WESTERN BIRD BANDER CONTENTS Page FROM THE PRESIDENT by Lillian K. Henningsen 1 RESOLUTION: WILL lAM K. KIRSH ER 2 SHEARWATERS AGAIN by Dorothy B. Hunt 2 GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL MOVEMENTS by Campbell and Sarles , 3 ANNUAL ME ETI NG , , 4 OPERATION RECOVERY: BAITING by Allegra Coil ister 5 NEWS FROM THE BANDERS: AN ANNIVERSARY 6 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS by Robert C. Paulson, Jr •.................................................................... 8 EX ECUTI VE COUNCI L ME ETI NG >0 .•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 9 Address all correspondence for the Western Bird Bander to Mrs. Eleanor Radke, P.O. Box 94, Cave Creek, Arizona 85331. Membership correspondence should go to Mr. Ken Legg, Business Manager, D. L. Bli ss State Park, Home- wood, California; PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS. January, 1926 to January, 1966 -- forty years since Volume I, Number I, of News From the Bird Banders was published by an enthusiastic group of banders embarked on a new venture. Eighty-nine members constituted the Charter Membership of the Westem Bird-Banding Association. Our membership has grown considerably during the ensuing years. Many of the original group are still active banders in WBBA today; you will be hearing more about them later. If you are interested in reading the history of our organization, we have 0 circulating volume of "The News", which in April, 1961, changed its name to Western Bird Bander. Mrs. Enid K. Austin, 1116 Mandana Blvd., Oakland, Calif., is custodian and will be happy to correspond with you if you would like to borrow a file of our publication. May I remind you that Annual Reports for WBBA are now due. Please fill them in carefully and return them promptly to Mrs. Dorothy Hunt, Secretary, 4111 Trout Gulch Road, Aptos, Calif. The immense amount of work that goes into the compiling of our Annual Report, published in the April issue, is all done by volunteers, and you can help immeasurably by being prompt in sending in your report. A "no banding" report helps us keep our records current. Please do not just ignore us. If you have changed your address, please let us know; also advise the Banding Office at Patuxent. Other reminders: Have you checked your banding permits lately to see when they expire? California permits were all called in and re-issued on a two-year basis; perhaps they didn't catch yours. Did you remember to send a report of your banding to the California Department of Fish and Game in Sacramento (or to the appropriate agency in your state)? California banders are also required to have a special permit to use mist nets :- fee, $10.00. Have you paid your WBBA dues for 1966? They became delinquent January 1st. It is a time-consuming and expensive operation for the Treasurer to send out second, and sometimes third, notices. Please remit promptly. The area covered by our Western Bird-Banding Association embraces a large territory. Only a few of us have the opportunity to meet bimonthly in a local chapter. The benefits derived from such a group are tremendous. We return to our banding stations inspired by the work others are doing. May I urge you to contact fellow banders in your area, form a chapter and hold occasional meetings. We need your interest and cooperation in our organization to keep it healthy and growing. What will you do to take an active part in it? Write us once in a while to let us know of your banding activities. At our Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., in June, 1965, and again at our Northern California Chapter Meet- ing in September, an expression of appreciation was offered to Mr. Tom Balch, our former Treasurer, for his many years of faithful service. Thanks were also expressed to Mrs. Enid Austin, Membership Chairman, for her continu- ing efforts in maintaining our membership. A resolution was presented to Mr. William K. Kirsher, our Editor for the past ten years, for his tremendous contribution. (See below - Ed.) All of us are grateful to him and to his wife, Celeste, for their faithful duty, well done. May I urge you to give your continued support to our new editor. She needs good material for publication; send her an article soon. Vice-President W. K. Kirsher will officiate for me during my absence on a three-and-one-half month freighter trip to Africa. I anticipate an interesting and exciting adventure. WHEREAS, during the past ten years the quarterly publication of the Western Bird-Banding Associa- tion has been most efficiently and regularly issued; and WHEREAS, it has furthermore been so produced under a consistently high editorial standard; and WHEREAS, the character of the publication has been changed from that of a newsletter alone to that of a journal with additional varied information and