ABA Blog

Help Save the Paton's Hummingbird Haven for Birders

In 1994, I was a young birder at the ABA/Victor Emanuel Nature Tour's Camp Chiricahua. We spent time at all of the southeast Arizona hotspots, including the backyard of a generous couple of Arizonans where we, like thousands of other birders had over many years, enjoyed a Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Those generous birders were, of course, Marion and Wally Paton.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird at Paton's Hummingbird Haven, photo by nebirdsplus

Since the passing of Wally and Marion a few years ago, the question of what would happen to their home has been an open one. Friends and neighbors have maintained the property and its fantastic feeders, but that solution was necessarily temporary.

Enter the American Bird Conservancy who, with the help of Tucson Audubon and Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, have entered into a contract with the Paton family to acquire the property and maintain it in perpetuity as a bird sanctuary.

$100,000 has already been raised, but the remaining $200,000 needs to come from birders and those who have realized the importance of such a place, not only for its value as an accessible site to see and enjoy these remarkable and often rare birds, but as a landmark of the birding and nature community.

Once the site has been procured, Tucson Audubon will take on the long-term management. They intend to maintain the home as a public birding site in the manner that Marion and Wally happily watched it become. In this way it will be there for future birders as it was for my Camp Chiricahua colleagues. 

The drive runs until October 15th.

Eastern Kingbird and Peregrine Falcon aerial battle

Being involved with this blog means I am fortunate to be privy to any number of remarkable birding experiences sent to me by our readers and members. When Massachusetts birder Tim Spahr sent this remarkable set of photographs along I knew I had to share them. I'll let Tim set the scene.

Tom Wetmore and I had elected to meet on Plum Island at Parker River NWR on August 6 to look for shorebirds and passerine migrants.  While we were chatting at Lot 1 around sunrise, Ryan Schain turned up, so all three of us decided to hang together.  After a few hours we ended up at the Hellcat Dike area.  This season Bill Forward pool, the southern impoundment, as been drawn down a bit and is drawing good numbers of shorebirds.  While Ryan and I were on the Dike, Tom was off at the blind about a half mile to our south.  All at once the shorebirds took flight in a panic, and from the south a large, dark juvenile Peregrine was among them.  

It made a few lazy passes at a few birds and continued on a more-or-less straight line for Ryan and me.  Realizing it was going to come fairly close, I got the camera up, but also cursed the bad light, as the falcon was not going to be lit properly.  As luck would have it, an extremely vocal and aggressive Eastern Kingbird arrived on the scene and proceeded to mob the Peregrine relentlessly.  While this unfolded, the two birds drifted just enough to my west and north to be quite well lit.  Of course by now the Peregrine was ignoring everything but the angry Kingbird; both birds flew just past Ryan and me no more than 100 feet up.

 

I managed to get off about 30 photos of the encounter, expecting a few decent shots.  It was nice to see the Kingbird's red crown stripe flared in anger in a few of the photos.  That definitely exceeded my expectations! 

Included are a couple photos from the encounter, but the entire set is available at Tim's flickr page and the photo set is well worth checking out in its full-sized entirety.

Thanks, Tim!

ABA Blog in Review: July 2013

Two words this month. Wood. Rail.

Yes, July was the month of the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail and the ABA Blog and the ABA Rare Bird Alert Facebook page were the hot spots to get information for the dozens of birders from across the United States and Canada who traveled to New Mexico to see the bird.

Birders await an audience with the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Photo ©Jeffrey A. Gordon

And more than just birders were looking to the ABA for information, ABA President Jeff Gordon was featured in nearly every mainstream media report on Matt Daw's fantastic bird, culminating in an appearance by Jeff on CBS This Morning, Saturday July 27, to talk about wood-rails and birding in general. How about that? Your ABA in front of millions of television viewers.

But there was more at the ABA Blog than wood-rail related news, though for a while it seemed like there wasn't. Here's a quick run-down on the posts you have missed while you were traveling to New Mexico (in actuality or in your dreams...).

Events Coordinator George Armistead went beyond this mortal realm to consider the Top 10 ABA Area birds as which to be reincarnated.

Big Year guru and Board Member Lynn Barber does two Big Years at one time (pausing to ask why on earth anyone would), and pauses to breath and consider the rest of the year in her county.

Jennie Duberstein shares the 2013 State of the Birds report, which focuses on private lands in the US.

ABA President Jeff Gordon wants to know what you think about the ABA's periodicals, and introduces us all to Matt Daw, NM rail-finder.

Photo and tech expert Bill Schmoker tries out a new smartphone digiscoping bracket, and shares some remarkable photos of a Bald Eagle foraging on the shoreline.

Inveterate county lister Drew Weber makes the case that it's easier than ever to list on the small-scale.

Guest writers this month included Rick Simpson, whose Wader Quest project took him to Thailand and the UAE, and Alvaro Jaramillo with a recap of the ABA's North Carolina tubenose IFO.

Book Reviews this month include Rick Wright's look at a pair of books on Wilson and Audubon, Eric Salzman's reviews of two new titles on rare birds, and Frederick Davis' thoughts on a new Ridgway biography.

Aside from the hullaballoo surrounding the wood-rail, vagrants in the ABA Area this month include Lesser Sand-Plover and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in California and a Slate-throated Redstart in Arizona.

Thanks for your continued support and comments. We appreciate that this blog has turned into such a vibrant community of ABA members and friends. And if you're not a member, please consider joining us! We'd love to have you in the fold!

See you in August!

 

 

 

Architecture to Reduce Bird Collisions Spreads

Our friends at the American Bird Conservancy, whose work to encourage the proliferation of bird-safe window treatments nationwide has met a great deal of success, is seeing those recommendations codified into law in an increasing number of places continent-wide.

Oakland, California, has become the latest to adopt the guidelines for new construction which includes avoiding the use of mirrors in landscape design, avoiding placement of bird attractants like plants near glass, and using lights that are less likely to serve as bird attractants. It joins San Francisco and the state of Minnesota in the United States and Toronto in Canada.

The Californian Academy of Sciences in San Francisco has several screens to prevent birds from crashing into the windows. Photo: M Flannery.

Perhaps most exciting is the fact that this forward-thinking attitude may be reflected in federal building guidelines.

Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley has introduced national legislation into the US House of Representatives that calls for each public building constructed, acquired, or altered by the General Services Administration (GSA) to incorporate, to the maximum extent possible, bird-safe building materials and design features. The legislation would require GSA to take similar actions on existing buildings, where practicable. The terms “bird-safe building materials and design features” are defined through reference to several publications addressing those topics.

Good news for migrating birds, and good news for the people who love them.

Jeff Gordon on CBS This Morning

If you missed Jeff Gordon talking about the NM Rufous-necked Wood Rail on CBS This Morning this..er.. morning, that interview has now made it online.

The piece is embedded above, but you can also fine it at the CBS website here.

Wood Rail, and Jeff Gordon, to appear on CBS This Morning on 7/27!

Birders await an audience with the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Photo ©Jeffrey A. Gordon

It's been pretty amazing to see the New Mexico Rufous-necked Wood Rail get media attention from all over the country. An AP article, featuring ABA President Jeff Gordon, was picked up by several media outlets, including ABC News and Huffington Post. It seems that the story of unexpected discovery and the incredible passion of those who would travel to see this remarkable vagrant struck a chord among non-birders as well as birders.

Now CBS has joined the fray and will run a piece on the rail, including a live interview with Jeff Gordon, on their Saturday morning news program.

The piece will run approximately 20 minutes into the second hour (about 8:20 AM ET), but that might be the third hour depending on when your affiliate picks it up.

So set your alarms or your DVRs and tune in!

Young Birders In Their Own Words

The ABA is exceptionally proud of the two young birders chosen to wave the organization's banner in 2013 as the ABA Young Birders of the Year. Both Ioana Seritan and Eric Hughes bring enthusiasm and skills beyond their years to the continental birding community and it's fantastic to see them with the opportunity to flourish thanks to the ABA and our sponsor Leica.  

Eric Hughes (left) and Ioana Seritan (right)

 

Both Ioana and Eric have written about their own paths to becoming birders and their experiences in the Young Birder of the Year contest at The Eyrie, the ABA's Young Birder Blog, and if you're in need of a little inspiration I encourage you to check out what these kyoung birders are saying. 

And don't forget that Ioana is a featured speaker at the second Mid-Atlantic Young Birder Conference in Hockessin, Delaware, this September. Don't miss it!

USFWS "Conserving the Future" Draft Plan Needs Birder Input!

