The world's human population has a continuing hunger for oil supplies. When not done extremely carefully, oil exploration poses threats to many animals and birds, in biomes across the globe. Read about some of these emerging situations at the following linked articles
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/125-yasuni-national-park/wallace-text
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2013/aug/01/congo-virunga-national-park
http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/28/petition-blm-protect-fragile-habitat-from-oil-gas-drilling/
http://amazonwatch.org/news/2013/0819-ecuador-scraps-plan-to-block-rain-forest-oil-drilling
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
wildlife restoration success in Europe
Read about the recent success of efforts at wildlife population restoration in Europe (large file) at this link: http://www.birdlife.org/
Sunday, October 20, 2013
my best year ever for shorebirds
2013 has been my best year ever for shorebirds. I was fortunate enough to see 36 species this year, including 8 species (in Germany) I had never seen before, and several species that I rarely see in my home state of WI.
 |
| Eur. Oystercatcher (ph by A. Trepte) |
 |
| Eur. Curlew (ph by Nepenthes) |
| Black-necked Stilt | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 17-Jun-13 | |||
| Pied Avocet | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| American Avocet | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 7-Oct-13 | |||
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Black-bellied Plover | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 21-Sep-13 | |||
| European Golden-Plover | Jade Bight stop 1 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| American Golden-Plover | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 28-Aug-13 | |||
| Northern Lapwing | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Semipalmated Plover | church rd | US-WI | 27-May-13 | |||
| Killdeer | Lower Mud Lake (Dane Co.) | US-WI | 23-Mar-13 | |||
| Spotted Sandpiper | along bark r in hartland | US-WI | 2-May-13 | |||
| Solitary Sandpiper | Gl Druml Tr west from Highland | US-WI | 5-May-13 | |||
| Spotted Redshank | Jade Bight stop 4 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Greater Yellowlegs | Waukesha | US-WI | 20-Apr-13 | |||
| Common Greenshank | Jade Bight stop 4 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Shady ln w of daly lk | US-WI | 25-Apr-13 | |||
| Common Redshank | Jade Bight stop 4 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Upland Sandpiper | Buena Vista grasslands | US-WI | 7-Jun-13 | |||
| Eurasian Curlew | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Hudsonian Godwit | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 7-Oct-13 | |||
| Bar-tailed Godwit | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Marbled Godwit | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 18-Oct-13 | |||
| Ruddy Turnstone | north rocky pt to Veterans pk loop | US-WI | 27-May-13 | |||
| Stilt Sandpiper | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 28-Aug-13 | |||
| Sanderling | north rocky pt to Veterans pk loop | US-WI | 27-May-13 | |||
| Dunlin | Jade Bight Stop 5 | DE-NI | 27-Sep-13 | |||
| Least Sandpiper | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 23-Jul-13 | |||
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 28-Aug-13 | |||
| Pectoral Sandpiper | powder hill wetlands | US-WI | 27-Apr-13 | |||
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 28-Aug-13 | |||
| Short-billed Dowitcher | church rd | US-WI | 27-May-13 | |||
| Long-billed Dowitcher | Forest Beach Migratory Preserve (OWLT) | US-WI | 5-Sep-13 | |||
| Wilson's Snipe | Horicon Marsh SWA | US-WI | 4-Apr-13 | |||
| American Woodcock | Jackson Marsh and nearby | US-WI | 26-Apr-13 | |||
| Wilson's Phalarope | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 23-Jul-13 | |||
| Red-necked Phalarope | Horicon NWR - n. of 49 | US-WI | 28-Aug-13 |
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Birding Community E-bulletin October 2013 (reposted)
THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
October 2013
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
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=aa80ab94d7&view=att&th=141999f528f31581&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1)
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://refugeassociation.org/
RARITY FOCUS
In the September Birding Community E-bulletin, we explained how our regular rarity focus usually does not usually consider a seabird species, if only because such a bird - usually observed off the coast – is virtually impossible to "revisit" by subsequent visitors. See here:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Little did we know that after highlighting a South Polar Skua in Oklahoma in our September issue that we would have another seabird species to focus on in our October issue!
The species is Blue-footed Booby, and what happened in September was a total surprise. Starting in the second week in September, multiple observers began reporting immature and sub-adult Blue-footed Boobies up and down the California coast!
Blue-footed Boobies breed as close to the U.S. as the Gulf of California. They are generally rare and irregular in late summer and early fall to the Salton Sea, with occasional irruptions to the California coast. Although influxes occurred in 1969 (c. 32 birds) and 1972 (45+ birds), most years lack records altogether. Given this pattern of observations, the birds involved have probably been post-breeding-season wanderers. There has been speculation that an abundance of anchovies off the California Coast may also have contributed to the northward spread of the boobies last month.
This year's event has been off the charts, with easily over 120 birds recorded, and the numbers are still being tabulated.
There were boobies at La Jolla, Ventura, Pt. Pinos, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Pt. Reyes, and other coastal locations, and birds were observed both flying by and also roosting on breakwaters. Inland lakes also hosted Blue-footed Boobies. Not only were the birds found in numbers at the "expected" location of the Salton Sea – some days 13, 25 or more birds – but they were also found at locations such as Lake Skinner in Riverside County – with up to five birds seen from 13 September through the end of the month. Blue-footed Boobies were photographed on the California-Arizona border, on Lake Havasu, and one individual was even reported as far north as Stubbs Island, British Columbia.
For a look at some representative photos taken by Chris Taylor at Playa del Rey, California on 14 September, see here:
www.kiwifoto.com/f/booby_pdr_
For an excellent summary along with accompanying map of this remarkable event, see this from eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/
BIRD-AND-WILDLIFE CONSERVATION LETTER SENT TO CONGRESS
A significant sign-on letter in response to the ongoing Congressional threat to bird and wildlife conservation was sent to members of both houses of Congress in mid-September. You may remember our coverage of these vital conservation funding threats described in the August E-bulletin:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
The letter, signed by almost 850 groups (or about 1,600 individuals, if you tabulate coalitional signatories), focused on the following five crucial funding sources:
• State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program
• North American Wetland Conservation Fund (NAWCA)
• Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund
• Forest Legacy Program
• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
Spending in bird, wildlife, and natural resource conservation and associated outdoor recreation totals less than one percent of all discretionary federal spending. However, over the last several years, these programs have been continually reduced to a distressing level.
You can find background information on the letter to Congress here:
www.teaming.com/news/press-
And, you can find the text of the letter and view the signatories here:
http://tinyurl.com/
IBA NEWS: EXPANSION AT NESTUCCA BAY NWR
This next news item could just as easily been placed in our "Access Matters" category as in "IBA News," but the story from the Oregon Coast about an IBA that is receiving further protection, and where birder access will hopefully follow.
A coveted piece of land on Nestucca Bay on Oregon's north coast, has been privately held and essentially off-limits to the birding and recreational public for 75 years.
Last month, however, this small forested peninsula and shoreline - a former Jesuit retreat - became public land.
After five years of negotiation and competition from private developers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the 103-acre property for $1,072,500. This land is now part of Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which brings this gem of a refuge up to 1,203 acres in total extent.
Coastal waterfowl, loons, and grebes can be appreciated from the shore. Raptors nest and visit the forest and forest edges, and songbirds fill the woods.
"I'm still in a bit of disbelief in acquiring the Jesuits tract. We were certain we had lost it and probably would have in a robust economy," said Roy Lowe, project leader for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
Refuge staff had been working with The Nature Conservancy to secure the land since 2008, when the Jesuits indicated that they wanted to sell the property. Developed in the late 1930s as a place of study and reflection for novitiates, the property has been vacant for about five years.
When the land was appraised, the different parties involved were about $400,000 apart. Also, there were other potential buyers who initially considered developing the land in different ways, including the possibility of creating family, conference, or entertainment centers. Over two dozen groups and individuals of potential buyers actually toured the property, which currently includes a rustic, two-story wood lodge, a dilapidated dormitory, and four shabby cabins.
None of the other parties bought it, however, so the Jesuits returned to The Nature Conservancy.
The final funding to buy the property came to The Nature Conservancy from a National Scenic Byways grant through the Federal Highway Administration and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
That opportunity came just in the nick of time, since the National Scenic Byways program has been defunded by the current Congress in the MAP-21 Transportation Bill. The funding for this deal was actually held over from the 2009 budget.
Eventually, the property will be opened, and the Fish and Wildlife Service expects to improve the ready-made trails through the property. Once funds become available, the FWS might be able to remodel the old main lodge for housing and offices, bringing the structure up to federal standards.
