On the morning of Monday, 15 July, Shirley and Dan Wilkerson found a small swift with a light chest, light rump, and forked tail flying overhead on Grassy Key on the Florida Keys. It was photographed by Shirley, and shortly confirmed to be an Antillean Palm-Swift, a very rare species in the U.S. It remained on Grassy Key through 28 July, where it was observed almost every morning and some early afternoons flying over queen palms and local residences, often near the intersection of Morton Street and Peachtree Avenue. Fortuitously many birders were able to travel from afar to see this rarity.
The Antillean Palm-Swift is a resident of the Greater Antilles, specifically Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica. The species is accidental in southwestern Florida, with the only previous record being two birds at Key West, Monroe 7 July - 13 August 1972 at the Old Town cemetery.
For the original eBird report from Grassy Key and some photos by Shirley Wilkerson, see here:
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF REFUGES
Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) releases a report on the economic impact of visitation to our National Wildlife Refuges. The report is called "Banking on Nature," and the most recent report, released earlier this summer, documents the 2017 economic findings. The report is the sixth in a series of studies since 1997. This research was conducted on 162 National Wildlife Refuges across the country to estimate economic impacts. According to the report, 53.6 million people visited refuges in that fiscal year (2017-2018). The "Banking on Nature" study also revealed that:
1)
National Wildlife Refuges are seen widely as travel-worthy destinations: 83 percent of refuge spending was done by visitors from outside the local area - an increase of 9 percent from the 2011 study.
2)
Trip-related spending generated $3.2 billion of economic output in regional economies - an increase of 20 percent from the 2011 report.
3)
More than 41,000 jobs (up 18 percent from 2011) and $1.1 billion in employment income (up 22 percent) were generated.
4)
The combined economic contribution to communities nationwide is more than six times the $483.9 million appropriated by Congress to the Refuge System in FY 2017.
5)
About 86 percent of total recreation-related expenditures and 81 percent of all visits are generated by non-consumptive activities on refuges (e.g., birding, wildlife photography, hiking, paddling, auto-touring, bicycling, and educational experiences).
In one sense, this edition of "Banking on Nature" is the broadest to date, representing a 70 percent increase in the number of refuges sampled, compared to the 2011 report. On the other hand, previous reports - covering fewer refuges - have been much longer, going into more page-by-page detail when it comes to individual refuge profiles. The useful individual NWR reports do exist, but combined as a separate downloadable document. Unfortunately, however, the important non-consumptive activities stipulated in the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Public Law 105-57) of wildlife watching, wildlife photography, environmental education and interpretation - are virtually lost in these summaries.
There was at least one other loss in the current report: The 2013 report had a useful two-page appendix on the impact of birding in the Refuge System with material and tables on NWRs with high birding visitation, birding expenditures on sample refuges, and related job incomes on these refuges. Regrettably such similar information is lacking in the current report.
You can access the new 32-page summary study here, with expanded details on individual refuges available through the same page:
ACCESS MATTERS: SOMETIMES CIRCUMSTANCES ARE PERFECT
In Massachusetts, ideal birding circumstances prevailed when two rarities appeared the same day at Mass Audubon's Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield on 14 June. One was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - always rare in Massachusetts - and the other, a Tropical Kingbird - only the third record for the state. While the Scissor-tail was only present for two days, the much more unusual kingbird lingered until 4 July and was seen and photographed by many during its extensive visit to New England.
Not only was this an example of lightning striking twice in the same place, but it was also at a locality that readily welcomed birders and was easily accessed. That all such birds mentioned in this column should be so cooperative!
RICE REMINDER
Next month, September, is National Rice Month, a time to recognize the impact of the small but mighty grain that has captured Americans' hearts and stomachs for more than 300 years. It's good to remember that almost 85% of the rice consumed in the U.S. is grown right here on mostly family farms across six major rice-producing states: Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.
