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Alaska Park Science. Volume 14, Issue 2

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Alaska Park Science National Park Service U.S. Department of Interior Alaska Regional Office Anchorage, Alaska Birds of Alaska’s National Parks In this issue: Critical Connections: Conserving Migratory Birds 16 Black Oystercatchers in Kenai Fjords National Park 22 Glaucous-winged Gull Monitoring and Egg Harvest in Glacier Bay 34 ...and more. Volume 14, Issue 2 Table of Contents Swan Song ________________________________________________________________ 6 Avian Soundscape Ecology in Denali National Park and Preserve _______________ 8 Critical Connections: Conserving Migratory Birds in Alaska’s National Parks _______________________ 16 Black Oystercatchers in Kenai Fjords National Park: A Keystone of the Intertidal Zone __________________________________________ 22 Conserving Migratory Golden Eagles in a Rapidly Changing World: What Role Will the NPS Play? ______________________________________________ 28 Glaucous-winged Gull Monitoring and Egg Harvest in Glacier Bay, Alaska ______________________________________________________ 34 Birds of the Arctic—Simon Paneak and Laurence Irving: Collaborators in Arctic Research ____________________________________________ 40 The Birds of Bob Uhl’s Journals _____________________________________________ 46 Birding is for Everyone! ___________________________________________________ 52 Looking Back—A Heady Time for National Park Service Science in Alaska _____________________________________ 56 Cover photo: A black oyster catcher in Kenai Fjords National Park protects its eggs. NPS photo 2 National Park System AreasAlaska in Park Alaska Science, Mentioned Volume in 14, This Issue Issue 2 Chukchi Sea Noatak National Gates of the Arctic Preserve National Park and Cape Krusenstern Preserve National Monument Kobuk Valley National Park Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Yukon-Charley Rivers S K A National Preserve L A A Denali National Park and Preserve Wrangell St.-Elias National Park and Preserve Lake Clark National Park and Preserve Glacier Bay Kenai Fjords National Park National Park and Preserve Katmai National Park and Preserve Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve This project is made possible through funding from ISSN 1545-4967 Alaska Park Science December 2015 the National Park Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the National Park Service and other Project Lead: Robert Winfree, Regional Science Advisor, email: [email protected] contributors. Editor: Susan Sommer, www.akwriter.com Alaska Park Science is published twice a year. Back Alaska Park Science Journal Board and Liaisons: issues of Alaska Park Science are available for sale by Don Callaway, Cultural Anthropologist; Rachel Mason, Cultural Anthropologist; Amanda Kramer, Alaska Geographic; John Quinley, Assistant Alaska Geographic (www.alaskageographic.org). Regional Director for Communications; Ned Rozell, Science Writer, University Charitable donations to help support this journal of Alaska liaison; Rebecca Talbott, Chief of Interpretation and Education, Alaska Region; Carissa Turner, Coastal Biologist, Katmai National Park and may be sent to: Alaska Geographic Association, Preserve; Sara Wesser, Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator, Alaska Region; Robert Winfree, Chair of Journal Board; Roy Wood, Chief of Interpretation, 241 North C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 Katmai National Park and Preserve ATTN: Alaska Park Science. Published twice a year in June and December by Alaska Geographic, a nonprofit partner of the Alaska Region of the National Park Service, supporting educational programs through publishing and operation of visitor center bookstores. Disclaimer: Information published in Alaska Park Science has been subjected to general review by the National Park Service Alaska Region. Publication in Alaska Park Science does not signify that the contents reflect the views of the National Park Service, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute National Park Service endorsement or recommendation. All issues of Alaska Park Science are posted for easy reading online at nps.gov/subjects/alaskaparkscience/index.htm 3 4 About the Authors Dennis Bailey, Science Communicator, Katmai National Park and Preserve Davyd Betchkal, Alaska Region Soundscape Specialist/Biologist, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, National Park Service Don Callaway, Cultural Anthropologist Consultant Heather Coletti, Marine Ecologist, Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network John G. Dennis, Deputy Chief Scientist, National Park Service Eileen Devinney, Cultural Anthropologist, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service Tania Lewis, Wildlife Biologist, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Rachel