Gull Skies Above Omaha's Midtown

Beyond the first realization that midtown skies are a major crossing for the daily route of migrant gulls, some more time was taken to watch the flocks in the skies above Happy Hollow and the hills of Dundee.

On the evening of the March 28th, a few thousand birds went past my vantage point at Memorial Park with pleasant and comfortably warm spring weather. Some gathered in kettles of gulls lifted during evening thermals. Large groups would gather and mix for a few minutes where the air was lifting. Then it would occur elsewhere near the neighborhood heights. The birds would soon float towards the east. There were some small flocks going over the UNO campus to the southwest, with the migratory front including the Dundee skies.

A kettle of gulls floating on drafts of air in east-central Omaha. March 28 p.m.

Flying past the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. March 29 a.m.

During the next day's morning, while the park was quiet beneath clear blue skies marked by contrails from commercial planes, thousand of gulls profoundly moved west without a trace left behind. Many flocks went past along the way during a relatively short interlude of time, with the peak movement about 7:15 a.m.

There are variable patterns of flight in the morning and during the evening. The behavior of the birds was not consistent - except for continual movement towards the east or west - on those occasions when the skies were monitored from some suitable place.

On the March 29 evening, fewer than 25 gulls seen above during the evening interlude at Memorial Park. The scene was tempered by several flocks of moving Cedar Waxwings, as somewhat of a diversion.

Sylphian skies were notable above in the cerulean sky-scape, with patterns subtly changing during an hour's time that finished the weekend with a notably fine sunset presentation.

Birdly Sylphs in the Evening.
A beaked bird in the northern clouds.	Featheration.
Gull winds at sky-beach.	Sky dance of the crane. All images © 2009 James E. Ducey.

With the interlude at the park done due to chilling winds which a hefty tree trunk could not diminish, my bicycling route reached the west side of the Dundee business district, along Underwood Avenue at 51st Street. There were bunches of gulls, just 20 feet or less above the treetops of the urban heights, with several hundred counted in five minutes. And within the last moments of this particular evening, some more flew past, above the tree tops with just enough height to get along to somewhere else in the Missouri Valley.

Subsequent days have had blustery winds with wintery weather with no further observing the gulls across the sky. Gulls went past, but behaved differently in the strong winds, making it not feasible to see them across the skies to an extent to make counts. They are still about as brief glimpses have occurred. Though on Monday evening, at the end of the month, there were more than fifty Turkey Vultures to watch arriving, grouping and then getting into the roost at pines of an estate along Fairacres Road.

Raptors Conservation Continues to Issue Leading-Edge Research Results

Contents of the latest issue of Raptors Conservation indicate the journal continues to be a leader in presenting information essential for conserving species across the vast area of the Russian Republic.

The current issue is the fifteenth issued in a five-year period.

"As we celebrate the five years of our magazine," agreed editors Elvira Nikolenko (Siberian Environmental Center, Novosibirsk) and Igor Karyakin (Center of Field Studies, N. Novgorod), "we hope that the information we publish will be interesting and useful for many people, and that it will stimulate ornithologists to study and protect birds of prey.

Highlights in this issue include:

• "Trade in Raptors in Russia – Growth Continues"; details are given on the illegal trade in live raptors including rare and listed species, as well as stuffed birds. The article concludes: "in Russia and Ukraine falconry is developing actively, and that the number of club and private farms, where hunting birds are bred and farmed, is growing. Proprietors of these farms are artificially raising interest in the birds to secure their demand."
• "Vultures of the Altai-Sayan Region". This article especially discusses the status of the Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus) and Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in this region which "is located in the territories of Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China," according to internet information. "It encompasses mountain pristine forest ecosystems, surrounded by steppes in the north and east, and by deserts and semi-deserts in the south and west. The region includes the Altai and Sayan mountain systems and vast intermountain depressions. This region is one of the world centers of plant diversity."
• Surveys conducted during 1999-2008 by Igor V. Karyakin, L.I. Konovalov (Bird Watching Center, Limassol, Cyprus), M.A. Grabovskiy, (Airport Tolmachevo, Novosibirsk,Russia) and E.G. Nikolenko (Siberian Environmental Center, Novosibirsk, Russia), indicate a steady population of the Lammergier in the study area of . The numbers of Black Vultures showed a decline. Pictures with the text vividly show the species and their habitats, including nesting sites, with distributions maps given that show geographic range.

  Lammergeier on a perch near the nest. Photo by I. Karyakin.

  Igor Karyakin on a nest of the Black Vulture in the Kargy river valley. Photo by E. Nikolenko. All photographs courtesy of Raptors Conservation, and used with permission.

• Results of surveys from 200-2008 for the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliacal), also in the mountainous part of Altai in the Altai Kray. Information is predominantly about breeding, and nesting success of the species.
• "Records of Raptors of the Talduair Mountains, Important Birding Area in the South-Eastern Altai, Russia". Species noted were the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis), Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius), Black-Eared Kite (Milvus migrans lineatus), Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayensis), Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus), Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), and Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo). Information is based on a survey done in June 2008 at the diverse landscape illustrated with several pictures.

A number of short notes have some details of observations of dramatic breeding occurrences, sightings of rare species. Notable is one by Andrey Semenov gives details of a 3500 float-trip along the Lena River, and 600 km along the southern shore of the Laptev Sea noting what raptor species were seen where, and how many. Also needing a close reading, is "Records of 'White-shouldered' Imperial Eagles in Russia and Kazakhstan" by I.V. Karyakin and A.V. Kovalenko (Institute of Zoology, Ministry of Education and Sciences, Almaty, Kazakhstan).

Details on important meetings are also included.

Raptors Conservation "is a journalistic nature conservation publication," according to the editors, "a bulletin informing about the main events and findings in the sphere of raptor study and protection, and a scientific journal, in which results from newest research are published. All these functions contribute necessary information to the timely and accurate coordination of nature conservation activities."

Sponsors of this issue include the World Wildlife Fund for Nature WWF – Russia and Project UNDP/GEF ‘Conservation of Biodiversity in the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion’, and a number of personal contributors, from around the world.

Volume 15 was issued in mid-March, and a full-color, bilingual version is available from the Siberian Environmental Center. The journal has the full details essential to realize and appreciate the ongoing efforts underway to understand and conserve the variety of raptor species occurring in the areas where the studies occurred. Read the issue and then send them some funds to support their effort.

Typical landscape of the Talduair Mountains and Western slope of Chihacheva Mountains: Bar-Burgazy river valley. Photo by I. Smelansky.

Buguzun river valley. Photo by A. Barashkova.

Gunners' Name Gamebirds on the Historic North Atlantic Coast

A couple of lists giving common names of birds used during the mid-1800s along the north Atlantic coast, convey particularly interesting and pertinent details important for any consideration of historic ornithology.

One list is from a locale prominent in the first history of the eastern seaboard, as hearty pilgrim's did establish a settlement centuries ago. The contributed list being considered is from the renowned Clark's Island - where hearty pilgrims from a small boat called Mayflower had settled - was for 1852, though submitted by F.C. Browne more than two decades after his observations based on a gathering of details during a single season of residence. And the list was published again, a few years later as if to convey again, the details to make certain they were known to the readers of Forest and Stream.

"It is interesting to see how the mind in many cases seizes the striking point about the bird and names it from that salient feature," according to comments made by the editor who prepared the published list. It has a number of unique and interesting attributions, with the identity of the species possible since a scientific name is given. Here are the details published in an issue of Forest and Stream, a sportsman's journal.

Fulix marila, Troop fowl.

Melanetta velvetina. White-wing.

Pelionetta perspicillata. Surfer.

Oidemia americana. Coppernose.

Somateria mollissima. Sea duck.

Bucephala americana. Whistler.

Harelda glacialis. Quandle.

Bucephala albeola. Dipper or dopper.

Dafila acuta. Sprigtail, English duck.

Spatula clypeata. Spoonbill.

Mergus serrator. Sheldrake.

Colymbus torquatus. Adult, Pond loon; young, sheep loon.

C. arcticus. Grayback loon.

[C.] Ceptrionalis. Pegging awl or pegmonk.

Podiceps. All varities [sic.]. Water-witch.

Graculus carbo. Shag.

Mergulus alle. Pine knot.

Sterna. All varieties. Mackerel gulls.

Chroicocephalus philadelphia. Square-tail gull.

Rissa tridactylus. Square-tail, also bay.

Larus marinus. Daniel gull.

L. argentatus. Adult, white; young, gray gull.

Botaurus lentiginosus. Plunkett.

Charadrius virginicus. Squealer.

Squatarola helvetica. Bottle head.

Aegialitis melodus. Beach bird.

Haematopus palliatus? Brant bird.

Limosa? Humility.

Strepslias [sic.; = Strepsilas] interpres. Chicaric.

Tringa canutus. Adult, red-breast; young, gray-back.

T. alpina. Stile.

T. Bonapartei. White-tailed stile.

T. maculata. Marsh plover.

Ereunetes petrificatus. Oxeye.

Calidris arenaria. Skinner.

Gambetta melanoleuca. Large cucu.

G. flavipes. Small cucu.

Numenius longirostris. Sickle bill.

N. borealis. Doe bird.

Macrorhamphus griseus. Driver.

