Regular readers may remember our profile of a Great Black Hawk in The Birding Community E-bulletin in January of last year.
It was the story of an immature raptor of this species that was initially spotted in coastal Texas in late April 2018, and then was again seen in Biddleford, Maine, months later, in August. By late October, this bird, a species typically ranging from coastal Mexico south through Peru and northeastern Argentina, was found in Portland, Maine, where it mostly frequented Deering Oaks Park. You can access our report of this vagrant from January 2019 here:
Many birders from New England and beyond came to see the Great Black Hawk during its stay in Portland. It survived weeks on an abundant supply of gray squirrels inhabiting Deering Oaks Park. Alas, in late January two volunteers found the hawk on the ground, unable to stand during a snowstorm and suffering with severely frostbitten feet. Despite heroic efforts to rehab the bird, it ultimately had to be euthanized 10 days later.
We revisit this story not to report that there was another Great Black Hawk found last month, but because the legacy of this individual bird has been made a permanent part of Deering Oaks Park. In one respect, the Great Black Hawk still "lives" at the park as a permanent rarity - in bronze.
Anne Pringle, president of Friends of Deering Oaks, and Diane Davison, a bird rehabilitation board member at Avian Haven, led the fundraising and organizational efforts. Harmony wildlife sculptor, David Smus, created a 25-inch, life-sized, gleaming bronze figure, sitting atop a granite base.
Pringle said that the statue is not just about the bird, so much as it is about the events surrounding it. "It was a very unique event that drew a lot of people to the park, from the kids at King Middle School across the street, other parts of Maine, and all over the country," Pringle added. "This is not memorializing someone - not even memorializing the bird," she said. "It was a community event at Deering Oaks, because of this unusual visitation."
The statue proposal had to pass muster with several city organizations before coming to fruition: Friends of Deering Oaks, the parks commission, the historic preservation board, the public art committee, and the city council.
"It was approved by all five bodies, unanimously, which reflects how many people had actually seen the hawk, and how it resonated with a lot of people," Pringle said.
To raise the needed cash, individual donors gave from $5 to $500. Local businesses also contributed thousands of dollars. Donations came from outside Maine, as well. "Some of the money came from Nebraska, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee," Pringle said. "Somehow, people found out about this." The total raised was $28,000, and the bronze likeness of the Great Black Hawk was unveiled at the western end of the park on 17 July.
Here's a rarity that you can visit or see any time, once the pandemic ends, when you happen to be in Portland, Maine. It will be waiting for you.
See The Bangor Daily News for the local story, a timeline of events, and pictures of the original raptor as well as the resulting and impressive artwork:
VIRTUAL BIRDING FESTIVALS
We rarely announce or highlight birding festivals in the Birding Community E-bulletin because typically there are too many of them! But the COVID pandemic has forced the popular birding and nature festivals - even those with decades of proud and continuous history - to be cancelled. Now however, a number of these popular festivals are responding in a creative way, by organizing virtual events.
In the coming weeks and months, it will still be possible to "attend" birding festivals in Colorado, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska - virtually - from home. A number of these virtual festivals have been listed via The Birding Wire:
BIRDNOTE ESCAPE
In our May issue we highlighted the efforts of our friends at BirdNote to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, with a special show. BirdNote, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a project for public radio stations around the country where listeners can experience a short bird-song story every day. (It can also be found online at any time, and you can sign-up to receive audio segments.)
As a radio-oriented project, BirdNote is a perfect listening pastime for the COVID-homebound and folks sheltering in place. This story is not unlike the previous story that addressed the issue of virtual birding festivals.
Fortunately, the folks at BirdNote have revamped their website and initiated some new - and longer - programs. Among these are their "Soundscapes" episodes - each about a half-hour long and specifically designed to "take us outside" with Gordon Hempton, acoustic ecologist, who reminds us that outdoor sounds in these unique times "can set us free."
Give it a try:
HABITAT REDEFINITION?
The USFWS may propose to revise how critical habitat is defined under the Endangered Species Act. Under a new interpretation, critical habitat would be limited to the area currently occupied by a species. This would not allow habitat to be set aside for expansion, habitat migration caused by climate change, etc. This would amount to a serious change of how habitats have been described since the inception of the ESA, and it could very well impair recovery efforts for newly listed species. The new rule supposedly should not apply to previously listed species.
But Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife and Director of the USFWS in the Clinton Administration (1997- 2001) warns that this latest proposal does not "meet the intent of the Endangered Species Act, which recognizes that areas beyond those that are currently occupied may need to be protected to recover species." She adds that the rule will "exclude areas that would be suitable with minimal restoration or those areas that may be needed to recover species in the age of climate change."
This proposal deserves careful review once it is officially released for comment. In the meantime, a summary can be found in a recent edition of The Hill:
BOOK NOTES: BIRDS AND FDR
If you are like some of us, you may have your "must-read-next" pile of books on your desk, on your living room coffee-table, or your bedside nightstand. The heap never seems to go away. And very often the larger and daunting volumes often seem to get passed over for "a better time."
Well, that "better time" has been with us for a few months, and the pile of books may be getting smaller. It could be time to conquer one of those big books you've bypassed for a few years. One such hefty volume may have been Douglas Brinkley's 744-page Rightful Heritage - Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America (Harper, 2016). And with time on your hands, that four-year-old book deserves serious consideration.
The book doesn't start with FDR as New York Governor or as President, it starts with his early years in the Hudson River Valley and his personal explorations.
