Ongoing Sorrow - Bird Strikes at Omaha Buildings 2011

In 2011, bird-strikes in Omaha started with a bang on April 18th, with a dead Mourning Dove in the morning at the Qwest Center, as usual, on the west side. A few days later, dead warblers were found at the Union Pacific Center. It took nothing but time for other buildings to get their own claim of unnecessary recognition - once again - as birds struck elsewhere, again and again.

Strike instances, as usual, were dramatically notable throughout May. The worst days during the past season - including some of the species killed by hitting a building - were:

Date - Number of Noted Bird-strikes

05/09 - 7: Blue Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Gray Catbird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak

05/10 - 7: Clay-colored Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Lincoln's Sparrow, Mourning Warbler

05/30 - 7: Common Yellowthroat, Dickcissel, Indigo Bunting, Sedge Wren, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo

05/28 - 6

09/05 - 6

09/10 - 6

05/19 - 5

05/24 - 5

09/04 - 5

05/12 - 5

08/27 - 5

09/13 - 4

05/16 - 4

09/22 - 4

The tally continued for weeks and months, with twenty-two buildings represented for the 2011 season as typically documented by forays and methods which shall not be explained.

Building: Number of Known Bird-strikes during 2011

1200 Landmark Center: 7

All Makes Office Equipment Company: 1

Brandeis Building: 1

Central Park Plaza: 7

DJ's Dugout Sports Bar: 2

DLR Group Building: 1

First National Tower: 6

Gottschalk Freedom Center: 6

Holland Performing Arts Center: 9

Kiewit-Clarkson Skywalk: 10

Law Building: 4

OBI Creative Building: 1

Omaha Public Power District Energy Plaza: 3

Omaha World-Herald Building: 3

Omaha-Douglas Civic Center: 3

Qwest/Centurylink Center Omaha: 34

Redfield and Company Building: 4

Sorrell Center at UNMC: 1

Union Pacific Center: 9

UNO Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building: 3

Woodmen Tower Skywalk: 1

Zorinsky Federal Building: 9

The Qwest/Centurylink Center continues to be the most hazardous place in the city for migratory birds. Facility officials have placed some decals on upper portions of windows on the west side, but none were placed on the lower portion of the facade ... where a visual barrier is most essential.

Many of the species recorded here are sparrows and other sorts associated with the ground of lower extent of vegetation. They are attracted to the short tree and ground cover landscaping a few yards west of the glass exterior, and then hit the building while attempting to continue their journey.

Second on the list is the Kiewit-Clarkson Skywalk, but most of these instances are observations of stunned Purple Martins hitting the structure. When officials where informed of the situation, they made additional efforts to place material in the windows to create a visual barrier. There were few actual fatalities.

Several of worst offenders continue to ignore the deaths their building cause, as they have done nothing to address a situation of which they are well aware. They have been informed through phone calls and emails. For this reason, owners of the following buildings receive recognition for being a "Death Zone Building" for the 2011 season:

• 1200 Landmark Center; building managers have gone out of their way to avoid any responsibility, including not providing contact information
• Central Park Plaza; indifference is their mode of operation
• Holland Performing Arts Center; they got money to build the place, yet have no funds to make it bird-safe
• First National Tower, the headquarters of the First National Bank. This business also gets the "double-talk" award for their lots of talk, yet doing nothing to reflect "empty words" spoken by a corporate "mouth"; and
• Zorinsky Federal Building; a federal building where hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent to change the exterior, yet no effort was made to address the hazards known to cause bird deaths. At least during the season, the federal security knew what was happening when carcasses were being noted and photographed, so there was no harangue at those times.

The newest DZB is the HPER building at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Why an architect would place a vast expanse of glass facing a park might be understood, but it was done by someone ignornant of the environmental setting for birds in the area. University officials also deserve a hefty dose of blame, as they were indifferent to the situation, based upon subsequent email and phone conversations, after the first bits of feathers and bones were found beneath the panes of glass on the side side of the building.

How typical!

Colorful and unique birds of many species were struck dead during April-November.

The number of species recorded each year has varied.

Year	Number of Species
2008	64
2009	63
2010	38
2011	40
Overall	87

The biggest influence in the number of species is the number of mornings spent looking. Efforts declined in the past two years, due to out-of-town ventures and something akin to malaise or rationale?

A Hairy Woodpecker found at the Qwest/Centurylink Center in mid-September, was the most recent addition to the overall list of species being struck dead at river city buildings.

The 2011 bird-strike season ended with a five bird carcasses at the newly dubbed Centurylink Center (i.e., Qwest Center). The fatalities were the Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Towhee and American Tree Sparrow.

During the years denoted at Omaha, over 1100 bird-strike instances have been personally observed and recorded, with many pictures available to document the carnage. The prognosis: fatalities will continue next year and forever...

Each of the many bird strikes, the unnecessary and individual agony by each bird which became a fatality - in agony until an eventual death - has not been ignored, nor will it be forgotten.

In 2011, bird-strikes in Omaha started with a bang on April 18th, with a dead Mourning Dove in the morning at the Qwest Center, as usual, on the west side. A few days later, dead warblers were found at the Union Pacific Center. It took nothing but time for other buildings to get their own claim of unnecessary recognition - once again - as birds struck elsewhere, again and again.

Strike instances, as usual, were dramatically notable throughout May. The worst days during the past season - including some of the species killed by hitting a building - were:

Date - Number of Noted Bird-strikes

05/09 - 7: Blue Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Gray Catbird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak

05/10 - 7: Clay-colored Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Lincoln's Sparrow, Mourning Warbler

05/30 - 7: Common Yellowthroat, Dickcissel, Indigo Bunting, Sedge Wren, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo

05/28 - 6

09/05 - 6

09/10 - 6

05/19 - 5

05/24 - 5

09/04 - 5

05/12 - 5

08/27 - 5

09/13 - 4

05/16 - 4

09/22 - 4

The tally continued for weeks and months, with twenty-two buildings represented for the 2011 season as typically documented by forays and methods which shall not be explained.

Building: Number of Known Bird-strikes during 2011

1200 Landmark Center: 7

All Makes Office Equipment Company: 1

Brandeis Building: 1

Central Park Plaza: 7

DJ's Dugout Sports Bar: 2

DLR Group Building: 1

First National Tower: 6

Gottschalk Freedom Center: 6

Holland Performing Arts Center: 9

Kiewit-Clarkson Skywalk: 10

Law Building: 4

OBI Creative Building: 1

Omaha Public Power District Energy Plaza: 3

Omaha World-Herald Building: 3

Omaha-Douglas Civic Center: 3

Qwest/Centurylink Center Omaha: 34

Redfield and Company Building: 4

Sorrell Center at UNMC: 1

Union Pacific Center: 9

UNO Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building: 3

Woodmen Tower Skywalk: 1

Zorinsky Federal Building: 9

The Qwest/Centurylink Center continues to be the most hazardous place in the city for migratory birds. Facility officials have placed some decals on upper portions of windows on the west side, but none were placed on the lower portion of the facade ... where a visual barrier is most essential.

Many of the species recorded here are sparrows and other sorts associated with the ground of lower extent of vegetation. They are attracted to the short tree and ground cover landscaping a few yards west of the glass exterior, and then hit the building while attempting to continue their journey.

Second on the list is the Kiewit-Clarkson Skywalk, but most of these instances are observations of stunned Purple Martins hitting the structure. When officials where informed of the situation, they made additional efforts to place material in the windows to create a visual barrier. There were few actual fatalities.

Several of worst offenders continue to ignore the deaths their building cause, as they have done nothing to address a situation of which they are well aware. They have been informed through phone calls and emails. For this reason, owners of the following buildings receive recognition for being a "Death Zone Building" for the 2011 season:

• 1200 Landmark Center; building managers have gone out of their way to avoid any responsibility, including not providing contact information
• Central Park Plaza; indifference is their mode of operation
• Holland Performing Arts Center; they got money to build the place, yet have no funds to make it bird-safe
• First National Tower, the headquarters of the First National Bank. This business also gets the "double-talk" award for their lots of talk, yet doing nothing to reflect "empty words" spoken by a corporate "mouth"; and
• Zorinsky Federal Building; a federal building where hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent to change the exterior, yet no effort was made to address the hazards known to cause bird deaths. At least during the season, the federal security knew what was happening when carcasses were being noted and photographed, so there was no harangue at those times.

The newest DZB is the HPER building at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Why an architect would place a vast expanse of glass facing a park might be understood, but it was done by someone ignornant of the environmental setting for birds in the area. University officials also deserve a hefty dose of blame, as they were indifferent to the situation, based upon subsequent email and phone conversations, after the first bits of feathers and bones were found beneath the panes of glass on the side side of the building.

How typical!

Colorful and unique birds of many species were struck dead during April-November.

The number of species recorded each year has varied.

Year	Number of Species
2008	64
2009	63
2010	38
2011	40
Overall	87

The biggest influence in the number of species is the number of mornings spent looking. Efforts declined in the past two years, due to out-of-town ventures and something akin to malaise or rationale?

A Hairy Woodpecker found at the Qwest/Centurylink Center in mid-September, was the most recent addition to the overall list of species being struck dead at river city buildings.

The 2011 bird-strike season ended with a five bird carcasses at the newly dubbed Centurylink Center (i.e., Qwest Center). The fatalities were the Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Towhee and American Tree Sparrow.

During the years denoted at Omaha, over 1100 bird-strike instances have been personally observed and recorded, with many pictures available to document the carnage. The prognosis: fatalities will continue next year and forever...

Each of the many bird strikes, the unnecessary and individual agony by each bird which became a fatality - in agony until an eventual death - has not been ignored, nor will it be forgotten.

Dead American Tree Sparrow at the Centurylink Center. November 14, 2011.

Prime Habitat for Plovers Occurred After Missouri River Flood

Partially flooded bottomlands along the Missouri River provided prime habitat for plovers this autumn, following the receding waters of the 2011 flood. Suitable habitat which is not typically present occurred at the Horseshoe Lake Flats (east of Fort Calhoun), the La Platte Bottoms, at Schilling WMA, Hamburg Bend mitigation area, and along southwest of Bartlett, in Iowa.

Few records are available for the September-November period, but observations indicate numbers exceeded any previously known occurrences.

A lesser number were present in late September, but by latter October, the magnitude of their occurrence became apparent, based upon the first report by Clem Klaphake, a birding enthusiast from Bellevue. A first visit of his east of Fort Calhoun was followed by trips to the Schilling WMA east of Plattsmouth and then to a mitigation area south of Nebraska City.

After reading the exciting news online, other birders visited the Horseshoe Lake Flats to see what was present.

The peak count was made on the lowlands near Bartlett, Iowa, as reported in an IABirds post by Keith Dyche. What a number of plover he saw, along with large numbers of other species, especially the huge gathering of the America White Pelican, with enough present that an Omaha newspaper photographer took pictures and the editors thought they were special enough that a reporter wrote a short and relatively insignificant article that provided trite comments of no importance to the "real" birding community.

The count of more than a hundred plover was contributed by Jon King, to the Missouri Birds online forum.

Each detail recorded indicates the occurrence of this species in a distinctive and important manner. The available counts indicate what is known of this plover's occurrence at a few sites. The big unknown is what might have been present at the many other places along the Missouri River bottoms which were not visited. There may have been thousands of these birds appreciating habitat conditions suited to their survival?

The following available records are grouped into particular districts to provide a succinct list.

Date - 2011	Horseshoe Lake District	La Platte District	Plattsmouth District	Nebraska City District	Bartlett District	Squaw Creek District
09/28	- -	45	- -	- -	- -	- -
10/17	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	1
10/24	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	14
10/25	300-350	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
10/26	- -	- -	14	- -	- -	- -
10/27	338	- -	95	- -	- -	- -
10/28	125	3	33	- -	- -	- -
10/29	152	- -	- -	- -	543	- -
11/01	- -	- -	- -	27	- -	102
11/05	27	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
11/12	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	4
11/13	7	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -
11/19	- -	- -	- -	- -	- -	1
11/25	- -	- -	- -	- -	4	- -

The Horseshoe Lake Flats observations convey the best numbers as based upon repeated visits. These observations denote the most birds of this species to have been reported for the state. The November 13 date is also one of the latest known.

The first report from near Bartlett was a single view of what was probably a greater occurrence than what is now known. There were four present east of Bartlett on the 25th, with two of them reported as missing a foot, according to Keith Dyche.

A report of the drab colored plover of the season was one noted by Larry Lade, at Squaw Creek NWR. By the time of his visit, refuge staff had ended their shorebird surveys, so any notes on this group of species were dependent on visiting birders.

It was an exciting season to see the American Golden-Plover in the Missouri River Valley. More records might have been gathered, but the efforts of birders, paying for their own gas and on their own time, is always appreciated.

Plover morning at the Horseshoe Lake Flats, November 5, 2011.

Recent Occurrences

Recent reports can be included to indicate the extent of occurrence of large numbers of this species.

On March 25, 2000 about 150 were observed at Forneys Marsh SWA, in western Iowa.

There were 188 at Bigelow Marsh, in northwest Missouri on April 21, 2004.

Squaw Creek NWR had a reported 120 on April 17, 2007, according to a note submitted to the Missouri birds online forum.

There are a number of reports for lesser numbers during the past ten years.

Historic Occurrence

The first record of the American Golden-Plover is from the Engineer Cantonment, from some time during the stay of the Long Expedition from late autumn 1819 to late spring 1820.

There are several records during the 1870s, associated with the myriad of birds taken during club hunts in the spring and autumn. An October 13, 1874 hunt listed 34 birds as being taken by shootists afield in eastern Nebraska, in the vicinity of the river.

On October 21, 1886 a single bird of this species was included in the take from the club hunt at the Stillwater Bottoms, a historic name for the lowland east of Fort Calhoun.

In 1888, they were noted as occurring along the flats near the river east of Peru.

There are only a few subsequent records, mostly for the 1910s, until the 1990s, when sightings still continued to be occasional.

Another Plover Considered

Numerous Black-bellied Plover also took advantage of conditions on the river bottoms this autumn.

Larger numbers were noted at the Horseshoe Lake Flats, along Highway Two in western Iowa near the river and at Squaw Creek NWR, as seen during regular bird surveys done by refuge staff.

There are fewer records readily available in the region for this species than for the American Golden-Plover.

Numerous Cackling Goose Gather at Fontenelle Park

With typical waterfowl of the late-autumn season migrating in numerous flocks along the valley of the Missouri River (especially after the many flocks noted going southward on Sunday morning, November 20th), the place with largest occurrence of the Cackling Goose is an intercity park of Omaha.

On November 21, there were at least 47 noted among a congregation of the Canada Goose, comprising about 665 individuals.

Gathering of geese on the park lagoon. November 23, 2011.

Bird movement has brought out birders, yet there are only a couple of reports of the small goose at any other localities within the Missouri River valley, based upon several online reports, from Carter Lake to Big Lake and Lake Manawa in Iowa.

There were five Cackling Goose noted at Lake Bennington on 19 November, by a local birder.

Geese at Fontenelle Park appreciate the edible short green grass of the golf course, with a nearby lagoon with unfrozen water. A fence around the area limits disturbance by roaming canines not on a leash.

On the day the place was visited, the only disturbance was a duffer, hitting golf balls along, using a single club on a mid-day when the temperature was in the upper 30s, under cloudy skies. He was indifferent to forcing the geese to go elsewhere.

The geese did not leave but as this humanistic disturbance walked indifferently among the grazing birds, they flew around but remained at the locality.

Having the Cackling Goose noted in numbers at this site is a surprise, but expected. A few were present at the end of December 2010.

There are other seemingly preferable places, but the birds know what they prefer.

The Cackling Goose is readily noted by its smaller size and diminutive bill, in comparison to the larger Canada Goose.

With all the geese, the turf of Fontenelle Park is a morass of goose ordure. Treading lightly will not make any difference as the gooey green stuff will stick to most every thing it touches. Before leaving the place, a handy stick was used to remove most of the matter from the tires on my bicycle.

The lagoon is not entirely frozen, and other waterfowl noted included a nice group of Wood Ducks, and a lesser number of Mallards. Few other species were present, as the place is a relative "desert" of habitat, except for birds of arboreal features of the parkland.

The Canada Goose and Cackling Goose are, however, prominent species which occur to present a unique juxtaposition of wild birds in an urban setting.

The Canada Goose is known as an abundant winter visitor, based on sighting records dating back to January 2003.

Fontenelle Park is not an important birding area. Fewer than 40 species have been recorded, based upon a very small number of surveys, as this place is not high on any list of bird watching destinations.

This urban landscape is the place to be this time of the year, to see lots of languid geese!

Wind Turbines and Mitigation at Broken Bow

Mitigation associated with the Broken Bow Wind Project in Custer County Nebraska, is based upon the "total acres of direct and/or indirect impact to grassland birds," according to information received from a biologist with the Nebraska Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"There have been no past payments nor talk of any future or for any other wind project to the Service to offset the take of migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," Robert Harms said in an email response to an inquiry about this project.

"During the course of our meetings with the Broken Bow wind developer, there was a considerable amount of discussion about how to offset impacts to migratory birds that may occur as a result of the degradation and/or loss of nesting habitat. Additionally, there were some grassland/wetland habitats that could also provide suitable habitat for the federally endangered whooping crane and other migratory birds in the Broken Bow Wind Project site as well, albeit a very small amount with no previous records of use by that species.

"As a means of offsetting the loss of grassland and grassland/wetland habitats, the wind developer committed to making a donation to a land trust in Nebraska in the amount that would be equivalent to the total acreage of impact--that amount is $190,000," Harms indicated.

"The $190,000 is not an arbitrary number, but, in this case, it also included grassland" and "wetland habitats as well. The total direct impacts included road access to the turbines and tower and substation footprints, which are proposed to be located in grassland habitat. Total indirect impacts are the total acres within a circle that has a 180 meter radius extending outward from the center of a turbine, when the turbine is proposed to be constructed in grassland habitat. Previous research shows that nesting by grassland birds may be affected within 180 meters of a wind turbine. The direct and indirect acre amounts are added together to get a total impact. For this project the total was 1,762 acres of grassland and grassland/wetland habitat impacted. This total was then multiplied by the value of an acre of grassland if that land were to be placed under a conservation easement. The value of that acre of land is generally calculated through a certified appraisal or comparable sale.

"For this project, an appraisal was done and the amount was roughly $108 per acre. The total amount was $190,000 (108 x 1762).

"The project developer and FWS biologists discussed the option to donate the funds to a land trust for a conservation easement with the wind developer - they seem to prefer this method simply because it's easy and simple - they make a memorandum of agreement with a land trust of their choice, make a donation, and leave it up to the land trust to find an available conservation easement. In this situation, the Nebraska Land Trust is likely to receive the donation, subject to approval by its board of directors."

Funds provided to the Nebraska Land Trust have been allocated to establishing a conservation easement upon a ranch located north of the Calamus Reservoir.

This is an effort initiated by the Sandhills Task Force, with funding from sources, including the Nebraska Environment Trust and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"I view this as a ready-made opportunity, available right now and a good use of the funds from the Broken Bow project - and I still do. Use of the $190,000 donation for this project will more than offset impacts to the loss and/or degradation of grassland habitats for migratory birds as it contains large stands of grassland and wet meadow areas," Harms said, noting that the endangered American Burying Beetle occurs on the ranch, and another conservation easement was recently established on land on an adjacent ranch.

In the spring of 2011, The Nebraska Environment Trust provided $190,000 to The Nature Conservancy to establish an easement on 1,742 acres at the so-called Horseshoe Bend parcel along the Calamus River, upstream of the reservoir area.

"It's always best to do mitigation in the area that is closest to the site of impact. However, I thought the conservation easement in Loup County (25,000 acre ranch) had priority over Custer County where the Broken Bow Wind Project is located, a distance of approximately 50 miles away as the crow flies. The interest was there at the ranch northwest of Calamus Reservoir - federal funds already were available to put the land under easement, and a private match was needed that we could facilitate.

"Conservation easements have the potential to maintain good land stewardship. Five years ago, I may have agreed that an easement on a ranch in the sandhills to protect species and habitats may be a lower priority, but I don't anymore. The price of grain has resulted in the breaking out of a tremendous acreage of native sandhills grasslands for center pivot development. There's also a lot of interest in wind development in the Sandhills as well which has the potential to cause degradation of large blocks of unfragmented habitat."

Local opportunities for conservation activities were available for consideration. The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently purchased a perpetual easement on a playa wetland tract of 160 acres, just a few miles west of the wind turbine project area.

The FWS and NRCS have previously been involved in cost-share agreements.

In northern Custer County, cost-share options could have been used to manage habitat at the Myrtle Hall WMA, managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Funds could have been used for habitat improvement, such as removal of invasive cedar trees.

Concerning any impacts on migratory birds, the project developer, Midwest Wind Energy, did conduct a number of avian surveys at the site, according to Harms. These surveys typically include breeding bird surveys, migration surveys and raptor surveys, he said.

"Surveys will continue for a period of up to 2 years following operation of the wind project, including monitoring of collisions by birds with turbines and the powerlines," Harms noted.

There has been no response from the FWS upon a request to receive this information for evaluation purposes.

Harms agrees "that the public should be made aware of the impacts and mitigation to their public trust fish and wildlife resources that could be potentially impacted by a wind project."

The agency is considering adding information to the regional office website regarding wind power development, Harms said in response to the inquiry.

The Mountain-Prairie region is also involved with a Habitat Conservation Planning effort with several wind companies, with further information available at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/wind.html, Harms noted.

This HCP, if approved, would allow the incidental take of threatened and endangered species due to wind turbines.

Construction of Phase One of the Broken Bow Wind Project is expected to being soon. There will be 50 wind turbines, spread across about 14,000 acres.

A second phase with an additional 35-40 turbines is also expected to be built, though an environmental evaluation has not yet occurred.

Parks Being Dramatically Altered by Stormwater Projects

Planning that will dramatically change the green spaces of Fontenelle Park, Spring Lake Park and Levi Carter Park is currently underway and was recently completed at Adams Park. Each space is to be modified for community usage or to address sanitary/stormwater discharge requirements.

During the planning process, designs have been typically derived from a common theme: provide additional recreational opportunities and utilize socalled green solutions to reduce stormwater runoff.

Staid designs are often the result, based upon a personal review of park plans and after hearing comments by residents at two recent park planning meetings.

For recreation, it is a matter or using the available landscape to provide options which will increase park usage. Place soccer fields where there is an expanse of flat ground. Add a disc golf course wherever it can fit. Place a dog run area at another place in the park where parking can be readily provided. Put in a recreational trail that follows a circuitous route around the site. Etc.

CSO! options are a regular mantra of adding features that will reduce stormwater runoff during peak precipitation events, and do something to improve water quality. The options repeatedly given are wet and dry detention basins, wetlands, and bioretention gardens. Visibly, an example will soon be presented at the east side of Elmwood Park - along 60th Street - as construction is currently underway at the site.

Landscape and Nature

East Omaha parks landscapes are the result of numerous and repeated impositions during decades of their history, and as currently underway. The changes are quite dramatic.

At Carter Lake, the former oxbow lake will soon be "industrialized" using a massive tonnage of rock riprap, to establish a place to fish regardless of impacts upon other oxbow features, with a slight nod to improving water quality. The master plan then calls for additional changes that will simplify the lake environs. There is no apparent recognition being given to the original character and history of the lake, nor a sense of design other than shoving in whatever feature park visitors might want.

At Spring Lake Park - a site which when purchased did not include a natural lake - plan participants want to put the lake back into Spring Lake Park, ignoring where the lake water originated. The springs provided the water, and land developers decided a lake would be preferable so the flows were dammed. There is nothing in the proposed designs for the park - presented November 15 - to reflect the importance of the flowing springs which are the most unique and important resources of the park environs.

For Fontenelle Park, there is the potential to devise a plan which will reflect its original character - a prairie and trees as land was first being purchased in the mid-1890s - and convey a sense of what park designed H.W.S. Cleveland envisioned. Meetings during the coming months will determine the outcome.

These plans are often based upon an lack of a thorough understanding of the prominent features of the land, its history, intent of original area designs, aesthetics, opportunities at adjacent properties and an incomplete understanding of what the community would prefer.

Nature is an essential part of urban Omaha. Green spaces are a priceless asset for residents, and this value is derived from the simplistic yet unsurpassed presentation of trees and water and open spaces free of the constructs. Soccer fields impose their simplistic view. Massive amounts of riprap do not provide a green perspective. Mown grass is simplistic and unimaginative. Concrete does nothing to add color and variety.

As Omaha parks are being modified, the always dynamic essentials of nature should be foremost in the perspective of planners and reflect an understanding of current, exciting methods of landscape architecture. Without this consideration the city will be a lesser place, dreary to those preferring a vibrant and exciting experience outdoors. Something to enjoy, remember and share.

Planning Elements Essential for Urban Omaha Parkland

Planning efforts for local parks convey an essential need to have a new understanding of some basic tenets of landscape and how it is presented.

Two recently published books convey these essentials. Both should be read thoroughly by the people responsible for designing new landscapes for eastern Omaha parks.

Public Parks, The Key to Livable Communities - issued in 2011 under the authorship of Alexander Garvin - has a broad perspective starting with history of the first parklands in the United States, which date to 1573 at St. Augustine, Florida. The wide-spread establishment of parks throughout the states often included features similar to parks created in Europe during the 1840s.

The subsequent eleven chapters provide an important perspective about parklands, with key topics discussed in the different chapters, which include:

• Key roles
• Design influences
• Parks as evolving artifacts
• Stewardship
• Finance and governance
• The role of the public; and
• Sustainability: the key to success

Each chapter presents examples of how the particular topic was successfully applied to different parks. Many of the parks discussed are in New York City, the homebase of the author, with particular attention given to Central Park.

For this preeminent urban park, the author explains that "the landscape itself is the destination" with the variety of features providing different uses to the community. This element "is dependent on people's continuing ability to get to and enjoy those destinations without interfering with everybody else in the park. It begins at the dividing line between the park and the surrounding city." Entry points are defined. Streets are covered with a canopy of trees. Waterways and vegetation are obviously essential in the success of the park layout. Noise from roadways is masked. Since the designers considered the many influences on the park space, and they were appropriately considered, the park is a success as shown by the many people that visit the space to partake in their own particular activity.

Aesthetic sustainability was shown to be essential, and takes advantage of the changing vistas of the seasons.

The grand design for Central Park was noted as being successful due to the efforts of not only the park designers, but also the many others involved every since the park was created.

Author Garvin states: "public parks are not finished works of art when they are opened to the public. They are the evolving product of a living natural landscape and its interactions with the generations of people who use them."

Prominent park designers considered in the text are Frederick Law Olmstead - to whom the book is dedicated - and H.W.S. Cleveland, who had an essential role in the development of some of the first parks in Omaha and its interconnecting boulevard system, though this aspect of his career is not discussed.

A Landscape Manifesto

This book is a visual treat which has a primary goal to redefine the role of landscape in the urban environment. Author Diana Balmori indicates two "major new tasks" that can be accomplished:

1) "landscape can now create a new kind of livable city"; and

2) "through design it can broker the coexistence of human beings with the rest of nature."

These two tenets are given in the books prelude, and the remainder of the pages present examples using concepts and illustrations derived from actual or potential projects, worldwide.

"Critical shifts" are needed to achieve these tasks, the author indicates. New visions are essential.

The concepts given in this lavish book present a cosmopolitan perspective for landscape in a built environment. Any reader will get a new awareness of what is actually involved in maintaining 31 million acres of lawn in the U.S.A., and the environmental cost!

There are many clever and unique design tidbits presented. There are so many options other than concrete and tons of riprap.

None of the designs shown in this book included riprap.

Use of this artificial material seems to be integral at Omaha to complete a task when a preferable option more integral to a green space, is not considered or used. Projects at Carter Lake and along Happy Hollow Creek will be prominent in their use of these big rocks. There are no aesthetic benefits to using large masses of rock. Neither do they provide a natural setting inviting to people of the community or migratory birds.

There were many tons of rock placed at the concrete structure where the stormwater project east of Elmwood Park, empties into Wood Creek within the park environs. During a visit on November 18th, the base of this megolith was filled with a whitish colored liquid.

The following items are from A Landscape Manifesto as presented by Diana Balmori, in her wonderful book:

"1. Nostalgia for the past and utopian dreams for the future prevent us from looking at our present.

"2. Nature is the flow of change within which humans exist. Evolution is its history. Ecology is our understanding of its present phase.

"3. All things in nature are constantly changing. Landscape artists need to design to allow for change, while seeking a new course that enhances the coexistence of humans and the rest of nature.

"4. Landscape forms encapsulate unseen assumptions. To expose them is to enter the economic and aesthetic struggles of our times.

"5. Historical precedents do not support the common prejudice that human intervention is always harmful to the rest of nature.

"6. Shifts are taking place before our eyes. Landscape artists and architects need to give them a name and make them visible. Aesthetic expertise is needed to enable the transforming relations between humans and the rest of nature to break through into public spaces.

"7. High visibility, multiple alliances, and public support are critical to new landscape genres that portray our present.

"8. Landscape - through new landscape elements - enters the city and modifies our way of being in it.

"9. New landscape elements can become niches for species forced out of their original environment.

"10. The new view of plants as groups of interrelated species modifying each other, rather than as separate and fixed, exemplifies fluidity - a main motif of landscape form.

"11. Nostalgic images of nature are readily accepted, but they are like stage scenery for the wrong play.

"12. In his History of the Modern Taste in Gardening (1780), Horace Walpole writes that William Kent 'was the first to leap the fence and show that the whole of nature was a garden.' Today landscape has leapt the fence in the opposite direction, to the city, making it a part of nature.

"13. Existing urban spaces can be rescued from their current damaging interaction with nature.

"14. Landscape artists can reveal the forces of nature underlying cities, creating a new urban identity from them.

"15. Landscape can create meeting places where people can delight in unexpected forms and spaces, inventing why and how they are to be appreciated.

"16. Landscape, like a moment, never happens twice. This lack of fixity is landscape's asset.

"17. We can heighten the desire for new interactions between humans and nature where it is least expected: in derelict spaces.

"18. Emerging landscapes are becoming brand-new actors on the political stage.

"19. Landscape renders the city as constantly evolving in response to climate, geography, and history.

"20. Landscape can show artistic intention without imposing a predetermined meaning.

"21. Landscape can bridge the line between ourselves and other parts of nature - between ourselves and a river.

"22. Landscape is becoming the main actor of the urban stage, not just a destination.

"23. The edge between architecture and landscape can be porous.

"24. Landscape can be like poetry, highly suggestive and open to multiple interpretations.

"25. We must put the twenty-first century city in nature rather than put nature in the city. To put a city in nature will mean using engineered systems that function as those in nature and deriving form from them."

This summary conveys a nuance to consider once and then again and again. The particulars associated with each item provide the basis for a contemporary attitude towards nature in the city. Chapters in the book provide a foundation for further understanding each item.

These tenets should be recognized and understood as essential aspects in devising plans for urban parkland in Omaha. To do otherwise, would be a mistake of ignorance.

Omaha Nature Center Continues as Hazard

Officials of Omaha Parks Recreation and Public Property department have not yet addressed the window situation at the Hummel Park Nature Center, among the woods used by many sorts of birdlife.

The large windows on the north side, still do not have anything in place to create a visual barrier, to prevent any bird strikes. Officials have said they would be putting something in place to achieve this, but nothing has been done yet, despite their indications.

This is a view of the building on November 20, 2011. Note the reflective character of the glass.

Barriers over the windows which were to be used according to the building's design, will not be available until mid-January.

February Update

This is a photograph of the Hummel Park Nature Center taken Saturday afternoon, February 11th. Obviously the city officials claim that blinds would be in place by mid-January was wrong. This was obviously a false claim!

It was a weak design decision to incorporate something into a building's features that is not even readily available.

Community Debates Future of Fontenelle Park

The future of Fontenelle Park was considered at a community meeting held November 17th at the park pavilion to discuss a master plan and pending changes from the Clean Solutions for Omaha! project.

"Tonight is an opportunity for everyone to have input," said Ben Gray, a member of the Omaha City Council, during one of the many times he spoke.

Parks officials did not propose any features or suggest changes for the 108-acre park. CSO representatives did present options - larger lagoon, retention basins and wetlands - that have been used elsewhere to reduce the extent of stormwater flows and to improve the water quality.

Some of the comments made during the meeting were:

• "manicure of the golf-course has gone downhill"
• "more trees need to be planted"
• improve walkways and provide benches
• would like to see something pleasing to the eye
• Provide soccer fields if no golf course
• make the ponder bigger (this lagoon will be renovated in association with the stormwater separation project)
• provide a larger playground for the kids
• provide gender-neutral and age-neutral uses in the park; there are wonderful opportunities for the park that are not golf-centric
• maintain the natural beauty as it was designed in the original park; would not support uses that degrade the artistic design - these comments were from a member of the Fontenelleview Neighborhood Association
• develop a prairie area on the east hilltop (a neighborhood association has received funds from a mayoral program to establish a prairie setting in Fontenelle Park, as well as in Benson Park)
• wetland are a beautiful theme
• repair the basketball court to help youth activities at the park

The golf course situation received particular attention, as it is no has enough revenue to pay expenses, with about $80,000 lost last year, said Melinda Pearson, director of Omaha Parks and Recreation. The number of rounds played yearly has consistently dropped from 13,757 in 2009, to 11,145 in 2010 and 10,470 this golf season, she noted, adding that the extent of golfing has declined for the past ten years.

If the golf course is to remain, it must be self-supporting, officials stated.

Additional meetings will be held in the next few months to develop community-based plans for park amenities and features for future decades.

The next meeting will include a discussion of Northstar Foundation and the Omaha Home for Boys role in community improvement west of the park. Several dilapidated apartment buildings were recently demolished near 48th and Sahler streets by the Northstar group. There is also a community garden in the immediate vicinity.

The goal is to complete the park's master plan by spring, said Pearson.

About 35 residents attended the meeting along with about a dozen officials with the city and architectural firms were also present. There were two television stations and a reporter for the local newspaper. Several different advocacy groups were represented.

Fontenelle Park is one of Omaha's oldest - property was first acquired in 1893 - with the renowned park planner Horace Cleveland involved in its original design.

Planning Changes at Spring Lake Park

"Between Omaha and South Omaha where the trees are the thickest and the hills most picturesque lies Syndicate Park. Here again is water in abundance and it is the veritable 'wine of the rocks," as clear as ever came from the distilleries of the heavens and flowing in ample and refreshing streams from hidden channels underneath the rock-ribbed river." — February, 28, 1892; Omaha Sunday Bee

A community meeting was held to discuss the stormwater project proposed for the south Omaha area around Spring Lake Park, on the evening of November 17th. This project will dramatically alter the park, which was originally established as privately owned Syndicate Park in the latter 1880s.

Officials for this "Clean Solutions for Omaha!" project presented their "10% conceptual design" and took public comments. Parks and Recreation Department staff also attended the meeting which lasted less than two hours.

The basin for this project covers about 416 acres, which about half is the park and associated golf course.

The primary feature is to add new conduits for sanitary discharge and to revise stormwater runoff facilities so the two do not mix. Peak stormwater runoff would be reduced using retention basins, a created wetland and a wet pond, which would be primarily placed within lowland of the park. Dry detention basins may also be constructed at the golf course.

This work is being required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pertinent public comments include:

1. Concern over the runoff of oil from neighborhood streets, and how this would be addressed?
2. The "underwhelming" lake feature being proposed. The commenter was "disappointed" in the plan as presented, and thought there could be "something a little more spectacular" He asked that design considerations include options for a larger lake, that would be a "community enhancement." The lake the person suggested would inundate the entire lowland of the park north of F Street.

Pond proposal for Spring Lake Park, north of F Street. The proposed pond would have a maximum depth of 10-12 feet, which would require excavating extensive amounts of soil from the ravine, according to project officials. A fishery would be provided, probably through the Urban Fisheries Program sponsored by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. This pond would inundate at least three or four flowing springs. The water quality basin would also inundate one of the larger and most prevalent springs. Numerous trees would be removed, as well as complete hillsides would need to be obliterated. Graphic courtesy of the City of Omaha.

One particular concern is why the lake area could not be placed south of F Street. Project officials were concerned with the presence of a former landfill in an area which is now unused brome grass. The material would have to be removed and hauled away.

It was noted that if excavation is required for the lagoon proposed north of F Street, why couldn't the excavation be done south of F Street, and avoid inundation of the unique springs in the lowland north of F Street.

In March 1931, city officials completed construction of a new fish pond in the park, and it was located south of F Street. A picture of the first of the three planned ponds was included with the newspaper article. The three lakes would extend about three blocks.

The following personal comments were made during the meeting, with most of them derived from details in a grant application submitted to the Nebraska Environmental Trust:

• Why wasn't this meeting mentioned in the community news -- nothing seen in the newspaper or on a regularly watched television station?? Yet, the project conveys that community awareness is one of its more important features.
• How does project preserve the meadow and wetlands as specifically recognized in a document prepared years ago in association with recognition of parkland features??
• "Wetland, pond, and dry detention facilities will enhance wildlife habitat within the park" – conjecture as there are no particular details given on how this will be achieved
• "Wetland, pond, and dry detention facilities will keep the uniqueness of a natural area within an urban park" - more conjecture
• If the park cannot be kept clean of trash and free of tires now, how would the project result in making the place more attractive or discourage illegal dumping?? Current park cleanups have never accomplished the goal of completely removing unwanted trash or debris.
• It is not possible to improve water quality in the park, as the only water now in the park is spring water, and it does not need any improvement!
• What are the infiltration basins, proposed for just south of F Street??
• Project does not supplement groundwater, as if this means anything in this area anyway!
• How is this project help sustainability of resources?? This is another conjecture as it does just the opposite.
• How much rock would be used with the features of this project?? Most engineers in projects devise plans using massive tonnage's of rock.
• First notes on birds in June 1890; more than 100 species recorded, primarily since 2000; with nearly fifty personal surveys -- there are no subtropical birds at Omaha; there has been no evaluation of how the changes would impact the local avifauna within the park
• Proposed pond just north of F Street will inundate several distinct springs; there are none similar in any other Omaha park -- existing wetlands and brooks not enhanced by inundation -- Project does not enhance existing wetlands, it inundates them!!
• Make site more attractive by clearing underbrush; in direct opposition with other comments on habitat enhancement
• Pond will inundate springs and then on top of that, additional trees would be lost due to walkway
• Many proposed features do not represent Best Management Practices; educational signage would be nothing but propaganda

Audubon people familiar with the project are opposed to inundation of the north springs area. This area is well-used by birds during the winter as the spring flow remains unfrozen and is an important source of water. One planning official called this area an "unused part of the park," though he did retract his comment when provided a different explanation, based upon a bird/wildlife perspective.

An item of immediate concern was a erosional crevice within the park, created due to street runoff which enters the park at 18th and G Street. This hazard has been present for years and never been repaired. The situation would be fixed as part of the stormwater project.

A "30%" preliminary design meeting will be held in the March-April period in 2012.

Online Archives Essential to Historic Ornithology

Any evaluation of historic ornithology for northern America would rely on archival and database information presented online. Without particular information, an adequate consideration would simply not be possible.

There are four primary sources worth recognition and accolades.

ORNIS - The Online Ornithological Information System

Provides a search option to many collections which contain specimen and egg records. This catalog can be "ornery" at times, but there are plans being considered for it to be upgraded, which will improve performance.

The Smithsonian Institution is included with the search option, though they also have their own online catalog.

Google Books

The sheer extent of information available here can be quite overwhelming. It requires focused searches, but often when an item is noted elsewhere, it can often be found in its entirety at this site. The options for searching using multiple words or terms is an essential tool. What is also valuable it that a series of items can often be perused, so if a particular article is part of a series, the other volumes can be reviewed to find the remainder of the information presented.

Online Newspaper Archives

There are two readily apparent online archives of newspapers which have details relative to birds which were published before there was anything like an ornithological journal.

Chronicling America has many newspapers from most of the United States. The most valuable aspect it the search option where criteria can be defined so as to return pertinent records. Paper pages are provided in PDF format, which makes them easy to view and print what might be of interest. This site is essential for its coverage presented for such an expansive geographic region.

The California Digital Newspaper Collection presents newspapers from 1846 to 1922, and is maintained by the University of California, Riverside. It is a wonderful source of information, with an easy to use search tool. Results are presented in a user-friendly manner which includes a snippet of the particular item, making it much easier to evaluate its content and any need to take a closer look. The few words are often enough to convey that the item does not have details for the topic.

The CDNC search results are preferable to the similar feature at the Chronicling America site where search results show the matching items in a pdf document, which requires further evaluation of the page. This requires downloading the entire page and zooming in to determine if the results are of any significance.

Search results for the California newspapers can also be evaluated based upon the type of item (article or advertisement and whether there is an associated image), as well as the year of issue. Providing different methods of sorting details is what makes this online service especially valuable. Each page presented can be viewed in a portable document format, which makes it an easy task to find something of interest and then get a printout for further consideration.

Efforts such as these have allowed research into the history of ornithology to expand to a whole new realm where a multitude of records, historic books or documents, and oldtime newspapers can be considered. These sources often contain records of species for a particular place and time. Early history newspaper often had details of bird occurrence during an era when there was no such thing as an ornithological journal.

These creation of these archives is one of the top developments in the study of birds which have become available during the past ten years. They surpass many other notable achievements for this period, and are absolutely a most essential aspect for anyone with an interest in the study of the fascinating details and nuance of historic ornithology.

Autumn Pictorial - Spring Lake Park

A visit was made to Spring Lake Park in south Omaha to see what autumn birds were about on November 1, 2011. There weren't many birds, but it was a nice day and the autumn colors were vibrant.

Debris dumped in the north part of the park.
With the many tires usually about this park, it should almost be called tire park!

Former ball field which will be made into a stormwater detention basin (i.e., a wetland).

Illegal fire site.

Fishing tackle box abandoned at the south spring, the largest in the park. What might they have been fishing for?

The following two images indicate the results of unfettered stormwater runoff from the corner at 18th and G Streets. The resultant erosional rift - more than 20 feet deep and a prominent park hazard - among the forest trees has been ongoing for years, and the Public Works department has never addressed the problem.

Perhaps a local resident is trying to build a facility for a tire business.

This is a view of the area where there was a fishing pond constructed in 1931, according to a newspaper article of the era.

Water stream from a north spring. The robins - and other birds - enjoy this water for drinking and bathing, especially during the winter when few other water sources are available. This spring and others would be inundated by a pond.