For more on IBAs in Oregon see here:
http://audubonportland.org/
And see here for details on the Nustecca Bay IBA:
http://audubonportland.org/
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/
ACCESS MATTERS: CHESAPEAKE ACCESS
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the lower-48states and it is packed with both birdlife and marine life. The bay is about 200 miles long, but actually boasts thousands of miles of shoreline due to its configuration. Unfortunately, only about two percent of the shoreline is open to the public. The rest is either privately owned or publicly owned but with severe restrictions on use.
Nonetheless, there have been efforts by regional outdoor enthusiasts – supported by a Presidential order in 2009 - to create more access and viewing locations along the Chesapeake shoreline. This is important to birders, especially since the Chesapeake area is famous for its waterfowl, shorebirds, long-legged waders, and shoreline songbirds.
Access through state parks and some refuge areas is usually approachable, but other properties under different public jurisdictions – e.g., military, county, or town – are more difficult to navigate.
One creative call for improving access, an effort that other areas might consider adopting, concerns bridges over waterways. Most of the hundreds of bridges in the Chesapeake area are designed and built in ways that limit access rather than enable it. They lack pull-off and parking areas, yet recreational and viewing access could be created relatively quickly, at modest cost - combined with construction or repair - and could provide benefits to the economy and to public safety.
Access advocates across the Chesapeake have called for a goal of 300 new access points in the next dozen years.
TIP OF THE MONTH: eBIRD DURING REFUGE WEEK
Birders are getting more involved these days with eBird as a way to combine increasing knowledge, data collection, and mere listing. If you haven't taken the eBird plunge, you can start here:
http://ebird.org/content/
Whether or not you currently use eBird, a particular October opportunity might be a nice way to begin. Birders inside and outside the Fish and Wildlife Service have come up with a unique way to promote eBird and the Refuge System. It's as simple and as creative as encouraging birders to go out to a National Wildlife Refuge during National Wildlife Refuge Week – 13-19 October - and create an eBird checklist or two.
And if you're not currently eBird-skilled, this is an opportunity to go birding with someone who is, someone who can coach you on how to submit your data during Refuge Week.
The effort started on a Facebook page, initiated by interested birders. (This is a public page, so don't worry if you are not on Facebook, you can still read the posts and information.):
www.facebook.com/
Of course, if the government shut-down goes into Refuge Week, all bets are off. In this case, you simply won’t be able to enter any refuge!
So our hint of the month is the following: Consider participating in this eBird/Refuge combo during Refuge Week if possible. At the same time take a moment to also think about the unique access opportunities we often take for granted when we visit a National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, National Forest, or other special federal facility where we watch birds and other wildlife.
SOCORRO DOVE CLOSER TO GETTING ANOTHER CHANCE
The Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni) was a species endemic to Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Archipelago off western Mexico. The last record of the species in its natural habitat dates back to 1972. Introduced mammals - particularly cats - drove the dove to extinction in the wild through predation. Habitat destruction, coincidental with human settlement in the 1950s, accelerated the process.
The good news is that viable breeding populations exist in aviaries. For nearly 100 years, breeders from many parts of the world have worked to ensure that the dove would continue to exist in aviaries and breeding centers.
Since the late 1980s, the Socorro Dove Project seriously planned to reintroduce the dove to the island. By 2004 a breeding station was built on the island, but the next year an outbreak of avian influenza prevented a direct return of the doves to Mexico. Instead, the Socorro Doves bred by zoos cooperating in the effort were sent to the Albuquerque Biological Park in 2008.
This past spring, six Socorro Doves were moved from Albuquerque to the African Safari zoo southeast of Mexico City. And on 5 September, once the doves had settled in, an official ceremony took place at the African Safari zoo to celebrate the return of the Socorro Dove to Mexico. This Socorro Dove Project represents the dedication of many institutions - including the Mexican Navy - working for a common goal. This represents one more step toward hopefully reintroducing the Socorro Dove to its native Socorro Island in the near future.
For more on the story of the Socorro Dove's return to Mexico, if not yet Socorro Island, see here:
www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/
And for background on the dove and the species' future possibilities, see here:
www.academia.edu/1507074/Re-
CLOSER TO A LEAD BAN IN CALIFORNIA
Last month we wrote about the U.S. Army's continuing its pursuit of non-lead ammunition and some of its implications on the market:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
On a related subject, the California Senate passed legislation on 9 September to require the use of non-lead ammunition for all hunting in the state by 1 July 2019. This is an attempt to protect the state's California Condors, eagles, hawks, waterfowl, loons, doves, and other wildlife from lead poisoning in the wild. (A nationwide ban on lead shot in waterfowl hunting, begun in 1991, has been highly effective in reducing avian mortality due to ingestion of lead shot while still maintaining projectile efficacy in waterfowl hunting.) The legislation passed the California Senate by a vote of 23-15 after previously passing the state Assembly in May.
The bill enjoyed wide support from a diverse coalition of more than 80 public health, environmental, bird, and animal protection organizations as well as many California hunters, veterinarians, and concerned citizens.
Opponents pointed to the availability and price of non-lead bullets on the market today, and also insisted that this legislation was anti-hunting, not simply anti-lead.
It is uncertain what Governor Jerry Brown will do with the bill. If he does not act by Oct. 13, it becomes law without his signature. If the bill becomes law, California will be the first state in the country to require the use of nontoxic bullets and shot for all types of hunting.
This is not California's first attempt to eradicate lead-based shots and bullets from outdoor use. The Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act was enacted in 2008 to prohibit the use of lead projectiles in parts of central and Southern California to protect endangered California Condors. This topic was covered in the Birding Community E-bulletin in November 2007:
http://refugeassociation.org/
PARKS CANADA CLEARING RATS
In past Birding Community E-bulletins, we have highlighted numerous efforts to rid islands of rats and ranging from Alaska to the South Pacific. For example, in April, we wrote about ridding Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands off California, of rats:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Recently, Parks Canada has been clearing invasive rats from two important seabird breeding islands in the north of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site on the archipelago of Haida Gwaii, a dense chain of islands in the Pacific off the coast of British Columbia.
Rodenticide has been dropped on the islands by helicopter, a technique first developed in New Zealand to restore seabird breeding islands in the South Pacific.
This effort is being undertaken because a quarter of the world's population of Ancient Murrelets, a species in decline, breed on the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. The rats, inadvertently brought by ships in the 18th and 19th centuries, eat eggs and chicks, and also attack adult murrelets nesting on the ground and in holes on the island.
Parks Canada is carrying out this eradication work in cooperation with the Haida Nation.
You can read more details here:
http://tinyurl.com/
MORE ON SHOREBIRDS IN THE CARIBBEAN
Last month we reported on the changing situation on the island of Barbados, with some encouraging improvements in the area of shorebird conservation:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Now from elsewhere in the Caribbean, specifically the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), there is more good shorebird news. Last month, in a decision from Paris, the Ministry of Environment moved to protect the Red Knot from hunting pressure on these islands. Stiff penalties will be applied if a hunter on either of the islands shoots a Red Knot.
Although Red Knots are scarce in the region, this is still an important additional step in terms of shorebird conservation in the Caribbean.
BOOK NOTES: EASTERN SEAWATCHING
As our West Coast colleagues were gazing seaward for Blue-footed Boobies, a new book was released in the "Peterson Series" for East Coast seawatchers. This new book is called the REFERENCE GUIDE TO SEAWATCHING, subtitled "Eastern Waterbirds in Flight."
This handsome and comprehensive book by Ken Behrens and Cameron Cox is the latest addition in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s suite of comprehensive bird references. The book features a stunning collection of species-by-species flight photos and informative accompanying text. Whether you want to study flying waterfowl, alcids, tubenoses, jaegers, gulls, terns, or more, this is a must-have reference.
One specific idea in the book deserves special mention.
Whereas there are dozens of regularly operated hawkwatches across North America where migrant diurnal raptors can be counted and monitored, no such parallel network exists for waterbirds. Only Cape May (NJ) and Whitefish Point (MI), administered by their respective bird observatories, serve that function. Just as hawkwatch data is especially useful when it is analyzed from a number of sites, so too might there be value in analyzing data from coordinated seawatches. How much could be learned about loons, seaducks, alcids, if a system of such counts were coordinated?
The book does not answer this question. But that's not purpose of the book. What the REFERENCE GUIDE TO SEAWATCHING does provide is much essential information that would hopefully someday bring such a seawatch network closer to reality.
DECOYS, PELAGIC BIRDING, AND HOPE
We began with a seabird rarity, and we end with another seabird rarity. For the past several years, going back to 2006, a wayward Red-billed Tropicbird has been reported around the area of Seal Island, Maine. This individual is a good example, by the way, of what we mentioned last month, rare birds returning to the same site in multiple years:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
It's gotten so that with a little bit of planning in advance, birders can visit the area around Seal Island in summer to see this beautiful seabird, a species normally found in tropical waters.
Keith Mueller, of Killingworth, Connecticut, did just that in the summer of 2012.
Keith is a birder, but also a creative artist, sculptor, and decoy carver. In the summer of 2012 he and his wife, Jen, went to Seal Island and traveled with John Drury, who runs seabird cruises in the area. The trip also affords a fine opportunity to look for Razorbills, Atlantic Puffins, Arctic Terns, Black Guillemots, and much more. In 2012, Keith Mueller actually attracted the area’s star to John Drury’s boat, the Red-billed Tropicbird, by using a tropicbird decoy that he had carved.
As a thank-you to John Drury, Keith carefully carved another Red-billed Tropicbird, made of Eastern White Pine from Maine, and sent it to John. The Red-billed Tropicbird had already departed the area of Seal Island last year, but this past July John floated the decoy … with fantastic results.
This past summer, Keith received a message and photos from John. Not only was the Red-billed Tropicbird attracted to the lovely decoy, it "defended" her from possible rivals… and attempted to mate with the wooden gal. See the whole amazing story here:
http://coastalbirds2.blogspot.
This is clearly almost an example of "Where there’s a will, there’s a way!"
- - - - - - - - -
You can access all the past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
http://refugeassociation.org/
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
wpetersen@massaudubon.org
or
Paul J. Baicich
Great Birding Projects
410/992-9736
paul.baicich@verizon.net
October 2013
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
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://refugeassociation.org/
RARITY FOCUS
In the September Birding Community E-bulletin, we explained how our regular rarity focus usually does not usually consider a seabird species, if only because such a bird - usually observed off the coast – is virtually impossible to "revisit" by subsequent visitors. See here:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Little did we know that after highlighting a South Polar Skua in Oklahoma in our September issue that we would have another seabird species to focus on in our October issue!
The species is Blue-footed Booby, and what happened in September was a total surprise. Starting in the second week in September, multiple observers began reporting immature and sub-adult Blue-footed Boobies up and down the California coast!
Blue-footed Boobies breed as close to the U.S. as the Gulf of California. They are generally rare and irregular in late summer and early fall to the Salton Sea, with occasional irruptions to the California coast. Although influxes occurred in 1969 (c. 32 birds) and 1972 (45+ birds), most years lack records altogether. Given this pattern of observations, the birds involved have probably been post-breeding-season wanderers. There has been speculation that an abundance of anchovies off the California Coast may also have contributed to the northward spread of the boobies last month.
This year's event has been off the charts, with easily over 120 birds recorded, and the numbers are still being tabulated.
There were boobies at La Jolla, Ventura, Pt. Pinos, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Pt. Reyes, and other coastal locations, and birds were observed both flying by and also roosting on breakwaters. Inland lakes also hosted Blue-footed Boobies. Not only were the birds found in numbers at the "expected" location of the Salton Sea – some days 13, 25 or more birds – but they were also found at locations such as Lake Skinner in Riverside County – with up to five birds seen from 13 September through the end of the month. Blue-footed Boobies were photographed on the California-Arizona border, on Lake Havasu, and one individual was even reported as far north as Stubbs Island, British Columbia.
For a look at some representative photos taken by Chris Taylor at Playa del Rey, California on 14 September, see here:
www.kiwifoto.com/f/booby_pdr_
For an excellent summary along with accompanying map of this remarkable event, see this from eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/
BIRD-AND-WILDLIFE CONSERVATION LETTER SENT TO CONGRESS
A significant sign-on letter in response to the ongoing Congressional threat to bird and wildlife conservation was sent to members of both houses of Congress in mid-September. You may remember our coverage of these vital conservation funding threats described in the August E-bulletin:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
The letter, signed by almost 850 groups (or about 1,600 individuals, if you tabulate coalitional signatories), focused on the following five crucial funding sources:
• State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program
• North American Wetland Conservation Fund (NAWCA)
• Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund
• Forest Legacy Program
• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
Spending in bird, wildlife, and natural resource conservation and associated outdoor recreation totals less than one percent of all discretionary federal spending. However, over the last several years, these programs have been continually reduced to a distressing level.
You can find background information on the letter to Congress here:
www.teaming.com/news/press-
And, you can find the text of the letter and view the signatories here:
http://tinyurl.com/
IBA NEWS: EXPANSION AT NESTUCCA BAY NWR
This next news item could just as easily been placed in our "Access Matters" category as in "IBA News," but the story from the Oregon Coast about an IBA that is receiving further protection, and where birder access will hopefully follow.
A coveted piece of land on Nestucca Bay on Oregon's north coast, has been privately held and essentially off-limits to the birding and recreational public for 75 years.
Last month, however, this small forested peninsula and shoreline - a former Jesuit retreat - became public land.
After five years of negotiation and competition from private developers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the 103-acre property for $1,072,500. This land is now part of Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which brings this gem of a refuge up to 1,203 acres in total extent.
Coastal waterfowl, loons, and grebes can be appreciated from the shore. Raptors nest and visit the forest and forest edges, and songbirds fill the woods.
"I'm still in a bit of disbelief in acquiring the Jesuits tract. We were certain we had lost it and probably would have in a robust economy," said Roy Lowe, project leader for the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
Refuge staff had been working with The Nature Conservancy to secure the land since 2008, when the Jesuits indicated that they wanted to sell the property. Developed in the late 1930s as a place of study and reflection for novitiates, the property has been vacant for about five years.
When the land was appraised, the different parties involved were about $400,000 apart. Also, there were other potential buyers who initially considered developing the land in different ways, including the possibility of creating family, conference, or entertainment centers. Over two dozen groups and individuals of potential buyers actually toured the property, which currently includes a rustic, two-story wood lodge, a dilapidated dormitory, and four shabby cabins.
None of the other parties bought it, however, so the Jesuits returned to The Nature Conservancy.
The final funding to buy the property came to The Nature Conservancy from a National Scenic Byways grant through the Federal Highway Administration and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
That opportunity came just in the nick of time, since the National Scenic Byways program has been defunded by the current Congress in the MAP-21 Transportation Bill. The funding for this deal was actually held over from the 2009 budget.
Eventually, the property will be opened, and the Fish and Wildlife Service expects to improve the ready-made trails through the property. Once funds become available, the FWS might be able to remodel the old main lodge for housing and offices, bringing the structure up to federal standards.
For more on IBAs in Oregon see here:
http://audubonportland.org/
And see here for details on the Nustecca Bay IBA:
http://audubonportland.org/
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/
ACCESS MATTERS: CHESAPEAKE ACCESS
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the lower-48states and it is packed with both birdlife and marine life. The bay is about 200 miles long, but actually boasts thousands of miles of shoreline due to its configuration. Unfortunately, only about two percent of the shoreline is open to the public. The rest is either privately owned or publicly owned but with severe restrictions on use.
Nonetheless, there have been efforts by regional outdoor enthusiasts – supported by a Presidential order in 2009 - to create more access and viewing locations along the Chesapeake shoreline. This is important to birders, especially since the Chesapeake area is famous for its waterfowl, shorebirds, long-legged waders, and shoreline songbirds.
Access through state parks and some refuge areas is usually approachable, but other properties under different public jurisdictions – e.g., military, county, or town – are more difficult to navigate.
One creative call for improving access, an effort that other areas might consider adopting, concerns bridges over waterways. Most of the hundreds of bridges in the Chesapeake area are designed and built in ways that limit access rather than enable it. They lack pull-off and parking areas, yet recreational and viewing access could be created relatively quickly, at modest cost - combined with construction or repair - and could provide benefits to the economy and to public safety.
Access advocates across the Chesapeake have called for a goal of 300 new access points in the next dozen years.
TIP OF THE MONTH: eBIRD DURING REFUGE WEEK
Birders are getting more involved these days with eBird as a way to combine increasing knowledge, data collection, and mere listing. If you haven't taken the eBird plunge, you can start here:
http://ebird.org/content/
Whether or not you currently use eBird, a particular October opportunity might be a nice way to begin. Birders inside and outside the Fish and Wildlife Service have come up with a unique way to promote eBird and the Refuge System. It's as simple and as creative as encouraging birders to go out to a National Wildlife Refuge during National Wildlife Refuge Week – 13-19 October - and create an eBird checklist or two.
And if you're not currently eBird-skilled, this is an opportunity to go birding with someone who is, someone who can coach you on how to submit your data during Refuge Week.
The effort started on a Facebook page, initiated by interested birders. (This is a public page, so don't worry if you are not on Facebook, you can still read the posts and information.):
www.facebook.com/
Of course, if the government shut-down goes into Refuge Week, all bets are off. In this case, you simply won’t be able to enter any refuge!
