CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TIP
If you go shopping at Wild Birds Unlimited, 296 W Sunset Avenue, be sure to tell them you are an Audubon
Member . They will give our Chapter 10% of the sale. Be sure to thank them for their support.
Christmas Bird CountS - How to GET INVOLVED
Shirley Sturts
It's
almost time again for Christmas Bird Counts to begin. According to the Audubon CBC Website, "More than 50,000 observers
participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations.
The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in
ornithology, representing over a century of unbroken data on trends of
early-winter bird populations across the Americas. Simply put, the Christmas
Bird Count, or 'CBC', is citizen science in action."
Our Audubon Chapter is encouraging all local bird lovers to
participate in one or more of the local CBCs this holiday season. Beginners are welcome. The more eyes out there the better. Going out with a team is a good way to learn
the birds. Actually, that is how I learned to tell a Mallard from a robin J. I went on several
Spokane and Indian Mountain CBCs in the 1960s with a team led by Tom Rogers, a
long- time birder in Spokane Valley. It
was the beginning of a lifetime of learning and appreciating birds and other
wildlife.
If you want to participate, but you don't have the
time to spend all day out in the field with a team, there are
alternatives. We need feeder
watchers. Take an hour, or more if you
wish, to tally the birds coming to your feeder on the day of the count and then
email or call in your results. Record
the number of each species (counting only the largest number seen at any one
time) and the time you spend watching.
Another idea is you can do your neighborhood, walk around Tubbs Hill or
bird other areas within the circle.
We are also encouraging all birders to keep track of
the birds they see during the count week, just in case a species is missed on the count day itself. Count week is three days before count day
and 3 days after count day. The Coeur
d'Alene CBC is on December 15 so count week is from December 12-18. For example, if no one reported a Hairy Woodpecker on December 15, but you saw
one during the count week period, we would count it as a "Count Week"
bird. This is only for species not
seen on the day of the count.
As usual, there will be a post-count gathering for
the sharing of tallies and stories.
This is for field team members, feeder watchers and anyone interested
(even if you couldn't participate during the day). For the Coeur d'Alene CBC we will be having a potluck at the home
of Theresa Potts , 4103 Arrowhead Road,
CDA. For information call Theresa at 765-0229
or email her at: tdpot@webtv.net. For the Spirit Lake Count (which has its center in Athol), we
will meet afterwards at the White Pine Country Café, 30265 N. Highway 95. The gathering for the Indian Mountain and
Bonners Ferry Counts will be announced later.
Each circle is 15 miles in diameter. If you want to count at your feeder, contact
the compiler to see if you are within the circle. If you are in the city limits of Coeur d'Alene, Hayden or Hayden
Lake, you are in the circle. Most of
Post Falls and Rathdrum are also in the circle. The Spirit Lake CBC takes in all of Athol, Bayview, Farragut
State Park, Silverwood and a corner of the town of Spirit Lake. The Indian Mountain CBC takes in Medimont,
Harrison, Saint Maries and Heyburn
State Park. I am not familiar with the
Bonners Ferry Count so check with the compiler.
You can view past CBC totals on: Coeur d'Alene and Coeur d'Alene - Indian Mountain - Spirit Lake and Spirit
Lake
Contact the compiler to participate either on a team
or at your feeder. If you can only go
for part of the day or want to count in your neighborhood or, for example, walk
around Tubbs Hill, let the compiler know.
We can carve out an area for you to be responsible for.
Dates and
Meeting locations
Coeur d'Alene - December 15, Saturday
Compiler: Shirley Sturts 664-5318 s.sturts@verizon.net
Meet for Breakfast at 6:00 a.m. Michael D's
Eatery or 7:00 a.m. to join your team
Bonners Ferry - December 21, Friday
Compiler: Jan Rose, avianplts@coldreams.com.
Check with Jan for time and meeting location
Spirit Lake - January 3, Thursday
Compiler: Shirley Sturts 664-5318 s.sturts@verizon.net
Meet for Breakfast at 6:30 a.m. at the White
Pine Country Café, 30265 N. Highway 95 or 7:30 a.m. to join your team.
Indian Mountain - January 5, Saturday
Compiler: Don Heikkila 659-3389 - donhei@imbis.net
Team organizers Shirley Sturts 664-5318 - s.sturts@verizon.net
Lisa Hardy
783-1262 basalt@earthlink.net
Meet and time - plans made will be made by each
participating team
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LITTLE SPOKANE RIVER, Riverside State Park,
WA.
Saturday, November 10th
Jan Severtson
Rain did not deter
this loyal birding group from meeting at
K-Mart, then carpooling into Washington. By the time we arrived at the
Indian Petroglyphs inside the park, the rain had stopped. The trail we chose
meandered in and out of trees, along the river, and around rock formations. It was an easy trail to follow and we
were rewarded by spotting Wild Turkey, Mallard , Common Raven, Pygmy Nuthatch,
Chickadee (sp), Black-billed Magpie, Redtailed Hawk, Northern Flicker, Pine
Siskin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Merganser, Woodpecker (sp), Bewick's
Wren, and American Wigeon. At the end of the trail we stopped for our picnic
lunch, actually basking in the rather warm sun. Off came the jackets! Our hike
back had us admiring the clouds, patches of blue sky, and just generally
enjoying this beautiful area. We decided this would be a grand repeat trip by
canoe or kayak next spring, bird-watching from the river and hopefully seeing
the Great Blue Heron rookery. Many thanks to those who braved the weather.
