern
Pintail, American Wigeon, and Gadwall. The Falcated Duck, a species pictured
in most North American field guides, is actually a vagrant from Asia.
Falcated Ducks breed in northeast Asia from southern Siberia south to
Mongolia, northeast China, and southern Japan and they winter from the
southern portions of their breeding range to the northern parts of
southeast. Asia. The species has a population estimated at about 35,000
birds, most of which winter in Japan, the Koreas, and southeast China.
It is a very rare to casual species in southwestern Alaska where there have
been almost three dozen reports through the years. It is much rarer
southward along the Pacific coast, including British Columbia, Washington,
and Oregon. There are only a few credible records for California, plus a
few more records attributed to escaped birds at a time when the species was
thought to be more common in private waterfowl collections.
During most of the Falcated Duck's visit to Colusa NWR, it was viewed almost
every day from the observation platform, often close to a couple of small
islands directly in front of the platform; however, it has been difficult to
observe when resting, or on the opposite side of one of the small islands.
Despite these viewing difficulties, the Falcated Duck entertained many
visiting birders from California and from out of state through the end of
the month.
To see some photos of the site and of this stunning duck, see these shots by
by Julio Mulero (18 December)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliom/6534114439/in/photostream/
and by Mark Rauson(23 December)
http://rauzon.zenfolio.com/p859914566/h77da86a#h1c77d61d
HOODED CRANE: A VERY CURIOUS REPORT
If we were certain of its origin, a species that might have been our rarity
of the month is a Hooded Crane located in southeastern Tennessee.
Marie Sutton and Phyllis Deal found an unusual-looking crane mixed in with
Sandhill Cranes from the observation platform at the state's Hiwassee
Wildlife Refuge on 13 December. The crane was later photographed and
identified as a Hooded Crane, a species that would normally be wintering in
parts of eastern China, Korea, and southern Japan. In 2010 a Hooded Crane
was also seen in Idaho in late April-early May, 2010, and in Nebraska in
late March, 2011. It is unclear whether any of these observations represent
truly wild birds, but well over 1,700 birder-visitations from at least 35
states have been tabulated at the Tennessee site through the end of the
December. Local birders are obviously hoping it says until the Tennessee
Sandhill Crane Festival (14-15 January):
www.tncranefestival.org/
See a story about the crane from Reuters (27 December) here:
www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/28/us-tennessee-birds-asian-crane-idUSTRE7BR
03R20111228
Readers may remember that we covered the issue of crane hunting and crane
avitourism in Tennessee in February (ninth story down this page):
http://refugeassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sbc-feb11.pdf
A "SNOWY" SEASON?
If you were unable to see the Falcated Duck in California or the Hooded
Crane in Tennessee in December, don't be too envious because there may be a
stunning and exciting rarity in store for you closer to home this season.
As many readers may know, Snowy Owls are circumpolar Arctic breeders that
often lead nomadic lives, sometimes travelling vast distances in winter.
Some years they move considerably farther south of their more usual winter
range in their search for productive feeding areas. The winter of 2011/2012
is shaping up to be just such a season, so there could be a Snowy Owl near
you already, or possibly sometime before the end of the winter, at least if
you live in the southern Canada or the northern tier of the United States.
To familiarize yourself with this winter's possible Snowy Owl viewing
opportunities, be sure to see this fine summary made available in late
November on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird pages:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/got-snowies
To see a stunning visual summary of the species and its behavior as it moves
south, be sure watch Gerrit Vyn's video on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's
website at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufkcx-UqljM
Snowy Owls are often attracted to locations somewhat resembling their Arctic
tundra environment. In the Boston area, for example (and often in other
places in the East) these frequently happen to be airports! In an example of
local Snowy Owl airport activity, see this summary of Mass Audubon staffer,
Norman Smith's work at Boston's Logan International Airport:
www.massaudubon.org/Birds_and_Birding/snowyowl/index.php
FARM BILL OPPORTUNITIES
Congress is mulling over the next Farm Bill, a bill that's going to be
important. Once a tedious and pedestrian delivery system for gross subsidies
to farms - big and small - the Farm Bill has evolved to incorporate crucial
conservation measures that will benefit soil and wildlife conservation.
As always, the question will be: How much will go to the conservation
corners of the Farm Bill to protect natural resources across the
agricultural landscape?
Some of the most important opportunities and concerns for bird
conservationists are the following:
1) Requiring producers who participate in federally subsidized risk
management protection (i.e. crop insurance) to adhere to regulations that
protect wetlands, grasslands, and natural resources. This is not excessive
government regulation. Instead, it is a reasonable tradeoff between taxpayer
support for agriculture and society's overall need to save natural
resources.