UPDATE: I apologize for jumping the gun here a little bit as there was some confusion here. According to the Conserving the Future working group, there will be another document focusing on non-hunting/fishing use of NWRs which are covered, somewhat cryptically, in Recommendation 18. We await the release of that document, and hope that birders will make their voices heard in response to it. - Nate

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the government agency tasked with maintaining the nation's extensive and invaluable National Wildlife Refuge system, recently released the results of a planning session tasked with the critical issue of determining the vision for use and management of those refuges for generations of future users. 

From that planning session came 24 recommendations covering notable aspects of NWR management from planning for the impact of climate change to seeking to make the workforce reflect the diversity of the American population. 

Hunting and fishing got a lot of coverage, but perhaps you'll notice something missing on the cover page of the "Outdoor Recreation" group. 

Despite the rise of birding and other wildlife observation hobbies and their increased (some would say constant) presence at these sites, there is no mention of "birding", "birdwatching", "photography", or "wildlife viewing" anywhere in the entire document. 

And all this in the face of one remarkable statistic from USFWS showing the public use of the parks giving wildlife observation outdrawing hunting and fishing combined by a 3 to 1 margin (pg 6, .pdf).

It appears that USFWS did not solicit responses from any bird organizations during preparation of this document, so it is absolutely critical that birders and users of the NWR system who are marginalized in this document make their voices heard during the comment period, which runs through August 14, 2013.

USFWS would prefer you to go through their social network, but for those unwilling or unable to sign up, you can e-mail your responses to conservingthefuture AT fws.gov

This is a call to action! We urge you to make your voices heard, in whatever way you feel most comfortable. Let them know you are a birder who uses the refuge sustem and that you would appreciate being considered in future management decisions. We need to make our numbers known. 

Please contact the NWR by August 14 so that those who are charged with managing these properties know birders have a voice and deserve a stake too. 

 

Habitat, More than Turbines, Impacts Prairie Chicken Populations

Via DC Birding Blog

photo from USFW, via flickr

In a finding that hopefully will hopefully steer a course towards more responsible management of wind energy interests, the results of a recently released seven year study undertaken by a team of researchers from Kansas State University and financed by a broad array of stakeholders found that wind turbine presence did not strongly affect the nesting success of Greater Prairie-Chickens in a study plot in Kansas. The critical factor impacting the chickens was, as one might expect, the quality of the habitat and the loss of native vegetation cover. 

The findings, published this week in  is perhaps not too surprising, but it does potentially pave the way towards mitigation strategies that could improve the habitat for prairie-chickens around wind turbine sites, which, strangely enough may offer some small advantages for the nesting birds. 

The results are somewhat surprising, especially because similar studies have shown that oil and gas development affect prairie chickens, [Professor of Biology and lead researcher Brett] Sandercock said. With wind power development, the researchers had the unexpected result of female survival rates increasing after wind turbines were installed, potentially because wind turbines may keep predators away from nest sites. Female mortality rates are highest during the breeding season because females are more focused on protecting clutches than avoiding predators, Sandercock said.

"What's quite typical for these birds is most of the demographic losses are driven by predation. We can say that with confidence," Sandercock said. "What's a little unclear from our results is whether that increase in female survivorship was due to the effects of wind turbines on predators."

More work remains to be done, particularly looking at burning and grazing strategies that may provide better quality habitat for these birds, but perhaps we'll see the start of some effective wind energy guidelines, at least on the vast middle of the continent, in the wake of this report. 

More information is available on Science Daily. 

Bird Banding in The Atlantic

It's always nice to see elements of bird culture picked up by the regular media. In The Atlantic's online issue this week, Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley offer a look into what is now the United State's longest continuously running bird banding program (and second in North America only to Long Point Bird Observatory's program at Long Point, Ontario) at Powdermill Avian Research Center in central Pennsylvania.

Powdermill's output is the stuff of legends, and for 45 years the nets have gone up in roughly the same places, capturing and obtaining data on half a million birds, including 110,000 recaptures through 2005 (almost certainly more now) of a staggering 190 species. But Powdermill is more than just a bird-banding program, and the researchers there have pioneered the study of nocturnal flight calls which offers an even clearer picture of the migratory landscape year to year.

Luke DeGroote takes data on a Gray Catbird

Perhaps most fascinating is Powdermill's bird flight tunnel, which the center uses to test how birds interact with different window treatments, work that is seeing some dividends.

Anyway, if you're interested in the cutting edge research being undertaken by one of North America's and the world's premier bird research organizations, The Atlantic turns of to be a pretty thorough place to start.