Douglas Brinkley does a masterful and detailed job in tracing FDR's love of the land and love of nature that began during those early years, bird watching, studying natural history, and dabbling in taxidermy. Early on, FDR emulated his distant cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, with an interest in conservation, and he honed real skills in forestry and a love for the sea (including fishing) for the rest of his life).
You can't understand his wildlife-and-land conservation leadership as President unless you appreciate his hands-on interests in these subjects during his early years. You can better comprehend his Presidential concern over the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Parks, building a National Wildlife Refuge "system," assisting the building of state parks across the country, and his soil-conservation emphasis when you appreciate his bird-obsessed youth and his self-identification as a forester.
Not only do birds fly in and out of Brinkley's narrative (with a few mistakes that only a few readers of this publication would likely catch), but the cast of characters with bird-and-conservation credentials also flow in and out of the narrative - and the White House - with equal ease. Some familiar conservation personalities include Frank Chapman, Ira Gabrielson, Bob Marshall, Rosalie Edge, Ding Darling, Aldo Leopold, J. Clark Salyer, and Ludlow Griscom.
There's no doubt, 744 pages is an investment of time. But if you take it on, you will undoubtedly be rewarded.
OREGON CROSSBILLS
With so many folks sheltering in place these days, there seems to be an increase in backyard birding, and that has also included more backyard bird-feeding. The increasing spread and interest in bird-feeding is usually a wonderful thing and a great experience, especially for those people getting to seriously learn about birds for the first time.
But there are also a few disappointing lessons to be learned as well, one of which is happening to Red Crossbills reportedly dying by the hundreds in Central Oregon.
The source of the problem may be salmonella, a naturally occurring bacteria found in the intestine of birds, but potentially very dangerous to them. When transmitted from bird to bird, the bacteria can be fatal.
Salmonella infections in birds are often a common occurrence in winter, but a summer outbreak is less common. And it may be transmitted at feeders, which are more active this year because more people are staying home.
Elise Wolf, the director of Native Bird Care in Sisters, Oregon, has called the situation an outbreak. "This has been a bad year," she reported in late July, "And unfortunately, it's across the region, so it's not just isolated in one area. It's everywhere."
"Part of the problem we have with salmonella outbreaks is that through bird feeding, we congregate (the birds) into isolated areas, and that just makes it really easy for an infection to spread to the other birds," Wolf said. The situation is not unlike our human pandemic: If you encourage a gathering of organisms - humans or birds - together in one area you can easily spread infections.
Removing the feeders - i.e., eliminating the gathering-places - may be the best thing to do. Scrubbing the feeders - and birdbaths - every two or three days may also help control the situation. To consider some other options for addressing the current situation from Central Oregon, see the link below presented by Elise Wolf:
ACCESS MATTERS: GREAT OUTDOORS ACT PASSES HOUSE
Last month we highlighted the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act by the U. S. Senate, and we predicted that rapid passage by the U.S. House of Representatives was likely. Indeed, H.R.1957, passed on 22 July.
Among other things, this legislation will provide $900 million in funding for parks and open space across the country through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). That's every year, and that's permanently. It will also provide critical resources needed to restore National Refuges, National Parks, and other federal lands that are in desperate need of repair. It will also locate parks and playgrounds in urban areas. This legislation has been a long time coming, and it is considered one of the most important environmental achievements of this century - at least so far!
The GAOA is also expected to have a stimulating effect on local economies-a particularly important point as the country continues to grapple with coronavirus and record levels of unemployment.
For birders, the GAOA will also mean greater access to more and improved birding areas, especially through its LWCF element.
[As your editors were working through the final edits of this Birding Community E-bulletin, we learned that the President had, indeed, signed the bill into law.]
TIP OF THE MONTH: AUGUST PLANTING
If you are like many of us these days, you are spending more time at home. If so, it's time to review backyard birding and backyard landscaping concepts in tandem. August is an ideal time to add some plants to your backyard mix in order to give new plants time to add some growth before cold weather and shorter days arrive. As you take a fresh look at your backyard, consider emphasizing "structure" for your birds. Landscaping structure comes in many forms, but think of a variety of heights, textures, shades of green, as well as other colors. Combine those elements with an eye toward nesting sites, shelter (particularly in winter) and feeding opportunities.
It pays off: for you and for the birds!
IBA NEWS: ARGENTINE EXPANSION
In 2016, the Bahía Blanca Estuary in the southern portion of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was designated as a site of Regional Importance in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). Last month, the Executive Office of the WHSRN announced that an additional 981 hectares have been added to the site. You can find more details here:
The Bahía Blanca Estuary is a Site of Regional Importance as it plays host to more than 20,000 shorebirds each year, and more than 1% of the biogeographical populations of the Red Knot, White-rumped Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit, American Oystercatcher, and Two-banded Plover.
If most of these species' names are familiar, this is no accident. What we are dealing with here are long-distance inter-American migratory species that don't recognize national or international boundaries drawn on maps. It's another reminder that bird conservation has to be an international endeavor.
For some years now, a number of organizations in Argentina have been working together to include the added 981 hectares into this WHSRN site. The newly expanded zone is highly sensitive and represents a sector that is of key ecological importance. It includes the mouth of the river Sauce Chico, the principal source of fresh water into the estuary (75% approximately), which attracts large concentrations of shorebirds and other waterbirds of conservation value.
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:
LAST WORD
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