Weather Changes Affect Species on All Continents

Northern New England may be having a relatively mild winter, but back in the motherland, things haven't been so easy. New reports coming in indicate that small birds are not weathering the particularly harsh winter very well. Click here to link to the article.

Monarchs in North America are facing a similar fate due to bad weather. Here's a link to the article detailing their rough winter.

March Hike up Kent's Ledge

It was an overcast, blustery morning, Peter and I had decided to hike Kent's Ledge. It was extremely peaceful and calm on the way up, very few birds beyond a brown creeper, some juncos, and a small flock of chickadees calling.

When we reached the ledge itself, the wind was howling, which kept us from lingering there too long. We began the trek back down, taking a different route than we hiked up, just for variety. Pileated woodpeckers called from the trees ahead, but otherwise, it stayed quiet. As we were only a few minutes from the end of the hike, I finally met my icy match, doing the stereotypical cartoon banana peel slip. My legs went straight out from under me, and I landed flat on my back. Oooof. Ouch.

After the shock wore off, I was sore, and my ego felt a bruise forming, but otherwise I was fine. We headed to the car to get me home where I could nurse my wounds in peace. So much for mountain woman...

Consolation prize was getting great looks at a downy woodpecker climbing the tree outside my window. Maybe mother nature felt sorry for me.

ELS Retreat in the Catskills

I spent this weekend in the Catskills at a region-wide Environmental Law Society Retreat. That I was able to go at all was a fluke, the two students from VLS scheduled to go both ended up having conflicts that precluded them from attending. I responded to a last-minute email sent out to ELS members, inquiring in anyone would be interested in attending in their place. Apparently I was the only student who took the initiative and who actually had the weekend free. The retreat was held at the YMCA campus in Frost Valley. It was gorgeous, and our lodge was really rustic and fun. The only sad event occurred early on, within minutes of walking in, I was just saying hello to everyone when we heard a loud THUMP, a white-breasted nuthatch had collided with the lodge's high windows, and dropped down to the deck. When it was apparent that it was dead, not just stunned, we moved the poor bird off the deck.

Luckily, that wasn't indicative of the type of weekend we'd have. We all introduced ourselves and shared our backgrounds the first night over a campfire. The next morning, following breakfast, we all went for a hike to a gorgeous waterfall. The robins were out in abundance, everywhere I looked, there were robins feeding in the dry grass. Then after lunch and some time enjoying the gorgeous and unseasonable weather, we sat down to talk shop. Each school represented discussed what ELS does at their school, and the most interesting current events. Then we talked about summer internships and externships, revealing how positions were gotten, and offering up contacts from previous jobs to those who would be interested in applying in the future.

The night was kicked off with a special sneak preview of a new nature film being released, and s’mores. The film was great, everyone was ohh-ing and ahh-ing or cracking up. Finally, a round or two of Environmental Law Jeopardy ended the night, with questions like, which state holds the most Superfund Sites? (Answer, NJ)

The 5 hour drive each way by myself was just fine, I passed through many interesting places,saw the World’s Largest Garden Gnome, and generally enjoyed the time out of SoRo.

ELS Retreat

I'll be spending the weekend in the Catskill Mountains at an Environmental Law Society Retreat. It was a last minute decision, but I think it's going to be a great weekend, full of hiking, campfires, and lots of environmental talk. Should be great!

Best Public Awareness Campaign Ever

http://www.endangeredspeciescondoms.com/

The Big Year Movie Starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson And Steve Martin

The Big Year Movie Starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson And Steve Martin

They're making a movie based on the book about a birding Big Year - a year when a birder tries to see as many species as possible. Hopefully it won't be a parody of what we do, but a way for non-birders to get a lens into the excitement of birding. Then again, based on that line-up cast, I'd say we birders better have a sense of humor about this film.

Ivory Gull in Grand Isle, VT

Today Peter and I chased an Ivory Gull in Vermont. The rare Arctic gull is apparently only the 5th to ever be recorded in the state. When we first arrived at the lakefront where the bird had been reported, visibility was dismal, since it was snowing pretty hard. We searched along the shoreline, then decided to head back into Alburgh to grab sandwiches and wait for a lull in the snow.

Best "close-up" I managed

Ivory Gull on the lake

Our timing couldn't have been better because when we arrived back at the bridge, the snow had stopped and the bird had been spotted again. We got on it from the road, and when it was clear it wasn't going to move, we headed down onto the lake.

That's right, on foot, it was frozen solid enough for ice fishermen to drive their trucks out, so we walked right out to get a better look.We got great looks at the bird via scope, bins, and our own bare eyes, but couldn't go too much closer for fear of thin ice, so my shots aren't quite within range. Nevertheless, another amazing sighting for the wonder duo of the VLS birders :)

Birders watching the gull out on the ice.

One of the gentlemen we met while looking at this gorgeous bird mentioned a young birder from Ontario who was currently birding around Newfoundland. That sounded familiar, and when he mentioned the birder's name - Brandon Holden - I realized I had met him on Yahoo Youngbirder years back, and had checked out his awesome bird photography in the past. Here's a link to the amazing shots he's getting up there. Small world.