lead articles pertinent to banding and results of banding studies in the West; and WHEREAS, the latter improvement is now reflected in the name "Western Bird Bander", under which we now publish; and WHEREAS, the most worthwhile report of birds banded in the Western Province has been continued and the burden of publishing it greatly eased, as well as other articles illustrated, through the photographic and other expertise of one person; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Northern Cal ifornia Chapter of the Western Bird- Banding Association record its profound gratitude and sincere appreciation of the services of WILLIAM K. KIRSHER as editor for WBBA these past ten years. Dr. Howard L. Cogswell, for Northern Cal if. Chapter of WBBA & Executive Council of WBBA. On the night of August 25 and the morning of August 26, 1965, great numbers of dead shearwaters 1 were washed up onto the beach at Seacliff State Park, Aptos, Cal ifornia. None were found, however, at adjoining beach lit could not be determined from information given the author if there were species other than the Sooty. (Note: For the story of a previous encounter with shearwaters see "The Day the Shearwaters Landed" by Dorothy B. Hunt, in the January, 1962, issue of Western Bird Bander. Ed.) areas. A number of the dead birds were sent to the Department of Fish and Game, Monterey, but they were not delivered promptly as had been promised and Gene L. Gerdes, Wildlife Manager, reported that "No definite con- clusion could be reached by our laboratory regarding the cause of death of the birds. This was primarily due to their arrival at our lab in such a condition as to make diagnosis difficult. There was no evidence, however, that the ingested anchovies contributed to their death." Mrs. Viola Anderson went to Seacliff Beach as soon as she heard about the situation and looked for bands on the dead birds. She found one, a New Zealand band, and wrote to the Dominion Museum. The following is a copy of the letter she received: Dominion Museum Wellington e.3. New Zealand October 18, 1965 Dear Mrs. Anderson: Thank you very much indeed for your interest in the Sooty Shearwater Z-230 found at Seacliff Beach. The bird was banded on 1.10.63 as an adult on Titi Island 400 53'S - 1740 10'E by Mr. B. D. Bell of our Wild- Iife Department. This was a particularly important recovery, being the first of this species from the American coast within our Banding Scheme. Yours faithfully, e.J.R. Robertson Banding Officer At our Spring meeting in 1959 a joint banding project by members of P.I.e. (Pacific International Chapter of W.B.B.A.) was discussed. The problem of finding a worthwhile project in which all members could participate was difficult. The logical solution seemed to Iie in mass, short-term banding. This naturally led our discussion to the colonial nesters such as cormorants, gulls, swallows, etc. Now the problem was to select a species in which band returns were regular and also one which, upon completion of the project, would be a contribution to bird- banding literature on the West Coast. Finally it was decided that our project should be centered around "The Dispersal and Movements of the Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)." Young gulls could easily be mass- banded in a relatively short time and disturbance and damage to the colony could be kept to a minimum. Our project formally started in the summer of 1959. Since then thousands of young gulls have been banded. South of the "49th',' gull colonies on Colville Island, Hall Island, Protection Island and Viti Rocks have been banded. Northward, banding centered around Christie Islets, Mandarte Island, Mitlenatch Island and Snake Island. As time passed returns started to come in. This was a regular but seemingly slow method of obtaining data. What we needed was numerous sight observations of live gulls by birders, hunters, fishermen, etc., as well as by banders. The pioneer method of band-reading by telescope, done by the late R. F. Oldaker of Vancouver and pre- sently carried out by Mrs. Schultz of Seattle, certainly is one way of adding data to our project, - but these en- thusiastic people are few. The only solution which would result in reported mass sightings would be to color- mark the young gulls. Since this was a long-range project, we needed a lasting "identification" means of coloring. Plastic bandettes was the answer. 4 (January 1966) In 1963, under the sponsorship and administration of the Canadian Wildlife Service, a color-banding program for Glaucous-winged Gulls was initiated. Tabulated below is a brief summary of the color-banding scheme to date. NO. GULL COLONY YEAR COLOR BANDED 1963 Black 395 1964 White 359 1965 Blue 588 Total 1342 1964 Yellow 1500 1965 Red 1723 Total 3223 1964 Pink 398 1965 Green -.lQL Total 565 GRAND.