So our hint of the month is the following: Consider participating in this eBird/Refuge combo during Refuge Week if possible. At the same time take a moment to also think about the unique access opportunities we often take for granted when we visit a National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, National Forest, or other special federal facility where we watch birds and other wildlife.
SOCORRO DOVE CLOSER TO GETTING ANOTHER CHANCE
The Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni) was a species endemic to Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Archipelago off western Mexico. The last record of the species in its natural habitat dates back to 1972. Introduced mammals - particularly cats - drove the dove to extinction in the wild through predation. Habitat destruction, coincidental with human settlement in the 1950s, accelerated the process.
The good news is that viable breeding populations exist in aviaries. For nearly 100 years, breeders from many parts of the world have worked to ensure that the dove would continue to exist in aviaries and breeding centers.
Since the late 1980s, the Socorro Dove Project seriously planned to reintroduce the dove to the island. By 2004 a breeding station was built on the island, but the next year an outbreak of avian influenza prevented a direct return of the doves to Mexico. Instead, the Socorro Doves bred by zoos cooperating in the effort were sent to the Albuquerque Biological Park in 2008.
This past spring, six Socorro Doves were moved from Albuquerque to the African Safari zoo southeast of Mexico City. And on 5 September, once the doves had settled in, an official ceremony took place at the African Safari zoo to celebrate the return of the Socorro Dove to Mexico. This Socorro Dove Project represents the dedication of many institutions - including the Mexican Navy - working for a common goal. This represents one more step toward hopefully reintroducing the Socorro Dove to its native Socorro Island in the near future.
For more on the story of the Socorro Dove's return to Mexico, if not yet Socorro Island, see here:
www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/
And for background on the dove and the species' future possibilities, see here:
www.academia.edu/1507074/Re-
CLOSER TO A LEAD BAN IN CALIFORNIA
Last month we wrote about the U.S. Army's continuing its pursuit of non-lead ammunition and some of its implications on the market:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
On a related subject, the California Senate passed legislation on 9 September to require the use of non-lead ammunition for all hunting in the state by 1 July 2019. This is an attempt to protect the state's California Condors, eagles, hawks, waterfowl, loons, doves, and other wildlife from lead poisoning in the wild. (A nationwide ban on lead shot in waterfowl hunting, begun in 1991, has been highly effective in reducing avian mortality due to ingestion of lead shot while still maintaining projectile efficacy in waterfowl hunting.) The legislation passed the California Senate by a vote of 23-15 after previously passing the state Assembly in May.
The bill enjoyed wide support from a diverse coalition of more than 80 public health, environmental, bird, and animal protection organizations as well as many California hunters, veterinarians, and concerned citizens.
Opponents pointed to the availability and price of non-lead bullets on the market today, and also insisted that this legislation was anti-hunting, not simply anti-lead.
It is uncertain what Governor Jerry Brown will do with the bill. If he does not act by Oct. 13, it becomes law without his signature. If the bill becomes law, California will be the first state in the country to require the use of nontoxic bullets and shot for all types of hunting.
This is not California's first attempt to eradicate lead-based shots and bullets from outdoor use. The Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act was enacted in 2008 to prohibit the use of lead projectiles in parts of central and Southern California to protect endangered California Condors. This topic was covered in the Birding Community E-bulletin in November 2007:
http://refugeassociation.org/
PARKS CANADA CLEARING RATS
In past Birding Community E-bulletins, we have highlighted numerous efforts to rid islands of rats and ranging from Alaska to the South Pacific. For example, in April, we wrote about ridding Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands off California, of rats:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Recently, Parks Canada has been clearing invasive rats from two important seabird breeding islands in the north of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site on the archipelago of Haida Gwaii, a dense chain of islands in the Pacific off the coast of British Columbia.
Rodenticide has been dropped on the islands by helicopter, a technique first developed in New Zealand to restore seabird breeding islands in the South Pacific.
This effort is being undertaken because a quarter of the world's population of Ancient Murrelets, a species in decline, breed on the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve. The rats, inadvertently brought by ships in the 18th and 19th centuries, eat eggs and chicks, and also attack adult murrelets nesting on the ground and in holes on the island.
Parks Canada is carrying out this eradication work in cooperation with the Haida Nation.
You can read more details here:
http://tinyurl.com/
MORE ON SHOREBIRDS IN THE CARIBBEAN
Last month we reported on the changing situation on the island of Barbados, with some encouraging improvements in the area of shorebird conservation:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
Now from elsewhere in the Caribbean, specifically the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), there is more good shorebird news. Last month, in a decision from Paris, the Ministry of Environment moved to protect the Red Knot from hunting pressure on these islands. Stiff penalties will be applied if a hunter on either of the islands shoots a Red Knot.
Although Red Knots are scarce in the region, this is still an important additional step in terms of shorebird conservation in the Caribbean.
BOOK NOTES: EASTERN SEAWATCHING
As our West Coast colleagues were gazing seaward for Blue-footed Boobies, a new book was released in the "Peterson Series" for East Coast seawatchers. This new book is called the REFERENCE GUIDE TO SEAWATCHING, subtitled "Eastern Waterbirds in Flight."
This handsome and comprehensive book by Ken Behrens and Cameron Cox is the latest addition in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s suite of comprehensive bird references. The book features a stunning collection of species-by-species flight photos and informative accompanying text. Whether you want to study flying waterfowl, alcids, tubenoses, jaegers, gulls, terns, or more, this is a must-have reference.
One specific idea in the book deserves special mention.
Whereas there are dozens of regularly operated hawkwatches across North America where migrant diurnal raptors can be counted and monitored, no such parallel network exists for waterbirds. Only Cape May (NJ) and Whitefish Point (MI), administered by their respective bird observatories, serve that function. Just as hawkwatch data is especially useful when it is analyzed from a number of sites, so too might there be value in analyzing data from coordinated seawatches. How much could be learned about loons, seaducks, alcids, if a system of such counts were coordinated?
The book does not answer this question. But that's not purpose of the book. What the REFERENCE GUIDE TO SEAWATCHING does provide is much essential information that would hopefully someday bring such a seawatch network closer to reality.
DECOYS, PELAGIC BIRDING, AND HOPE
We began with a seabird rarity, and we end with another seabird rarity. For the past several years, going back to 2006, a wayward Red-billed Tropicbird has been reported around the area of Seal Island, Maine. This individual is a good example, by the way, of what we mentioned last month, rare birds returning to the same site in multiple years:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
It's gotten so that with a little bit of planning in advance, birders can visit the area around Seal Island in summer to see this beautiful seabird, a species normally found in tropical waters.
Keith Mueller, of Killingworth, Connecticut, did just that in the summer of 2012.
Keith is a birder, but also a creative artist, sculptor, and decoy carver. In the summer of 2012 he and his wife, Jen, went to Seal Island and traveled with John Drury, who runs seabird cruises in the area. The trip also affords a fine opportunity to look for Razorbills, Atlantic Puffins, Arctic Terns, Black Guillemots, and much more. In 2012, Keith Mueller actually attracted the area’s star to John Drury’s boat, the Red-billed Tropicbird, by using a tropicbird decoy that he had carved.
As a thank-you to John Drury, Keith carefully carved another Red-billed Tropicbird, made of Eastern White Pine from Maine, and sent it to John. The Red-billed Tropicbird had already departed the area of Seal Island last year, but this past July John floated the decoy … with fantastic results.
This past summer, Keith received a message and photos from John. Not only was the Red-billed Tropicbird attracted to the lovely decoy, it "defended" her from possible rivals… and attempted to mate with the wooden gal. See the whole amazing story here:
http://coastalbirds2.blogspot.
This is clearly almost an example of "Where there’s a will, there’s a way!"
- - - - - - - - -
You can access all the past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
http://refugeassociation.org/
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
wpetersen@massaudubon.org
or
Paul J. Baicich
Great Birding Projects
410/992-9736
paul.baicich@verizon.net
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
12 million waterbirds
I just returned from a Waterbird Society conference in Wilhelmshaven,
Germany. The locale was near to the Wadden Sea, one of the largest coastal wetlands and tidal areas (15,000 square kilometers)
in the world, with a national park shared across 3 national boundaries (The Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark), and which is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site of dramatic importance to waterbirds, seals, and other living things. It is THE most important staging site and stopover area for waterfowl and shorebirds that pass through from the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland breeding sites, plus northeastern European, Scandinavian, and Siberian waterfowl and waders, some of which winter in northern, central, or southern Europe, but many of which go southward to winter in Africa. A staggering total of 12 million waterbirds use the Wadden Sea annually, either during migration, molting, or winter, plus many breed there as well. Fifty-two populations of 41 species use the Wadden Sea each year, and for 34 of those species, this location is their most important extensive stopover site each year.
