The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act [NMBCA] was passed in 2000 to help in efforts to conserve migratory birds, many of which are in serious decline.

The purpose of the NMBCA is to establish:

a competitive, matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean that promote the long-term conservation of Neotropical migratory birds and their habitats. The goals of the Act include perpetuating healthy populations of these birds, providing financial resources for bird conservation initiatives, and fostering international cooperation for such initiatives. -U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

For FY 2008, funding was around $4.5 million, a number that will hopefully increase for FY 2009. Since 2002, the NMBCA has been involved in 260 projects that have affected nearly 1.9 million acres of bird habitat.

This program’s partners include:

• Partners in Flight
• U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan
• North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI)
• U.S. Bird Conservation Joint Ventures

If you have a great bird conservation project, you can apply for a grant from NMBCA. The program requires a 3:1 matching funds requirement meaning for every federal dollar, three must be matched with other funding.

Check out the list of 2008 Neotropical Grants. In 2005, a project in Illinois, “Restoring Large Native Prairies for Breeding Grassland Birds” was approved in an effort to restore 1,775 acres of habitat. This is just another fine example of how joint ventures and partnering with many groups can increase conservation efforts.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The biggest difference and our favorite part of this face lift is our new logo! Finally, we had the ability to create a logo we have been wanting for quite some time.

Here’s how the logo took shape:

First of all, a month ago our Hooded Warbler photo was featured on the front page of the Rockford Register Star (paper of Rockford, IL). Definitely a sweet surprise!

The original photo was one of our personal favorites and we thought it would make a good logo.

So, after 30 minutes or so of messing around with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, the new logo was born!

Now, the rest of the changes are pretty drastic too, and we have several things we will be sprucing up over the next few days. We hope you enjoy the new look as much as we do!

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Photo 1 - Underexposed (-2)

Photo 2 - “Normal” Exposure (0)

Photo 3 - Overexposed (+2)

Finished Product of a Red-headed Woodpecker in HDR

Now, this isn’t a perfectly done shot but we feel it often makes the colors “pop” and adds a little artistic quality to already beautiful birds. In a way, it helps to produce a more realistic image of what the bird looks like, although it can often be overdone making the image look a bit odd (which some may think this one looks).

Regardless, it was nice to find this Red-headed Woodpecker, as it is the first one spotted at Deer Run Forest Preserve this year. It is a shame these awesome birds are in decline.

Side note: these photos cost Birdfreak some lost blood as a cloud of mosquitoes decided outstretched arms with a camera in them make a wonderful buffet.

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Today marks the 75th Anniversary of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (commonly known as the “duck stamp”). Stamps are on sale today and can be purchased from a number of places:

Online: The Postal Store

In Person: Local Post Office and some sporting goods stores

By Mail: Various organizations sell stamps including those with special holders that can be displayed on your binoculars, camera, backpack, or elsewhere.

$0.98 of each dollar from stamp sales go directly to conservation efforts and also give you free access into National Wildlife Refuges across the country.

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The Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii) is a shy little bird of shrubby habitats found in the midwest, southwest United States, and northern Mexico. With an estimated 1.5 million individuals, this vireo has declined approximately by over 60% since 1966.

While hard to find in northern Illinois, some important breeding areas can be found in Arizona at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and the San Pedro Riparian National Wildlife Area. In Texas, Big Bend National Park and the Nature Conservancy’s David Mountain Preserve also holds breeding populations.

At Camp Pendleton military base in California, approximately half the population of the subspecies Least Bell’s Vireo can be found. Accommodating military bases can be extremely important to many bird species.

Conservation Needs

• Increase acreage of riparian and shrubby habitat
• Improve riparian habitat degraded by grazing and invasive plant species
• Develop baseline inventory of breeding and wintering populations

Conservation Action

The Upper San Pedro Partnership includes many organizations working to improve the area along the San Pedro River. Less conservation efforts have been made in the Midwest, but we feel that places in Illinois could support more Bell’s Vireo if the habitat was managed for them. This is one of the 14 birds on our Focused Bird Conservation Project

Full details on this species and 99 other North American birds at risk can be found in Jeffrey V. Wells’ Birder’s Conservation Handbook.

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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?”

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