DOCSLIB.ORG

The Lark Bunting Official Newsletter of the Denver Field Ornithologists

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Lark Bunting Official Newsletter of the Denver Field Ornithologists THE LARK BUNTING OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE DENVER FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS VOLUME 57 | ISSUE 10 | OCTOBER 2021 DFOBIRDS.ORG FIELD TRIP NEWS New field trip chair is David Suddjian PAGE 8 PROGRAM NEWS 1st in-person monthly program + livestream! PAGE 4 BIRD BEHAVIOR Silent summer: Where are the birds? PAGE 11 BIRD ARCHAEOLOGY Birds + ancient pueblos = cool webinar series PAGE 18 PHOTO OF THE MONTH Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs Mark Amershek Barr Lake State Park THE LARK BUNTING OCTOBER 2021 1 FROM THE PRESIDENT DFO Board retreat? I’d call it an ADVANCE! Susan Blansett (and sometimes because of it), DFO has made positive On a Sunday morning in mid-August, the DFO Board of momentum since 2019. We celebrated these milestones: Directors convened for its third planning retreat since 2016. Once again, we gathered at Barr Lake State Park, a lovely place x Our new Conservation Committee has delved into of refuge where we stepped back to consider the big picture public discussion and advocacy on the future of birding and chart our club’s path for the next few years. at Chico Basin Ranch and birder access to State Wildlife Areas. It now raises its voice on conservation topics The last time we did this, in the fall of 2019, we crafted a in each issue of The Lark Bunting, and it’s working on strategic plan for 2-3 years ahead. But that was just 5 months more issues and causes to come before you-know-what all but shut us down for a full year. In x We set a new membership record, now at 549 and hopes of returning to “normal” again soon, we thought it wise counting to review and update that Covid-interrupted plan. x DFO mastered Zoom to continue monthly programs online through the pandemic. This doubled, tripled and First, we took a short hike out on the park’s Neidrach Nature even quadrupled normal attendance AND exposed new Trail to fill our lungs with (relatively smoke-free) fresh air and audiences (and potential members) to DFO our eyes with birds. Back in the park nature center education x We formed new program partnerships with Denver room, we filled our coffee cups and got to work. Public Library, Denver Audubon, and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Before moving into the main group-think session, we did a x We expanded our media reach, with steady growth in bit of DFO business, including appointing a new Field Trip our Facebook and Instagram communities and, in my Committee chair. Thank you and welcome to veteran trip opinion, the BEST newsletter of any nonprofit EVER leader David Suddjian, who in this critical role will also sit on x DFO restarted a program of popular, free and varied the DFO Board. (Read more about David and his vision for field trips that is widely recognized as a model for DFO field trips in the article on page 8 of this issue.) birding clubs across the country x Thanks to continued member generosity, we expanded The strategic plan we drew up in 2019 focused on four key our thriving program of small grants to conservation- goals. We recommitted to them as still meaningful, even as we based, bird-related research and education recognize that we’re in a different world now. Those goals are: With the bar set that high, the board spent the bulk of our x Integrate conservation into everything we do retreat time working on how to do even better: continue to x Attract new and more diverse members grow, appeal to broader audiences, bring members even more x Improve the quality of DFO members’ experience value AND engage more of you in volunteering for the club. x Build partnerships with other organizations to promote conservation and enhance member value Here are some ways we’ll work for that in the coming months: We added a fifth goal: Ensure and improve DFO’s financial x Under David Suddjian’s new leadership, we have already health in the fiscal areas of management, revenue, fundraising recruited and trained four new field trip leaders and and reserves. aim to add more, while expanding both the numbers and kinds of birding outings that DFO offers It was a pleasant surprise to find that, despite the pandemic Continued on page 3 THE LARK BUNTING OCTOBER 2021 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT cont from page 2 DFO board retreat Patrick O'Ddriscoll x We will promote more member engagement in club activities and appreciation for those who volunteer their skills and talents to DFO x We are planning more Better Birding Workshops, including some focused on bird habitat (an idea straight from last year’s member survey) x We aim to deepen member involvement in community science, including the HawkWatch program that DFO took on more than a year ago So, while you enjoy shorebird migration, the fall passage of warblers and (soon, please?) those first bites of crisp autumn air, know that there’s more to come. And while you consider that, tell a friend or two about DFO, won’t you? Thank your trip leader or other club volunteers, too. Come to the Members-Only Picnic on Sept. 18! A smart, giving group of club volunteers is committed to bringing you the very best that birding together as a Colorado community can offer. Thanks, and good birding! Susan Blansett Patrick O'Driscoll — Susan THE LARK BUNTING OCTOBER 2021 3 FALL PROGRAM PREVIEWS A return to in-person programs . plus live streaming from home! Detail from Beginning Sept. 27, Denver Field Ornithologists returns to in-person monthly Radeaux painting programs for the first time in more than a year and a half. This program, in which DFO member Scott Somershoe updates his 2021 bicycle birding odyssey to raise funds for avian research, will be live in the Unity Spiritual Come in person Center Denver — and livestreamed via YouTube for those who prefer to for chance at attend remotely. bird painting An important note for those attending in person: Denver Field Ornithologists will Unity Denver’s Covid-19 protocols strongly encourage wearing masks and celebrate its return to in-person social distancing in the church’s sanctuary. It has abundant seating (capacity monthly program meetings in 330) and can easily accommodate this simple adjustment as the need for September with a special door prize that one lucky attendee will take commonsense precautions lingers until recent surge conditions subside. We home. ask that you honor this sensible practice by bringing a mask and sitting apart from others beyond your own close circle. It’s an original and stylized painting of a Black-throated Sparrow (with For those of you attending remotely, tuning in at DFO’s YouTube Channel is butterflies) by the accomplished easy. There’s no need to register or launch a computer app. Here’s what to do: painter, illustrator and birder Radeaux of Pueblo, CO. Among At or before the 7 p.m. MDT start time, open your computer, smart phone or his many other artworks focused other Internet device and click on the DFO YouTube Channel at on the fauna of Colorado, Radeaux https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFqZeYj0BHP-EuNxjb4bthQ. created the illustrations and painted (While you’re there, click on “SUBSCRIBE” to find it easily next time.) the covers of the Colorado Breeding That’s it! You’re watching live. Bird Atlas. The 8-1/2-by-11-inch painting, If you miss the program, DFO’s YouTube Channel will store the recording, mounted and matted in a 15-by- which also will be archived via link on the DFO website’s Past Programs page. 18-inch art frame, was donated to DFO by the family of a former club A FINAL NOTE: member after his death in 2019. Because of sometimes-shifting official guidance around Covid-19 precautions Anyone attending the Sept. 27 indoors, arrangements for in-person DFO programs this fall are subject to evening program at Unity Spiritual change. IF that happens, DFO will inform all members via email (as we do now Center Denver will be eligible for to announce programs) and will post updates on the DFO website, Facebook, the drawing. and Instagram pages. Good luck! Programs will not be canceled, only readjusted if necessary. THE LARK BUNTING OCTOBER 2021 4 FALL PROGRAM PREVIEWS CONT. A Green Big Year: My 2021 birding quest for the new Joe Roller Memorial Grant Scott Somershoe Monday, September 27, 7 p.m. MDT LIVE in person at Unity Spiritual Center Denver