RARITY FOCUS
As we mentioned last month, the “rare event” of the immediate past was the rarity of getting out for regular or even small-group birding, but the situation is now gradually changing. While the pull of the last two months was the pull of spring migration, we now have a more “sedate” option before us: the nesting season. Very often the lure of this season is finding those local birds on territory that nest in our town, city, or county. It’s local birding par excellence. It’s a little slower and more easy-going.
While it may not be quite yet time to run across state lines to chase rarities, it certainly looks like things may change soon enough for late-summer adventures.
But beyond planning for more summer access and travel, be aware that there may even be more to plan for.
If you’re like many bird watchers, you’ve been changed by this past year, preoccupied by the unique circumstances we have had to confront. As a consequence, many of us have done more home-bound feeder-watching, backyard bird-maintenance, and local birding. As a consequence, there will probably be even more of us afield as we come out of our isolation. Many more people have “discovered birds” and the pleasures of birding during these strange times, or at least discovered birds at home and in their immediate neighborhoods. Undoubtedly a number of them – and we haven’t a clue how many - will also break out of a home-bound mindset and into a field-trip mindset.
This is good. This is healthy. So be ready to help the new folks in the field. It may be a “rare” experience, so be prepared to take advantage of it.
ARCTIC REFUGE: OFF-AGAIN, ON-AGAIN
On his first day in the White House, President Biden signed Executive Order 13990, directing federal agencies to calculate the "social cost" of greenhouse gas pollution by estimating "monetized damages" to inform future federal regulations. This includes evaluating changes in net agricultural productivity, human health, property damage from increased flood risk, and the value of ecosystem services.
In line with this order, the Department of the Interior on 1 June suspended all activities related to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending completion of a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The refuge itself covers 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska, with much of the contested area centering on 1.5 million acres in the refuge’s coastal plain.
The struggle over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has gone on for decades. Of course, the refuge is home to an incredible array of biodiversity. Although the media usually emphasizes polar bears and caribou, the mix of birds in the refuge includes more than 200 species – especially waterfowl and shorebirds. Birds that breed at ANWR migrate from the refuge to practically every state in the U.S., and some even venture to other continents. This remote corner of Alaska is truly connected to all of us.
This most recent decision from the Department of the Interior is very significant, because last August the Trump Administration had finalized its plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. There was a lease sale on 6 January, before the Biden Administration took office, where 10-year leases on nine tracts covering more than 430,000 acres were issued. Perhaps as a sign of the times, however, half of the offered leases drew no bids whatsoever.
Unfortunately, the suspension of these leases will not guarantee that drilling is actually stopped. The administration has only committed to reviewing the leases, not canceling them… at least not yet.
Opponents to opening the refuge to drilling regularly maintain that such action would jeopardize wildlife as well as be a step backward at a time when we all should be burning less oil in order to address drastic concerns about global warming.
The Department of the Interior press release on the review can be found here:
A good summary of the issues can be found here, in The New York Times:
FLORIDA SCRUB-JAY TRANSLOCATION
Sedentary Florida Scrub-Jays are in some trouble. The oak scrub and flatwood plant communities that Florida Scrub-Jays rely upon are steadily disappearing in the Sunshine State as a result of increased residential development, habitat fragmentation, and fire suppression. Given the birds’ limited home range and inability to disperse to find available habitat, intentionally relocating – or translocating - Florida Scrub-Jays to save the species is seen as a legitimate wildlife-management option.
It is expected that translocation will increase the total number of Florida Scrub-Jays, enhance genetic diversity among isolated populations, and encourage recolonization in important restored habitat. Birds are currently being removed from the Ocala National Forest, a place with a large population of Florida Scrub-Jays, and brought to public lands that contain small scrub-jay numbers.
A complication of this protocol is that many Florida Scrub-Jay pairs are assisted in raising their nestlings by one or more “helpers,” offspring from prior breeding seasons. These helpers support their parents by feeding their latest siblings. Accordingly, translocation has usually entailed moving full family units to a new location. Translocating an entire extended family can sometimes be difficult, however.
An alternate strategy is focused on translocating nest helpers instead, hoping they will start families of their own. This may be viable, as long as the in-place scrub-jay pairs without helpers can pull off successful young. So far, indications are that translocating the helpers does not negatively impact nest success.
