December 1960 Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, Inc
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TENTH ANNIVERSARY -- -- VOLUME X, No. 4 DECEMBER 1960 FEDERATION OF NEW YORK STATE BIRD CLUBS, INC. Presidents Annual Meetings (Exploratory Meeting - Dec. 7, 1946 - Rochester) (Organization Meeting - Oct. 25, 1947 - Amsterdam) 1st Annual Meeting - Nov. 13, 14, 1948 - Rochester 2nd Annual Meeting - May 28, 29, 1949 - New York City 3rd Annual Meeting - Apr. 29, 30, 1950 - Watkins Glen 4th Annual Meeting - Apr. 7, 8, 1951 - Buffalo 5th Annual Meeting - May 24, 25, 1952 - Schenectady 6th Annual Meeting - May 22-24, 1953 - Bear Mountain 7th Annual Meeting - Aug. 27-29, 1954 - Ithaca 8th Annual Meeting - May 27-29, 1955 - Elmira 9th Annual Meeting - May 11-13, 1956 - Pleasantville 10th Annual Meeting - May 24-26, 1957 - Schenectady 1lth Annual Meeting - May 2-4, 1958 - Rochester 12th Annual Meeting - June 5-7, 1959 - Watertown 13th Annual Meeting - May 20-22, 1960 - Buffalo 14th Annual Meeting - Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, 1961 - New York City The Kingbird is a publication of The Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, Inc., which has been organized to further the study of bird life and to disseminate knowledge thereof, to educate the public in the need of conserving natural resources, and to encourage the establishment and maintenance of sanctuaries and protected areas. Individual member's dues are $2.50 annually, and all individual members receive the Kingbird. A member wishing to make an additional contribution may become a Sustaining Member ($51, a Supporting Member ($lo), or a Life Member ($100-"payable over a four-year period in equal installments until the full amount is paid", if member so desires.) For all classes of membership contact the treasurer, Mrs. Dayton Stoner, 399 State Street, Albany 10, New York. PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF NEW YORK STATE BIRD CLUBS. INC. .- Vol. 10 NO.~ December, 1960 Pages 121-216 CONTENTS The Editors., Page ............................................ The Origins Of Our Federation ----------Gordon M. Meade, M. D. Activities Of Member Clubs --------------------Francis H. Irving Hudson-Mohawk Common Egrets, 1937-1960 ------Lillian C. Stoner Southern Warblers In Central New York: A Historical Review ----------------------Allen H. Benton The Forest Preserve Is Not For Carving ------Maxwell C. Wheat, Jr. George N. Lawrence ---------------------------John B. Belknap Bird Banding In The Mohawk Valley ------------Beatrice Sullivan The White-headed Eagle In New York State -----Walter R. Spofford The Future Of Long Island Wildlife -------------Dennis Puleston I:alcon Flights On Long Island ---------------------John J. Elliott Hawk Migrations At Tones Beach ---------------d-Cornelius Ward 1960 Fall Shorebird Migration In Central New York----Fritz Scheider Population Pressure And The Forest Preserve----Joseph A. Blake, Jr. Field Notes: Highlights of the Fall Season: August 16 - November 30 - -- - -- -- - - - - - - - -----James K. Meritt 172 Regional Reports. for the Fall, 1960 ----------------------------- 174 Membership Directory ........................................ 206 Member Clubs ........................................ - --213 - Editor - MINNIEB. SCOTLAND Editorial Board Business and Circulation Manager - ALLAN S. KLONICK Cover Design - DOUGEASL. HOWLAND The Editor's Page In the first number of The Kingbird there was a page entitled, The Editor's Page, which disappeared somewhere down through the years. Now, on the tenth birthday of our Federation's publication it seems appropriate to include again such a page. A birthday, especially the tenth, deserves a celebration and this is the reason for a Special Anniversary issue. We hope that you will enjoy reading it. There was a good beginning made in November-December, 1950 when the young Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, then only eighteen clubs, published its magazine with these Salute, "To the birders of New York State, The Kingbird bids welcome." Great hope accompanied this venture. Perhaps this is the time to take stock, to assess which has been achieved and what may be ahead. What were the goals? One was to have a magazine devoted exclusively to bird life in New York State. This has been accomplished through many Articles, through the Field Notes and Regional Reports. These contributions have been written by Federation members, for the most part, and printed by the same patient and helpful printer over the years. Special commendation should go to the Regional Editor, a staff member who edits the Regional Reports, and to those reporters who send him their records, one of whom has been serving throughout the ten years. The Kingbird has had continued support by avid birders in all parts of the State, as evidenced by the fact that six of the first contributors have written for this special number. Another goal, reached during the decade, wos to provide a journal that would acquaint the Member Clubs, now twenty-nine, and individual members with birding activities carried on throughout New York State. Among these have been the establishment of sanctuaries, migration