Some of these names are consistent with recognized attributions presented by other historic sources, though some of are obscure names not previously known for the lexicon of common names of the era.

Within the month of this first issuance on local people naming birds, a second informative article had been submitted by Robert T. Morris. He sent "the names of the same class of birds for the Connecticut shore, along which I have shot for a number of years, hoping that it may prove of interest to other gunners."

Anas obscura. Black duck; dusky duck.

Fulix marila. Scaup; big black-head; blue-bill; broad-bill.

Fulix affinis. Little black-head; scaup; blue-bill; broad-bill.

Pelionetta perspicillata. Surf duck; skunk-head.

Pelionetta perspicillata. Female and young of the year; gray coot.

Melanetta velvetina. White wing; bell tongue.

Oidemia americana. Scoter; butter bill.

Somateria mollissima. Eider; sea coot.

Bucephala americana. Golden eye; whistler.

Bucephala albeola. Buffel head; butter ball.

Harelda glacialis. Old squaw; south southerly; old wife; long tail.

Spatula clypeata. Shoveller; spoonbill.

Mergus merganser, Mergus serrator; Sheldrake; saw bill; merganser.

Colymbus torquatus, Colymbus arcticus, Colymbus septentrionalis. Loon.

Podiceps. All varieties. Devil diver.

Graculus carbo. Cormorant. shag.

Sterna. All varieties. Mackerel gull.

Larus marinus. Black-backed gull.

Larus. All other varieties. Gull. (Young) grey gull.

A few of the common names given are new, with details certainly helpful in presenting another published perspective for a time many decades in the past.

Both articles have particular details on historic bird names, each identities pertinent to the overall understanding of this subject. These little bits add to the original sources that help identify the variety of many names formerly used for different species for a limited area of interest. Such local contributions are so pertinent to adequately addressing the larger challenges to clarify applicable names used worldwide for times more than 125 years in the past.

Avian nomenclature has always been consistent in the views of the people that prepare some list or another. But is has never been stable, with no single authority. Changes have been and are consistent and constant, making it difficult to attribute accurate contemporary names. Its an obvious problem to follow naming schemes in a historic sense, even with the certainly appreciated and particular attention by authoritative writers that have issued articles focused on clarifying acceptable names and known synonyms.

Roosevelt Pursued Birds as a Naturalist in the Latter 1870s

As a teen, Theodore D. Roosevelt, was in the outdoors watching birds about the expanses of the Adirondack Mountains wildness.

His efforts started when he was 14 in 1874, in the outdoors of the region in New York. A personal interest in natural history meant hiking about the heights to closely observe seasonal birds to denote their seasonal occurrence and little bits of their natural history.

The same focus occurred the subsequent summer season. And, after Roosevelt became a university student, he had a partner in this outdoor effort. They both eventually wrote about their observations. It was published for perpetuity and it a presidential tidbit of history.

Henry David Minot, a fellow student at Harvard University where Roosevelt arrived in 1876, helped compile the written record of bird life they had personally published in 1877. The catalogue was based on observations made in August 1874, August 1875 and from June 22 to July 9, in 1877, according to its text. The focal point was Saint Regis Lake.

The two young biologists hiked around a region of the Adirondack Mountains, in Franklin County, New York. Specimens were collected, though their fate is not apparent in the literature.

Their list of species - updated here to provide a modern common name - included a particular year, with some notes from the original article issued in 1879.

Designated Common Name - Year Seen - Record Notes

American Bittern - 1877 - bittern, Botaurus mugitans; occasional

American Black Duck - 1877 - black duck; breeds, rare

American Crow - 1877 - crow; comparatively uncommon

American Goldfinch - 1877 - goldfinch; common; less so than in the White Mountains

American Robin - 1877 - robin; moderately common

American Three-toed Woodpecker - 1877 - banded-backed woodpecker, Picoides Americanus; much less common than the black-backed woodpecker

American Woodcock - 1877 - woodcock; in July, one was shot

Bald Eagle - 1877 - bald eagle; rare, but seen at least once

Bank Swallow - 1877 - bank swallow; rather rare

Barn Swallow - 1877 - barn swallow

Barred Owl - 1875 - barred owl; one shot in August, 1875; probably not very rare

Belted Kingfisher - 1877 - kingfisher

Black-backed Woodpecker - 1877 - black-backed woodpecker, Picoides arcticus; common; second in numbers to the Hairy only

Black-billed Cuckoo - 1877 - cuckoo, Coccygus erythropthalmus; twice heard

Black-capped Chickadee - 1877 - chickadee, Parus atricapillus; rather scarce in June; abundant in August

Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1877 - black-throated blue warbler; common

Black-throated Green Warbler - 1877 - black-throated green warbler; common

Blackburnian Warbler - 1877 - orange-throated warbler; common

Blue Jay - 1877 - blue jay; moderately common

Blue-headed Vireo - 1877 - solitary vireo; very common

Bobolink - 1874 - bobolink; several seen, August 1874

Boreal Chickadee - 1877 - Hudsonian chickadee; in small flocks at Bay Pond in the early part of August

Broad-winged Hawk - 1874 - broad-winged hawk; one shot August 24th, 1874

Brown Creeper - 1877 - brown creeper; common

Brown-headed Cowbird - 1877 - cow-bird; rare

Canada Goose - 1877 - Canada goose; in some parts quite plentiful

Canada Warbler - 1877 - Canada flycatcher; less common than in the White Mountains

Cedar Waxwing - 1877 - cedar-bird, Ampelis cedrorum; common

Chimney Swift - 1877 - chimney swift; common, and often met with in the wilds

Chipping Sparrow - 1877 - chipping sparrow

Cliff Swallow - 1877 - cliff swallow; seen near Malone

Common Grackle - 1877 - crow blackbird; neither rare nor common

Common Loon - 1877 - loon, Colymbus torquatus; rare, but in 1870 common

Common Nighthawk - 1877 - night hawk

Common Raven - 1874 - raven; pair at Lake Farnsby, August 1874

Common Yellowthroat - 1877 - Maryland yellow-throat; hardly common; very common in the White Mountains

Cooper's Hawk - 1877 - Cooper's hawk

Dark-eyed Junco - 1877 - snow-bird, Junco hyemalis; common

Downy Woodpecker - 1877 - downy woodpecker; once seen in June, and common in August

Eastern Bluebird - 1877 - blue bird; common near Malone

Eastern Kingbird - 1877 - king-bird, Tyrannus Carolinensis; common

Eastern Phoebe - 1877 - pewee, Sayornis fuscus

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1877 - wood pewee, Contopus virens

Field Sparrow - 1877 - ?field sparrow

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1877 - golden-crowned wren; quite common

Gray Catbird - 1877 - cat-bird; observed near Malone

Gray Jay - 1877 - Canada jay; locally common in the thicker woods

Great Blue Heron - 1877 - great blue heron; rare

Great Crested Flycatcher - 1877 - great crested flycatcher; very rare

Great Horned Owl - 1877 - great horned owl; common in wild parts

Hairy Woodpecker - 1877 - hairy woodpecker; very common

Hermit Thrush - 1877 - hermit thrush; common

Herring Gull - 1877 - herring gull; rare, breeds

Least Flycatcher - 1877 - least flycatcher; strikingly common, and much in tree-tops

Magnolia Warbler - 1877 - Dendroeca maculosa, black and yellow warbler; not common

Mourning Warbler - 1877 - mourning warbler; locally not uncommon

Nashville Warbler - 1877 - Nashville warbler; not common

Northern Flicker - 1877 - golden-winged woodpecker

Northern Goshawk - 1877 - goshawk; found in June

Northern Parula - 1877 - blue yellow-backed warbler; very common

Northern Waterthrush - 1877 - Siurus naevius, water thrush; rare summer resident

Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1877 - olive-sided flycatcher; not uncommon

Osprey - 1877 - fish hawk; rare, but certainly breeds here

Ovenbird - 1877 - golden-crowned thrush; quite common

Passenger Pigeon - 1877 - wild pigeon; undoubtedly to be found here at times

Pileated Woodpecker - 1877 - pileated woodpecker; rare

Pine Siskin - 1874 - siskin; one specimen, August 27, 1874

Purple Finch - 1877 - purple finch; common

Purple Martin - 1877 - purple martin; one seen at Malone

Red Crossbill - 1877 - red crossbill; not rare

Red-breasted Merganser - 1877 - merganser, Mergus serrator; breed, rare

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1877 - red-bellied nuthatch; common

Red-eyed Vireo - 1877 - red-eyed vireo; very common

Red-tailed Hawk - 1877 - red-tailed buzzard

Red-winged Blackbird - 1877 - red-winged blackbird; by no means abundant

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1877 - hummingbird, Trochilus colubris; rare; lives in the woods

Ruffed Grouse - 1877 - ruffed grouse; not uncommon

Rusty Blackbird - 1877 - rusty blackbird; two or three seen in June

Savannah Sparrow - 1877 - savannah sparrow; apparently rare

Scarlet Tanager - 1877 - scarlet tanager; two pairs found in June near the Upper Saint Regis Lake

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1877 - sharp-shinned hawk

Song Sparrow - 1877 - song sparrow; common; much less so than in the White Mountains

Spotted Sandpiper - 1877 - spotted sandpiper

Swainson's Thrush - 1877 - Swainson's thrush; commonest thrush

Swamp Sparrow - 1877 - swamp sparrow; found in the wet ground covered with shrubs, which borders the stream connecting the Upper Saint Regis and Spitfire Lakes

Tennessee Warbler - 1877 - ?Tennessee warbler

Tree Swallow - 1877 - white-breasted swallow; common, and met with far from any buildings

Vesper Sparrow - 1877 - bay-winged sparrow, Pooecetes gramineus; common

Whip-poor-will - 1877 - whippoorwill; heard early in July

White-throated Sparrow - 1877 - white-throated sparrow; common

Willow Flycatcher - 1877 - Traill's flycatcher; rare

Winter Wren - 1877 - winter wren; moderately common

Wood Duck - 1877 - wood duck; breeds, rare

Yellow Warbler - 1877 - yellow warbler; common near Malone

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1877 - yellow-bellied flycatcher; rather rare

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1877 - yellow-bellied woodpecker; quite common

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1877 - yellow-rumped warbler; common in August; resident in the White Mountains

This article was the first printed work from among the array of written history that was to be scribed by Roosevelt. With details on nearly 100 species, it conveys a the sense of status for species about 130 years in the past for a particular eastern American county.