2) Re-coupling crop insurance and disaster assistance to
conservation compliance which will save taxpayer dollars by reducing future
federal outlays on lands that are generally considered riskier to farm.
3) Providing basic retention of The Wetland Conservation Compliance
(i.e., Swampbuster).
4) Strengthening a nationwide Sodsaver provision to protect native
prairie by reducing incentives for conversion to cropland..
5) Including the essential Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) at the
level of at least 32 million acres.
6) Improving the CRP to be made more attractive to producers.
7) Authorization of the Wetland Reserve Program.
Enlightened Farm Bill opportunities can provide bird and wildlife habitat
for hundreds of species (including those that are Threatened or Endangered),
reduce soil erosion, enhance water quality, and even strengthen flood
control.
Recommendations such as these have been proposed by numerous conservation
partners and will continue to be discussed until the Farm Bill is re-written
and passed.
DO FARM BILL PROGRAMS PROMOTE NATIVE GRASSLAND LOSSES?
Related to these Farm Bill developments, is another study of interest. Last
summer, a team of four USDA researchers investigated the degree to which
Farm Bill provisions might encourage the transformation of native grasslands
to croplands in the Northern Great Plains.
This research group recently rendered their 85-page report down to a mere
8-page synopsis, something significantly easier to read. Basically, the
researchers discuss why crop insurance, marketing loan benefits, and
disaster assistance can encourage farmers to cultivate more land than they
otherwise might, and something which is at least partly at the expense of
native grassland currently used as rangeland.
Obviously, these native grasslands are extremely important as breeding
habitat for migratory birds, ranging from waterfowl to grassland sparrows.
In emphasizing the depth of the problem, the report states, "The Northern
Plains accounted for 57 percent of U.S. gross conversions of rangeland to
cropland in 1997-2007, even though the region encompasses only18 percent of
the Nation's rangeland."
You can access this short 8-page summary here:
www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/September11/PDF/NativeGrassland.pdf
MORE SAGE-GROUSE ASSESSMENT
While we have covered the issue of sage-grouse conservation many times in
the E-bulletin, the public is now being asked to weigh in as federal
agencies address the issue of protecting the Greater Sage-Grouse in 10
Western states. The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service
announced on 8 December that they plan to hold meetings throughout the West
in January and February on the issues concerning sage-grouse.
This is in the context of a serious situation for the species. Last year,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the species deserves
protection as an Endangered species, but such protection can't be extended
because other species higher on the list are in greater need of help. Public
comments are due by the close of business, 7 February.
This is the official government announcement:
www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/december/NR_12_08_2011.html
This is a summary of the issues at stake from the American Bird Conservancy
and from WildEarth Guardians:
www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/111208.html
GREBES CRASH-LAND IN UTAH
On the evening of 12 December, thousands of migrating Eared Grebes were
killed or injured at night when they crash-landed on a Wal-Mart parking lot,
football fields, roads and highways, and other snow-covered areas at Cedar
City in southern Utah. These sites were apparently mistaken for bodies of
water. The downed flocks of grebes were also reported at locations as far as
30 miles south of Cedar City.
"Before there were [artificial lights], the sky was always paler than the
ground," said Kevin McGowan at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, commenting on
possible causes. "When all of a sudden there's light all over the place,
they don't know which way is up anymore." Moreover, it is not uncommon for
birds to crash en masse, especially if they confuse the ground for water.
An estimated 4,000 were grounded, with volunteers rescuing most of them,
releasing them into local waterways. Over 1,500 were estimated to have died.
This was a high-profile crash, reported across the U.S. and abroad. For
coverage, see this piece from USA TODAY:
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2011-12-14/bird-crash-landing
-utah/51927250/1
or this one from AccuWeather:
www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/migrating-birds-crash-land-in/59156
ACCESS MATTERS: AN UNREACHABLE BIRD
On the afternoon of 6 December, Jethro Runco and Loni Silver, two San
Clemente Loggerhead Shrike researchers from the Institute for Wildlife
Studies, observed and photographed a remarkable Red-flanked Bluetail on San
Clemente Island off the California coast. The bird was seen again by these
two observers, along with Justyn Stahl and Shannon Ehlers, later in the
afternoon.
This is an Old World species - breeding from Finland to the Russian Far east
- that has been seen almost two dozen times in Alaska (mostly in the
Aleutians) and once in California (i.e., 1989, Southeast Farallon Island).