studies, breeding bird censuses, waterfdwl counts in January, tree and shrub crop summaries, educational programs, and annual bibliographies. Conservation news has been an important feature. There have appeared ecological, historical, and biographical accounts. Reports of Annual Meetings of the Federation have been included regularly and the announcement of the new by-laws and new name, Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, Inc., was printed in the October, 1956 issue of The Kingbird. The latter stated that as of August 20, 1956 the Federation "ceased being a nebulous association and became a distinct being in the eyes of the law". (A Ten Year Cumulative Index of The Kingbird will appear as a separate sup- plement in .the Spring of 196 1 .) With thi-s record behind it, what can be hoped for the future of the Kingbird? The answer rests upon the loyalty and assistance of the present membership and the building of a greatly increased roster of birders in New York StaTe as well as those beyond our borders. In 1950 it was hoped that the new pyplication would grow. I quote from the President's remarks in the first Kingbird, It will become what you, the readers, make and want it. It will depend upon the cooperation of each and every person in the State who reads this publication. How we grow and what we can do depends upon you. We need hundreds of individual members. There is still room for additional clubs". How applicable these wosds are today. With the best of wishes for a Happy Birthday in 1970 to The Kingbird and its sponsors, your editor closes The Editor's Page of this Tenth Anniversary number. M. B. S. THE KlNGBlRD is published four times a year (May, July, October and December) by the Federation of New York State Bird Clubs, Inc. Publication office is 42 Continental Ave., Cohoes, New York. Publication is sent free to all individual members of the Federation. Membership in the Federation is $2.50 per year. Single copies: Seventy-five cents. Subscription price is $2.50 per year. Special Tenth Anniversary Copy: One dollar. APPLICATION for membership should be sent to the chairman of the member- ship committee, Albert W. Fudge, Larchmont Road, Elmira: CHANGE OF ADDRESS is handled by the Treasurer, hrs. ~d~tonStoner, 399 State Street, Albany 10; EXCHANGES, BACK COPIES, and REPLACEMENT OF DAMAGED COPIES by Allan S. Klonick, 901 Sibley Tower Building, Rochester 4, N. Y. Acceptea as control led circulation publication at COHOES, NEW YORK. - 122 i .,<, - The Kingbird THE ORIGINS OF OUR FEDERATION GORDONM. MEADE,M. D. Prior to World War 11, there were relatively few bird' clubs in New York state. Contacts and communications between them were sporadic, casual and almost entirely confirmed to club members from adjacent com- munities who inevitably met each other on their independent fi'eld trips. From these fortuitous meetings and acquaintances came the first thoughts of a federation. But, nothing came of these until after the close bf the War. It would be possible to ascribe the idea and concept of the Federation as the brain child of several specific persons but actually this would be a narrow view of its genesis. The time and conditions were right for spon- taneous generation of the idea. Interest in bird watching and ornithology was mushrooming and new bird clubs were burgeoning due to release from the tensions of war and the increase in leisure. New highways made distant travel to birding areas far afield possible in a day or over a week-end. The pressure of industrial and population increases brought enlarging threats to natural areas and wildlife with resulting need for constant and more con- certed conservation vigilance and action. It became inescapably self-evident that some mechanism was needed whereby the birders of the state could get to know each other, to share their ideas and experiences, to jointly promote research and education in the field of ornithoIogy, and to secure a common and strong&- voice in con- servation matters. In the contacts on field trips, at eacEi others and national meetings, the thought of a state-wide ornithological organization was sug- gested and discussed by many. Finally members of the Genesee Ornithological Society: (Rochester) and the Buffalo Ornithological Society decided the time was opportune. A list of all the known bird clubs of the state was prepared. Invitations were issued to all known clubs to attend a meeting to discuss the desirability, and feasibility of forming a state organiaztion. Its exact character was un- decided at that point, Twenty-one delegates representing twelve bird clubs attended this dis- cussion meetine held Dec. 7. 1946 at the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences. ~ev&l other clubs had expressed interest but were unable to send delegates. The societies represented at this exploratory gathering were Buffalo Audubon Society, Buffalo Ornithological Society, Burroughs- Audubon Nature Club (Rochester), Cayuga Bird Club (Ithaca), Eaton Bird Club (Geneva), Elmira Garden Club (Bird Section), Gen'esee Ornithologi- cal Society (Rochester), Keuka Park Conservation Club, Sassafras Bird Club (Amsterdam), Watertown Bird Club, and Watkins Glen Bird Club.