Roosevelt continued to have an interest in birds, and according to history, was first in his college class in natural history. Although his focus for a career was personally and directly turned away from science in 1878, he still had a fervent appreciation for the outdoors and natural history.

There was another article published in 1879, based on observations from Oyster Bay, Long Island. Some of the first notations were from 1874, and following years, with less than half from an unattributed date, equitable for the year the article was once again, personally published. These records are given in chronological order.

Common Name - Year Seen - Record Notes

Fish Crow - 1874 - Corvus ossifragus; shot a male December 30, 1874

Red-headed Woodpecker - 1874 - Melanerpes erythrocephalus; during the winter of 1873-1874, when it was not uncommon

Peregrine Falcon - 1875 - Falco communis; a pair in September 1875; worked great havoc among the night herons

Northern Mockingbird - 1876 - Mimus polyglottus; one shot August 15, 1876

Snowy Owl - 1876 - Nyctea scandiaca; common in the autumn of 1876

Willow Flycatcher - 1876 - Empidonax trailli; one shot June 12, 1876

Connecticut Warbler - 1877 - Oporornis agilis; one shot September 25, 1877

Golden-winged Warbler - 1878 - Helminthophaga chrysoptera; shot May 10, 1878; almost certain I have seen it in summer

Savannah Sparrow - 1878 - Passerculus princeps; one shot December 28, 1878; one other seen; = ipswich sparrow = savannah sparrow

Acadian Flycatcher - 1879 - Empidonax acadicus; rather common summer resident

Black-capped Chickadee - 1879 - Parus atricapillus; nests

Blue-winged Warbler - 1879 - Helminthophaga pinus; rather common summer resident, arriving early in May; found a nest on June 10

Northern Parula - 1879 - Parula americana; rather common summer resident

Pine Warbler - 1879 - Dendroica pinus; rather common summer resident; about as common as the aestiva

Swainson's Thrush - 1879 - Turdus Swainsoni; common migrant; usually arrives from the north about September 20, departing about October 10; have found them as late as the middle of November

Veery - 1879 - Turdus fuscescens; rather uncommon migrants; in spring, passes about the middle of May; in autumn, during the last week of August and first week of September

Both lists combined, contain details on 109 species, and are a substanative contribution to information on historic ornithology for the middle to late 1870s. The Franklin county contributions are notable especially for providing the only information for this place prior to 1880. There are other, previous records for the county in which Oyster Bay is located, among the known historic record of bird notes and observations.

In the early 1880s, Roosevelt's interest in natural history, though subsumed, continued him, especially writing a book on hunting, game animals and related outdoor aspects from the wilds of North Dakota, especially.

Once Roosevelt became President - serving the country from 1901 to 1909 - he was especially recognized for actions taken to conserve natural habitats and resources.

Sportsmen Pen Profound Poetic Prose

Wild Pigeons (Ectopistes Migratorius).

The Autumn sky is fleck'd with gold,

As slow the westering sun declines,

The floating clouds' ensanguin'd fold

With a resplendent glory shines;

And as the glimmering shadows creep

Across the fading landscape's breast

And o'er the purpling mountain's sweep,

The drowsy breezes sink to rest.

 

The roe-buck to his thicket goes,

Where dense the wood its covert throws

The red stag that had paused to drink

Beside the rivulet's plashy brink

Exhausted flings his dappled side

Along the cool, transparent tide —

'Tis there the pigeons seek the wood

To roost, a blue-wing'd, fluttering brood.

 

Deep in Wisconsin wilderness,

In forests dim of Michigan,

The bending boughs their bosoms press,

The air their clanging pinions fan.

So vast their numbers, hunters say

They sweep the bough and break the spray,

And oft their startled millions rise

With roar, like thunder of the skies.

 

Years since, in wild woods of the East,

They gathered to the harvest feast;

They swarm'd by river and by shore,

In vast flocks flew the pastures o'er;

They swept, innumerable, the plain,

Gleaning the corn-field and the grain —

Then, winging to some wood their flight,

Settled in roosting-place for night.

 

When emigration, toward the West,

In restless emulation press'd,

And ax and plow, and farmer's toil,

Open'd the furrows of the soil;

And myriad acres of the wheat

Yellow'd in Summer's sultry heat;

And bearded rye and golden corn

Shook their bright tresses to the morn —

Then, to these sumptuous pastures new

These wing'd, devouring robbers flew.

 

When June, with rose-red cheeks aglow,

Broadcast, wild strawberries doth strow;

When August, on the sun-bright hills,

With nectar the ripe blueberry fills;

O'er all the heated pasture pours

The blackberry in honied stores;

And ripens on the swinging vine

The grapes, like amethysts that shine —

Then to this rich, luxurious fare,

So prodigal, the flocks repair,

Rejoicing in the festival

That bounteous Nature yields to all.

Isaac McLellan. January 10, 1878. Forest and Stream & Rod and Gun 9(23): 1.

The Loon.

A lake dark and lonely, from Nature's own hand,

Midst high towering mountains, wild, savage and grand,

Lies hidden secure, in its framework of green,

And reflects every object — rock, forest and stream.

From its dark surface oft, at close of the day,

Comes a cry, loud and shrill, from a far distant bay.

 

The sweet, timid doe, from the fastnesses still,

Seeks its lone sandy shore, to wander at will;

To nip tender lily leaves, bright grasses green,

And to playfully wander, a brown forest queen.

She listens! Again comes the sound loud and clear,

In shrill clarion tones to her listening ear.

 

The lone hunter sleeping 'neath rough-slant of bark,

In the shade of the forest trees, sombre and dark,

Is roused from his slumber when daybreak is near;

With his head raised he listens! What sound strikes his ear?

Far off on the lake, 'mid the darkness and gloom,

He hears through the forest the cry of the loon.

 

With voice of a fiend comes that sound from the gloom,

Now laughing, now shrieking, like ghost from the tomb;

Now taunting, now crying, now screaming like mad,

As he rocks on the waves of the lake, free and glad.

He rouses the wolf from his brush tangled lair,

And laughs, Ha! ha! ha! in the lightning's red glare.

 

At crack of the rifle, down under the wave

Like a flash he is gone — to a watery grave?

No, no! See, he rises and shakes his black wing,

And he floats free as air; on the wave he is king.

Yes, king of the solitude, king of the wave,

Then hurrah for the bird so blithesome and brave.

 

When the Storm King's abroad and wild breakers dash,

Oh, he laughs and he screams at the thunder's loud crash;

In the elements dire he is king of the wave,

The wind and the waters his black plumage lave,

Then hurrah for the bird of the wilderness wild,

In darkness and tempest thou'rt Nature's own child.

Oh, bird of the woods and the waters so wild,

Thy praises I'll chant, thou true Nature's child.

Windsor, Conn., April 7, 1878.

Balsam. May 9, 1878. Forest and Stream & Rod and Gun 10(14): 1.

Chickaree.

In a wide-spreading tree

A spry chickaree

With heart full of glee,

Had chattered a noisy good-morning;

And seemed in his fun

To be telling some one

Of the work he had done

His nest in the branches adorning.

 

A bright squirrel guest

He had brought to his nest,

And was doing his best

In showing his snug little dwelling;

He had said in his pride

He would like to reside

With her as a bride, —

And that is the tale he was telling.

 

So high in the beach,

So far out of reach,

So cosy for each,

And a brown-thrush too for a neighbor;

She could hear the bird sing

While nuts he would bring —

Or any sweet thing, —

And love would thus hallow his labor.

 

They could see the sun set,

And tell how they met,

And would never regret

The day they had started together,

To work and to play,

From danger away,

From day unto day,

Whatever the season or weather.

 

The gay little guest

Accepted the nest —

She thought it was best —

Where the beautiful branches were spreading;

And tho' coy and demure,

Heart willing and pure,

Said "Yes" to her wooer,

And the wood-bells rang out for a wedding.