I was there to present a poster at the conference on our offshore Lake Michigan waterbird research. I also attended one full-day field trip, where I was fortunate enough to see Eurasian Spoonbills, huge numbers of Black-headed Gulls, Common Shelducks, Eurasian Oystercatcher, some Dark-bellied Brent Geese (we call them Brant here), plus Greater White-fronted, Greylag, and Barnacle geese, and Eurasian Curlew, Pied Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Common Eider, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, and Grey Heron, plus Eurasian Kestrels, two species of harriers, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, and a list of other passerines.
To learn more, go to: http://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/
I was there to present a poster at the conference on our offshore Lake Michigan waterbird research. I also attended one full-day field trip, where I was fortunate enough to see Eurasian Spoonbills, huge numbers of Black-headed Gulls, Common Shelducks, Eurasian Oystercatcher, some Dark-bellied Brent Geese (we call them Brant here), plus Greater White-fronted, Greylag, and Barnacle geese, and Eurasian Curlew, Pied Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Common Eider, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, and Grey Heron, plus Eurasian Kestrels, two species of harriers, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, and a list of other passerines.
To learn more, go to: http://www.waddensea-worldheritage.org/
Monday, September 16, 2013
Tired of ecological bad news with no way out?
Like many concerned citizens, I am profoundly affected on a frequent basis by disturbing ecological news. Many people turn away from "depressing" news -- they feel there is no hopeful aspect, no workable solution included in dire environmental forecasts. Is there another direction, or a set of possible alternatives? I think there is.
I suggest the following 2 books, with much more than the usual list of actual realistic suggestions for what we might do.
Go to http://carlsafina.org/publications/books/the-view-from-lazy-point-a-natural-year-in-an-unnatural-world/ to learn about Carl Safina's book, The View from Lazy Point. Dr. Safina is an accomplished scientist, and an eloquent observer. He shows there are lessons that point the way to solutions.
But a step beyond even that is the recent book by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're In without Going Crazy. See http://www.activehope.info/styled/index.html This book is no set of platitudes for anyone looking for easy answers. Instead, it is, as the authors describe: "Active Hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation, and it involves three key steps. First, we take in a clear view of reality; second, we identify what we hope for in terms of the direction we’d like things to move in or the values we’d like to see expressed; and third, we take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction."
Both are highly recommended. These books provide facts, but also direction. See for yourself. For me, Macy and Johnstone's book came along exactly at the time I needed it.
I suggest the following 2 books, with much more than the usual list of actual realistic suggestions for what we might do.
Go to http://carlsafina.org/publications/books/the-view-from-lazy-point-a-natural-year-in-an-unnatural-world/ to learn about Carl Safina's book, The View from Lazy Point. Dr. Safina is an accomplished scientist, and an eloquent observer. He shows there are lessons that point the way to solutions.
But a step beyond even that is the recent book by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're In without Going Crazy. See http://www.activehope.info/styled/index.html This book is no set of platitudes for anyone looking for easy answers. Instead, it is, as the authors describe: "Active Hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation, and it involves three key steps. First, we take in a clear view of reality; second, we identify what we hope for in terms of the direction we’d like things to move in or the values we’d like to see expressed; and third, we take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction."
Both are highly recommended. These books provide facts, but also direction. See for yourself. For me, Macy and Johnstone's book came along exactly at the time I needed it.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
latest Birding Community E-bulletin (Sept 2013)
THE BIRDING COMMUNITY E-BULLETIN
September 2013
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
![[]](https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=aa80ab94d7&view=att&th=140fa293d0b150fe&attid=0.1&disp=emb&zw&atsh=1)
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://refugeassociation.org/
RARITY FOCUS
Our regular rarity focus each month looks at a rare bird that was seen and appreciated by a number of observers over multiple days somewhere in North America. As such, these rarities do not usually include seabirds that are viewed from a pelagic birding boat, if only because these birds are virtually impossible to "revisit" by subsequent visitors. Alas, we have had to eliminate from consideration some spectacular rarities over the years; birds that otherwise and justifiably might have been considered as the showcase rarity of the month.
This month, however, we are truly able to point to a real rarity that was both a rare seabird and was able to be observed over multiple days. The amazing thing is that it appeared in Oklahoma!
On 6 August, Tony Solorio and his dad, Jim, observed and photographed a bird that proved to be a South Polar Skua at Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City. The skua was initially thought to be Pomarine Jaeger, but was ultimately determined to be something much more unusual.
South Polar Skuas are uncommon, but fairly regular, visitors to offshore waters along the Pacific and Atlantic coast, but are rarely seen close to shore. These Antarctic breeders "winter" off our coasts, during our summer season! The species is most often found off our coasts between May and early November, most commonly in spring and fall off the West Coast, and from spring to mid-summer off the East Coast. It's always a good day when a pelagic birding trip scores a South Polar Skua. Finding one in Oklahoma, however, is truly astounding.
This doesn't mean that it hasn't happened before however. South Polar Skuas have occasionally been associated with hurricanes (e.g., Diana in '84 in interior North Carolina, and Katrina in '05 in Tennessee), and others have been more enigmatic, appearing in such interior localities as South Dakota, North Dakota, and, even Nevada.
The Lake Oversholser bird tended to remain in the middle of the lake, sometimes feasting on egrets and herons that it would knock out of the air, drown, and then consume! Out-of-state birders visiting Lake Overholser came from as far away as Kansas, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas.
To see some of the original photos from 6 August taken by Tony Solario, and some additional shots taken two days later when the skua was observed attacking a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, see:
www.tulsaaudubon.org/
For additional photos taken by Joe Grzybowksi, who wrote "It was apparently knocking down Cattle Egrets over the water, then preying on them when down in the water; it was on one closer to shore when I took these photos," see:
www.pbase.com/joe_grzybowski/
The South Polar Skua was last seen on 10 August, when it was observed just before noon rising up high into a thermal and then disappearing beyond the north end of the lake.
IBA NEWS: SAVING SOME IBAs
Of course, all the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the U.S. have conservation value. That's why they are IBAs! But the National Audubon Society, national coordinator of the IBA Program in the U.S., is drawing attention to a number of IBAs that are in need of increased attention, support, and national level resources in order to advance efforts to protect crucial birds and their habitats.
Recently, NAS kicked off the "Saving Important Bird Areas Initiative" to help identify and support some of these projects. Following a thoughtful review process, 23 projects across the U.S. along with similar projects in five other countries in the hemisphere were identified and selected. IBAs in 18 states were identified as target sites. These actually encompass 81 IBAs. The sites that were selected are significant because they support 42 globally threatened bird species, and they cover more than 23 million acres.
For more details and a map, see here:
http://web4.audubon.org/bird/
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/
ACCESS MATTERS: MOVEMENT ON THE PATON BIRDER HAVEN
A little over a year ago, we reported on the importance of birder access at a popular Southeast Arizona "hotspot" – the Paton's Birder haven and the unknown fate of this much-loved property:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
This site, located in Patagonia, Arizona, was the treasured project of the late Wally and Marion Paton, who for more than 35 years had built their property into a premier Arizona birding site. They especially opened their home to tens of thousands of local, American, and international birders so they could appreciate Arizona's outstanding hummingbird diversity.
We are happy to report that some significant actions are in motion to keep the property open and welcoming to visiting birders.
The Tucson Audubon Society, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, and the American Bird Conservancy have been working with the Paton family heirs to acquire this wonderful property and maintain it as a hummingbird sanctuary. With $300,000 needed to buy the Paton property, almost $225,000 has already been raised by contributors. The remainder is due by 15 October. Once acquired, the Tucson Audubon Society will assume ownership and management responsibilities.
Beyond maintaining the fabulous hummingbird-feeding station, the management goals include developing an information center and small shop within the house, and enhancing some of the grounds with productive native vegetation.
Here is some interesting background provided by Victor Emanuel:
www.ventbird.com/news/2013/08/
You can find important details from the American Bird Conservancy here, including a way to contribute to the access and acquisition effort:
www.abcbirds.org/paton/
THE NEXT BIRDING DIVERSITY MEETING
Another regional "Focus on Diversity" meeting is planned for 4-6 November in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The purpose of the event is to discuss and launch effective outreach methods for diverse audiences using a birding message, general nature-study opportunities, and a conservation ethic.
The assumption is that getting diverse audiences interested in birding is valuable. Not only should this process benefit newer birders, it should also be helpful to the general birding community and the broader environment as a whole.
This meeting aims to help "change the face of American birding." The event is being held in McAllen, Texas. You can find details here:
www.fledgingbirders.org/CFAB.
