There
were some outstanding rarities that appeared in August, including
species that might normally be our "rarity of the month." These included
Lesser Sand-Plover in Washington, Gray Thrasher in California (see our
Access Matters story below), Slate-throated Redstart and multiple
Plain-capped Starthroats in Arizona, and a delicious selection of
Asiatic birds on the edges of Alaska. However we decided to profile a
repeat-appearance of a bird from last year.
It's not that
uncommon to have a rare bird reappear at the same location in
consecutive years. This often happens with waterfowl, raptors,
shorebirds, long-legged waders, and various other long-lived species.
This
is exactly what happened with a rare shorebird that made its original
appearance last August in south Texas. On 2 August2014, a Collared
Plover was found at the Hargill Playa in Hidalgo County, Texas, just a
few miles north-northeast of Edinburg. This individual was only the
second record for the U.S., and it remained through the early evening of
17 August. This is a species which normally ranges from southern San
Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas, Mexico, to Argentina. You can view last
year's report here:
http://refugeassociation.org/?p=10225/#rarity
Birders
who might have missed the plover last year took the opportunity to
visit the Hargill site again this year, where the bird obligingly
remained through 30 August.
There is a rarity lesson to be
learned here: When a rare bird - especially a naturally long-lived
species - appears at an attractive site and remains for a while, it's a
good idea to recheck the same area the following year. The bird's
reappearance in successive years is not out of the question!
ACCESS MATTERS: PARKING IMPLICATIONS
The
presence of a Gray Thrasher in California was mentioned in the "rarity
focus" above. This bird would surely have been the subject of the rarity
profile had it not been simply a one-day-wonder, a bird that was seen
only one day.
This species, a bird of Baja California, has
never been previously observed in the U.S. It was found at Famosa Slough
at Point Loma, San Diego, California, by Ter Hurst, John Bruin, and
Lisa Ruby on
2 August. This is about 130 miles north of where Gray Thrashers have been recorded in Mexico.
On
that day, a number of lucky local birders rushed to the site, and many
of them were rewarded with views of the Gray Thrasher. You can view
photos of the thrasher by Lisa Ruby here:
http://www.creationsxpressions.com/Galleries/Category/Out-in-the-Field-/Folder-Birding-Outings/Robb-Field-and-Famosa-Slough-8/i-8q3WHgr/A
By
the next morning, when birders from as far away as the Bay Area and
Tucson showed up at the site, the bird had disappeared. The unsuccessful
search continued throughout the day,
3 August.
This
Famosa Slough location is a fairly high-density residential area, and
birders were asked to use specific parking sites on main streets and at
the entry of Famosa Slough, avoiding the local residential streets. Some
local parking was limited and, in light of current construction,
residents were sometimes left with very little parking that first
evening. One birder was reportedly parked in a handicapped spot without
any handicapped sticker or license plate.
And, strange as it
sounds, multiple neighbors living near the site's fence line were
concerned that birders were looking into their windows. Oversensitive
residents notwithstanding, these sorts of delicate situations need to be
regularly considered by birders.
Most birders, of course, are
courteous and respectful when it comes to parking and try to avoid
causing friction with local residents. Unfortunately, however, access
issues are always at risk when a rarity event like this shows up.
Access
awareness should always be a factor when publicizing a rarity, and for
the San Diego area it is not unusual to witness a birding crowd
gathering within 30-40 minutes of important birding news being released.
Some unfortunate encounters - including parking conflicts - are
practically inevitable, but birders should always take this into
consideration when a rare bird appears.
The Gray Thrasher episode
describes a relatively small problem, but it is nonetheless emblematic
of the larger issues of access that birders regularly face and the
public impressions left.
MORE BIRDING ETHICS
For
decades, the American Birding Association (ABA) has promoted an
excellent "Code of Birding Ethics." This code has been improved a number
of times, with some very serious changes having been made after June
1996. This major code adjustment was an outgrowth of a discussion held
at the Park City, Utah, ABA convention. The discussion was led by the
late Blake Maybank, then a member of the ABA Board.
You can access the revised and current "ABA Code of Birding Ethics" here:
http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html
Discussions regularly continue about birding behavior afield, as well they should.
The
Mindful Birding Project has recently presented a new compilation of
ethical birding guidelines for birders and organizations considering new
guidelines or updating existing ethical birding standards. The
compilation is the result of an extensive search for ethical birding
guidelines used by organizations, birding festivals, and nature tour
operators from around the world. The compilation is presented here:
http://mindfulbirding.org/existing-guidelines
The
project's image of a mindful birder is one who is aware of (a) the
needs of wildlife; (b) his or her safety and the safety of others
nearby; (c) the ways he or she may influence the experiences of others
(both birders and non-birders); (d) his or her personal birding
experience; and (e) the role he or she can play in advancing bird
conservation.
In addition, the Mindful Birding Project is
offering awards to birding festivals that demonstrate improved or
superior ethical birding guidelines, beginning with festivals occurring
in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Of course, projects like this can only help.
