Entries from September 2007 ↓
September 30th, 2007 — Birding
OK, summer may be “officially” over but we are supposed to be getting some 80 degree weather and the upcoming week looks nice and warm (70s & 80s). So we thought we’d do a quick recap of some of the highlights of the past summer before going outside to enjoy a mini summer rebirth.
Blue-headed Vireo making us wish summer would never end
June
- We rediscovered a gem of a birding hotspot in our county, Deer Run Forest Preserve. Here we found numerous Henslow’s, Grasshopper, Savannah, Lark, Vesper, Song, Chipping, and Field Sparrows, including a couple of videos.
July
- Birdfreak had the chance to bird with some Birding Pals from out-of-state: San Diego, CA and Boulder, CO
- We visited Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin, a combination State Wildlife Area and National Wildlife Refuge (supported by Duck Stamps of course). We found a lot of big birds as well as some really nice small birds.
August
September
September 28th, 2007 — Phriday Photo
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Not exactly what you’d call a backyard bird but this wonderful male was hanging around our city yard. He spent quite a bit of time digging around for insects in our compost pile. This is the second time we’ve had Black-throated Blues in our yard but the first time Birdfreak has seen one!!
September 26th, 2007 — Birding
One of the coolest things about a rare bird is how it brings birders together and draws attention to birds. The recent sighting of a Green-breasted Mango outside of Beloit, Wisconsin has spurred numerous news stories, something that doesn’t happen much in the world of birding.
We’ve had more non-birders talk to us about the Green-breasted Mango than any other bird. Many of these people told friends and family members about it. As an added bonus, the mango is a hummingbird, a family of birds that many “non-birders” love dearly. It is amazing how such a small, out-of-place bird can bring birders from all over together for one common goal: to see and enjoy birds.
Here’s to enjoying all birds, rare and common, and welcoming others into our wonderful hobby!!
UPDATE: Another bonus about rare birds and the exposure they get is that more birders will double-check those “strange” looking birds. There have been quite a bit of new reports of possible other “odd” hummingbirds in Wisconsin and Illinois; many are most likely nothing out of the ordinary, but many warrant further investigation.
September 26th, 2007 — Bird Conservation, NWRs
Well, it isn’t an official partnership, but the Birdfreak Team has made it a top priority to promote the National Wildlife Refuge System.
We will be highlighting the problems the NWRs face and potential solutions to these problems. We have birded on numerous NWRs and they are some of the best places to bird.
Common Loons and Trumpeter Swans are typical sights at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
As part of our overall effort to promote bird conservation, we feel the NWRs are in one of the best positions to provide instant habitat protection as well as long-term conservation of a large number of endangered and threatened birds.
Join us in our partnership to protect this nation’s most valuable resource - natural habitat!
September 24th, 2007 — Bird Conservation
After attending the Midwest Birding Symposium, it was made even more clear just how important Duck Stamps are to conservation. We were fortunate to hear a wonderful talk given by Paul Baicich about the route birders need to take to be active conservationists and support the National Wildlife Refuge System. The following are some points and ideas about how birds can benefit from Duck Stamps.
Brief History of the Duck Stamp
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, which became known as the Duck Stamp with the signing of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act.
Each year duck hunters are required to buy a stamp in order to hunt. Duck Stamps started out costing $1.00 and have since been raised seven times to their current cost of $15.00 each. Between the 1934-35 and 2003-04 seasons, over 120.8 million stamps have been sold totaling $696,305,440 to conservation. By law, the “receipts from the sale of stamps must be deposited in the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund”.
Birders Buying Habitat
The federal Duck Stamp is currently the best asset birders have to help bird conservation. There are many great conservation organizations out there, but large chunks of your donation money is needed to cover other expenses. This is not true with the Duck Stamp. A full 98 cents for every dollar of the Duck Stamp goes to wetland and grassland land acquisitions.
Where Can You Buy Duck Stamps
There are many places you can purchase Duck Stamps but recently a few birding organizations have been selling them in a nice, hard plastic keychain.
This allows you to attach your stamp to your bin-strap, camera-strap, backpack, or other prominent area, to allow for a walking advertisement. You can also buy Duck Stamps at sporting good stores and most post offices.
6.78 million Duck Stamps have been purchased in Wisconsin since 1934, helping great places like Horicon Marsh NWR
Going Beyond the Stamp
While Duck Stamps are great, they are a limited source of revenue. For example, Illinois is fighting a $47 million budget shortfall. For Duck Stamps to cover this amount, birders would need to purchase over 3.13 million Duck Stamps. With other states suffering similar money shortages, the National Wildlife Refuges need other sources of funding.
National Wildlife Refuges need politicians on all sides to agree that habitat is important for everyone, not just “nature lovers”. There is land out there waiting to be bought and protected but not enough money to purchase it. Some of the great educational programs are in jeopardy of being cut, along with wonderful employees who make the NWRs great. We as bird-conservationists (birders) need to do something about this!
While it may seem like an overwhelming complex problem (because it is) if we all take some of the burden, it really isn’t that bad. As I’ve mentioned before with the Long Tail of Birding, large problems become much easier when many people put in their time, talents, and cold hard cash. Tell all your friends to support efforts to save bird habitat. It isn’t just birders that benefit from having protected land. If you like breathing clean air and drinking clean water, you are endebted to habitat conservation.
So, if you haven’t bought a Duck Stamp this year, go ahead and get one now! $15.00 isn’t that much, now is it? And if you already have one, why not buy one and give it to a child? They’ll think it’s cool and show all their friends. And kids are great at word-of-mouth marketing!
September 22nd, 2007 — Rare Birds
Green-breasted Mango
Poor lighting and not the best shot, but this is the best shot I took
We decided to head up to Beloit, Wisconsin for a second try at the Green-breasted Mango. On Thursday we saw it but missed out on a photograph. Today was much better as we got excellent views both on the feeder and off. The mango ate briefly and then flew right past us, landed briefly less than 20 feet away and then took cover in a large tree. That was where I could see the front of the bird in the sunlight.
Before we arrived to see the Mango we spent the morning birding at a wonderful Winnebago County forest preserve called Sugar River Alder. This is in the extreme northwest of our county in Northern Illinois and a place we don’t get to that often. We have been there a few times this year, most notably on our spring bird count. This is a place we will definitely try to return to more often.
The birds were everywhere. Warblers, flycatchers, Eastern Towhee, both Cuckoos, plus many others. We didn’t keep a list but just enjoyed all the wonderful birds at eye-level. It was one of those birding days that you feel so glad that you’re a birder.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Turkey Vultures warming up
Black-throated Green Warbler
As I am writing this a Red-breasted Nuthatch is checking out some logs we moved by our dripper. Gotta love the nuthatches!
~Birdfreak
September 21st, 2007 — Phriday Photo
Bay-breasted Warbler
In the spring, Bay-breasted Warblers are much easier to identify. But even in the fall they sometimes show their bay-colored breast of which they were named. Other times they go away under the name Baypoll - either a Bay-breasted or Blackpoll Warbler.