The meeting is being strategically scheduled right before the 20th annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival:
www.rgvbf.org/
DECISION ON TENNESSEE CRANES
Last month we revisited the ongoing discussion over whether to establish a hunting season for Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
After a scheduled two-year delay on the decision for the hunt, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's wildlife committee and the Tennessee Wildlife Commission both voted unanimously in late August to proceed with the hunt in the SE corner of the state starting this winter. This decision followed a public opinion process where the commission received 1,073 responses from the public about the crane hunt, and where 888 opposed it.
Even former President Jimmy Carter weighed in on the issue, expressing his concerns in a letter to the state agency. Among other things, he wrote: "I understand that your commission is contemplating opening hunting for Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee, and it is obvious that this will make it highly likely that whooping cranes might also be killed."
Tennessee will now join Kentucky as the only two states east of the Mississippi that have crane hunts. Tennessee wildlife officials said they approved the hunt in part because federal officials determined that the Eastern crane population was big enough to sustain such activity. Sandhill Cranes are known by some hunters as "flying rib-eye in the sky."
The commission did make some concessions to those objecting to the hunt. It reduced the proposed number of permits from 775 to 400. (Each permit is good for three birds.) The hunting period was also shortened from sunrise to 3 p.m., so hunters will be better able to distinguish Sandhill Cranes from the experimental population of Whooping Cranes that passes through the area. Normal waterfowl hunting days run from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. Hunters will also be required to take an identification test to ensure that they can distinguish crane species in different ages and plumages. The length of the hunt was reduced from the proposed two months to one month, assuring that the crane hunting season will stop 17 days before the highly popular Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, based at the state's Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in January.
For a summary of the situation, see this story from the CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS:
www.timesfreepress.com/news/
TIP OF THE MONTH: RETURNING RARITIES
Remember that Tufted Duck that showed up last year on the reservoir near where you live? How about the Bar-tailed Godwit or Curlew Sandpiper that showed up in the state next door? And those two Lesser Black-backed Gulls that made a full-season appearance at the nearby sewage treatment plant? If you live in the East, remember that Rufous Hummingbird at the backyard feeder in your county? If you live in the western U.S. do you recall that Brown Thrasher that wintered at an accessible feeder in the northern part of your state?
It's good to remember these regional rarities, because sometimes they are on a migration pattern – however irregular – that could bring them close to you again, perhaps to the very same lake, sewage treatment plant, or backyard.
Some birds will re-occur, again and again, to be found in successive years at the same season and same location where they previously occurred. They are very likely the same individuals.
This behavior is particularly true among as waterfowl, gulls, shorebirds, and even hummingbirds.
Our tip: make a mental note to re-check localities where a rarity previously occurred at the same season in successive years. You never know!
SOLAR PANELS: SOME BIRD THREATS
The drive to maintain eco-friendly energy, an effort to replace coal-burning power plants with more sustainable energy sources, is both compelling and complicated.
Developing a clean-energy package, one that addresses climate change, environmental protection, household and industry energy conservation, and bird safety, is not simple.
Among other things, the wind-power debate rages on in the birding and bird conservation communities, with turbine siting being the crucial variable. It's location, location, location…
And when we see large-scale solar projects promoted, whether suggested at such varied places as large buildings, airports, or desert areas, the issue of environmental impact inevitably arises. But solar projects spread out over hundreds of acres can appear very attractive.
Recently, however, certain solar projects have had some unfortunate avian consequences. For example, in Southern California the Desert Sunlight solar project has been associated with a spate of bird deaths that continue to be troublesome. About 70 birds have been found dead at the site since it opened in August 2011, nearly a third of them waterbirds. This is curious, since the site is in the midst of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's California Desert District.
Last year, the National Parks Conservation Association issued a report identifying three desert solar power projects sited close to National Parks in the California desert as projects that they claim should not have been approved. This included the Desert Sunlight project. But the desert species or subspecies of concern included the desert bighorn, burro mule deer, Palm Springs round-tail ground squirrel and the federally threatened desert tortoise. Nobody raised the possibilities of impacting such birds as Surf Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Brown Pelican, or "Yuma" Clapper Rail.
Perhaps these birds saw the panels and confused them for water. This sometimes happens under certain light, rain, and reflection conditions at parking lots and roadways. Perhaps this has to do with phases of the moon reflecting on the panels, or it has to do with individual birds that are somehow ill to begin with.
The solar company, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other state and federal agencies are looking into the variables that could have implications for other utility-scale solar projects. Enhanced monitoring is required before any assessment on what would be appropriate and effective mitigation. Clearly, the involved parties cannot simply pick what some might think might work without first testing their efficacy.
While it is important to realize that solar projects can be done in a responsible way, it is crucial to know that transitioning from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources will involve more information on the variables associated with appropriate installation.
When it comes to long-term and bird-friendly solutions, it's also important to remember this: It's not easy being green.
GAUNTLET SHORTENS FOR BARBADOS SHOREBIRDS
Migrating shorebirds in Barbados have for many years had a tough time. In 2007 and 2009 we covered the practice of "swamp shooting" on Barbados, an activity that has persisted there for generations. See here:
http://refugeassociation.org/
and
http://refugeassociation.org/
“Swamp shooting” is not like waterfowling in the U.S. or Canada today; it's more like a throwback to the market gunning days that was so prevalent in the latter part of the 19th century in the U.S. On Barbados, as many as 40,000 migrating shorebirds are annually shot on artificial lakes and salt lagoons. Species involved include Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Whimbrels, Stilt Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, American Golden-Plovers, and lesser numbers of other shorebird species that are killed on an annual basis.
Starting in 2012, however, the local Barbados Wildfowlers Association instituted a series of resolutions to regulate the hunt. Although not binding on all shooting swamp members, they include the following:
Limiting gross annual harvest on the island to 22,500 birds;
Allowing no more than 2,500 birds shot per swamp each year;
Shooting no more than 300 birds in a given day per swamp;
Limiting the Lesser Yellowlegs harvest per swamp to 1,250 birds annually; and
Restricting the shooting of American Golden-Plovers to 100 birds in any swamp on a given day.
Extension magazines are prohibited, and the number of shooters presenting arms is limited to only three at a time.
These voluntary restrictions are on based on the activities of 10 active shooting swamps. In 2013, only eight swamps are active, with the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge being currently managed specifically for shorebirds.
These moves come as a result of international pressures and the input from many parties. According to Lisa Sorenson, the Executive Director and Past President of the Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds, "There is still much work to be done, but we consider the change… to be a very important and significant conservation outcome."
The Barbados situation is far from ideal, and a range-wide approach is required to address this issue and ensure that any harvest is actually sustainable.
LEAD BULLETS AND THE U.S. MILITARY
Lead-based ammunition is responsible for the poisoning of millions of birds every year following ingestion of either old or recently spent shotgun pellets - mistaken for grit or seeds - or lead particles left in gut piles following successful hunts. Among birds impacted are waterfowl, loons, eagles, hawks, vultures/condors, and doves. (A nationwide ban on lead shot in waterfowl hunting, started in 1991, has been highly effective in reducing avian mortality due to ingestion while maintaining projectile efficacy in waterfowl hunting.)
Recent moves by the U.S. military to buy significant quantities of non-lead bullets in at least two calibers are positive signs. A move in 2010 to convert the 5.56 mm bullet to a non-lead bullet eliminated almost 2,000 tons of lead from the environment. A similar shift is now underway in the military involving a move to a non-lead version of their 7.62 mm bullet. Combined, these two efforts could result in an additional 4,000 tons of lead being eliminated from ammunition production over the next few years. Use of the military's new 7.62 mm non-lead ammunition is expected to begin next year.
These moves should help to reduce lead contamination in the environment, although they will likely not have a great impact on the current bird-poisoning-by-ingestion situation.
The shift in use by the military in these two ammunition types should still have three potential long-term influences:
1 verifying the performance of non-lead (e.g. copper alloy) bullets by a user group – the military - whose expectations are high,
2 increasing the non-lead market in general,
3 and reducing the cost of non-lead bullets, along with the installation of new equipment and large-quantity sales.
The results can influence trends in the hunting community and increase positive attitudes toward non-lead alternatives.
For more on the subject, here is more information from the American Bird Conservancy:
www.abcbirds.org/
and the United States Army:
www.army.mil/article/106710/
BOOK NOTES: PAIR OF STOKES
The recent release of two NEW STOKES FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS (i.e., Eastern Region and Western Region) is the result of a bifurcation of the Stokes’ comprehensive 2010 photo Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
The original single volume was packed with 3,400 stunning photographs illustrating 854 species. For a review of that parent volume, a review that appeared in our October 2010 issue, see:
http://refugeassociation.org/
Regional splitting has become an expected feature of the current field guide genre, and this recent pair – released earlier this year – does not disappoint. The parent volume was spectacular and comprehensive, and these two books continue the Stokes’ record of producing excellent books about birds. They two books are handy, well-organized, and easy to use.