If it can also be shown that translocated former helpers can form effective pair bonds at new locations, then this may really help create a better statewide Florida Scrub-Jay translocation protocol.
The entire situation is nicely summarized in last month’s Outdoor News Bulletin, by the Wildlife Management Institute:
BIRDS FLYING SAFER OVER ILLINOIS
The state of Illinois is now on record as acknowledging that migratory bird protections resulting from “bird-safe buildings” are important. Last month, a bill passed both houses of the Illinois legislature establishing some thoughtful building standards for state-owned buildings.
This provides that each state building constructed, acquired, or altered (when more than 50% of the facade is substantially changed) must meet specified bird safety standards.This addresses the problem of causing needless bird deaths by creating guidelines for all future construction and renovation projects on state-owned buildings in order to reduce glass and make buildings more visible for birds. It would also require certain changes in lighting standards.
While this new law is not all-encompassing and has a few loopholes, it’s a significant step forward. According to supporters, it encourages more companies to design bird-friendly building products for state projects. And it can also help promote the spread bird-safe building features.
There is also the possibility that these guidelines will become a model for local zoning for new construction, renovations, and hopefully at some point retrofitting of existing buildings.
TIP OF THE MONTH: LEAVE THEM ALONE
Three years ago we reminded our readers that: “At this season, as many birds are nest-building, incubating, or feeding young, they are extremely vulnerable. And there are no good reasons why we should make their lives any more vulnerable or more difficult.”
It is time for another reminder. Now is a season that is especially critical for birdlife, and it’s the time when birds are extremely vulnerable.
Basically, if you come across a nest, and unless you’re doing serious research, it’s time to move on. Don’t linger. Don’t get any closer to photograph it. In fact, most of us should refrain from photographing nesting birds altogether. In most cases, the practice is unnecessary, unjustifiable, and can often add up to harassment.
You might still be able to experience watching some nesting behavior through your binoculars – at a significant and responsible distance.
This season is a stressful time for birds, and often they will let you know when you have already gotten too close. Under those circumstances, and for the good of the birds, it’s simply wise to back off.
IBA NEWS: NOT OK FOR OKEFENOKEE
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia (with a bit in Florida) is an Important Bird Area (IBA) of global significance as well as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international significance. Some of the special bird species that can be found at Okefenokee include Wood Stork, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Bachman Sparrow, and many herons and egrets.
Unfortunately, Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, based in Alabama, is seeking permission for a heavy mineral sand mine next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The company has been persistent in its effort to develop the first phase of a roughly 8,000-acre titanium mine atop a geological feature critical to water storage for the swamp. In search of minerals used in the production of titanium dioxide - a pigment used to whiten paper, paint, and food products - the company would dig up vast swaths of the land, churn it together, and redeposit the soil in pits. Their latest proposal asks the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) to grant five permits needed to excavate these minerals
This location is the same prehistoric sand dune that helped create the Okefenokee and holds back its waters. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has warned that the mine could affect the very hydrology of the swamp. It is estimated that the mining would destroy more than 370 acres of wetlands, pump out a million gallons of fresh groundwater per day, discharge pollutants into the air and waste into the St. Mary's River basin. None of this is good for, or in harmony with, the general environment or regional wildlife, including the birds.
Here’s a fine summary of the situation from Mary Rappaport Clark, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
The IBA status of Okefenokee is summarized here:
You can take action on this issue here, through the National Wildlife Refuge Association:
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:
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: “WALTER”
Apparently, in New London, New Hampshire, a Ruffed Grouse has "adopted" local resident, Todd Westward, according to his wife's Facebook report and local TV coverage. They call the grouse "Walter." The Westward family had seen and heard grouse before from their property, but this bird seemingly bonded with Todd. The bird will, according to Mary Beth Westward, "greet Todd in the morning, and also when he comes home. He... chases us down the driveway in our cars. And he goes back up and sits on the porch and pretends to be our watch-bird."
Walter regularly perches on Todd Westward’s shoulder and arm, and visits his backyard work-and-tool station.
The Facebook post and accompanying photos are fun:
And the local TV coverage has been “different” (ignore the “Ruffled Grouse” misnomer):
LAST WORD
If you have any friends, fellow bird-club members, conservation colleagues, or co-workers who wish to be included on the monthly Birding Community E-bulletin mailing list, you can simply refer them to this link:
