february 2007 redpoll newsletter arctic audubon society

8/8/2019 February 2007 Redpoll Newsletter Arctic Audubon Society

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CostaRicaandPanama: LandofBirdsandCoffee presentation by Frank Keim

Monday,February12,7:00pm

NoelWienLibraryAuditorium

Frank Keim and his wie Jennier recently spent two months visiting Costa Rica andPanama. While there they discovered that Costa Rica has one o the best records ithe western hemisphere or protecting the natural environment. Costa Ricas ecotourisminrastructure is well developed and welcomes those who enjoy seeing tropical wildlie an

watching and identiying birds.In addition to identiying 250 dierent species o birds, Frank and Jennier drank som

o the best coee theyve ever tasted in their lives. Tey also learned about shade-grownbird-riendly coee, which is being cultivated by agrowing number o coee plantation owners, espe-cially in Costa Rica.

Frank and Jennier ound icos and Paname-os to be some o the riendliest people in LatinAmerica who do everything they can to make your

stay a happy one in their countries. Come see oryourselves and you, too, might want to visit thisland o birds and coee. Costa Rican ox cart FrankKe

Three-toed sloth FrankKeim

TananaLakesRecreationAreaPublicMeetingTuesday,February13,5:30pm

byJohnHaas,FNSBParksandRecreation

he next public meeting or anana Lakes Recreation Area project is scheduled ouesday, February 13 at 5:30 pm in Pioneer Parks Centennial Center or the ArtsCopies o the anana Lakes Scoping Report Executive Summary and anana Lakes Project Questionnaire Results are available on the Boroughs web site at http://co.airbanksak.us/ParksandRecreation/OngoingProjects/. Over 170 online surveys were collected, 40

public testimonials were recorded at the meeting held December 6th, and several dozenindividuals took the time to submit written comments. I you wish to see a copy o theentire Agency and Public Scoping Summary Report, please contact John Haas by emaiat [email protected] or by phone at 459-1198.

Te FNSB Department o Parks and Recreation and the Department o Public Workare working together with USKH to conduct a Master Planning process, which began inOctober 2006. Numerous agencies, organizations, community groups and individuals haveexpressed strong support or the proposed recreation area.

The RedpollNewsletteroftheArcticAudubonSociety,Fairbanks,Alaska

Vol.29IssueNo.4 January2007

Mission of Arctic Audubon:

Earth has unparalleled natural

diversity, productivity, and

beauty, and provides for

life. Recognizing the full

value of nature, we work to

protect Alaskan ecosystems

by encouraging research,

education, and management

that will contribute to

appreciation and good

stewardship of this natural

heritage. We also strive to

conduct our own lives in

harmony with nature.

The Arctic Audubon Societypublishes The Redpoll for its

members monthly fall through

spring. National Audubon

Society (NAS) dues are $35;

new members are $20. NAS

membership includes local

chapter dues. Chapter only

membership is $10 and

includes the newsletter.

Inside

Board Opportunities ....... 2

Camp Habitat Schedule ... 4

CBC Summary ................ 3

Creamers Field an IBA? ... 3

eBird Website ................. 4

Great Backyard Bird Count 2

Mist Net 4 Results ........... 5

Sandhill Crane Migration .. 5

Small Grants Program ..... 2


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Page The Redpoll January 007

ArcticAudubonOffersSmallGrants

Arctic Audubon Societys Small Grants Program unds conservationrelated projects that support our mission to protect Alaskan ecosystemsby encouraging research, education, and management that will contributeto appreciation and good stewardship o our natural heritage.

In 2007, Arctic Audubon will consider applications or small grants o upto $2,000. Partial unding may be oered to successul applicants. Projectsshould enhance the understanding and conservation o Alaskas organismsand/or ecosystems. Projects dedicated to increasing public awareness andknowledge o conservation issues will also be considered. High school andmiddle school students and organizations are encouraged to apply.

Applicants should submit a cover letter introducing themselves, a singlepage description o the project, a budget, and a timeline or completion.Successul recipients will be expected to submit a report o outcomes andbe willing to give a short presentation on the project (i requested).

Applications are due March 15, 2007. For inormation about Arctic

Audubon Society, please visit our website at www.arcticaudubon.org. Pleasedirect questions and submit all materials to [email protected].

Arctic Audubon Society is a nonprot conservation organization basedin Fairbanks, Alaska. As a chapter o the National Audubon Society, ArcticAudubons region encompasses the area north o the Alaska Range, includ-ing the North Slope and the Arctic National Wildlie Reuge.

CombineBirdWatching&ConservationintheGreatBackyardBirdCount

What mid-winter activity is un, easy, ree, and helps bird conservation?What can parents and teachers do with children that connects themto a whole new world o natural wonders? Tis February, the tenth annualGreat Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), sponsored by National AudubonSociety and the Cornell Lab o Ornithology, will give everyone a chance todiscover the birds in their neighborhood and Count or the Record. During February 16-19, 2007, people o all ages, rom beginners toexperts, are invited to join this event that spans all o the United Statesand Canada. Participants can take part wherever they areat home, inschoolyards, at local parks or wildlie reuges. Observers simply count the

highest number o each species they see during an outing or a sitting, andenter their tally on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site at www.bird-source.org/gbbc.

Participants who want to hone their bird watching skills can learn morerom the Great Backyard Bird Count web site, which oers identicationtips and access to photos, sounds, maps, and natural history inormation onmore than 500 bird species. People can also submit photos to an online gal-lery showcasing the dazzling array o winter birds ound during the GBBC.Competitions add another element o un, including a photo contest, rank-ings or most numerous birds, and the coveted checklist champ title ortowns, states, and provinces with the highest participation.

BankSwallowColonyDestroyed

Last summer, a bank swallow colo-ny was illegally destroyed while thebirds were nesting. Te nest site

was located at the gravel pit on thenorth side o the Johansen High-

way near the Steese Highway. Dave

Rippeto, a law enorcement ocerwith the US Fish and Wildlie Ser-vice, is pursuing legal action. Hewould like to establish how longthe colony was in the gravel bank

prior to being bulldozed. I youhave relevant inormation, contactDave at 456-2335 or by email [email protected].

AudubonBoardPositionsOpen

Join the Arctic Audubon SocietyBoard and work with a delightulgroup o people on a variety o birdand conservation-related projects.Board meetings are the rst ues-day o the month, although wedo not meet during the summer.Several positions are open. For

more inormation, contact GailMayo at 479-2954 or any o theother Board members listed on theback o this newsletter.


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2006ChristmasBirdCountSummaryByGailMayo

he 2006 Christmas Bird Count was another grand aair. We hadan all time high o 114 participants thanks to the eorts o allthe volunteer coordinators. Ester easily takes the prize or 11 partiesout in the eld; this is, o course, just Ester enthusiasm! West Gold-stream had 9 eeders counted. Several count areas had parties o 4 oreven 5 out, and several parties included kids. My summary has kidsout counting in 4 areas: Steese, Chena Ridge, Ester, and University. Ihope I didnt miss anyone. Many parties ollowed (or slightly modi-ed) their traditional Christmas count searches or the nth year in arow. Tese are the true heroes since their consistent eorts give morecredibility to count results. Tanks to all, especially those o you whohave tried to establish and maintain traditions.

wo species attained high count status in this count. Tis meansthe highest number counted in all counts so ar. Te Mallard, seen in

26 o our 46 counts topped its old high number o 122 in 2004 bytotaling 188 birds seen. Boreal Chickadees, probably seen in mostFairbanks Christmas Bird Counts were seen in record high numbers;298, up rom 269 seen in 2001. Redpoll numbers were high, althoughnot as high as in 2004.