The exciting San Clemente Island story (with some photos) is recounted here,
from eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/RFBL_CA
And another photo by Jethro Runco can be found here:
www.westernfieldornithologists.org/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=467
<http://www.westernfieldornithologists.org/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=467&
fullsize=1> &fullsize=1
There has been some controversy over this sighting, not its identity, but
the fact that it was reported to birders when the location is off-limits.
San Clemente Island, the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California,
is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy. Fully 21-miles long, the island
is the Navy's only remaining ship-to-shore live firing range that contains a
U.S. Navy rocket-test facility, is used as an auxiliary naval airfield, and
is even used as a simulated "embassy" for specialized commando training.
It is also the home of a unique subspecies of Loggerhead Shrike, and the
island supports fragile flowers and shrubs found nowhere else in the world.
Restrictions, therefore, seem reasonable. However, some birders asked: Can
anything be done about the place being off-limits? Other birders emphasized
the island's fragile ecology and the importance of simply knowing about the
occurrence of the Red-flanked Bluetail, even though they were prevented from
visiting the island.
All these opinions have validity. While this may seem to be a particularly
extreme case, if not one that is unresolvable, perhaps there are still
lessons to be considered. Too often, birders seem willing to simply
acquiesce to the assertion that a location is off-limits, unreachable, and
closed to birding visitors. Much of the time, but certainly not always,
something can be done to address the issue. In other words, access matters!
IBA NEWS: NEW JERSEY'S DELAWARE BAYSHORE
Last month, it was announced that New Jersey's Delaware Bayshore meets the
criteria for status as a Globally Significant Important Bird Area (IBA).
Covering about 50 miles of coastline, from Cumberland County to Cape May
County, the Delaware Bayshore IBA includes about 50,000 acres, much of it
protected conservation land, including 13 state Wildlife Management Areas
and the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
To acquire the Globally Significant label, the New Jersey Audubon Society
and the National Audubon submitted years of annual shorebird and waterfowl
survey data to a panel of nationally and internationally recognized experts.
There are currently only 449 Globally Significant IBAs in the U.S.
The panel concluded that four species were present in numbers that either
meet or exceed the quota required to trigger the Globally Significant
designation. Delaware Bay is a crucial stopover site for migrating Red Knots
and Ruddy Turnstones, and a critical winter habitat for large concentrations
of Snow Geese and American Black Ducks. The data was collected in annual
surveys by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
Of the four species named in the announcement, the plight of the Red Knot
and Ruddy Turnstone is the best known. While recent surveys show significant
numbers of birds refueling along the Bayshore during spring migration
(12,000 to 16,000 Red Knots and 17,000 to 37,000 Ruddy Turnstones), they are
significantly lower than counts of 95,000 Red Knots and 80,000 Turnstones
recorded in earlier aerial surveys. A precipitous decline in these
populations began in the mid-1980s, at the same time that horseshoe crab
harvesting for use as bait rose dramatically.. Horseshoe crab eggs are
essential food that makes it possible for these long-distance shorebird
migrants to make it to their summer arctic nesting grounds to breed.
Curiously, New Jersey's IBA program is actually an IBBA program (i.e.,
Important Bird and Birding Area) program. The program identifies sites that
are essential for sustaining native bird populations (Important Bird Areas)
and areas that are exceptional for birdwatching (Important Birding Areas).
For more information on the New Jersey IBA Program, please visit:
www.njaudubon.org/SectionIBBA/Background.aspx
For additional information about IBA programs worldwide, including those
across the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area
program web site at:
www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
TIP OF THE MONTH: WATCH OUT FOR SLOBS IN 2012
With the start of a New Year, it might be instructive to share a warning and
some advice. It's time to watch out for, and isolate, any SLOB among us.
Now, we are absolutely convinced that the overwhelming majority of birders
are generous, ethical, sharing, and trustworthy individuals who exhibit
respect for the rights of other people , property, and especially birds. But
there are always a few of those rare individuals among us who could be
identified - in the words of former Executive Director of the American
Birding Association, Jim Tucker, in 1981 - as a SLOB. A SLOB is a Selfish,
Lazy, Obnoxious, Birder.
A SLOB only rarely gives more than a passing notice to the needs of others
in a birding group, never seems able to help anyone else find a bird, is
convinced that "Keep Out" signs are not to be taken seriously, and is,
through other clueless or irresponsible behaviors, simply an embarrassment
to other birders.
In some cases, newer birders beginning in the field may either 1)
unknowingly pick up bad habits from a SLOB birder, or 2) simply be so
repulsed by the SLOB's behavior that birding is dropped entirely as a
desirable pastime. In either case, these are the folks who deserve helpful
advice and kindly direction.
Long-standing SLOB behavior should simply not be tolerated in the birding
community.