Mason, Senior Cultural Anthropologist, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service Carol McIntyre, Wildlife Biologist, Denali National Park and Preserve Mary Beth Moss, Cultural Anthropologist, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Laura Phillips, Ecologist, Denali National Park and Preserve Jason Reppert, Wildlife Technician, Denali National Park and Preserve Brian Robinson, Graduate Student, University of Alaska Fairbanks Melanie Roed, Wildlife Technician, Denali National Park and Preserve Carissa Turner, Coastal Biologist, Katmai National Park and Preserve Robert Winfree, Retired, National Park Service Opposite: Black oystercatcher. NPS photo by K. Thoreson 5 6 Alaska Park Science, Volume 14, Issue 2 Swan Song By Robert Winfree friend Dr. Lois Dalle-Molle serving as the new NPS point of contact for publishing with Alaska Geographic. We’re focusing this issue of Alaska Park Science (APS) on Producing APS has been an exciting, educational, birds: their natural history, local and traditional knowledge, and personally rewarding journey. Creating new issues field studies, and scientific research in Alaska’s national parks. has involved working with authors, editors, designers, Twice a year, Alaska Park Science publishes information from photographers, artists, supporters, webmasters, publishers, all pertinent disciplines of science, scholarship, and related and distributors of printed and digital editions; while humanities. Several previous issues have focused on subjects continuously incorporating insightful suggestions from suggested by our readers, so it’s only natural that we should board members, readers, reviewers, and critics. I think include an issue devoted to birds. After all, people have been that it’s fair to say that every new issue has been a learning observing wild birds, and harvesting birds and bird eggs for process for us, always by choice but sometimes also by food, utilitarian, and cultural purposes for much longer than necessity—such as when we went paperless in 2015, to keep anyone could write about it. Birders like John James Audubon pace with evolving technologies, reading habits, accessibility and Roger Tory Peterson were leaders in the American standards, and escalating printing and mailing costs. conservation movement, and I’m probably not the only APS The most rewarding aspect for me has been the reader whose interests in nature, science, and conservation opportunity to explore and share the amazing wealth were sparked by their interactions with wild birds as a child. of scientific and scholarly activities underway in Alaska. In this issue, Carol McIntyre and Laura Phillips A few months ago, I was also invited to write a chapter discuss migratory birds and biology. Davyd Betchkal et al. on national parks for a new book about southwestern describe new approaches for recording and identifying bird Alaska. I was delighted to discover that much of the vocalizations and using sound data for population monitoring. information that I needed for my chapter was readily Mary Beth Moss and Tania Lewis explain the cultural available in the archives of APS articles and images. importance of gull egg harvests in Alaska. Rachel Mason We hope that our efforts to produce Alaska Park and Eileen Devinney, Don Callaway, and Carrisa Turner Science have also been rewarding for our readers and and Dennis Bailey demonstrate how citizen scientists have that you continue to make good use of new issues made important ornithological contributions for a very long as they continue to be produced, new formats for time, and still do. John Dennis describes the pre-ANILCA, portable reading devices, and new digital distribution or Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, days channels. May your own explorations always lead of park science in Alaska from personal experience. to exciting discoveries and new questions. My apologies for the double entendre—Swan Song—as the title of this introduction, but I couldn’t resist. The very first issue of APS was almost complete when my family arrived in Alaska in 2002. With publication of this 29th issue; my tenure at the helm of APS has come to an end. I retired from the National Park Service (NPS) last summer (July 2015) and have moved on to new challenges. APS will of course continue to publish more issues about science in Alaska’s national parks, with my colleague and Figure 1. Swans Photo by Bob Winfree. 7 8 Alaska Park Science, Volume 14, Issue 2 Avian Soundscape Ecology in Denali National Park and Preserve By Davyd Betchkal, Carol McIntyre, Melanie Roed, noise, and (2) constructively engage with those responsible and Jason Reppert for other noise sources that impact parks to explore what can be done to better protect parks” (NPS 2000). Take a moment to imagine a misty June morning in Since 2000, the Natural Sounds and Night Skies
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