We are so fortunate to be living and birding at a time when such books are so readily available and so user-friendly.
NATIONAL RICE MONTH
We end this Birding Community E-bulletin with a note on birds and a relationship to our American diet.
Rice growing in this country – covering about 2.8 million acres - is remarkably bird-compatible, along with having a positive impact on the environment. Rice fields create wetland habitat for many species of birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, long-legged-waders, rails, raptors, and wetland-associated songbirds, as well as establishing habitat for related mammals and reptiles.
Rice areas in California, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, in particular, make for great bird habitat, and often great birding areas. Moreover, without rice farming, freshwater wetland landscapes in this country would be significantly reduced. This is especially true since rice farming creates excellent buffers, corridors, and connecting habitats for the more "official" wetland refuges and sanctuaries, be they Federal, State, or local.
As for our diet, the consumption of rice in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past dozen years and is currently about 25 pounds per capita. (This is still low compared to that of major rice-consuming nations which may average 200 to 300 pounds per capita!) It's good to know that eating U.S. rice helps many species of native waterbirds. It may be especially worth remembering in September, celebrated now as "National Rice Month."
Here are some sustainability-and-rice resources and facts from the folks who sponsor this particular "rice month" recognition, the USARice Federation:
www.usarice.com/index.php?
- - - - - - - - -
You can access all the past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
http://refugeassociation.org/
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
wpetersen@massaudubon.org
or
Paul J. Baicich
Great Birding Projects
410/992-9736
paul.baicich@verizon.net
September 2013
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
You can access an archive of past E-bulletins on the website of the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA):
http://refugeassociation.org/
RARITY FOCUS
Our regular rarity focus each month looks at a rare bird that was seen and appreciated by a number of observers over multiple days somewhere in North America. As such, these rarities do not usually include seabirds that are viewed from a pelagic birding boat, if only because these birds are virtually impossible to "revisit" by subsequent visitors. Alas, we have had to eliminate from consideration some spectacular rarities over the years; birds that otherwise and justifiably might have been considered as the showcase rarity of the month.
This month, however, we are truly able to point to a real rarity that was both a rare seabird and was able to be observed over multiple days. The amazing thing is that it appeared in Oklahoma!
On 6 August, Tony Solorio and his dad, Jim, observed and photographed a bird that proved to be a South Polar Skua at Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City. The skua was initially thought to be Pomarine Jaeger, but was ultimately determined to be something much more unusual.
South Polar Skuas are uncommon, but fairly regular, visitors to offshore waters along the Pacific and Atlantic coast, but are rarely seen close to shore. These Antarctic breeders "winter" off our coasts, during our summer season! The species is most often found off our coasts between May and early November, most commonly in spring and fall off the West Coast, and from spring to mid-summer off the East Coast. It's always a good day when a pelagic birding trip scores a South Polar Skua. Finding one in Oklahoma, however, is truly astounding.
This doesn't mean that it hasn't happened before however. South Polar Skuas have occasionally been associated with hurricanes (e.g., Diana in '84 in interior North Carolina, and Katrina in '05 in Tennessee), and others have been more enigmatic, appearing in such interior localities as South Dakota, North Dakota, and, even Nevada.
The Lake Oversholser bird tended to remain in the middle of the lake, sometimes feasting on egrets and herons that it would knock out of the air, drown, and then consume! Out-of-state birders visiting Lake Overholser came from as far away as Kansas, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas.
To see some of the original photos from 6 August taken by Tony Solario, and some additional shots taken two days later when the skua was observed attacking a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, see:
www.tulsaaudubon.org/
For additional photos taken by Joe Grzybowksi, who wrote "It was apparently knocking down Cattle Egrets over the water, then preying on them when down in the water; it was on one closer to shore when I took these photos," see:
www.pbase.com/joe_grzybowski/
The South Polar Skua was last seen on 10 August, when it was observed just before noon rising up high into a thermal and then disappearing beyond the north end of the lake.
IBA NEWS: SAVING SOME IBAs
Of course, all the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the U.S. have conservation value. That's why they are IBAs! But the National Audubon Society, national coordinator of the IBA Program in the U.S., is drawing attention to a number of IBAs that are in need of increased attention, support, and national level resources in order to advance efforts to protect crucial birds and their habitats.
Recently, NAS kicked off the "Saving Important Bird Areas Initiative" to help identify and support some of these projects. Following a thoughtful review process, 23 projects across the U.S. along with similar projects in five other countries in the hemisphere were identified and selected. IBAs in 18 states were identified as target sites. These actually encompass 81 IBAs. The sites that were selected are significant because they support 42 globally threatened bird species, and they cover more than 23 million acres.
For more details and a map, see here:
http://web4.audubon.org/bird/
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/
ACCESS MATTERS: MOVEMENT ON THE PATON BIRDER HAVEN
A little over a year ago, we reported on the importance of birder access at a popular Southeast Arizona "hotspot" – the Paton's Birder haven and the unknown fate of this much-loved property:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
This site, located in Patagonia, Arizona, was the treasured project of the late Wally and Marion Paton, who for more than 35 years had built their property into a premier Arizona birding site. They especially opened their home to tens of thousands of local, American, and international birders so they could appreciate Arizona's outstanding hummingbird diversity.
We are happy to report that some significant actions are in motion to keep the property open and welcoming to visiting birders.
The Tucson Audubon Society, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, and the American Bird Conservancy have been working with the Paton family heirs to acquire this wonderful property and maintain it as a hummingbird sanctuary. With $300,000 needed to buy the Paton property, almost $225,000 has already been raised by contributors. The remainder is due by 15 October. Once acquired, the Tucson Audubon Society will assume ownership and management responsibilities.
Beyond maintaining the fabulous hummingbird-feeding station, the management goals include developing an information center and small shop within the house, and enhancing some of the grounds with productive native vegetation.
Here is some interesting background provided by Victor Emanuel:
www.ventbird.com/news/2013/08/
You can find important details from the American Bird Conservancy here, including a way to contribute to the access and acquisition effort:
www.abcbirds.org/paton/
THE NEXT BIRDING DIVERSITY MEETING
Another regional "Focus on Diversity" meeting is planned for 4-6 November in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The purpose of the event is to discuss and launch effective outreach methods for diverse audiences using a birding message, general nature-study opportunities, and a conservation ethic.
The assumption is that getting diverse audiences interested in birding is valuable. Not only should this process benefit newer birders, it should also be helpful to the general birding community and the broader environment as a whole.
This meeting aims to help "change the face of American birding." The event is being held in McAllen, Texas. You can find details here:
www.fledgingbirders.org/CFAB.
The meeting is being strategically scheduled right before the 20th annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival:
www.rgvbf.org/
DECISION ON TENNESSEE CRANES
Last month we revisited the ongoing discussion over whether to establish a hunting season for Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee:
http://refugeassociation.org/?
After a scheduled two-year delay on the decision for the hunt, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's wildlife committee and the Tennessee Wildlife Commission both voted unanimously in late August to proceed with the hunt in the SE corner of the state starting this winter. This decision followed a public opinion process where the commission received 1,073 responses from the public about the crane hunt, and where 888 opposed it.
Even former President Jimmy Carter weighed in on the issue, expressing his concerns in a letter to the state agency. Among other things, he wrote: "I understand that your commission is contemplating opening hunting for Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee, and it is obvious that this will make it highly likely that whooping cranes might also be killed."
Tennessee will now join Kentucky as the only two states east of the Mississippi that have crane hunts. Tennessee wildlife officials said they approved the hunt in part because federal officials determined that the Eastern crane population was big enough to sustain such activity. Sandhill Cranes are known by some hunters as "flying rib-eye in the sky."
The commission did make some concessions to those objecting to the hunt. It reduced the proposed number of permits from 775 to 400. (Each permit is good for three birds.) The hunting period was also shortened from sunrise to 3 p.m., so hunters will be better able to distinguish Sandhill Cranes from the experimental population of Whooping Cranes that passes through the area. Normal waterfowl hunting days run from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. Hunters will also be required to take an identification test to ensure that they can distinguish crane species in different ages and plumages. The length of the hunt was reduced from the proposed two months to one month, assuring that the crane hunting season will stop 17 days before the highly popular Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, based at the state's Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in January.