 

In the wide-spreading tree

They sing "Chickaree"

With hearts full of glee,

And chatter a noisy good morning;

While he in his way,

Light-hearted and gay,

Is seeming to say,

Her love now his home is adorning.

J.C. Burnett. April 17, 1879. Forest and Stream & Rod and Gun 12(11): 1.

For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun

The American Eagle.

Monarch of the realms supernal,

Ranging over land and sea;

Symbol of the great Republic,

Who so noble and free!

Thine the boundless fields of ether,

Heaven’s abyss unfathom’d thine,

Far beyond our feeble vision,

On thy bars its sunbeams shine!

Borne on iron-banded pinion,

On from pole to pole you sweep;

O’er sea islands, craggy mountains,

O’er the hoarse-resounding deep.

Now, thy fanning plumes o’ershadow,

Northern cliff and ice-berg grim;

Now, o’er southern, soft savannahs,

With unflagging circuits skim.

 

He that feeds the tender raven

And the sea bird of the rock,

Tempers the inclement breezes

To the shorn and bleating flock,

Leads thee o’er the wastes of ocean,

Guides o’er savage flood and wood,

And from bounteous nature’s store house

Feeds they clamoring, hungry brood.

 

O’er the mountains of Caucasus;

Over Appenine and Alp;

Over Rocky Mounts, Cordilleras;

O’er the Andes’ herbless scalp;

High above those snowy summits,

Where no living thing abides,

He, that notes the falling sparrow,

Feeds the, fosters thee, and guides.

 

Thou wingest where a tropic sky

Bends o’er thee its celestial dome;

Where sparkling waters greet the eye,

And gentlest breezes fan the foam;

Where spicy breath from groves of palm,

Laden with aromatic balm,

Blows over, mingled with perfume

Of luscious fruit and honeyed bloom;

Green shores, adorned with drooping woods;

Gay grottoes, island solitudes;

Savannahs, where palmettos screen

The Indian’s hut with living green,

Behold thy pinions as they sweep,

Careering in the upper deep.

Isaac McLellan. April 24, 1879. Forest and Stream 12(12): 223.

The Sea Gull.

Sea-bird! Skimmer of the wave!

Whither doth thy journey tend?

Is it to some southern shore,

Where the meadow-rushes bend,

Where the orange-blossoms blow,

Where the aloe and the palm

Flourish, and magnolias glow,

Filling all the air with balm?

 

Haply, is thy pilgrim wing

Flitting to some northern bar,

Where the rocky reef runs out

And the sand beach stretches far?

There in hot and silvery sand

All thy pearly eggs to lay,

There to teach thy little brood

O'er the breaking surf to play.

 

Haply, sailing o'er the brine,

Painted 'gainst the lurid sky;

O'er the gray horizon's verge

Thou dost even now descry

Some lone bark with shatter'd mast,

Bulwarks swept and tatter'd sail,

Fighting with the ocean blast —

Lost and shipwreck'd in the gale!

 

Restless, roving, lonely bird!

Wandered of the pathless seas;

Now where tropic woods are stirr'd,

Now where drifting icebergs freeze;

Seldom doth the solid shore

See thy folded pinions droop;

Only waves, that tumbling pour,

Lure thee from thy airy sweep.

Isaac McLellan. May 15, 1879. Forest and Stream & Rod and Gun 12(15): 1.

Original

Wild Turkey. (Meleagris gallopavo.)

The purpling twilight's melting blue,

Is fading with its transient hue,

The red cloud that erewhile did float

The heavenly vault like painted boat,

Now with a denser shadow creeps

Across the darkening upper deeps.

The glow that late the river's tide

With its encrimonson'd blushes dyed,

Hath vanish'd, and the rushing flood

Flow gloomy past the bordering wood;

Now to their roosts wild turkeys stray,

And ambush'd hunters seek their prey.

 

This wandering, shy, secluded bird,

This roamer of the forest-ground,

Thro' all the western wilderness,

In dense, embowering haunt is found.

In all the groves that shade the shores,

Of Mississippi's swelling flood,

And where the grand Missouri pours,

Thro' every dim and tangled wood,

In multitudes immense they roam

Afar from human step and home.

 

So shy, that scarce the hunter's gun

May harm them, bursting on the wing,

So fleet, that scarce pursuing steed

Its rider within shot may bring;

But only may he lie in wait

Like bandit watching for his game

And lure the victims to their fate —

The whistling ball, the rifle-flame.

 

Seek them where gloomy shadows fall

Beneath the forests grim and tall,

In the deep alder-brakes, or where

The dark pines lift their spears in air,

And there where slow a streamlet creeps,

Or swift through bushy ravine sweeps,

Hid in the ferns that droop around,

Your call deceptive, cautious sound;

Soon you will hear the answering note,

From the embowering thickets float,

Soon will you see the noble game

Step forth — then steady be your aim!

 

All stratagems, all cunning wiles,

The settlers fail not to employ;

For when the springing maize-field smiles,

Their flocks the tender ears destroy.

Then trench is dug, and train is led

Of sprinkled corn along the trail,

And where the treacherous feast is spread,

The flock is swept with volleying hail.

Isaac McLellan. November 13, 1879. Forest and Stream & Rod and Gun 13(15): 1.

Understanding Boreal Forest Avifauna in Russia

Results of studies conducted in the mid-1990s are providing new understanding of the distribution and occurrence of birds in the boreal forest of Russia.

"The purpose of this study was to assess the geographic pattern in the abundance, species richness, and importance of different migration patterns of the avifauna boreal forest of Eurasia from Europe to East Asia as well as their relationship to climate and forest productivity,"according to an article recently published in the Journal of Biogeography.

Standard point counts that record the bird species present were conducted at 14 sites in the boreal forest from the western border near Finland to the far east of Russia. There were also two study sites in Canada that were surveyed for comparative purposes.

Observations were made primarily by experienced Russian ornithologists, with North American observers newly training on Palearctic bird identification doing the field surveys at the Central Siberian and Kostroma study areas.

"The distribution patterns for migrant types were related to both climatic and locational variables, and thus the patterns could be explained by either climatic regime or the accessibility of winter habitats, both historically and currently," according to the article authored by Russell Greenberg, director of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Anna Kozlenko, currently of Ohio, Matthew Etterson, currently with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Thomas Dietsch, at the Center for Tropical Research, U.C.L.A.

Results indicated a lesser number of species in the Siberia area in comparison to sites in European Russia and the far east part of the country. Also, there were a greater number of tropical migrants in the eastern study areas, than in the western portion of the boreal forest evaluated. Also, "the numerical dominance of short-distance migrants increased from east to west.

The paper presented two hypotheses for the variability in the bird occurrence.

1) "bird populations are responding to the two major climatic gradients ...: a continental pattern in temperature regimes resulting in more extreme temperatures and shorter growing seasons in the mid-continent, and a gradient of summer precipitation from west to east.

2) "the accessibility of tropical and non-tropical wintering areas plays a role either in patterns of overall abundance or in the relative importance of tropical vs. within-temperate migration patterns."

---

In an email interview Dr. Greenberg provided further details on the research.

What were some of the particular challenges during the field surveys?

"Lots of logistical challenges. Rural Russia is very poor and you can not count on being able to get much – so you have to set up your expedition in advance. We could not have done it without the hard work of a couple of Russian colleagues on the project Anna Kozlenko and Olga Romaneski. Other Russians helped enormously and most of the field work done across Russia was done by Ornithologists at the Russian Scientific Nature Reserves. One thing that makes these projects easier in Russia is that there are a lot of really competent field ornithologists. They are really having a tough time. But many joined in for this effort.

"Of course there are the usual clouds of mosquitoes and endless supplies of horseflies and the long rides up Yennessey River on a tiny motorized canoe crammed with supplies and two huskies and completely without life jackets... ."

How many species were noted in Russia?

"I should be clear that a number of different people did all of the surveys. The total recorded on our surveys was around 160 – but more species were seen than this. This list was accumulated on Nature Reserves from extreme western to extreme eastern Russia."

What were some of the more exciting finds?

"We collected a lot of foraging data – particularly for canopy foliage gleaning species. People have wondered how well the MacArthur’s warbler story (6 or so insectivorous wood warblers in the same spruce/fir forest in Maine) translates to the old world system. Some have suggested that tits (which are far more diverse in the old world) have a parallel system of partitioning the trees.

"We found that a single unspecialized species dominates all forest habitat in the European boreal (west of the Ural Mountains) – the Chaffinch and that very few Russian boreal birds are specialized on coniferous trees the way the North American birds are – at least for the insect eating birds.

"We also found that in terms of climate and bird assemblages – eastern North America boreal is more similar to the Russian Far East than it is to the Fenno-Scandinavean region. For the most part, comparative studies have focused on comparing the eastern Nearctic with the Western Palearctic. But it looks like we need to head to the Amur River."

How were you involved in the research?

"I got a research fellowship with research money from the Pew Fellows Program in conservation and the environment in 1991. I used much of this support to fund this work. This was shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and I had always thought the studying Russian birds was the key to understanding boreal forest birds. I had lots of help and collaborators from the United States, Canada and Russia."

What is the value of the Russian boreal forest for bird species and variety?

"The Russian Boreal is a little more species rich than ours. It seems to have a less specialized avifauna – particularly in the realm of warblers and flycatchers etc. But its sheer geographic extent makes it home to a lot of species of migratory birds – and in the east this includes a lot of tropical migratory species."

What are some of the challenges to learning more about birds in Russia?

"The secret is that a lot is known about the distribution and ecology of Russian birds. Russia has a rich history of bird research. But most of it does not get published outside of Russia or the Russian language. Many of the publications are hard to come by. So connecting more with the Russian Ornithologists is the a great first step. Of course, Siberia and the Russian Far East are vast areas with few field stations supporting long-term research. But there are some."

How are biogeographic studies such as this one helpful with conserving birds?

"I think getting people aware of the abundance and diversity of birds in this vast biome – much of which is still intact but threatened by resource exploitation (particularly the Far East). We found that it was very hard to find any pristine habitat in the European boreal – much harder than in North America, So the few stands of old growth dark coniferous forest need protection. We conducted the work in the Scientific Nature Reserve system – which has considerable value but it suffering with the Russian economy."

"Research continues within Russia, but little is getting out still. Some papers have come out on the Phylloscopus warblers studied at the Myrnoe field station in central Siberia, but I have seen very little else. There has been some genetic and phylogeographic work across the Beringian region (Siberia and Alaska)."

Dr. Greenberg, associated with the Smithsonian Institution, is a co-author of "Biology of Two Worlds - the Ecology and Evolution of Migration," published in 2005; and a co-editor of "Forest Patches in Tropical Landscapes" published in 1996.

Visitor Centers Being Designed to be Bird-Friendly

Sherburne NWR visitor center.

Visitor centers at nature refuges are being designed and built in a manner to ensure they are bird-friendly and that deadly window strikes do not occur.

This initiative started 5-10 years ago for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while the agency was "developing standard design features for visitor centers to reduce up front-costs and to provide a similar look to centers across the different refuges," said Kevin Kilcullen, a spokesman for the agency.

The agency wanted to make sure that buildings were attractive places for visitors but did not pose a threat to migratory birds.

"We think we met these objectives," Kilcullen said, "but continued to evaluate methods that would remove any threats to birds. "Two-three years ago when we started a new initiative to make wildlife refuges more bird-friendly to attract birders, we included additional efforts to minimize bird strikes."

The agency now actively works to have bird-friendly structures when new centers are designed and constructed. Steps taken recently at different refuges include:

• The team developing a design for a new center at Sherburne NWR, in MN, is aware of the potential for bird strikes and will include designs to avoid or minimize any chance of occurrence.
• The recently completed center at Tualatin River NWR is being monitored to ensure that if any strikes do occur, steps can be taken to rectify the situation.
• The new center at Ottawa NWR on the southern edge Lake Erie – a known "hotspot" for bird migration - is being closely monitored to make certain that there are no bird strikes at the structure.
• At Blackwater NWR, where the observation tower has a large area of glass to allow easy viewing of birds on the nearby Chesapeake marshlands. If bird strikes would be noted, refuge staff would then take measures to rectify the situation, Kilcullen said.

Kodiak NWR visitor center.

Tualatin River NWR visitor center.

In 2008, the American Bird Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service staff held a meeting at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) to discuss this topic.

Various methods to reduce bird strikes against windows and outreach efforts were discussed, according to Karin Christensen, of the F.W.S. "NCTC has installed CollidEscape filming on the exterior of target windows, which reduced bird strikes by 100%. The American Bird Conservancy is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification points for builders that take into consideration bird strikes."

At Encinitas, California, the new nature center at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve is also being monitored.

The "operations staff has considered the potential threat of the glass windows in the building for passing wildlife," said Cailin Hunsaker, the district park manager. "They have decals ready to place if they notice this problem, and we would continue to address it until we find a permanent solution."

"It is a challenge is to allow bird watching through large windows, while making sure there are no bird strikes" said Kilcullen. "It is a fine line between bird protection and making them more accessible for viewing."

---

The New York Audubon Society recently issued a 55-page manual on "Bird-Safe Building Guidelines, for architects, landscape designers, engineers, glass technicians, developers, building managers, city, state, and federal officials, and the general public." The report includes ways to retrofit buildings which are known to pose a threat and cause deadly bird strikes.

Avian Nomenclature for North America Needs Certainty and Stability

An incessant and certainly endless change that causes constant and ongoing consternation to denote bird occurrence records for North American and elsewhere is an always changing nomenclature. Constant changes mean endless revisions in common names and taxonomic order.

It is questionable whether there is anyone's bird list which matches what is now supposedly the accepted nomenclature of the proper common name, listed in a nomenclature order that some self-appointed authorities convey as being correct.

It is now spring 2009, and more changes will need to be considered, again, based on published citations issued in recent and pending months.

One particular foreign species, for example, a starling, is now not the European Starling, but is rendered as the Common Starling, with the A.O.U. group now in synch with the I.O.C. group.

How many bird watchers on the continent have matching records? There has been some discussion about the abbreviated code for the species on an online forum, so there is some attention being given to the change, though when this discussion ends is not readily apparent. Who will update each of the historic designations, as it won't just happen without some apparent effort!

Which list is authoritative and should be a given attention for presenting a valid list of species for some place? Acceptable common names have been revised by groups of apparent authorities that obviously change names and taxonomy based on their understanding of bird characteristics. This view is valid but continually problematic, again and again.

The changes require constant and ongoing revisions that require changes again and again. Some dedicated few working for free and providing the amazingly valuable results online, document and present the historic record for ornithology for a particular expanse, whether worldwide or local, have to deal with these changes.

The views of an authoritative group recognized via a limited perspective, apparently, seem to be indifferent to what may be wrought onto others. What they present is what shall be accepted and used to be correct, without some consideration of the revisionary effort needed to make changes to fit their decisions.

The changes are incessant whatever the source. The self-designated authorities issue more changes in the manner how bird species are identified and listed. The species don't change, but their interpretation always does.

As changes in nomenclature have been unending for centuries, the revisions are based on some perspective of records during several millennium for North America.

Historic ornithologists that have actually spent so much time rectifying the changes in accepted bird names need stability in order to summarize and present a valid list of species in some accepted manner, rather than again and again making another change based on some groups view.

Changes cannot be easily ignored as nomenclature is based on something that is supposedly consistent for a period of time. Yet, it always changes every year, based on opinions that are based in some seemingly obtuse sense of reality. How many of the people that prefer to change common or scientific names have actually had to deal with the records of historic ornithology and the obscure terms presented by people that issued important notices of bird occurrence.

There are probably very few modern ornithologists that have a valid view of the submissions freely given by so many watchers that thought their sightings were important enough for then to write it down and send it on to some publication.

Records need to presented with validity, but since the continually endless, and ongoing changes can't be ignored because some people prefer to continually change nomenclature cannot present a list that provides stability for more than a year's time.

How outdated is the list of species for the multiple thousands of records for collected specimens at the Smithsonian Institution with its hundreds of thousands of carcasses? According to their presentation, the taxonomy is more than an decade out of date, as their bird names are based on information from the mid-1990s.

How can a valid list be presented with endless changes in taxonomic order and approved names?

When will the endless changes be finished and allow the common bird watcher and historic ornithologist to present a list of species of some sort that is not outdated?

Since bird nomenclature cannot be readily presented in an acceptable manner to allow easy edits for record keepers, perhaps the given strictures should just be ignored?

Will this mean chaos and uncertainty? Probably over the long term. Personally, a list presented using archaic terminology is just as accurate as anything using the most recent terms. And such a list has some special appreciation and proven value forged through time beyond one year after another.

Gulls Stream Across Skies of Midtown River City

While at a city park on a Wednesday evening just before the first day of spring in midtown Omaha, a multitude of some particular birds of the fresh season conveyed a new appreciation for what can be seen in the skies above the city.

The sheer number of gulls could not be blithely ignored.

So many gulls soared and floated in an avian manner up in the aerial realm of an urban landscape. Occasionally vibrant, subtle calls issued from some particular bird among the throng, with distinct groups that sallied forth from the lifting thermals as they were in flight, going eastward to reach their known roost for the night. This whole situation was ongoing for a certain amount of time, and continued for bunch of time exceeding an hour, appreciated as a watcher's enjoyment.

An Unforgettable Sight

Flocks of gulls had been seen before during different seasons and were known to move back and forth in the skies above the Carthage neighborhood, the recognized Dundee and Memorial Park, but the actual extent had not really been realized.

This particular evening indicated how the gull stream was a not an aberrant event, but a spring season occurrence that bird watcher's should obviously appreciate.

This particular time and place on March 19, 2009, the gulls presented an indomitable show of flight in cerulean skyscape. Gulls had gathered on the warm air to soar on thermals of an early spring evening, before moving eastward to a safe haven for the night. It was a time to appreciate, as the estimated number of gulls was more something that approached something like 10,000 birds, an impression derived from the sheer grandeur and enjoyment given by the sweet antics of these birds in magnificent and wonderful flight.

One evenings worth of watching was not sufficient. So, another day of watching followed.

Streaming Wonder

A considerably precise count was made during the time on the evening of Friday, March 20 from a place at Memorial Park.

Upon arriving a bit after 6 P.M., some gulls flying eastward had already been noted above the skies of the Dundee neighborhood.

Once at the park place, the gull stream was soon underway, notably starting with a loosely associated bunch gloing southeast about 6:15 in the evening.

A variable stream of gulls going along was continual thence forth. Counted first was 100, then 150, then 50, then 360 by noting groups of 5 to 10 among the throng. The tally notes that followed were for more, bunches of 90 to 200, with estimatable counts for 200 to 830 when the peak of movement occurred after 6:45 P.M. Numbers were written on a note card only when a lull provided an opportunity, to denote 830, 400, 600, 565, and 370 during a movement that certainly ebbed as sunset approached under a cloudy overcast.

Whew. What a spectacular of an ongoing sight of avian splendor in flight as seen from a grassy knoll in midtown. The bird movement was unending during this interlude of observing the gulls going past, not in an organized flock shape, but in an undulating, moving flow of wingbeats.

The end of the sights this night was about 7:20. The tally determined later was about 8,000 counted gulls. Add to this number, those that had already gone past, plus some few hundred seen westward beyond the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus, that could be seen but were not visible enough to get a count. What a tally!

An added treat of the time was seeing the several bunches of Cedar Waxwings among the pines extant at the southwest portion of the park.

Saturday Morning Lesson

Although arriving at the same mid-city count site by 7 A.M., there were already some gulls going to some unknown westward destination. The first group seen at this early morning hour, was in the sky space above the renowned and celebrated Dundee. Afterwards, after further walking to the park, there was an occasional defined flock of a few hundred. These birds flew together in a cognizant group, since flying together was an assist for birds flying in early morning hours. After another bit of interlude, some more of the flock flew past in the dawn skies. The peak of this time of watching was about 7:30, with a few lesser numbers afterwards. The last bunch noted was at 7:40 this morning.

The flight path was more expansive this morning than on the previous evening. Birds were seen further north of the Memorial Park environs although a bunch were going past directly above the point of observation.

Although the flight was thought to have ended before 8 A.M., about 15 minutes before 9, some more gulls were seen in the local skies.

Saturday evening marked the end of the gull times. Two gulls were seen at 6:15 P.M. languidly winging eastward, across the sky dome above the dueling kites on strings. Then a few minutes later, one more gull went past. A final sighting was the last gull at 6:45 P.M. There were no more seen.

Prognosticating

It is probable that the gulls noted in the cerulean skies are going from one particular place to another. Their destination in the evening is an overnight roost, and in the morning they are going to a suitable place to forage where there is enough sustenance for the day.

An evaluation of records provides this prognostication. It is readily possible that the gulls noted at Memorial Park are going from the west of Omaha to some place east of the river city.

This species of gull might roost overnight at Lake Manawa State Park south of Council Bluffs, Iowa - based on a multitude of records for spring migration in the Missouri River valley - and probably forage during the day at the Douglas County land fill, near Elk City. There are no known records from the latter place, so this interpretation is nothing more than conjecture based on a personal view of how gulls may behave in the wild.

It is basically 23 miles from the landfill site to the Iowa lake. By using an online map, a direct line from the two locales can be drawn, and it shows that Memorial Park - or the intersection of Happy Hollow Boulevard and Underwood Avenue - is right upon the route which gulls may follow when flying a straight-line, direct route from one of these places to another.

Further study would be needed to determine the specifics, but none-the-less the phantasmagoric scenario of migratory gulls cannot be ignored by the birding world, and is certainly an event worthy of appreciation by those that may have an appreciation for the migratory movements of birds along the Missouri River flyway.

These times of watching movements some gulls was certainly something to appreciate and enjoy in specificity for the bird calendar of this year.

---

There were 4000 Ring-billed Gulls present at Lake Manawa on the evening of March 21st.

State of the Birds Discusses Status of U.S. Species

A coalition has just released “State of the Birds,” a “first-ever comprehensive report on bird populations in the United States.”

“Nearly a third of the nation’s 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats,” according to the 36-page report released March 19th.

“Just as they were when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring nearly 50 years ago, birds today are a bellwether of the health of land, water and ecosystems,” said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of Interior. “From shorebirds in New England to warblers in Michigan to songbirds in Hawaii, we are seeing disturbing downward population trends that should set off environmental alarm bells. We must work together now to ensure we never hear the deafening silence in our forests, fields and backyards that Rachel Carson warned us about.”

“The United States is home to a tremendous diversity of native birds,” the report indicates, “with more than 800 species inhabiting terrestrial, coastal, and ocean habitats, including Hawaii. Among these species, 67 are federally listed as endangered or threatened. An additional 184 are species of conservation concern because of their small distribution, high threats, or declining populations.

“Birds are bellwethers of our natural and cultural health as a nation - they are indicators of the integrity of the environments that provide us with clean air and water, fertile soils, abundant wildlife, and the natural resources on which our economic development depends.

“Successful conservation requires information about the population status of every species to ensure the survival of endangered birds and to manage common species so they never become threatened.”

Trends in the numbers of different species was developed from three sources: 1) the North American Breeding Bird Survey, 2) Christmas Bird Count, and 3) waterfowl breeding population surveys. Information gathered since 1968 was used in the analysis.

Conditions of wild habitats used by birds was a particular focus, with a discussion of aridlands, grasslands, different types of forest, Arctic and alpine regions, wetlands, coasts, oceans. For each topic, there is a brief section on current conditions, species in particular trouble, major threats, possible solutions and reasons for hope for the species’ continued survival.

There are “spotlights” included for resident game birds, urban birds, waterfowl, marsh birds, and the endemic species of the Hawaiian Islands.

Identified threats and challenges to birds, briefly summarized within the report, are:

• Residential and commercial development
• Agriculture
• Energy production and mining
• Natural resource use
• Invasive and problem species
• Pollution
• Climate change

“While some bird species are holding their own, many once common species are declining sharply in population. Habitat availability and quality is the key to healthy, thriving bird populations,” said Dave Mehlman of The Nature Conservancy.

The report was a joint venture issued by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, American Bird Conservancy, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, National Audubon Society, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Klamath Bird Observatory, The Nature Conservancy, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Partners in Flight and support from several coalitions working to conserve migratory birds.

A web-site with further details is also available, and includes details on what people can do to help conserve the bird diversity of the nation.

This article was published first at BloggerNews.net

Federal Funding Announced for Wetland Conservation Projects

More than $26 million in grants to protect and restore wetlands and other habitats have been approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

“More than $24.2 million of the more grant funds will support 25 projects in 21 states and Puerto Rico, with partners contributing an additional $60.6 million in matching funds to help protect, restore and enhance almost 185,000 acres,” according to a press release by the Department of Interior.

There are typically several partners with each effort, including federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, land trusts, private landowners and other interested parties.

“By restoring and conserving our wetlands, we are able to help protect this vital habitat for the birds and wildlife that make their homes there,” said Ken Salazar, chairman of the commission, and Secretary of the department.

Several projects received $1 million in federal funds, according to project summaries:

• Suisun Marsh Managed Wetlands Enhancement Project, Phase II; Solano County, California.
• Yolo Basin Wetland Habitat Project, Phase IV; Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties, California.
• San Luis Valley Wetland Project – Phase IV; Alamosa, Rio Grande, Saguache, Conejos and Costilla counties, Colorado
• Platte River Wetlands Partnership II; Weld, Morgan, Logan and Sedgwick counties, Colorado; Garden, Keith, Lincoln, Merrill and Scotts Bluff counties, Nebraska; Goshen County, Wyoming.
• North Florida Wetlands Conservation Project, Phase III; Alachua County, Florida.
• Rayonier-Murff Tract; Long and McIntosh counties, Georgia
• Prairie Lakes Wetland Initiative III; 19 counties in the Prairie Pothole Region of Iowa.
• Southeastern Prairie Potholes; 24 counties within the Prairie Pothole Region of Iowa
• Glaciated Valleys of Northwest Montana 2; Flathead, Lake and Sanders counties, Montana.
• Rainwater Basin Habitat Conservation Project – Phase IV; 17 counties in central Nebraska
• North Carolina Onslow Bight Partnership Phase III; Carteret, Craven, Onslow and Pender counties, North Carolina
• Southeastern North Carolina Wetlands Initiative I; Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus and Pender counties, North Carolina
• North Dakota Drift Prairie Project – II; 22 counties in North Dakota
• Willamette River Delta Restoration Project, Phase II; Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Columbia counties, Oregon
• Winyah Bay Protection Project: Phase I; Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties, South Carolina
• Texas Chenier Plain Wetlands Improvement Project.; Chambers and Jefferson counties, Texas
• Southern Tip Ecological Partnership II (STEP-2); Northampton and Accomack counties, Virginia.
• San Miguel Natural Reserve; Luquillo, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Nearly $2 million was awarded for seven projects that will protect 2,470 acres of habitat in Mexico. Partners will provide an additional $3.5 million.

The NAWCA is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Grants are “funded by annual Congressional appropriations; fines, penalties and forfeitures levied under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; interest accrued on funds under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and excise taxes paid on small engine fuels through the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Fund.”

Funds are provided each year for projects which undergo a review and are selected by members of the commission. Funding is often provided in different years to continue a long-term project.

This article first appeared on BloggerNews.net

Benefits of Pacific Marine Monuments for Seabirds

The recent designation of three new marine monuments by federal officials will have great benefits for seabirds of the central Pacific Ocean.

The three areas, covering 195,274 square miles, are:

¶ Marianas Trench Marine National Monument,

¶ Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument; and

¶ Rose Atoll Marine National Monument

"The important and precedent-setting nature of this action lies in the acknowledgment by policy-makers that pelagic - open ocean habitats are essential to seabirds for foraging and can be protected in the same way as terrestrial habitat," said Beth Flint, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"The estimated 14 million resident seabirds using the breeding islands and waters of the Central tropical Pacific are primarily pelagic feeders." – F.W.S. report

There are several important values associated with bird-life of the newly designated marine monuments in the central tropics.

• "The areas designated are used by over 4 million tropical seabirds that breed on Monument Islands and at least 10 million more that are pre-breeders or migrants passing through those waters on their way to Northern and Southern breeding grounds.
• "These waters are particularly important for Sooty Terns, Grey-backed Terns, Lesser Frigatebirds, and Masked Boobies surrounding islands that support over half the world’s population at some times of year.
• "The pelagic habitat (12- 200 miles) in the Central Tropical Pacific is not just the blue space on a chart but a complex and heterogeneous ocean ecosystem on which almost all life in the marine tropics depends.
• "Seabirds are dependent on obtaining their food as a result of tuna and other large predatory fish feeding near the surface of the ocean. They require the presence of these large fish to concentrate prey and force it to the surface where they can capture it.
• "During the breeding season a seabird’s success depends on the presence of tuna and other large fish foraging within 300 miles of the breeding colony.
• "A particularly high level of marine ecosystem protection (no take) within 12 miles of seabird breeding colonies is warranted because local hydrographic and biological features are particularly important environments of more concentrated productivity that most seabird species and some migratory fish species need during their reproductive phases.
• "The impact of large-scale commercial purse seine fishing goes beyond depletion of the stocks of target pelagic species to include impacts to a variety of other fish, marine turtles, and marine mammals and the reduction of tuna biomass which reduces the foraging opportunities for seabirds."

Migrants that transit the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. Information courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mottled Petrel Murphy’s Petrel Kermadec Petrel Herald Petrel Juan Fernandez Petrel Cook’s Petrel Black-winged Petrel Stejneger’s Petrel Providence Petrel Pycroft’s Petrel Tahiti Petrel Phoenix Petrel Gould’s Petrel Collared Petrel	Pink-footed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Buller’s Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Slender-billed Shearwater Wilson’s Storm-petrel Leach’s Storm-petrel Band-rumped Storm-petrel White-throated Storm-petrel Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger South Polar Skua

"We haven't the vaguest idea how many of each of the non-breeding species use the Monument waters as systematic quantitative pelagic surveys have never been done around any of these islands," Flint said. "There are no land birds at these sites except for a few species of migratory shorebirds that winter in small numbers at each site (Bristle-thighed Curlews, Pacific Golden Plovers, Wandering Tattlers, and Ruddy Turnstones being the most numerous)."

"Closing these areas to commercial fishing may protect high densities of tuna near the breeding colonies and will reduce vessel traffic near reefs and islands thus reducing the chances of accidental groundings,” Flint said. "Shipwrecks are disastrous for these areas both because of the release of oil and the chance of introducing invasive species of land and marine organisms to these fragile communities.”

These areas - associated with national wildlife refuges - were previously protected by the agency, "so habitat for wintering shorebirds and breeding seabirds on land that was already protected in the National Wildlife Refuges remains much the same," she said.

Within the monument areas designated, are Howland Island, Baker Island, Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuges.

An announcement by Dirk Kempthorne, secretary of the Department of the Interior, on January 16th, "expanded the National Wildlife Refuge System by 54 million acres, or 58 percent, by assigning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the responsibility for overall management of the three new marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean designated by President Bush earlier this month."

Presidential proclamations detailed features for the new monuments in the Pacific:

Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (Proclamation 8335 of January 6, 2009

1) "the waters and submerged lands encompassing the coral reef ecosystem of the three northernmost islands. These islands represent some of the westernmost territory in the United States – 5,600 miles from California.

2) "the Marianas Trench. The trench, the site of the deepest place on Earth, is approximately 940 nautical miles long and 38 nautical miles wide within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.

3) "a series of active undersea volcanoes and thermal vents. Twenty-one active hydrothermal submarine volcanoes and vents support life in the harshest conditions imaginable."

Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Proclamation 8336

"...protects the pristine coral reef ecosystems around Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston Atoll, and Wake Island – the site of a pivotal battle in World War II and an important military base today."

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument (Proclamation 8337

"...protects the pristine coral reef ecosystem around a remote part of American Samoa."

Another large marine monument was designated... "On June 15, 2006, President Bush established the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) as the Papahanaumokuakea Hawaii Islands Marine National Monument by Presidential Proclamation 8031, providing permanent protection for the nearly 140,000 square miles of U.S. land and waters, thereby creating the world’s largest marine conservation area. The area includes the NWHI Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge/Battle of Midway National Memorial, the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and the State of Hawaii’s NWHI Refuge."

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument was established in 1998, by President Bush.

An approved area management plan for Papahanaumokuakea was issued in December 2008, noting these broad focus areas as the bird component of management objectives:

1) Protect and enhance habitats for terrestrial and marine migratory birds

2) Minimize the impact of threats to migratory birds such as habitat destruction by invasive species, disease, contaminants (including oil), and fisheries interactions

3) Monitor populations and habitats of migratory birds to ascertain natural variation and to detect changes in excess of that variation that might be attributed to human activities, including anthropogenic climate change.

4) As threats are removed, restore seabird species at sites where they have been extirpated.

It is a planned process on understanding lands to be newly managed, and the process similar to that for Papahanaumokuakea will result in a management plan.

"There are no seabird surveys occurring anywhere in the Monument this spring," Flint said. "The first monitoring visit this year will be in August when standard bird surveys will be conducted at Rose Atoll. To really do a thorough job of estimating population sizes and breeding performance of tropical seabirds requires a year-round presence because of their aseasonality and asynchrony of breeding. We hope to have a year round presence at Palmyra Atoll in the future but do not at this time.

"The only research in which birds play a role now is being done by a graduate student from Stanford University named Hillary Young who is studying the role of seabirds in nutrient flow in atoll systems at Palmyra. She will be doing some fieldwork this year at Palmyra Atoll.

"The importance of these largest of the remaining populations of seabirds in the Central tropical Pacific becomes even greater as we anticipate the dramatic ecological changes to come as global climate change accelerates. Maintaining healthy populations in these remote Monuments for now will serve to facilitate restoration and re-colonization of other Pacific sites essential to these species survival in the future."

---

Websites of interest.

• Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
• Comments by President Bush at the January 2009 announcement of the new marine monuments
• Establishment of Three New Marine National Monuments Assisted by Information from the U.S. Geological Service; includes a map showing the location of the monuments

Phenology Details for Birds Originate in 1876 Forest and Stream

An invitation issued just past the mid-1870s by editorial staff of Forest and Stream asking readers to submit dates of occurrence, led to some of the first details on the phenology for birds in North America.

This publication's weekly issue gave reader's a broad range of topics on the outdoors, hunting sports, journals with daily details of particular travels, and a plethora of other subjects. Bird migration notes and when flowers were blooming and related items were often included in the natural history section.

In the February 17, 1876 issue, the naturalist in charge of the Natural History section - which by-the-way, was endorsed by the Smithsonian Institution - discussed the interest in the migration of birds, noting how little was known. "Accurate and numerous observations are needed upon the dates of arrival, departure, nest building, varying abundance, and other events in the life of birds collected over wide areas and through successive season. ... In short it is desirable, in order to know what influences set with most power on the migrations of birds."

The author presented examples of the work being done in Britain, citing the "Naturalist's Calendar" kept by Gilbert White, of Selborne.

"To elicit such important and interesting data, Forest and Stream proposes to each one of its readers, the plan of noting down in reference to the birds of his district, observations, upon some or all of the following points:—

"1st. Whether each species is resident throughout the year, is a summer or winter visitor, or only passes through in spring and fall.

"2nd. With reference to each species in his locality, whether it is 'abundant," 'somewhat common,' or 'rare.'

"3rd. What species breed; and whether more than once in a season.

"4th. Dates of arrival, greatest abundance, nest-building, laying eggs, hatching of young, and beginning of departure of each species, and when it is last seen in the Fall.

"5th. What effect, if any, upon the relative abundance of particular birds, in retarding their arrival or hastening their departure, sudden changes of the weather, storms, and 'late' and 'early' season appear to have.

"6th. Similar notes upon the appearance and movements of the quadrupeds, reptiles and fishes of the region; and upon the times of flowering of trees and plants.

"7th. Other occurrences considered noteworthy."

"Let no one think his observations, though few and short, are too trivial; and let no one think that now is too late or early to begin."

The resulting information was varied as some readers responded, with a differing extent of details on bird migration dates for a particular place.