STREAMING LIVE on DFO’s YouTube Channel On Sept. 27, DFO’s own Scott Somershoe will tell the story of his “Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year” so far — a self-powered, carbon-free mission to record as many species in Colorado as possible, but only by bicycle or on foot from his home in Littleton. When he began on Jan. 1, 2021, Somershoe was aiming for at least 250 species, six more than he recorded in a similar year-long pursuit in 2020. As of Aug. 31, he has already reached 251 species — and so Scott has a new goal with four months left in 2021. As autumn migration begins, he has set sights on more than two dozen target species in the categories of “common” or “rare but regular” visitors to Colorado. “I can’t wait for fall migration,” he told followers on his Joe Roller Memorial Green Big Year blog. “It’ll be a blast!” The species tally is important because Somershoe is gathering per-species pledges and flat donations for the new Joe Roller Memorial Grant for bird research in Colorado.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • NH Bird Records
    V28 No4-Winter09-10_f 8/22/10 4:45 PM Page i New Hampshire Bird Records Winter 2009-10 Vol. 28, No. 4 V28 No4-Winter09-10_f 8/22/10 4:45 PM Page ii AUDUBON SOCIETY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE New Hampshire Bird Records Volume 28, Number 4 Winter 2009-10 Managing Editor: Rebecca Suomala 603-224-9909 X309, [email protected] Text Editor: Dan Hubbard Season Editors: Pamela Hunt, Spring; Tony Vazzano, Summer; Stephen Mirick, Fall; David Deifik, Winter Layout: Kathy McBride Assistants: Jeannine Ayer, Lynn Edwards, Margot Johnson, Susan MacLeod, Marie Nickerson, Carol Plato, William Taffe, Jean Tasker, Tony Vazzano Photo Quiz: David Donsker Photo Editor: Jon Woolf Web Master: Len Medlock Editorial Team: Phil Brown, Hank Chary, David Deifik, David Donsker, Dan Hubbard, Pam Hunt, Iain MacLeod, Len Medlock, Stephen Mirick, Robert Quinn, Rebecca Suomala, William Taffe, Lance Tanino, Tony Vazzano, Jon Woolf Cover Photo: Peregrine Falcon by Jon Woolf, 12/1/09, Hampton Beach State Park, Hampton, NH. New Hampshire Bird Records is published quarterly by New Hampshire Audubon’s Conservation Department. Bird sight- ings are submitted to NH eBird (www.ebird.org/nh) by many different observers. Records are selected for publication and not all species reported will appear in the issue. The published sightings typically represent the highlights of the season. All records are subject to review by the NH Rare Birds Committee and publication of reports here does not imply future acceptance by the Committee. Please contact the Managing Editor if you would like to report your sightings but are unable to use NH eBird.
    [Show full text]
  • January 2020.Indd
    BROWN PELICAN Photo by Rob Swindell at Melbourne, Florida JANUARY 2020 Editors: Jim Jablonski, Marty Ackermann, Tammy Martin, Cathy Priebe Webmistress: Arlene Lengyel January 2020 Program Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 7 p.m. Carlisle Reservation Visitor Center Gulls 101 Chuck Slusarczyk, Jr. "I'm happy to be presenting my program Gulls 101 to the good people of Black River Audubon. Gulls are notoriously difficult to identify, but I hope to at least get you looking at them a little closer. Even though I know a bit about them, I'm far from an expert in the field and there is always more to learn. The challenge is to know the particular field marks that are most important, and familiarization with the many plumage cycles helps a lot too. No one will come out of this presentation an expert, but I hope that I can at least give you an idea what to look for. At the very least, I hope you enjoy the photos. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!” Chuck Slusarczyk is an avid member of the Ohio birding community, and his efforts to assist and educate novice birders via social media are well known, yet he is the first to admit that one never stops learning. He has presented a number of programs to Black River Audubon, always drawing a large, appreciative gathering. 2019 Wellington Area Christmas Bird Count The Wellington-area CBC will take place Saturday, December 28, 2019. Meet at the McDonald’s on Rt. 58 at 8:00 a.m. The leader is Paul Sherwood.
