A History of Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary Carl Wilms………………………...………………………………….………
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INDIANA AUDUBON QUARTERLY VOL. 96, NO. 3. AUGUST 2018 1 INDIANA AUDUBON SOCIETY, Inc. Founded 1898 Incorporated 1939 OFFICERS President………………………………………………... Ryan Slack [email protected] Vice President……………………………………… John Velasquez [email protected] Past President………………………………….…………Jeff Canda [email protected] Secretary………………………………………...................Kim Ehn [email protected] Treasurer………………………………………….…..Tanner Troyer [email protected] Editor Cardinal (Director)……………………………...Mark Welter [email protected] Webmaster……………………………………………...Amy Wilms [email protected] DIRECTORS Term Expires 2018 Term Expires 2019 Term Expires 2020 Amy Kearns Kristin Stratton Matt Beatty Sarah McKillip Shari McCollough April Raver Allee Forsberg Sally Routh Annie Aguirre FIELD NOTE/COUNT EDITORS/BIRD RECORDS CHAIR Editor Quarterly…………………………………..Brad Bumgardner [email protected] Field Note Editor (Spring)……………………………… Bob Carper [email protected] Field Note Editor (Summer)……………………………...Ken Brock [email protected] Field Note Editor (Fall)…………………………………….Kim Ehn [email protected] Field Note Editor (Winter)…………………………….................... Open May Bird Count and Final Edit Editor………….....Matt Kalwasinski [email protected] Summer Bird Count Editor…………………………….Amy Kearns [email protected] Winter Feeder Count Editor………………………….. John Castrale [email protected] Christmas Count Editors……………………………..… Jeff Canada [email protected] Indiana Bird Records Committee………………………....Kirk Roth [email protected] EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brad Bumgardner TRUSTEES OF THE MARY GRAY/DEVELOPMENT ENDOWMENT FUNDS Tanner Troyer Chad Williams Margaret Schwarz MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Sally Routh (Chairperson) Margaret Schwarz Mary Cox PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE SOCIETY (LIVING) Susanna Arvin Sallie Potter Thomas Potter John F. Branham Karen Henman Alan W. Bruner Thomas Brinduse Edward Hopkins Marge Riemenschneider Kathleen Hoover Paul Steffen Gerald Dryer Dr. Russell Mumford Rebecca Lewis Carl Wilms Jane Miller Amy Wilms Brad Bumgardner Jeff Canada 2 INDIANA AUDUBON QUARTERLY (Formerly the Indiana Audubon Society Yearbook) Published in February, May, August and November by The Indiana Audubon Society, Inc. Editor’s Address: 85 Old Hickory Lane, Valparaiso, IN 46385 Email: [email protected] Visit our website at www.indianaaudubon.org ________________________________________________________________________ Vol. 96, No. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS AUGUST 2018 ______________________________ _______________________ ______ Letter from the Executive Director Brad Bumgardner.…………………….……………………………………....................3 The Spectacular Snowy Owl Irruption of 2018-2018 Ken Brock...……………………… ……………….…………………..……….….……4 Spring 2018 Field Notes Bob Carper…………………………………………………………………………..….11 A History of Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary Carl Wilms………………………...………………………………….………...............16 Master Plan for Mary Gray Nature Preserve Indiana Audubon Board of Directors. ………………………………………………....23 Threat of climate change on a songbird population through its impacts on breeding….25 Thomas W. Bonnot , W. Andrew Cox, Frank R. Thompson, and Joshua J. Millspaugh Cover photo: Putnam County Brown Pelican on Heritage Lake. Photo taken by Ryan Sanderson on 23 April 2018. Back cover photo: A hybrid Cinnamon Teal/Blue-winged Teal takes off from Celery Bog, Tippecanoe Co., on 28 March 2018. Photo by Tyler Stewart. CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE INDIANA AUDUBON SOCIETY Life Membership $675.000 Individual $300.00 Cardinal Club $100.000 Library/Organization (subcription only) $100.00 Contributing $50.000 Student/IYBC (12 and older) $20.00 Family $35.000 Fledgling Student/IYBC (under 12) $5.00 Membership fees may be sent to: Sally Routh, 12284 Daugherty Dr., Zionsville IN 46077 3 Letter from the Executive Director Brad Bumgardner, Valparaiso, IN [email protected] Indiana Audubon is growing! Our membership is up. Our conservation funding is up. Our educational opportunities are up. Our event attendance is up. Every one of these activities is about you and what you’ve done to help IAS grow. I’d invite you to think about what you’ve done for birds in the last year. Do you operate bird feeders? Do you keep them up late into the fall to help straggling hummers or to glimpse a rare western species? Maybe you’ve led a birding trip or taken out birders to a new site to explore the wonderful world of birds. Perhaps you’ve visited Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary and helped in either a morning of bird banding or assisted Dawn for a work day on the invasive species. All these events, while small have a huge impact on the overall world of birds in which we live. As we continue through 2018, Indiana Audubon is ever expanding its reach on the impact we can have towards birds, not only in your backyard, but worldwide. The recent growth and popularity of the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival has allowed for an outpouring of support for