Entries Tagged 'Birding' ↓

The American Bird Conservancy is working with a host of partners across Idaho, Washington, and Oregon to conserve habitat for four cavity-nesting birds. The Lewis’s Woodpecker, Flammulated Owl, Williamson’s Sapsucker, and White-headed Woodpecker are on the WatchList with the Lewis’s being one of the highest priority species not protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Lewis’s Woodpecker by Metaphor

The National Forest Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society/Doris Duke Foundation, and the American Forest Foundation are working to help the American Bird Conservancy reach its goal of increasing Lewis’s Woodpecker population by 10% in fifteen years.

The project focuses on teaching private land owners proper management of Ponderosa Pine forests, one of the main habitats for these cavity-nesting birds.

Ponderosa Pines overlooking Lake Tahoe, Nevada

The American Bird Conservancy does a fine job partnering with multiple organizations and individuals to reach lofty conservation goals. We would hate to see any of these four wonderful birds run out of suitable habitat.

Founded by George B. Fell in 1958, the Natural Land Institute has protected, managed, and restored more than twelve thousand acres throughout Illinois and southern Wisconsin. These include prairies, forests, wetlands, and river corridors.

The Natural Land Institute has been conserving land for 50 years. To celebrate they wrote up 50 Ways to Get Kids Outside adapted from Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. Their list includes many local links and resources to help kids get rid of Nature Deficit Disorder

The Natural Land Institute is a wonderful non-profit organization that focuses on local conservation efforts. Small, local organizations like this are key in helping to preserve, conserve, and manage habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Carl and Myrna Nygren Wetland Preserve is over 700 acres

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Natural Land Institute is their part in the organization of the Blufflands Alliance, the nation’s first multi-state alliance of public and private organizations working on a regional conservation project (the Mississippi Blufflands). The alliance includes organizations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

We plan on helping this local organization as much as possible now and in the future.

Osprey

Once a bird whose numbers were declining and now a success story of conservationalists, the Osprey can be found in bountiful amounts in coastal Virginia. On a recent family vacation to Virginia, Snowy Owl (Susie) encountered a large population of Ospreys along the Rappahannock River and the Slough Creek inlet of the Chesapeake Bay in the Northern Neck region of Virginia.

These breathtakingly beautiful birds had established nests in boat signs and whatever else they found suitable. We were treated to a wonderful view of the Ospreys as we canoed all over the Bay inlet. They flew, calling to each other in a sharp, distinct whistle. The creek was a bustling hub of activity.

Ospreys are not so common in northern Illinois so this was a special treat, especially for Snowy Owl’s two young daughters.

Two weeks ago we had plans to go camping. The weather forecast was three days of thunderstorms so we postponed our trip to this past weekend. On Friday morning as we prepared to head out guess what happened: it rained.

Our Coleman tent

But as the sky cleared and the car was packed, we decided we’d still give it a shot. The weather report wasn’t great but “30-40% scattered thunderstorms” gave us a chance.

Our camping location was the same one Veery and Dakota spent several days last August at Sugar River Forest Preserve. We got the same exact spot and were surprised to find a low number of campers already set up. Now if only the rain would hold off…

Ominous clouds

Arizona the Doberman resting in between bouts of thunderstorms

Camping out has always been a treat. It provides the opportunity to be outside for long numbers of hours, hear all sorts of interesting night creatures, and wake early to the pleasant sounds of birds.

We went on a wonderful hike, seeing several birds and other creatures. The Sugar River had recently flooded and the smell and mosquitoes were terrible. By the time we returned to our campsite, we could already hear low rumbling in the west.

Midland Painted Turtle {Chrysemys picta marginata}

For the next several hours we spent our time moving firewood to stay dry, reading in the car, and hoping for better weather. Eventually, the thunder subsided and we were ready to cook supper. Slight problem: our fire ring had nearly two inches of standing water in it!

Solution: we gathered up massive quantities of fallen pine needles (we were camping in a pine forest) and build the fire atop them. Success! After supper, we had a most pleasant yet mosquito-invested evening before retiring to our tent.

Campfire smoke in the pine forest

We heard several owls calling, both Barred and Great-horned and also heard deer and coyotes. We were hoping to listen for Whip-poor-wills but instead, the night sounds quickly became drowned out.

Boom, boom, rumble rumble, boom. No, not thunder but some sort of awful music from another campsite. This went on for several hours, the sounds mixing with the clanking of beer bottles and hyenaish giggling.

Despite the irritants, we still had fun camping with Arizona and fully immersing ourselves in nature. Our “resident bird” was a tie between Chipping Sparrows, American Crows, and an Eastern Towhee.

Arizona, ready to camp some more!

“Wanna go camping with me?”

A bird knows nothing of gladness,
Is only a song machine.
- George MacDonald, “A Book of Dreams”

Birders tend to also be readers, and sometimes writers. If you enjoy reading literature about birds, you might want to check out LBJ, a new publication that has a unique concept. Instead of publishing articles about birding, this publication focuses on literature about birds.

Following is a press release from LBJ:

“The LBJ is a biannual publication dedicated to birds and creative writing. Its title is drawn from the acronym for “little brown job,” used by birders to describe those difficult-to-identify species, such as many sparrows. While there are popular magazines (Audubon), scientific journals (The Auk), and other newsletters about birds, The LBJ is a uniquely literary venue, publishing new creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, narrative scholarship, and literary journalism of the feathered variety. In its pages, The LBJ hopes to encourage an appreciation and practice of environmental literature, and increasing collaboration between scientists, conservationists, and artists. It seeks innovative creative writing and literary reportage—the best writing about birds to be found.”

For information about subscribing or to find out how you can submit your own writing to LBJ, visit
http://www.literarybirdjournal.org. For their inaugural issue, they are holding a contest for original unpublished poetry and prose about birds, with cash prizes. The first issue will be out in July 2008.

Our first April Deer Run Bird Survey (D.B.R.S.) was also the first above 50 degrees and a bonus amount of sunshine made it the “springiest” yet!

Song Sparrow

Deer Run Forest Preserve is coming to life - plants are emerging and the birds are singing all over the place. We actually felt warm for the first time this year as we hiked the damp trails. There were signs of recent flooding and low areas of standing water.

One of the day’s highlights was the many joyous Song Sparrows belting out tunes left and right. We also found five Hermit Thrushes and many Field Sparrows. A soaring Osprey and some calling Sandhill Cranes added to the excitement. Eight new species brought the total up to 54. 168 birds brought our total count up to 2,463.

New species for the survey:

1. Field Sparrow
2. Fox Sparrow
3. Great Blue Heron
4. Hermit Thrush
5. Osprey
6. Sandhill Crane
7. Turkey Vulture
8. Tree Swallow

Hermit Thrush