Deadly Bat Fungus Spreading in U.S.

There is an epidemic spreading across the United States. Here's an article about the situation. Deadly Bat Fungus Spreading in U.S.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine

After the pelagic, we birded around the Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, Maine area. We drove across the bridge and border to Maine, where we walked around Fort Foster Park. We walked out on the pier that we had seen from the harbor where we began our pelagic, over in New Castle, NH.

Lighthouse in New Castle, NH, shot taken from Maine

Pier at Fort Foster Park

Pier railings

We then headed toRye, NH where we birded at Odiorne Point State Park. The sun was setting, and it was kind of magical time of day. Our coolest sighting there was definitely the red fox we found snoozing on a rock not far off the trail.

Red Fox!!

I found a great vantage point to relax and contemplate the day's events

Peter scanning the water for interesting ducks

Jeffries Ledge Peglaic, NH

Yesterday was my first pelagic in the Atlantic Ocean. We went out of New Castle, New Hampshire, near the Maine border. A bald eagle flew over the boat as we all boarded and got the safety talk prior to departure. The water was a bit choppy to start, but calmed down to as near to glassy conditions as could be hoped for in the middle of winter. It was sunny and gorgeous out. We saw great cormorants, white-winged and surf scoters, long-tailed ducks, common eider, and American black ducks as we pulled out of the harbor.

Common Eider

The goal of the trip was definitely alcids, which is different from the pelagics I've been on out of CA, where its slightly more directed at tube-noses.

Common Murre

Dovekies

In fairly quick succession we got common murres, the more uncommon of the two murres likely, razorbills, and a dovekie flew straight by the boat. We got great looks at a cooperative murre swimming maybe 20 yards from the boat. The excitement was high, as black-legged kittiwakes and northern gannets were spotted with a mixed-gull flock containing predominantly greater black-backed gulls.

Atlantic Puffin

We then hit a quiet period, so after a while we decided to jog back to the area where we'd been having luck with birds before that. We saw two dovekies on the water that had clearly gorged on food because they could barely fly, and allowed us to get fairly close before picking up and flying a bit further out. We snuck up a few times before they tired of the game and took off.

Diving Puffin

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely Atlantic puffin! We had a gorgeous adult with that bright colorful bill - what an awesome bird. Our second was a young male, very dusky and sooty looking, but he was fairly cooperative, giving us good looks. Our last puffin was another colorful individual, who was fairly leery of the boat.

Black Guillemot

Great Black-backed Gull

As we motored back to the harbor spirits were definitely high. It was one of the best pelagics I've been on in terms of weather, and the birds were rockin'. Definitely worth getting up at 4am to drive to the coast from land-locked Vermont!

Surf Scoters

Here's a link to the photo gallery from another birder aboard the ship with much a better camera and more experience than me!

New Hampshire Winter Pelagic

I'll be going on my first East Coast pelagic trip off the coast of NH tomorrow!

Obama - Working for the Environment

This article lays out what the Obama administration has done, rather quietly, for the environment. Some of the things listed by the article include:

Increased gas mileage standards for cars and light trucks 40 percent, from today's 25 mpg to 35 mpg by 2016. The announcement in May came as part of Washington's bailout of Detroit.

Blocked Bush administration rules to open the California coast and 77 federal sites near Utah's Arches and Canyonlands national parks to new oil and gas drilling.

Begun a process in December in which the Environmental Protection Agency will, for the first time, restrict the amount of greenhouse gases industry can release.

Signed a bill in March establishing 2.1 million new acres of federally protected wilderness, the largest wilderness bill since President Bill Clinton signed the Desert Protection Act in 1994. The bill bans logging, mining and road-building on federal forests and deserts in nine states, including portions of Joshua Tree and Sequoia national parks and ancient bristlecone pine forests in the eastern Sierra.

Announced tougher new national smog standards from the EPA this month.

Reversed Bush administration rules allowing more snowmobiles in Yellowstone and fewer federal agency reviews of endangered species.

Issued EPA rules requiring large U.S. ships to cut soot emissions by 85 percent.

Signed a stimulus package that included more than $50 billion in funding and tax credits for renewable energy projects. It includes billions to weatherize federal buildings, provide grants to companies building solar and wind farms and fund research on biofuels and other technologies.

Northern Hawk Owl

Surveying the area

Going in for the kill

In flight

In for the second kill

Whatchoo lookin' at?

So Cute and True

Wal-Mart's Green Goal

Wal-Mart's Green Goal

Posted using ShareThis

Wal-Mart Thoughts

In class today we had a fairly spirited discussion about the evil, or perhaps not so evil(?) corporation, Wal-Mart. We talked about the traditional reasons people hate the company, ie. it takes $$ from the community without putting any back in, it doesn't promote local agriculture or industry, continues to outgrow and build buildings, and wastes large amounts of resources shipping across the nation, etc.