It's also good for us to know and remember that rice is the most important "bird-friendly" mass-produced crop in the world. In the U.S., rice "habitat" accounts for about three million acres, which substitute for natural wetlands for many waterfowl, long-legged waders, rails, shorebirds raptors, wetland-oriented songbirds, and more. In essence, American rice is bird-friendly rice. What's more, with a little searching you can find American-made bird-friendly beer!
After September's National Rice Month, some lucky birders will be able to participate in southwestern Louisiana's "Yellow Rails and Rice Festival," to be held 30 October - 3 November 2019. There is no better way to see Yellow Rails in North America than to attend this festival. Participants attending this festival have an opportunity to experience a great introduction to Louisiana rice country and ride rice-harvest combines in a quest to view Yellow Rails. Many other wetland birds are also encountered during this festival, and many of the agencies and organizations that study, manage, and protect Louisiana's birds and habitats assist at the festival. Online registration recently opened and is limited to 110 participants.
You can find more information here:
BOOK NOTES: MORE CARIBBEAN BIRDS
Birders of a certain age will remember the classic Birds of the West Indies (Academy of Natural Sciences, 1936) by James Bond, a book reprinted several times since the original version. Others may be using the more current A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies (Princeton, 1998) by Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan Keith, and Janis Raffaele. This second book is now undergoing a thorough revision.
Fortunate participants at last month's BirdCaribbean conference in Guadeloupe got to preview the latest version of a guide to address this region: Birds of the West Indies (Lynx, 2019) by Guy M. Kirwan, Anthony Levesque, Mark Oberle, and Christopher J. Sharpe. This outstanding effort is well-organized and extremely well illustrated. The introduction is packed with information on geography, climate, regional habitats, birding practices, 29 birding hotspots, and vital conservation practices.
The book includes over 1,600 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, birds in flight, males and females, juveniles, and non-breeding plumages, wherever they are appropriate. This means 712 species and c.190 endemics. There are also more than 650 full-color range maps for all species, excluding vagrants.
Despite the fact that there are some "premature splits" in the book, and that some vagrant species are included without adequate documentation, the book is still a very fine work.
IBA NEWS: SAN PEDRO RIVER PRESSURES
The San Pedro River flows north from Mexico into southeastern Arizona, creating a unique and valuable riparian corridor that supports many animals. These include a number of southeast Arizona "specialties," as well as at-risk populations of the southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The San Pedro is the last large, free-flowing river in Southern Arizona that has perennial flow. But as demands for water increase and the climate becomes hotter and drier, the river is increasingly put at risk.
The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is part of this complex of habitats, and it is a designated Important Bird Area (IBA). You can read about this IBA here:
While most BLM lands are managed under a multi-use approach that favors production of resources like oil, gas, mining, and timber, the San Pedro NCA designation makes it different.
The BLM does not have to manage with multiple use, or sustained yield, in mind; the essential need is to protect the valuable resource.
The BLM recently released its resource management plan for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. The document should guide land use decisions there for the next 15 to 20 years. Of course, the river and its connected groundwater network support the nearby city of Sierra Vista, Fort Huachuca, and other towns, including Bisbee, Tombstone, and Huachuca City. And there still is tension over how much hunting, how much limited grazing, and how much future housing development ought to be in the region. In fact, a proposed mega-development, with 28,000 homes, the Villages at Vigneto near Benson, could pose a new and large threat to the flow of the San Pedro. The development's water would come from pumping even more groundwater, the same water that underlies Southern Arizona's last perpetually flowing river.
You can view the recent plan to keep the river, and its riparian corridor, healthy, here:
But even since the BLM plan was released, there has been outside political pressure brought to bear and highly questionable shortcuts taken to facilitate approval for federal water permits:
These developments deserve close and continued scrutiny.
For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, including those in the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:
IN INK: BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA
And now for something really different: tattoos of our birds and the related presentation at "The Biggest Week in American Birding." It's a short eight-minute video, totally delightful and different. For many of the people in the video, their bird tattoos represent some birding milestone, accomplishment, experience, or victory over adversity. It's presented by Jason Ward. See for yourself:
