S Nctuary the Journal of the Massachusetts Audubon Society
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SUMMER 2012 S NCTUARY THE JOURNAL OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY Birds of a Feather The past, present, and future of flocking birds BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Lynn Harvey Passing the Torch Jonathan Panek Elizabeth Heide Terilyn A. Henderson* VICE CHAIRS Chris Heye ass Audubon and its leaders have had the opportu- Jared Chase Virginia S. Hibbard Nora F. Huvelle Maria Higgins nity to address many of the issues of the day during Deborah V. Howard* the organization’s 116-year history and advocate, PRESIDENT James Hoyte M Laura A. Johnson Richard Johnson often forcefully, to effect real change. Jared Keyes CORPORATE SECRETARY John Kricher Our roots were established by Founding Mothers Harriet Kristin M. Barr Edwin F. Leach II Lawrence Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, who persuaded ladies James Levitt * ASSISTANT CORPORATE Ann Lewis of fashion to forgo the cruelly harvested plumage that adorned SECRETARY Thomas S. Litwin Elaine Kile George Cabot Lodge Jr. their hats. They also enlisted noted ornithologist William Allegra Lowitt Brewster as the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s first president TREASURER David Lubin Jeffrey F. Peters Leiha Macauley (1896-1913) to advance legislation to restrict the killing of birds William F. Macauley ASSISTANT TREASURERS Mary McFadden and sale of their plumage. Brewster passed the torch to Edward Gary R. Clayton Kevin McLellan Howe Forbush (president from 1914-1925), who opened our first Bancroft R. Poor Virginia L. Nicholas Jan O’Neil Al Nierenberg wildlife sanctuary, Moose Hill, in 1922, and expanded the orga- Charles Nims nization’s influence from a regional to global scale, resulting in DIRECTORS Sheila Nutt Julian Agyeman J. David Officer* measures for international protection of birds. Robert Ball Ronald P. O’Hanley Walter (Jerry) Bird Michael J. Pappone The third president (1925-1935), Judge Robert Walcott, Catherine Campbell George Pendergast promoted education—introducing natural history programs Jared Chase George Putnam III* Richard Chute Mary Lou Roberts for schools and day camps. Carl Buchheister was at the helm Donald Cooper Walter Rosenfeld* from 1936 to 1939 when the Federation of Bird Clubs in New Paula Cortes James Saalfield Nicholas d’Arbeloff Doug Sacra England was brought into the Mass Audubon fold. He was Nina Doggett Judy A. Samelson* Scott Edwards Jackie Jenkins-Scott followed by C. Russell Mason whose tenure (1939-1959) Nora F. Huvelle Dedee Shattuck included formation of the Natural Science Workshop to train Christopher Klem David Sibley Erik Knutzen Phyllis Solomon teachers and youth leaders in natural history education and Beth Kressley Goldstein Andy Solow Virginia Lawrence Nancy Soulette the founding of residential camp Wildwood. Next came Allen William Madar Lee Spelke* H. Morgan who in the 1960s brought Mass Audubon to the Deborah Miller Marcus Springer Jonathan Panek Lisa Standley forefront of the nascent environmental movement. Morgan Jeffrey F. Peters Brooke Stevens tackled causes like pesticide regulation while never losing Helen Pounds Alexander L. Thorndike John Riehl Marian Thornton* sight of our origins in bird conservation. Major accomplish- Anne Snyder Patricia Thornton* James Sperling Elizabeth Valentine* ments during his tenure (1959-1980) were passage of David Straus Rosamond B. Vaule Massachusetts wetlands protection legislation in the 1960s William T. Wachenfeld COUNCIL CO-CHAIRS Anna S. Whitcomb and 1970s (first state wetlands laws in the nation) and the Donald Cooper Jay Wickersham Beth Kressley Goldstein Alan Wilson* milestone in 1976 of 10,000 acres of open space acquired. Bryan Windmiller Under the leadership (1980-1999) of Gerard A. Bertrand, COUNCIL Julia Yoshida Dennis Arseneau Mass Audubon spearheaded passage of critical land and Priscilla Bailey * = Honorary Director James Baird water protection legislation, while also maintaining focus on Marygrace Barber local and international bird protection, launching the Peter Barber HONORARY DIRECTORS Carl Beatty Kathleen S. Anderson Coastal Waterbird Program in 1987 and beginning coopera- Robert Bertin Robert C. Baron tive work with the Belize Audubon Society in 1984, then Joseph Brevard Anne Brooke Sara Brydges Brian Brooks forming Programme for Belize in 1988. Bertrand drove George Butterworth III* Hamilton Coolidge Charles C. Cabot III Lewis S. Dabney expansion of our sanctuary system to ensure a Mass Dix Campbell Eugene B. Doggett Audubon presence close by for every citizen of the state. Shawn Carey Mrs. Alexander Ellis Elliott Carr Charles H. Fargo Approaching the year 2000, Mass Audubon came full circle by Alfred D. Chandler III* John C. Fuller choosing its first woman leader, a century after our Founding Jennifer Charles Henry Lee John W. Cobb Shirley M. Jenkins Mothers began their work. I have had the privilege of serving as Jeffrey M. Collins Mrs. George M. Lovejoy Jr. Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld* Merloyd L. Ludington Mass Audubon’s president for 13 years. Mass Audubon now pro- Donna Cooper Deborah W. Moses tects nearly 35,000 acres, bird conservation programs are Paula Cortes John F. O’Connor Sarah Creighton Herbert W. Pratt stronger than ever, over the last decade we have pioneered a Thomas A. DeMarco III Edward H. Raymond Alexander Ellis III David Starr comprehensive program of sustainable practices at our proper- Kathleen Emrich Jeffrey Swope ties, and our commitment to reaching new audiences and urban Barbara E. Fargo* John L. Thorndike Jennifer Firth Mrs. Jeptha H. Wade environmental education is flourishing. Richard T. T. Forman Simon (Chip) Walker Mass Audubon’s next leader will doubtless continue to Thomas D. French* David Walsh Bruce Fulford Thomas T. Warren champion both longstanding and emerging environmental Ayla Gavins Nancy Weiss Thaddeus Gillespie Dudley H. Willis issues in the decades to come. H. David Gold Laurence W. Zuelke John Green* Laura Johnson, President John Hammond SANCTUARY SUMMER 2012 Volume 50 Number 3 FEATURES North with the Spring 2 by John Hanson Mitchell Swarms at Sea 3 by Wayne Petersen The Mystery of Flocks 6 © LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES, HARVARD GALLERY, GALLERY, HARVARD © LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES, MD. ELLIOT J. RAYFIELD, by Thomas Conuel Canvasbacks The Gantlet 8 Great blue heron rookery by Chris Leahy DEPARTMENTS S TAFF Fate of the Flocks 11 At Our Sanctuaries 21 Editor: by Gayle Goddard-Taylor by Ann Prince John Hanson Mitchell Associate Editor: Rivers of Birds 14 Poetry 22 Ann Prince by Joe Choiniere edited by Wally Swist Production Editor: Rose M. Murphy Flight to Oblivion 17 The Political Landscape 23 Field Editors: Thomas Conuel by Michael J. Caduto by Jennifer Ryan and Heidi Ricci Gayle Goddard-Taylor Poetry Editor: Project Passenger Pigeon 19 Curious Naturalist 29 Wally Swist by Ann Prince by Gordon Morrison Designer: Lynne Foy Cover: Tree swallow Sanctuary is a journal about natural history and the environment that is published by flock during migration Mass Audubon three times a year. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and © Jim Fenton not necessarily those of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. To respond to stories in this issue, email us at [email protected]. Sanctuary (ISSN 0272-8966), South Great Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773. Published three times a year. Memberships are $750 guardian; $500 patron; $250 sponsor; $150 protector; $100 contributor; $80 family plus; $70 supporter; $65 family; and $48 individual. Reprints of this issue are avail- Printed on recycled paper able. Write or call the publications office at Mass Audubon, Lincoln, MA 01773, 781-259-2167; or with soy-based ink. email Sanctuary at [email protected]. Printed in the U.S.A. Mass Audubon works to protect the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife. Together with more than 100,000 members, we care for 34,000 acres of conservation land, provide educational programs for 225,000 children and adults annually, and advocate for sound environmental policies at local, state, and fed- eral levels. Mass Audubon’s mission and actions have expanded since our beginning in 1896 when our founders set out to stop the slaughter of birds for use on women’s fashions. Today we are the largest conservation orga- nization in New England. Our statewide network of wildlife sanctuaries, in 90 Massachusetts communities, welcomes vis- itors of all ages and serves as the base for our work. To support these important efforts, call 800-AUDUBON (283-8266) or visit www.massaudubon.org. SANCTUARY SUMMER 2012 1 North with the Spring that collect in the Southeastern states every winter. I began at the southernmost outpost of the United States, on the Dry Tortugas, where flocks of sooty terns numbering over a 100,000 gather, and then moved north to the Everglades to watch the vast gyres of circling wood storks and long wavering lines of ibises straddling the hori- zon at dawn and dusk. I worked my way northward to the congregations of ducks at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Florida, and then drove onward up the coast, stopping at wildlife refuges all along the way,and following the assembling northbound flocks. I ended up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland at my family’s house, and Blackwater refuge, in Cambridge, Maryland, and then drove north to Bombay Hook, Cape May, and Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (the former Brigantine refuge). I was of course amazed by the numbers of waterbirds I encountered on that trip. But as I moved northward, at nearly every refuge and wintering ground I visited, I fell into conversation—as I often do on these journeys— with old people. And from them I got a different story. In Flamingo on Florida Bay, I met a sun-creased old © FRANCIS L. JAQUES man in a Trilby hat who knew Marjory Stoneman White ibises Douglas, author of The Everglades: River of Grass and the driving force behind Everglades National Park. “Not what it used to be, I can tell you that,” he said, when I ome years ago, I was visiting family members who marveled at the number of birds I had seen that day.