BOOK NOTES: MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY
What
do William Brewster, Edwin Booth, Dorethea Dix, Mary Baker Eddy,
Buckminster Fuller, Ludlow Griscom, B.F. Skinner, and Charles Sumner all
have in common?
Well, they are all buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Mount
Auburn Cemetery, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in
Middlesex County, Massachusetts, four miles west of Boston, is a
"garden" cemetery, full of lush vegetation and classical monuments set
in a rolling landscaped terrain. It has an urban birding reputation as a
migrant trap, justifiably compared to that of Central Park in
Manhattan.
A new book, edited by John Harrison and Kim Nagy, is
packed with essays, poems and wildlife photographs concerning Mount
Auburn Cemetery. It is titled
Dead in Good Company (2015, Ziggy Owl Press), and it intertwines birdlife with other features of this unique locale.
There
are over 35 short essays and half a dozen fine poems in the book.
Multiple delightful photo collections - mostly of birds - also grace the
book's pages.
While Mount Auburn may be the much-respected
resting place for those who have passed on, it is also an inspiring
sanctuary of wild things for those of us who are still among the living.
Whether or not you have ever visited "Sweet Auburn," as the place is
often called, you may want to track down
Dead in Good Company and visit - or re-visit - the place while sitting down and reading.
IBA NEWS: LWCF CLOCK TICKING
Congress
has until the end of this month to reauthorize the overwhelmingly
popular and crucial Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) before it
expires. The LWCF has successfully conserved treasured lands across the
country, ranging from city parks to large landscapes, including vital
bird habitats.
In fact, there are innumerable sites created and sustained through LWCF that are Important Bird Areas (IBAs) across the U.S.
The
LWCF, signed into law in 1964, is a visionary idea that has has
protected over 5 million acres of federal land and supported over 40,000
on the state side of funding, just to name some highlights. A
thoughtful history can be found here:
http://livinglandscapeobserver.net/half-century-legacy-of-lwcf-at-risk/?utm_source=August+2015&utm_campaign=Aug+Newsletter&utm_medium=email
Since
1977, LWCF has been authorized at $900 million per year, although
rarely - only once, actually - has that full amount been appropriated.
The importance of LWCF has been described in the E-bulletin many times,
and you can see our most recent coverage here, in February:
http://refugeassociation.org/?p=11019/#lwcf
Companies
drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf off our shores
pay a portion of their revenues into the fund. The concept was to take
the depletion of one of America's natural resources - oil and gas - to
the protection of another - our public lands. The LWCF is sustained by
these oil and gas revenues, not by individual taxpayer dollars. The
funding is intended to go into a trust to acquire inholdings and
expansions of our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other
sites, including local parks. According to the National Recreation and
Park Association, 98 percent of counties in the United States have had a
park or recreation site that was created with LWCF grants.
You can find more details on LWCF here:
http://common-resources.org/blog/2015/reauthorizing-land-and-water-conservation-fund-three-key-issues
For
additional information about worldwide IBA programs, including those in
the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area
program web site at:
www.audubon.org/bird/iba/
LAGUNA ATASCOSA NWR AND RESTORE
In
our June issue, we mentioned the recent Migratory Bird Conservation
Commission investment of MBCF/Stamp dollars at Laguna Atascosa National
Wildlife Refuge, in Texas, a bargain acquisition of 1,778 acres:
http://refugeassociation.org/?p=12013/#iba
Last
month, there was another important announcement concerning this NWR and
the RESTORE Act, with funding from federal penalties paid by BP and
additional companies after the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil blowout of
2010.
RESTORE funding will be used to buy land or secure
conservation easements between the main unit of the refuge and the Bahia
Grande unit. This $4.4 million "Bahia Grande Coastal Corridor
Implementation" project will involve the acquisition of land for
restoration and enhancement of coastal prairie, as well as saline and
brackish marsh habitats. This project will help create new habitat and
will provide vital connectivity for wildlife. These fee-title properties
and conservation easements will be held by either the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service or The Nature Conservancy.
The Bahia Grande,
located between Brownsville and Laguna Vista, was once a wildlife-rich
wetland, at least until construction of the Brownsville Ship Channel in
the 1930s and Highway 48 in the 1950s cut off the natural tidal flow
between it and the vital Laguna Madre, one of the most significant
lagoon ecosystems in Texas.
Most birders know Laguna Atascosa NWR
as the prime location for the reintroduction of Aplomado Falcons in the
U.S. and a major wintering area for waterfowl, especially Redheads. The
general public also knows the NWR as the site of a major Ocelot
recovery effort.
See details on the funding from the local
Brownsville Herald here:
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_12e857a6-4553-11e5-bc33-0733027af613.html
LOOKING AT THE SAGE-GROUSE DEADLINE
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under a court-ordered deadline to
make a decision on whether the Greater Sage-Grouse should be included
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That decision must be
transmitted to the Federal Register by 30 September.
While the Service is now limited by Congress from publishing
rules regarding sage-grouse conservation, it is not relieved of the obligation to determine whether ESA protection is still
warranted.
(A warranted/not-warranted finding is not considered a final rule.)
Current congressional roadblocks would also prevent the Service from
taking the next step: to evaluate a Threatened vs. Endangered status.