Our professor, who had worked as a lawyer helping employees with disputes with their companies over medical leave, etc, had a different view. She stated that Wal-Mart more often worked with their employees to help them through the tough situation, and keep their jobs. Now in part, that is due to the nature of large business, they can absorb the cost of paying an employee who is temporarily unable to work, in a way that Mom and Pop stores would be unable to.

Another issue, and to me the more pressing one, was the issue of environmentalism. Wal-Mart is riding the green revolution wave, to tell their customers how they can make change to benefit the environment, they're trying to reduce shipping and packaging, and promoting local agriculture and products to some extent, and is even providing their truckers with space heaters to reduce idling on the roadside while drivers get some shut-eye.

These all seem like good changes, and in truth they are. While Wal-Mart, and large corporations like them certainly have the power to do more, this is a generous leap in the right direction. Companies that big have the ability to influence change, by demanding their suppliers change. The environmentalist community has to a large extent not gotten behind Wal-Mart in this action. Old habits die hard, and it's easy to hate the corporate giants, but supporting them in this endeavor will hopefully continue to foster further change.

My professor made an extremely valid point that Wal-Mart and Coca Cola, and other large multi-national corps reach Americans that generally aren't on top of environmental issues. Who don't regularly read up on the latest scientific discoveries, or follow the environmental blogs of groups like Greenpeace and WWF. These are the Americans who may not believe global climate change is happening. If Wal-Mart can do their part to transition, America may well follow. While they have a long long way to go, I for one will commend the changes they have made, and watch for further future change.

Birding in Burlington Area with Peter

Yesterday I birded up in the Burlington area with a friend and fellow birder from VLS. We headed up to Burlington Intervale to start our day, where there are steaming piles of compost that birds enjoy. Probably both to pick through for food, and for the heat they give off. There we got two Glaucous Gulls, and saw a handful of red-tailed hawks sitting on the warm compost heaps.

Snow Bunting in with a Horned Lark flock.

Then we headed to the breakwater, where we saw Iceland gulls sitting on the breakwater with Greater Black-backed Gulls. Got my state mallards ;) and saw some common mergansers.

Lapland Longspur.

After grabbing a sandwich we headed toward the agricultural lands south of Burlington, where our target species were longspurs and buntings. We pulled off and walked a few feet onto a farm where we got some good looks at snow buntings in a flock of horned larks, before the farmer came up and questioned us.

We continued driving around the ag lands for the rest of the afternoon, and were rewarded with good looks at a lapland longspur on the ground next to our car. We struck out on rough-legged hawks, the species Peter guaranteed we'd see, hehe. It's okay, I'll have more opportunities this winter to try for them.

Hoping to go snowshoeing early next week before classes start back up again.

January Hike in SoRo

Took a short hike in the snow today. There was light snow falling for most of my walk. Birds were quiet, just the occasional small chickadee flock. By someone's house I caught a few dark-eyed juncos and one downy woodpecker calling and moving around a tree.

At one point the snowfall got much heavier and I discovered that falling snow has a sound. It kinda reminds me of the way rice crispie cereal sounds when you pour milk into it. Very faint crackling noises. I had snow on my eyelashes, my mouth, and all over my bins and camera. It was magical =)

Top 10 Birding Memories of 2009

My 2009 Memories:

1. First birding trip of 2009, Irvine Ranch Conservancy hike along Quail Hill Loop with Evelyn.
2. February Wildflower Hike with Irvine Ranch Conservancy along Loma Ridge, over Limestone Canyon.
3. Night Hike up Agua Chinon Canyon to the back side of the sinks, with IRC.
4. April OC Birdathon with Neil Gilbert and Vic Leipzig, got my life spotted owl!
5. Taking a sunset photography lesson with professional photographer Andre Torng.
6. Filming Wild in the City pilot in LA county with some birder friends and Richard Crossley.
7. Picking Lois Taylor's brain on plant ID on the IRC hike in Round Canyon.
8. Catalina was one long awesome birding memory, but the West End hummer tour stands out.
9. Hiking up Kent's Ledge to see the fall foliage changing in Vermont.
10. It's not birding, but the first snowfall in SoRo was quite a memorable experience.

Finally, I counted, and according to eBird, I got 14 lifers in 2009!

CBC Bonita Creek Park and Arroyo Park

This morning I birded Bonita Creek Park and Arroyo Park and the drainage in between. The diversity was pretty dismal, but certain species numbers were extremely high *cough* yellow-rumps *cough* Too many early morning joggers/walkers, especially those with dogs, about 3/4 of which were not on leashes. Grrrr.

Best birds for me probably were the California gnatcatchers calling from the hillside below the Bluffs shopping center (loads of coastal sagebrush growing on the slope probably helped) and a gorgeous look at a hermit thrush near the back entrance of Arroyo Park. The area under the Bluffs shopping center was extremely birdy, plenty of stuff calling - I really had my fill of birding and counting by ear today, let me tell you!

I ended up by Harbor View and Bonita Canyon in the sports park complex, where the most common birds by far were European starlings - ick.