Sharp-eyed birders saw 3 unusual species, Shoveler (duck), Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Lincolns Sparrow. One Sharpie was seen back in1992 and one Shoveler was seen way back in 1987. Tis was the rstFairbanks Christmas Count record or the Lincolns Sparrow in 46

years o counting.While most parties saw 5 or 6 dierent species, several saw 8 spe-

cies and one saw 10 species. Hats o to the DeWitts or nding 10species and maintaining their reign as high species counters or thiscount. Kudos to all the parties in the Steese/Fort Wainwright area

who together saw a total o 15 species.Many thanks to the area coordinators who once again did a great job

o prying people out on a snowy day that turned out to be quite nicein the aernoon. Tanks to Brian Lawhead, Andrea Swingley, CarolMcIntyre, Laurel Devaney , Ken Russell, Joyce Potter (who unctionedeven though quite sick), Philip Martin, Mark Ross and Jamie Marsch-ner. MANY thanks to Jim DeWitt or handling the data stream so

eiciently. Welook orwardto seeing youall next yearon Saturday,December 29,2007.

ProposaltoDesignateCreamersFieldanIBAByJimChumbley

In last months Redpoll, an article by IainStenhouse o Audubon Alaska mentionedthe possibility o designating Creamers FieldMigratory Waterowl Reuge an ImportantBird Area (IBA). I contacted Iain Stenhouse,Director o Bird Conservation or Audu-

bon Alaska, to lend the support o ArcticAudubon Society and Friends o CreamersField. He welcomed our participation andindicated that John Wright was workingon the proposal. Tis week John and I metor a strategy session, and he agreed to keepthe process active, working closely with theAlaska Department o Fish and Game to ob-tain some essential data. I am excited aboutthis IBA prospect and the internationalrecognition it may bring to Creamers FieldMigratory Waterowl Reuge. I will keep youupdated in uture issues oTe Redpoll.

Spring at Creamers Field KenWhitten

Falling snow makes it a challenge to spot a

Pine Grosbeak during the 006 Christmas

Bird Count. BarbGorman


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eBirdAlaskatoLaunchin2007ByRichCapitan,EducationSpecialist,AudubonAlaska

Its winter in Alaska, and Im looking or things to do at hometasks that have allen by the wayside like cleaning the garage,organizing our bookshelves, trying to write that childrens bookIve been meaning to do, and cleaning up my bird Lielist. It is

more challenging than it sounds; gathering hastily written eldnotes scribbled onto AC grocery receipts with the Bean Goose,Smew, Bramblings, and Common Greenshank that I recorded

while working as a naturalist on St. Paul Island a decade agoallstuck in myNational Geographic Bird Guide (rst edition). I youare like me, luckily there is now a place to record bird sightings inan organized ashion, that is detailed, easy to use and more impor-tantly, your sightings can be shared with birders and researchersaround the country. It also gives insight into the lives o our summerbirdswhere do Varied Trushes migrate to?

In early 2007, Audubon Alaska will announce the launch o eBirdAlaska, a portal to the greater eBird online database developed bythe Cornell Lab o Ornithology and National Audubon Society.eBird provides a simple mechanism or people to record bird obser-

vations made anywhere in North America. Once entered, you canretrieve inormation on your sightings, rom the backyard to theneighborhood to your avorite bird-watching locations, at any timeor personal use. eBird also allows you to explore your observationsin more ways than just printing out your lists. For instance, you cancreate and manage maps and graphs or create tables, using yourown or all eBird observations, summarized by week, month or year.

Access to the entire historical database allows you to nd out whatother eBird participants are reporting rom across North America.In addition, you have the satisaction o contributing to the cumula-tive eBird database, which may be used by birdwatchers, scientists,and conservationists to learn more about the distributions, move-ments, and numbers o birds across the entire continent.

More inormation can be ound at the eBird website: www.ebird.org. You can also contact Audubon Alaskas education specialist,Rich Capitan at: [email protected] or 907-276-7034 or moreinormation. See you on eBird Alaska!

GalvestonFeatherFest2007

ravel to bird the Upper exas Coast during Galvestonsith annual celebration o nature, FeatherFest 2007,March 29-April 1. It is Upper exas Coastal birding at its best!

FeatherFest 2007 is planned and implemented by the Galves-ton Island Nature ourism Council, a non prot, all volunteerorganization. It helps to elevate the recognition o the values thatour local natural heritage provides and help us to preserve it. Moreinormation is available at www.galvestoneatherest.com.

CampHabitatAnnouncesSummerCampSchedule

Pre-SchoolPrograms

June 1822Nature Sprouts I (Ages 4-5)

June 2529Nature Sprouts II (Ages 4 - 5)

DayCampPrograms*designates campout group

July 913Nature Detectives I (Ages 6-7)

Water Striders I* (Ages 8-9)

July 1620Nature Detectives II (Ages 6-7)

Water Striders II* (Ages 8-9)Reuge Adventurers* (Ages 10-11)

July 2327Nature Detectives III (Ages 6 - 7)

Please visit Camp Habitat on the web atwww.northern.org in March or more detailsand to register your child.

EmploymentOpportunitiesatCampHabitat

Join us this summer as we work with youngpeople outdoors at Creamers Field to culti-vate their lielong appreciation o the natural world. Were hiring Junior Counselors(high school aged) and Experienced In-structors who enjoy being outside, working

with youth, and have knowledge o Alaskannatural history, lora & auna. ContactLaenne Tompson at [email protected] 452-5021 ext. 31 or more details.


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HighlightsfromMistNet4Adopted by the Arctic Audubon Society

In 2006, the Alaska Bird Observatory completed their 15th year o bandingsongbirds at the Creamers Field Migration Station, and Arctic AudubonSociety once again participated by sponsoring a net. ABO operated the station

with the help o 65 volunteers, trained and supervised two interns, bandedapproximately 6,500 birds rom April 25th through September 27th, and col-laborated with the Institute o Arctic Biology at UAF and the US Fish and

Wildlie Service to test or avian infuenza.Te ve most common species captured in 2006 were American ree

Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Common Redpoll andLincolns Sparrow. Tere were several days o more than 300 or 400 birdsnetted. A highlight was the capture o our hatch-year ennessee Warblers,a species not known to breed in Alaska!

More than 1,700 people visited the station and attended banding demon-strations. By providing this opportunity to interact with researchers and tosee birds up close, ABO hopes to pique visitors curiosity about the natural

world and oster a conservation ethic.

Mist Net 4

Species Total

Dark-eyedJunco 24

Yellow-rumpedWarbler 9

AmericanTreeSparrow 8

Black-cappedChickadee 7

SwainsonsThrush 7AmericanRobin 4

Orange-crownedWarbler 2

FoxSparrow 2

SavannahSparrow 2

Ruby-crownedKinglet 2

LincolnsSparrow 2

RustyBlackbird 1

White-crownedSparrow 1

YellowWarbler 1

RuffedGrouse 1

Total 73

KachemakBayShorebirdFestival

May10-13,2007

Alaskas largest wildlie estival cel-ebrates 15 years o great birds, greatbirders and great birding. Tis yearskeynote speaker is naturalist and en-tertainer John Acorn. Best knownas the writer and host o the how-to-be-a-naturalist V seriesAcorn,the Nature Nut, he alsohosts wits

and Pishers, the travel show or birdwatchers. Tis years estival will bea weekend o celebration, education

and exploration or birders o allages and abilities. Enjoy workshops,

presentations, boat, kayak and bustours, bird viewing stations, guidedand unguided hikes and walks, eldtrips, and art and entertainment.Te estival program and registra-tion will be available in March at

www.homeralaska.org.

SandhillCraneMigrationinNebraska

Each spring over a hal-million Sandhill Cranes congregate on NebraskasPlatte River in one o the worlds greatest migration spectacles. Alongwith these majestic birds, thousands o birdwatchers fock to Audubons RoweSanctuary near Kearney to see and hear this astounding migration display.

In conjunction with the Sandhill Crane migration, the 37th annual Rivers

and Wildlie Celebration, presented by Audubon Nebraska, Audubons RoweSanctuary, and the Nebraska Partnership or All-Bird Conservation, will beheld March 16-18, 2007, in Kearney, Nebraska.

Wildlie enthusiasts rom around the world travel to central Nebraska eachyear to participate in this weekend o eld trips, presentations by nationallyknown environmental speakers, and more. Featured presenters include: Bruce Babbitt - Former U. S. Secretary o the Interior John Acorn - elevisionsAcorn, Te Nature Nutas seen on Discovery

Channel and Animal Planet Scott Hereord - Wildlie biologist, Mississippi Sandhill Crane National

Wildlie Reuge Dr. Paul Johnsgard - Renowned Ornithologist

For a registration bro-chure or or more inorma-tion about the Rivers and

Wildlie Celebration, please visit www.Nebraska.audu-bon.org . For crane view-ing inormation, please visit

www.rowesanctuary.org.

Sandhill Crane KenWhitten


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Page 6 The Redpoll January 007ArcticAudubonSocietyPOBox82098Fairbanks,AK99708www.arcticaudubon.org

Nonproft Org.USPostage

PAIDPermitNo.181FairbanksAK

UpcomingEventsMarkYourCalendar Arctic Audubon Board meeting, Tuesday, Feb. 6,5:30 pm, Rm 300 Natural Science Facility, UAF

Costa Rica & Panama: Land o Birds and Cofee,Monday, February 12, 7:00 pm, Noel Wien Library

Frank Keim shares travel stories and photos.

Tanana Lakes Recreation Area Public Meeting, Tues-day, February 13, 5:30 pm. Details on page 1.

King Eider Journeys in the Bering Sea, Wednesday,February 14, 7:00 pm, Alaska Bird obser vatory.

Great Backyard Bird Count, February 1619Combine birdwatching and conservation in thisCount or the Record; details on page 2.

ArcticAudubonBoardofDirectorsemail address: [email protected]

President: Gail Mayo (479-2954)Vice President: Open

Secretary: Openreasurer: Gail Mayo (479-29540

Education: OpenConservation: Kristi Bailey (479-4874)Hospitality: Brook Gamble (456-3775)

Programs: Lauren Attanas (474-9736)Publicity: Open

Newsletter: Mary Zalar (479-4547)Membership: Mary Zalar (479-4547)

Field rips: om Green (452-6370)Birdathon: Sherry Lewis (479-0848)

Web Site: Jim LoganAlaska Audubon Board: Frank Keim (451-9308)

BirdingHotline (907)451-9213

UpdatedbyLaurelDevaney&KenRussell

Reportinterestingbirdsightings;learnwhatothershavespotted.

also at

www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/realbirds/index.

NationalAudubonSociety

NewMemberForm q Introductory rate, $20 q wo Year Membership, $30 q Student or Senior rate, $15

Membership includes both National Audubon and thelocal chapter, Arctic Audubon. You will receive NationalAudubons magazine, Audubon, and Arctic Audubonsnewsletter, Te Redpoll.Name: _________________________________

Address: _______________________________

_______________________________________City State Zip

Amount enclosed: $______ (make check payable toNational Audubon Society)

Send to: Arctic Audubon Society A52PO Box 82098 7XCHFairbanks, AK 99708

q ChapterOnlyMembership,$10

For membership in Arctic Audubon only, check the boxand make check payable to Arctic Audubon Society.

february 2007 redpoll newsletter arctic audubon society

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