    [Show full text]
  • Web-Book Catalog 2021-05-10
    Lehigh Gap Nature Center Library Book Catalog Title Year Author(s) Publisher Keywords Keywords Catalog No. National Geographic, Washington, 100 best pictures. 2001 National Geogrpahic. Photographs. 779 DC Miller, Jeffrey C., and Daniel H. 100 butterflies and moths : portraits from Belknap Press of Harvard University Butterflies - Costa 2007 Janzen, and Winifred Moths - Costa Rica 595.789097286 th tropical forests of Costa Rica Press, Cambridge, MA rica Hallwachs. Miller, Jeffery C., and Daniel H. 100 caterpillars : portraits from the Belknap Press of Harvard University Caterpillars - Costa 2006 Janzen, and Winifred 595.781 tropical forests of Costa Rica Press, Cambridge, MA Rica Hallwachs 100 plants to feed the bees : provide a 2016 Lee-Mader, Eric, et al. Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA Bees. Pollination 635.9676 healthy habitat to help pollinators thrive Klots, Alexander B., and Elsie 1001 answers to questions about insects 1961 Grosset & Dunlap, New York, NY Insects 595.7 B. Klots Cruickshank, Allan D., and Dodd, Mead, and Company, New 1001 questions answered about birds 1958 Birds 598 Helen Cruickshank York, NY Currie, Philip J. and Eva B. 101 Questions About Dinosaurs 1996 Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, NY Reptiles Dinosaurs 567.91 Koppelhus Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, N. 101 Questions About the Seashore 1997 Barlowe, Sy Seashore 577.51 Y. Gardening to attract 101 ways to help birds 2006 Erickson, Laura. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA Birds - Conservation. 639.978 birds. Sharpe, Grant, and Wenonah University of Wisconsin Press, 101 wildflowers of Arcadia National Park 1963 581.769909741 Sharpe Madison, WI 1300 real and fanciful animals : from Animals, Mythical in 1998 Merian, Matthaus Dover Publications, Mineola, NY Animals in art 769.432 seventeenth-century engravings.
    [Show full text]
  • BIRDING— Fun and Science by Phyllis Mcintosh
    COM . TOCK S HUTTER © S © BIRDING— Fun and Science by Phyllis McIntosh For passionate birdwatcher Sandy Komito of over age 16 say they actively observe and try to iden- Fair Lawn, New Jersey, 1998 was a big year. In a tify birds, although few go to the extremes Komito tight competition with two fellow birders to see as did. About 88 percent are content to enjoy bird many species as possible in a single year, Komito watching in their own backyards or neighborhoods. traveled 270,000 miles, crisscrossing North Amer- More avid participants plan vacations around ica and voyaging far out to sea to locate rare and their hobby and sometimes travel long distances to elusive birds. In the end, he set a North American view a rare species and add it to their lifelong list of record of 748 species, topping his own previous birds spotted. Many birdwatchers, both casual and record of 726, which had stood for 11 years. serious, also function as citizen scientists, provid- Komito and his fellow competitors are not alone ing valuable data to help scientists monitor bird in their love of birds. According to a U.S. Fish and populations and create management guidelines to Wildlife Service survey, about one in five Americans protect species in decline. 36 2 0 1 4 N UMBER 1 | E NGLISH T E ACHING F ORUM Birding Basics The origins of bird watching in the United States date back to the late 1800s when conserva- tionists became concerned about the hunting of birds to supply feathers for the fashion industry.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 LBRC Newsletter
    NEWSLETTER OF THE LOUISIANA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE Annual Meeting Report 2016 Louisiana’s Newest State List Additions 2015-058 2016-003 August 27, 2016 2014-031 Three species are new to the State List since the last LBRC Newsletter. Our latest additions (left to right, in chronological order of their discovery) are: Sooty Shearwater (LBRC 2014-031, photo Will Selman), Pyrrhuloxia (LBRC 2015-058, photo Dan O’Malley), and Mew Gull (2016-003, photo Charles E. Lyon). Excellent photographs above were taken by their discoverers. These three species were considered long overdue to occur in Louisiana. See Nineteenth Report of the Louisiana Bird Records Committee (p. 6) for complete record information. Annual Report, Annual Meeting: 11 June 2016 Synopsis of the 2016 LBRC Annual Meeting by: Donna L. Dittmann, Secretary & Steven W. Cardiff, Chair The LBRC’s 2016 Annual Meeting was The Meeting was called to order at 9:56 originally scheduled for 12 March but was AM and, due to a packed agenda, continued postponed after heavy rains and local flooding uninterrupted (not even for a lunch break!) until impacted travel for some Members, especially adjournment at 5:45 PM. those from the northern and southeastern portions of the state. The Meeting finally took The purpose of the Annual Meeting is place on the next available unanimously threefold. First, this is when Member elections compatible date of 11 June 2016, at the LSU are held. Second, additional business can be Museum of Natural Science. discussed and resolved, including final resolution of Fourth Circulation “Discussion” Eight Voting Members were in records.
    [Show full text]
  • (719)846-1515
    The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado “Weekend Edition” Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 28-30, 2021 Page 5 431 University Street, Trinidad, CO 81082 (719)846-1515 www.cotwrealestate.com TBD Vacant Land, Trinidad, 200 E Main St, Aguilar, CO 81082 | Listing Price $85,000 CO 81020 | Listing Price $199,000 214 E Kansas Ave, Trinidad, Beautiful Lot in Gated Fisher Peak Ranch Subdivision - Majestic 25110 N Ridgeline, Trinidad, Are you looking for a great place to run a successful business, look CO 81082 | Listing Price $119,000 Views of Colorado’s Newest State Park ‘’Fishers Peak’’. Views of the CO 81082 | Listing Price $795,000 no further than the Historical, Reputable and Famous Sunset Tavern Classic 1919 Bungalow in HistoricTrinidad. This Home is in a great Sangre De Cristo & Spanish Peaks Mountains along with views of the Large Acreage Hunting & Horse property located in the mountains NW in Aguilar, CO. This establishment has been in continual operation location just across from a beautiful park and walking distance to City of Trinidad. Build your Dream home, Hike on almost 55 acres. of Trinidad. This top of the mountain home sits at 7400’ in elevation for over 75 years. It has been recently renovated. The property has a downtown. New carpet, fresh paint and a Bright Spacious kitchen Close to Town, Trinidad Lake State Park and Highway of Legends offering a 360 degree vantage point, seclusion, tranquility and the quaint Bar/Restaurant on one side for your everyday operations and Scenic Byway. it adjoins the enormous Dance Hall with an additional large covered with traditional saltillo tiles and even a mudroom.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxonomy of the Mirafra Assamica Complex
    FORKTAIL 13 (1998): 97-107 Taxonomy of the Mirafra assamica complex PER ALSTROM Four taxa are recognised in the Mirafra assamicacomplex: assamica Horsfield, affinis Blyth, microptera Hume, and marionae Baker; subsessorDeignan is considered to be a junior synonym of marionae. These four taxa differ in morphology and especially in vocalizations. Both assamicaand microptera have diagnostic song-flights, while affinis and marionae have similar song-flights. There are also differences in other behavioural aspects and habitat between assamicaand the others. On account of this, it is suggested that Mirafra assamicasensu lato be split into four species:M assamica,M affinis,M micropteraand M marionae.English names proposed are: Bengal Bushlark, ] erdon' s Bushlark, Burmese Bushlark and Indochinese Bushlark, respectively. The Rufous-winged Bushlark Mirafra assamica Horsfield (including the holotype) on my behalf in the Smithsonian is usually divided into five subspecies: assamica Horsfield Institution, Washington, D.C., USA. I have examined c. (1840), affinis Blyth (1845), microptera Hume (1873), 20 specimens of ceylonensis, though I have not compared it subsessor Deignan (1941), and marionae Baker (1915) in detail with affinis, and I have only measured four (Peters 1960, Howard and Moore 1991). One further specimens (of which two were unsexed). For all taxa, taxon, ceylonensis Whistler (1936), is sometimes recognized, measurements of wing length (with the wing flattened and but following Ripley (1946) and Vaurie (1951) most recent stretched; method 3, Svensson 1992), tail length, bill length authors treat it as a junior synonym of affinis. The name (to skull), bill depth (at distal end of nostrils), tarsus length marionae is actually predated by erythrocephala Salvadori and hind-claw length were taken of specimens whose labels and Giglioli (1885), but this does not appear to have been indicated their sex.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    20_574310 bindex.qxd 1/28/05 12:00 AM Page 460 Index Arapahoe Basin, 68, 292 Auto racing A AA (American Automo- Arapaho National Forest, Colorado Springs, 175 bile Association), 54 286 Denver, 122 Accommodations, 27, 38–40 Arapaho National Fort Morgan, 237 best, 9–10 Recreation Area, 286 Pueblo, 437 Active sports and recre- Arapaho-Roosevelt National Avery House, 217 ational activities, 60–71 Forest and Pawnee Adams State College–Luther Grasslands, 220, 221, 224 E. Bean Museum, 429 Arcade Amusements, Inc., B aby Doe Tabor Museum, Adventure Golf, 111 172 318 Aerial sports (glider flying Argo Gold Mine, Mill, and Bachelor Historic Tour, 432 and soaring). See also Museum, 138 Bachelor-Syracuse Mine Ballooning A. R. Mitchell Memorial Tour, 403 Boulder, 205 Museum of Western Art, Backcountry ski tours, Colorado Springs, 173 443 Vail, 307 Durango, 374 Art Castings of Colorado, Backcountry yurt system, Airfares, 26–27, 32–33, 53 230 State Forest State Park, Air Force Academy Falcons, Art Center of Estes Park, 222–223 175 246 Backpacking. See Hiking Airlines, 31, 36, 52–53 Art on the Corner, 346 and backpacking Airport security, 32 Aspen, 321–334 Balcony House, 389 Alamosa, 3, 426–430 accommodations, Ballooning, 62, 117–118, Alamosa–Monte Vista 329–333 173, 204 National Wildlife museums, art centers, and Banana Fun Park, 346 Refuges, 430 historic sites, 327–329 Bandimere Speedway, 122 Alpine Slide music festivals, 328 Barr Lake, 66 Durango Mountain Resort, nightlife, 334 Barr Lake State Park, 374 restaurants, 333–334 118, 121 Winter Park, 286
    [Show full text]
  • SCEDD OVERVIEW of SUB-REGION #2 SOUTH CENTRAL HUERFANO and LAS ANIMAS COUNTIES Geography the South-Central Sub-Region Includes the Counties of Huerfano and Las Animas
    Southern Colorado Economic Development District * 2021 CEDS SCEDD OVERVIEW OF SUB-REGION #2 SOUTH CENTRAL HUERFANO AND LAS ANIMAS COUNTIES Geography The South-Central sub-region includes the counties of Huerfano and Las Animas. Las Animas County is located at the southernmost border of Colorado and New Mexico with Huerfano County located north of Trinidad and south of Pueblo. The sub-region signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Colfax County, New Mexico to develop and implement an economic development strategy for the multi-county region, one that strategically builds on the current and emerging economic strengths of Raton Basin Regional Economic Development (RED). Opportunity Zones exist in the area. All of Las Animas County east of I-25 is an Opportunity Zone. The entire City of Walsenburg is located in an Opportunity Zone along with a several mile radius around the city. South Central Sub-Region Las Animas County is the largest county in the state of Colorado and the fifth largest in the nation with 4,772 square miles. The City of Trinidad, at 6,025 feet in elevation, with 300 days of sunshine, and charming brick streets, the area is very welcoming to visitors and retirees. Travelers from the south along the I-25 corridor get their first glimpse of Colorful Colorado with the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range to the west and the Comanche National Grasslands to the east. The area boasts three lakes located in two State Parks, which provide excellent fishing, water activities, camp sites, and RV accommodations. The Pike/San Isabel National Forest has a strong presence in Huerfano County with a smaller footprint in Las Animas County.
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Ecology and Population Decline of the Crested Lark Galerida Cristata in Warsaw, Poland
    Ornis Hungarica (2009) 17-18: 1-11. Breeding ecology and population decline of the crested lark Galerida cristata in Warsaw, Poland G. Lesiński Lesiński, G. 2009. Breeding ecology and population decline of the crested lark Galerida crista- ta in Warsaw, Poland – Ornis Hung. 17-18: 1-11. Abstract The crested lark Galerida cristata inhabited almost exclusively open areas in the out- skirts of new settlements of Warsaw in the years 1980-2006. The highest density of the species (0.11 pairs/km2) in the entire city (494 km2) was recorded in 1986, and locally (a plot of 2.6 km2) – 5.7 pairs/km2 in 1980. Breeding period lasted from April 12th (the first egg) to July 31st (the last fledgeling) with broods most inten- sively initiated in May. There were usually 4-5 eggs per brood, rarely 3 (mean 4.36±0.60 sD). The mean number of eggs in the first brood was 4.47±0.64 eggs, in the first repeated brood – 4.17±0.98 eggs and in the second brood – 4.09±0.70 eggs. Most pairs (71%) performed the second brood. Reproductive success of the population of 17 pairs studied in 1980 was 3.47 fledgelings leaving the nest per nesting pair (nearly 40% of broods were destroyed). Breeding losses resulted mostly from human activity and intensive rainfalls. Population of G. cristata in Warsaw was characterized by a great dynamics. None of the 17 pairs living on the plot of 2.6 km2 in 1980 remained in 1987 due to the management of new settlements.
    [Show full text]
  • THE OBSERVER Volume 72, Issue 5 January 2017
    THE OBSERVER Volume 72, Issue 5 January 2017 Visit our website www.whittieraudubon.org Editor’s note Big Year News Editor’s note: KEEP THE DATE! Our annual Conservation Dinner will be March 16, 2017. Join us as we honor Annual Conservation Bob Henderson and his many years of dedication to Whittier and its Award environmental causes. Check our website for ticket info. Kids Space: Audubon Proceeds are used to place Audubon Adventures into classrooms. See our Kids Adventures Partnership Space section for exciting news. Jennifer Schmahl General meeting info BIRDERS MAKE “BIG YEAR” HISTORY. Four break 2013 mark Field trip schedule of 749. From ABA Blog by Nate Swick We are a chapter of National Audubon Past trip write-up (blog.aba.org) KIDS SPACE Congratulations to John Wiegel (780) Olaf General Meeting for Danielson (776) Laura Keene (759) and We are very happy to Christian Hagenlocher (750) who all broke announce we are providing December the seemingly unbreakable one year bird Audubon Adventures to five A fascinating illustrated count of 749 species. Traveling all over the afterschool programs in the program on insects, "Six Legs North American continent to spy and Norwalk/La Mirada Unified Good", will be given by Robb document hundreds of bird species in one School District. Hamilton at the January 19, calendar year, a birder must have time, 2017 meeting of the Whittier money, dedication and a vast knowledge of We have been emphasizing bird species to succeed in this personal our commitment to educational Audubon Society at 7:30 p.m. challenge. The official ABA checklist outreach for the past several includes 993 species.
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Oriental Skylark
    Identification of Oriental Skylark Hadoram Shirihai he Oriental Skylark Alauda gulgula (also sometimes known as Small TSkylark, Lesser Skylark or Eastern Skylark) is found across a large area of southern Asia. Eleven races were recognised by Vaurie (1959), most of which are resident in tropical Asia, but A. g. inconspicua, which breeds west to central Asia and Iran, is migratory, though its winter quarters are not known. The species has not yet been reliably recorded in Europe, although there are several recent records for Israel (see final section, and Shirihai in prep.) and it is possible that the Oriental Skylark will eventually be found in western Europe, and perhaps even Britain and Ireland. The main confusion species is Skylark A. arvensis, especially the smaller races. Given good views, however, the careful observer should not find separating them a serious problem. This paper summarises the main identification features of Oriental Skylark and its distinction from Skylark and other larks. Identification in the field In the field, Oriental Skylark resembles Skylark in coloration, but Wood- lark Lullula arborea in shape and flight. Its pointed bill is relatively long and thick, and it has a shortish tail and relatively long legs. From a distance, it might even be confused with Short-toed Calandrella brachydactyla or Lesser Short-toed Lark C. rufescens. The following are important points to observe when identifying the Oriental Skylark in the field. SILHOUETTE AND SIZE Size as Woodlark lark's. Wings rather short, primaries project- (about 16 cm in length), significantly smaller ing little, if at all, beyond tertials, unlike than nominate Skylark (18.5 cm).
    [Show full text]