For a summary of the situation, see this story from the CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS:
www.timesfreepress.com/news/
TIP OF THE MONTH: RETURNING RARITIES
Remember that Tufted Duck that showed up last year on the reservoir near where you live? How about the Bar-tailed Godwit or Curlew Sandpiper that showed up in the state next door? And those two Lesser Black-backed Gulls that made a full-season appearance at the nearby sewage treatment plant? If you live in the East, remember that Rufous Hummingbird at the backyard feeder in your county? If you live in the western U.S. do you recall that Brown Thrasher that wintered at an accessible feeder in the northern part of your state?
It's good to remember these regional rarities, because sometimes they are on a migration pattern – however irregular – that could bring them close to you again, perhaps to the very same lake, sewage treatment plant, or backyard.
Some birds will re-occur, again and again, to be found in successive years at the same season and same location where they previously occurred. They are very likely the same individuals.
This behavior is particularly true among as waterfowl, gulls, shorebirds, and even hummingbirds.
Our tip: make a mental note to re-check localities where a rarity previously occurred at the same season in successive years. You never know!
SOLAR PANELS: SOME BIRD THREATS
The drive to maintain eco-friendly energy, an effort to replace coal-burning power plants with more sustainable energy sources, is both compelling and complicated.
Developing a clean-energy package, one that addresses climate change, environmental protection, household and industry energy conservation, and bird safety, is not simple.
Among other things, the wind-power debate rages on in the birding and bird conservation communities, with turbine siting being the crucial variable. It's location, location, location…
And when we see large-scale solar projects promoted, whether suggested at such varied places as large buildings, airports, or desert areas, the issue of environmental impact inevitably arises. But solar projects spread out over hundreds of acres can appear very attractive.
Recently, however, certain solar projects have had some unfortunate avian consequences. For example, in Southern California the Desert Sunlight solar project has been associated with a spate of bird deaths that continue to be troublesome. About 70 birds have been found dead at the site since it opened in August 2011, nearly a third of them waterbirds. This is curious, since the site is in the midst of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's California Desert District.
Last year, the National Parks Conservation Association issued a report identifying three desert solar power projects sited close to National Parks in the California desert as projects that they claim should not have been approved. This included the Desert Sunlight project. But the desert species or subspecies of concern included the desert bighorn, burro mule deer, Palm Springs round-tail ground squirrel and the federally threatened desert tortoise. Nobody raised the possibilities of impacting such birds as Surf Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Brown Pelican, or "Yuma" Clapper Rail.
Perhaps these birds saw the panels and confused them for water. This sometimes happens under certain light, rain, and reflection conditions at parking lots and roadways. Perhaps this has to do with phases of the moon reflecting on the panels, or it has to do with individual birds that are somehow ill to begin with.
The solar company, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other state and federal agencies are looking into the variables that could have implications for other utility-scale solar projects. Enhanced monitoring is required before any assessment on what would be appropriate and effective mitigation. Clearly, the involved parties cannot simply pick what some might think might work without first testing their efficacy.
While it is important to realize that solar projects can be done in a responsible way, it is crucial to know that transitioning from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources will involve more information on the variables associated with appropriate installation.
When it comes to long-term and bird-friendly solutions, it's also important to remember this: It's not easy being green.
GAUNTLET SHORTENS FOR BARBADOS SHOREBIRDS
Migrating shorebirds in Barbados have for many years had a tough time. In 2007 and 2009 we covered the practice of "swamp shooting" on Barbados, an activity that has persisted there for generations. See here:
http://refugeassociation.org/
and
http://refugeassociation.org/
“Swamp shooting” is not like waterfowling in the U.S. or Canada today; it's more like a throwback to the market gunning days that was so prevalent in the latter part of the 19th century in the U.S. On Barbados, as many as 40,000 migrating shorebirds are annually shot on artificial lakes and salt lagoons. Species involved include Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Whimbrels, Stilt Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, American Golden-Plovers, and lesser numbers of other shorebird species that are killed on an annual basis.
Starting in 2012, however, the local Barbados Wildfowlers Association instituted a series of resolutions to regulate the hunt. Although not binding on all shooting swamp members, they include the following:
Limiting gross annual harvest on the island to 22,500 birds;
Allowing no more than 2,500 birds shot per swamp each year;
Shooting no more than 300 birds in a given day per swamp;
Limiting the Lesser Yellowlegs harvest per swamp to 1,250 birds annually; and
Restricting the shooting of American Golden-Plovers to 100 birds in any swamp on a given day.
Extension magazines are prohibited, and the number of shooters presenting arms is limited to only three at a time.
These voluntary restrictions are on based on the activities of 10 active shooting swamps. In 2013, only eight swamps are active, with the Woodbourne Shorebird Refuge being currently managed specifically for shorebirds.
These moves come as a result of international pressures and the input from many parties. According to Lisa Sorenson, the Executive Director and Past President of the Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds, "There is still much work to be done, but we consider the change… to be a very important and significant conservation outcome."
The Barbados situation is far from ideal, and a range-wide approach is required to address this issue and ensure that any harvest is actually sustainable.
LEAD BULLETS AND THE U.S. MILITARY
Lead-based ammunition is responsible for the poisoning of millions of birds every year following ingestion of either old or recently spent shotgun pellets - mistaken for grit or seeds - or lead particles left in gut piles following successful hunts. Among birds impacted are waterfowl, loons, eagles, hawks, vultures/condors, and doves. (A nationwide ban on lead shot in waterfowl hunting, started in 1991, has been highly effective in reducing avian mortality due to ingestion while maintaining projectile efficacy in waterfowl hunting.)
Recent moves by the U.S. military to buy significant quantities of non-lead bullets in at least two calibers are positive signs. A move in 2010 to convert the 5.56 mm bullet to a non-lead bullet eliminated almost 2,000 tons of lead from the environment. A similar shift is now underway in the military involving a move to a non-lead version of their 7.62 mm bullet. Combined, these two efforts could result in an additional 4,000 tons of lead being eliminated from ammunition production over the next few years. Use of the military's new 7.62 mm non-lead ammunition is expected to begin next year.
These moves should help to reduce lead contamination in the environment, although they will likely not have a great impact on the current bird-poisoning-by-ingestion situation.
The shift in use by the military in these two ammunition types should still have three potential long-term influences:
1 verifying the performance of non-lead (e.g. copper alloy) bullets by a user group – the military - whose expectations are high,
2 increasing the non-lead market in general,
3 and reducing the cost of non-lead bullets, along with the installation of new equipment and large-quantity sales.
The results can influence trends in the hunting community and increase positive attitudes toward non-lead alternatives.
For more on the subject, here is more information from the American Bird Conservancy:
www.abcbirds.org/
and the United States Army:
www.army.mil/article/106710/
BOOK NOTES: PAIR OF STOKES
The recent release of two NEW STOKES FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS (i.e., Eastern Region and Western Region) is the result of a bifurcation of the Stokes’ comprehensive 2010 photo Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
The original single volume was packed with 3,400 stunning photographs illustrating 854 species. For a review of that parent volume, a review that appeared in our October 2010 issue, see:
http://refugeassociation.org/
Regional splitting has become an expected feature of the current field guide genre, and this recent pair – released earlier this year – does not disappoint. The parent volume was spectacular and comprehensive, and these two books continue the Stokes’ record of producing excellent books about birds. They two books are handy, well-organized, and easy to use.
We are so fortunate to be living and birding at a time when such books are so readily available and so user-friendly.
NATIONAL RICE MONTH
We end this Birding Community E-bulletin with a note on birds and a relationship to our American diet.
Rice growing in this country – covering about 2.8 million acres - is remarkably bird-compatible, along with having a positive impact on the environment. Rice fields create wetland habitat for many species of birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, long-legged-waders, rails, raptors, and wetland-associated songbirds, as well as establishing habitat for related mammals and reptiles.
Rice areas in California, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, in particular, make for great bird habitat, and often great birding areas. Moreover, without rice farming, freshwater wetland landscapes in this country would be significantly reduced. This is especially true since rice farming creates excellent buffers, corridors, and connecting habitats for the more "official" wetland refuges and sanctuaries, be they Federal, State, or local.
As for our diet, the consumption of rice in the U.S. has more than doubled in the past dozen years and is currently about 25 pounds per capita. (This is still low compared to that of major rice-consuming nations which may average 200 to 300 pounds per capita!) It's good to know that eating U.S. rice helps many species of native waterbirds. It may be especially worth remembering in September, celebrated now as "National Rice Month."
Here are some sustainability-and-rice resources and facts from the folks who sponsor this particular "rice month" recognition, the USARice Federation:
www.usarice.com/index.php?
- - - - - - - - -
You can access all the past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:
http://refugeassociation.org/
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
wpetersen@massaudubon.org
or
Paul J. Baicich
Great Birding Projects
410/992-9736
paul.baicich@verizon.net
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