(In the event of a warrented finding, the species would remain on the
"candidate list.")
Still, the concern over an ESA listing for the
Greater Sage-Grouse in 11 states is deepening in anticipation of the
decision, with multiple western-state officials urging that ongoing
state plans be allowed to prove their conservation successes, if not
supersede the BLM and USFS plans..
According to a recent report
from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), the
number of male sage grouse in the western U.S. has increased by 63
percent over the last two years. Sage grouse used to number in the
millions, but the bird's population has taken a disturbing plunge over
the last century.
Everyone engaged in this 11-state drama is
aware of the stakes. If the Greater Sage-Grouse is ultimately listed, it
could have huge impacts on ranching, oil drilling, mining, suburban
growth, and habitat fragmentation (e.g., roads, transmission lines,
fences, and other potential barriers).
But despite the
population boost shown in the recent WAFWA report, that particular data
was collected before this year's fire season. With wildfires gobbling up
chunks of key sage-grouse habitat in a number of states (e.g., Idaho
and Oregon), it is not clear yet how many birds may have been impacted.
In
the meantime, Congress is continuing to interfere with the process,
even considering an unlikely but disturbing congressional rider to
suspend the Service's authority to propose any listing rule under ESA
for Greater Sage-Grouse for a decade, and to prevent the implementation
of new federal grouse conservation plans.
Regardless of the decision, the sage-grouse story will not end with the
30 September
deadline; it will just start a new chapter in the ongoing saga. It will
take a long-term and concerted effort to restore the health of the
sagebrush sea on which this species and so many others rely.
EAGLE RULING
On
11 August, U.S. District Judge, Lucy H. Koh, for the Northern District
of California, in San Jose, ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service violated federal laws when it created a final regulation
allowing wind energy and other companies to secure 30-year "take
permits" for Bald and Golden Eagles.
The 30-year incidental
take rule for eagles had been finalized in December, 2013. Previous FWS
rules had authorized only five-year incidental take permits, allowing
for the deaths of these eagles. The wind industry, however, argued that
the five-year permits were too short to secure funding for projects that
typically operate for two or three decades.
The American Bird
Conservancy filed the lawsuit in June 2014, alleging that the new rule
was a violation against the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Bald and Golden Eagle
Protection Act.
In striking down the 30-year rule last month,
Judge Koh wrote "...substantial questions are raised as to whether the
Final 30-Year Rule may have a significant adverse effect on bald and
golden eagle populations... The FWS has failed to show an adequate basis
in the record for deciding not to prepare an [Environmental Impact
Statement] - much less an [Environmental Assessment] - prior to
increasing the maximum duration for programmatic eagle take permits by
sixfold."
The court decision essentially affirms that
inappropriate shortcuts were taken in the development of the 30-year
rule and that laws meant to protect these eagles were not properly
followed, putting Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles at risk. The court
decision invalidates the 30-year rule.
You can find a summary of the case (with a link to the ruling) from the Wildlife Management Institute:
http://wildlifemanagementinstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=843:conservation-briefs-aug-2015&catid=34:ONB%20Articles&Itemid=54#story8-15-1
TIP OF THE MONTH: PLAN FOR THE BIG SIT!
The
Big Sit! is an annual, international, noncompetitive birding event
founded by the New Haven (Connecticut) Bird Club and hosted by Bird Watcher's Digest. This year, it's being run on the weekend of 10-11 October, so there is still time to consider plans.
Some
people have called it a "tailgate party for birders." Here's how it
works: Find a good spot for bird watching, preferably one with good
views of a variety of habitats and lots of birds. Next, create a circle
17 feet in diameter and sit inside the circle for up to 24 hours, and
count all the bird species you see or hear. Then submit your findings at
the end of your vigil.
You can find rules and submission details here:
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/connect/bigsit/about-the-big-sit.php
Every
year, bird watchers from around the world participate in this special
free birding event, open to any person or local organization in any
country. Plan now for next month's Big Sit!
FLYING BIRDS AND PUTIN'S FACE
And finally for something on the light side...
A
YouTube video, originally posted in mid-August purports to show a flock
of flying birds - perhaps European Starlings - forming the face of
Russian president Vladimir Putin. The video went viral, viewed by more
than 1.6 million viewers, especially in Russia.
The 11-second
video appears to show a large flock of these flying birds, a video
filmed from an open-top tour bus crossing the Williamsburg Bridge in
Brooklyn, New York. Suddenly, the flying birds seem to form a face that
has been likened to that of the Russian president's.
Many viewers
thought that it must have been digitally manipulated a clever CGI
(computer-generated imagery) hoax. Others were not convinced.
Early on,
The Washington Post
reported that the video had become a major talking point on Russian
social media and on the national TV station Zvezda, "The Star," owned by
the Russian Defense Ministry. See here for a story and a link to the
video clip:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/08/13/russian-tv-channel-sees-putin-in-the-sky-above-new-york/
Frankly, we think that it can't possibly be Putin. It must be actor Liam Neeson.
ARCHIVES AND MORE
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Mass Audubon
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