March 30, 1876

Notes from the diary of G. Brown Goode, appropriately associated with the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D.C., are some of the first to denote historic phenological details. His article was issued in the March 30, 1876 issue, with details for February 12th to March 7th along the Potomac River, with the first item given referring to the "nesting note of the blue-birds first heard." The next entry was about flowering plants. In details for March 4th, he expounds about several sorts of fish in the market - appropriate for a biologist that was to be known as being preeminent in ichthyology - as well as a few brief words on flora. Details were also given on a few other species, with introduced English sparrows building their nests on March 5th.

March-May 1876

Forest and Stream was a venue where Charles C. Abbott, M.D., issued a bunch of bird notes. He had a couple of articles in the American Naturalist, but in March 1876, started a series of three fresh articles, one for sightings during February, one for March and another that continues observations to the end of May, with the particulars getting printed in a mid-August issue.

The articles present a fine set of observations, having notes on the wind, temperatures, and other weather conditions with the notes of natural history. More than 50 species were mentioned in the articles.

American Bittern American Crow American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Pipit American Robin American Woodcock Barred Owl Black-capped Chickadee Black-crowned Night-Heron Blue Jay Brown Creeper Cedar Waxwing Chipping Sparrow Common Grackle Common Redpoll Dark-eyed Junco Downy Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Wood-Pewee Fox Sparrow Golden-crowned Kinglet Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Horned Lark

Horned Lark Killdeer Least Bittern Little Blue Heron Long-eared Owl Mourning Dove Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Harrier Northern Shrike Osprey Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-winged Blackbird Rough-legged Hawk Ruby-crowned Kinglet Short-eared Owl Snowy Egret Song Sparrow Tufted Titmouse Vesper Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-winged Crossbill Wilson's Snipe Winter Wren Yellow-breasted Chat Unidentified woodpeckers were also noted.

Dr. Abbott, though not practicing doctor of medicine, was an accomplished scientist and archeologist, with an obvious interest in natural history. In 1889 the second edition of his book "A Naturalist's Rambles About Home" was published.

April-May 1876

Outdoor endeavors of Eugene P. Bicknell were apparent in his article in the first April issue of 1876 - in response to the "invitation" - so he provided a comparison of winter birds noted during the previous two years - when weather apparently presented the extreme for the local climate - at Riverdale, on the Hudson River, about 16 miles north of New York Bay.

The next installment with natural history details was "Early Spring on the Hudson" giving observations during February and March. This article was followed by "Field Notes at Riverdale" in a mid-May volume, providing notes of occurrence for birds in April, with lesser details on flora.

In July, his article was an expansive view of the different bird species of the local suburbs during May, which had some notes on breeding activities. Nearly 150 records are included in his series of five articles from 1875-1878. There are more than 110 species overall, based on an update of the nomenclature, with more than 100 given for the period from February 1875 to May 1878, presented by monthly observations, rather than for each particular day as given in the source material. This summary table presents the number of observations Bicknell contributed during a particular month.

Common Name	Feb 1875	Mar 1875	Apr 1875	May 1875	Jun 1875	Jul 1875	Nov 1875	Jan 1876	Feb 1876	Mar 1876	Apr 1876	May 1876	Feb 1877	Aug 1877	Sep 1877	Oct 1877	Nov 1877	May 1878
Acadian Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Bittern	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Black Duck	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Redstart	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
American Robin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bald Eagle	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Baltimore Oriole	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Barn Swallow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bay-breasted Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Belted Kingfisher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-crowned Night-Heron	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-throated Green Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Blackburnian Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Blackpoll warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Blue-headed Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Blue-winged Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Blue-winged Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Bobolink	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Brown Thrasher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Brown-headed Cowbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Canada Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chimney Swift	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Chipping Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cliff Swallow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Common Grackle	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dark-eyed Junco	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Bluebird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Kingbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Eastern Wood-Pewee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Field Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Fish Crow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Fox Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Golden-winged Warbler	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Grasshopper Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Great Blue Heron	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Green Heron	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hermit Thrush	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hooded Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
House Wren	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kentucky Warbler	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kentucky Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Least Bittern	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Magnolia Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mourning Warbler	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Mourning Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nashville Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Bobwhite	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Flicker	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-
Northern Parula	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Orchard Oriole	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Osprey	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Palm Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Purple Finch	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Purple Martin	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Red Crossbill	-	1	1	1	-	-	1	-	-	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Red-winged Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rusty Blackbird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scarlet Tanager	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tree Swallow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tufted Titmouse	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Veery	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vesper Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Warbling Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Whip-poor-will	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
White-crowned Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Willow Flycatcher	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilson's Snipe	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wood Thrush	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Worm-eating Warbler	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	P>-	-
Yellow-throated Vireo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-

The name Bicknell is well remembered because of his discovery of a new species in the heights of the local mountains, the Bicknell's Thrush - described by Robert Ridgway at the Smithsonian - based on specimens collected in 1881.

In 1882, a review of the summer birds of the southern part of the Catskill Mountains was published, which included remarks on the region's flora and fauna. Bicknell also contributed bird information to the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club.

April 20, 1876

Pupils of Thomas Williamson, at Leesburg, Virginia, reported scraps of natural history they had observed. The editor of the publication had the information that was used to write an article, with comments.

"We have changed the wording of this report to save reduplication and space. It came to us with the full list of all the different birds seen each day, which, although the only way in which to keep one's own note-book, is unnecessary for publication. It is sufficient to send the additions to the list which each day supplies, and such notes as are peculiar to that day."

"Then there are other things besides birds to watch. The quadrupeds, reptiles, fishes, and insects are just as deserving of notice, and at present really need more to be studied. In a school-full of boys there might be some system about the observations. Let them divide into committees upon various branches of botany and zoology, then meet once a week and report on each of them. Teachers should encourage this observation of nature. They will find keener minds and more tenacious memories in their pupils; and the boys and girls will learn well the lesson of examining and comparing facts, which is the basis of all good judgement. One way to encourage this is to help them to properly identify what they see so that they will know it precisely from anything like it."

The notes provide this list based on an update of the historic nomenclature:

American Crow American Robin Bald Eagle Belted Kingfisher Blackbird Blue Jay Brown-headed Cowbird Canada Goose Cedar Waxwing Common Grackle Dark-eyed Junco Duck - the wild duck Eastern Bluebird Eastern Wood-Pewee Hawk

House Sparrow Killdeer Lark Mourning Dove Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Mockingbird Red-winged Blackbird Rock Pigeon Ruffed Grouse Sparrow Tufted Titmouse Wilson's Snipe Wren Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

The following week's issue, had a Maryland Calendar, by W.D. Wheeler, M.D., from Boonsboro, Virginia during mid-February to mid-April. This is the list of species given:

American Robin Common Grackle Dark-eyed Junco Eastern Bluebird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Goose House Sparrow

Killdeer Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Purple Martin Red-winged Blackbird Song Sparrow Wilson's Snipe

Letters from Ornitholigists

Four separate letters add the original contributions on the arrival dates for birds in 1876:

D.C. Keyes, M.D., of Lake City, Minn.; a fine bunch of records from mid-March to the end of April, with a smattering of notes on weather.

G.H. Ragsdale, Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas; he noted: "If the following notes are of any service to you please use them:" and they were from mid-February to mid-April.

J.S. Conland, Newport, Rhode Island; a few April-May notes from his locality

Chas. A. Houghton, West Medway, Mass.; May notes, especially for warblers

Their articles were brief, but also focused on when particular species were migrating - during February to May, adding to the information on migration in the country.

A June 22, 1876 article for the sightings sent by R.E. Robinson, mentions specific records for when bird species were first observed, the weather details, blooming dates for some flora, and other aspects of local phenology.

August 3, 1876

Teal - determined to be R.L. Newcomb - provided a bird calendar for the Massachusetts coast, from his residence at Salem.

Records from March 9th to mid-May, refer to different species and notations on weather conditions. On April 5th, there was a "worst storm for some years," with drifts to two feet, with about six inches of snow fall. The entry for this date was limited to weather observations.

The dissemination of records on the seasonal occurrence of birds did not lessen, but in subsequent years increased. Articles continued in Forest and Stream. Ornithological journals - including the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, first published in 1876 - and other publications - Auk originating in 1884 - had detailed articles submitted by numerous bird watchers with the essential verve to, thankfully, tell in detail what they had seen and knew from their personal experience.

In the mid-1880s, there was a focused attempt to gather information, represented by the Smithsonian asking for observers to submit details of seasonal occurrence.

A small portion of the details derived from keen observations made by bird watchers in the historic period are becoming part of the modern set of bird records. Most of the information within the published record of the 1870s and beyond, are apparently not being integrated into the historic ornithology, except for efforts to understand former common names and other nomenclatural considerations.

One particular effort, working with contributed information from the mid-1880s and into the 1900s is being made available through the focused efforts of the North American Bird Phenology Program. Many contributed records of bird occurrence submitted on data cards, now in files cabinets, which are being digitized and entered into a computer system with the assistance of online volunteers.

Digital record-keeping is now the preference for keeping a tally of the daily details for bird observations. This seemingly unlimited media is a fine preference to the limitations of printed publications which limit any presentation of specific details, whereas the specific dates of occurrence are the information so essential to understanding the occurrence of birds across a broad continent during different periods of time.