KIWI SURPRISE
We don't usually report on far-off bird stories, concentrating instead on
North American, or sometimes inter-American bird issues. Nonetheless, this
story was too good to pass up.
Some of New Zealand's most endangered wildlife, including the flightless
endemic Kiwi, can be viewed at Pukaha Mount Bruce in northern Wairararapa, a
pioneer captive breeding program. The center is set against the backdrop of
the 942-hectare Pukaha Mount Bruce forest, an area into which native
wildlife is being returned.
A small number of North Island Kiwis carry a recessive "white" gene which
both the male and female must have in order to produce a white chick. This
is not characteristic of most albinos by the way.
One such white chick, a female the staff named Manukura (meaning "of chiefly
status"), was hatched in May. Remarkably, two adult birds with the rare
white gene must have paired up in the penned forest to produce a second
white chick, since a second surprise white Kiwi chick was hatched on 18
December.
It is assumed that this new chick, named Mauriora (meaning "sustained
life"), has the same parents as Manukura. At least the father is known. The
parents were apparently among the 30 Kiwis transferred from Hauturu/Little
Barrier Island in 2010. There is even another egg from the same nest as
Mauriora, so the chances are assumed to be one in four that this third chick
will be white.
For a photo and local story on the pre-Christmas hatching of Mauriroa, see
here:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/second-rare-white-kiwi-delightful-christmas-
gift-4666816
And to see a terribly cute video, try this:
http://vimeo.com/34042144
BOOK NOTES: ABOUT NOTES
Recording observations in the field has always been an indispensable
scientific skill, yet field researchers are often reluctant to share their
personal records or observations with the public. In FIELD NOTES ON SCIENCE
& NATURE edited by Michael R. Canfield (2011, Harvard University Press), for
the first time, readers are treated to a marvelously varied collection of
note-taking techniques, accompanied by reproductions of actual pages from
the field notebooks of a cadre of distinguished naturalists and scientists.
Among the many naturalists and scientists whose field notebooks are featured
in this informative and unique book are George Schaller, Bernd Heinrich,
Kenn Kaufman, Karen Kramer, Jenny Keller, and Jonathan Kingdon. Taken
together, this collection of outstanding essays provides a marvelous
template for anyone who has ever attempted to maintain a field notebook, or
who has ever questioned the wisdom of doing so. This new title is highly
recommended.
LAST MONTH'S QUIZ WINNERS FOR A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BIRD BOOK
Last month's National Geographic quiz question was about Short-tailed
Albatrosses: What is the name of the island in the Pacific where the
overwhelming majority of these albatrosses nest?
The correct answer was: Torishima Island
The prize for our five winners - chosen randomly among all correct answers -
was a copy of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BACKYARD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH
AMERICA by Jonathan Alderfer and Paul Hess (2011). A full description of
this backyard book can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/d6hz78b
Last month's five winners were: Steve Carr (Holladay, Utah), Kamal Islam
(Muncie, Indiana), John F. Kearney (Antigonish, Nova Scotia), Jay M.
Sheppard (Laurel, Maryland), and Marcy Stutzman (Laurel, Maryland).
SOME CHANGES FOR THE E-BULLETIN
We have a few changes and new developments for the Birding Community
E-bulletin starting in 2012.
First, we have a new supporting sponsor, as indicated on the top of this
E-bulletin. Carl Zeiss Sport Optics, makers of superb optics is now on board
as a supporting sponsor for 2012. We are delighted that they have chosen to
support the E-bulletin, and we are equally thrilled to associate with such a
fine product and company.
Next, we have moved the E-bulletin archives from one page on the National
Wildlife Refuge Association website to another. You can now find our past
issues here:
http://refugeassociation.org/news/birding-bulletin/
You can still find all the articles in the previous issues here , but old
links may fail to get you to these articles directly.
Our colleagues at NWRA have been nothing but gracious and supportive in
their efforts to help sustain the E-bulletin over the years. They have been
absolutely essential in keeping the E-bulletin accessible to a growing
birding-conscious and bird-conservation-conscious public. They deserve our
wholehearted thanks.
Finally, our story on visiting Snowy Owls marks the start of an irregular
feature we hope to run in the E-bulletin. On occasion, Gerrit Vyn from the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology will provide a video link for one of our stories
on a special species, an event, or a bird-conservation development. We look
forward to experimenting with this new possibility for the E-bulletin and
look forward to hearing from you about it.
- - - - - - - - -
If you wish to distribute or reproduce 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
781/259-2178
or
Paul J. Baicich
410/992-9736
We never lend or sell our E-bulletin recipient list.
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