the revived Mumford & Keller Grants and Scholarship Program. This year, over $4,000 has been donated to the fund and will provide applicants the chance to fund their bird conservation or research initiative here in Indiana or worldwide. It will also provide a means to stimulate new birders into our great hobby, whether it be in-school programs, scout activities, or a trip for a young birder. The 2018 fall funding deadline is fast approaching if you’d like to be considered for funding. You can visit the IAS website and find the application online in the awards and grants section. Meeting the grant reporting requirements lets you share what you’ve learned and done right here via the Indiana Audubon Quarterly. Another way for members to expand their reach is through the Bird Town Indiana initiative. Bird Town Indiana helps recognize towns and communities that care about birds. Modeled after the “Tree City USA” program and the highly successful Bird City Wisconsin, Indiana Audubon Society began Bird Town Indiana in 2013, and now has a dozen recognized towns, and more in the pipeline. If a community meets at least seven criteria, it becomes an official Bird Town. Indiana Bird Towns are those that both the public officials and citizens demonstrate an active and ongoing commitment to the protection and conservation of bird populations and their habitats. Whatever your birding passion, I hope you can find a way to express that desire to save the birds and don’t hesitate to let Indiana Audubon help you along the way! 4 The Spectacular Snowy Owl Irruption of 2017-18 Kenneth J. Brock, Chesterton, IN [email protected] The Snowy Owl is believed to be one of the oldest bird species recognized in prehistoric cave art (Holt, et al., 2015), indicating that humans have been attracted to this magnificent bird for millennia. Indeed, if there is a single favorite bird of almost everyone, even non-birders, it is very likely this beautiful owl. A resident of the Arctic tundra, it is a rare but regular winter visitor to Indiana that was recently brought to our attention by an enormous flight that occurred during the 2017-18 winter. In most years a few Snowy Owls (mainly young birds) migrate southward in winter, resulting in one to seven reports in Indiana. On these years the adults tend to remain in the Arctic. Periodically however, large- scale southward movements occur, and everyone heads south. These “bail out” events are called irruptions. In the past it was believed that irruptions occurred when the lemming population, a primary food source, declined. Lemming numbers tend to drop roughly every 3-5 years. However, recent studies have revealed that the correlation between owl This Snowy Owl, likely a first-year female, was found perched irruptions and declines in the lemming on the beach at Michigan City Harbor on 17 December 2017. population is not good (Holt, et al., Many of those subsequently observed, especially early in the 2015). season, had unusually dark markings like this individual. Photo by the author. Figure 1 reveals that Indiana’s seasonal Snowy Owl counts do not fit neatly into a three to five year cycle. More importantly, lemming research on the north slope of Alaska suggests that all lemming populations do not rise and fall simultaneously (Pitelka and Batzli, 1993). Accordingly, a satisfactory explanation for cause of Snowy Owl irruptions remains unclear. It is clear however, that both food and weather play a role. 5 Historical Indiana’s earliest Snowy Owl report apparently occurred between 1807 and 1818. During this period James J. Audubon regularly visited General George Rogers Clark in Clarksville, Indiana (Perkins, 1936). Below, is an account given by Audubon during that era (Audubon, J.J., 1967 Dove r Reprint, p 114-115): “At the break of day, one morning, when I lay hidden in a pile of drift logs, at that place [Falls of the Ohio], waiting for a shot at some wild geese, I had an opportunity of seeing this Owl secure fish in the following manner:— While watching for their prey on borders of the ‘pots’ they invariably lay flat on the rock, with the body placed lengthwise along the border of the hole, the head also laid down, but turned toward the water. One might have supposed the bird sound asleep, as it would remain in the same position until a good opportunity of securing a fish occurred, which I believe was never missed; for, as the latter unwittingly rose to the surface, near the edge that instant the Owl thrust out the foot next the water, and with the quickness of lightning, seized it, and drew it out…. Whenever a fish of any size was hooked, as I may say, the Owl struck the other foot also into it, and flew off with is to a As the 2017-18 season progressed much whiter birds appeared with considerable distance. In two instances of this kind, I saw the bird regularity. Perhaps this resulted from carry its prey across the Western or Indiana Shute, into the wood, the adults moving south later than the as if to be quite out of harm’s way.” young birds. This handsome example was photographed by the author at the Reynolds Creek G.H.A. on 27 March. In those early days this conspicuous diurnal owl was often shot, perhaps to protect the domestic fowl that were maintained on most farms.