Participants: Dick Cripe, Roland
Craft, Janet Callen, Russ Hersrud and his sister visiting from North Dakota, and Herb Severtson
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NOON TIME BIRDING
November
20, 2007
Lynn Sheridan
(This popular one hour event led by Lynn
Sheridan is a good way to get to know what
our chapter is all about.)
Participants: Beth
and Dan Davis ( who had a goodscope), Judy and Steve Wander, from Connecticut
(who had a digital camera, which could be joined with the scope for several
pictures), Vera Taggart, Derek Antonelli, Dale Horst, and leader, Lynn
Sheridan.
We met at Independence Point on this cold but sunny day. The usual flock of
Ring-billed Gull was present. We found
some Red-necked Grebe at the end of the
dock and about 20 Canada Goose grazing on the lawn under the flag pole.
Along the edge of the park., a few Pygmy Nuthatch twittered among the bare
branches, giving us all a good view.
At the west end of City Beach, we picked out a few Double-crested Cormorant out
on the pilings. Using his scope, Dan
counted about 20 more in the distance, some flying low over the water.
At the rocky headland, we found many more geese and one Mallard pair. We
continued to see only Ring-billed Gull,
many of them brown streaked juveniles. Further from the shore about 8
Bufflehead bobbed up and down along with one Western Grebe.
There was lively conversation on the way back.
I gave our out-of-town visitors one of our newsletters, our card with
web site address, and my email address, as some digital photos are
promised.
Thank
you, everyone.
Top of Page
Summary of Board Meeting: november 19, 2007
Lynn Sheridan
·
We ordered 30 "Idaho Birding
Trail" books from Boise. Ten were
donated to the CDA Library's "Second Story Book Store" and are
selling well. Five more will be donated to them along with an order form
to use for future orders. Five will
also be donated to the Post Falls Library book store.
·
Our request for The National Audubon
Collaborative Fund has been
submitted by Carrie Hugo and Ed Buchler.
·
Roland Craft and Mike Mihelich continue
to update us on conservation issues.
They have attended several meetings concerning local environmental and conservation concerns.
·
A
decision was made to start dispersing books from our mobile library by offering them in a
silent auction at each meeting starting in December.
·
February 2008 will probably be when
we'll volunteer for the Green Cross project, but the date is not set yet. Look for information in future newsletters.
·
Ronn Rich updated our financial
status. Our checking account holds $2400 and we have a CD
worth $4200. Recent expenses were $250
donated to Birds of Prey North West for the Eagle Cruise, $98 for the
bird guides, and the monthly cost of printing and mailing our newsletter,
approximately $50-$60.
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Eagle Vs. Turkey:
America's First Bird Controversy
Reprinted
from the National Wildlife Federation website: http://www.nwf.org
Nations
often adopt animals as symbols: England has its lion, India its peacock. On the
afternoon of July 4, 1776, just after the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
the Continental Congress appointed a committee made up of Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to select a design for an official national
seal.
The three patriots had different ideas and none of
them included the Bald Eagle. They finally agreed on a drawing of the woman,
Liberty, holding a shield to represent the states. But the members of Congress
weren't inspired by the design and they consulted with William Barton, a
Philadelphia artist who produced a new design that included a Golden Eagle.
Because the Golden Eagle also flew over European
nations, however, the federal lawmakers specified that the bird in the seal
should be an American Bald Eagle. On June 20, 1782, they approved the design
that we recognize today.
At the time, the new nation was still at war with
England, and the fierce-looking bird seemed to be an appropriate emblem. But
from the start, the eagle was a controversial choice. Franklin scowled at it.
"For my part," he declared, "I wish the eagle had not been
chosen as the representative of this country. He is a bird of bad moral
character; he does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched
in some dead tree where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of
the fishing hawk and, when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish and is
bearing it to his nest for his young ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes
the fish. With all this injustice, he is never in good case."
Some people have since questioned whether the eagle would
have been chosen to adorn the seal had the nation not been at war. A year after
the Treaty of Paris ended the conflict with Great Britain, Franklin argued that
the turkey would have been a more appropriate symbol. "A much more
respectable bird and a true native of America," he pointed out. Franklin
conceded that the turkey was "a little vain and silly," but
maintained that it was nevertheless a "bird of courage" that
"would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who should
presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on." Congress was not
convinced, however. The eagle remained our national symbol.
In truth, both the turkey and the Bald Eagle are
native to the Americas. But if the issue is a bird that represents our nation,
Americans can't really lay exclusive claim to either species, since both
traditionally ranged in Canada and Mexico as well.
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REHAB REPORT- November, 2007
Kris Buchler
November seems to be
the month of owls. Last year it brought
us a Snowy Owl, one of our most rewarding rehabilitation successes. "Storm" was released in April at
the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge after months of recuperation and flight
training with Birds of Prey
Northwest.
This month alone, Ed
and I have treated several birds including a Northern Saw-whet Owl from
Rathdrum, a Long-eared Owl from Blue Creek Bay, and a Barred Owl from the
Rimrock Golf Course. These three owls
are not commonly seen like our Great Horned Owl, the most numerous owl in our
region. The three listed owls are
nocturnal hunters and hard to find unless one can find their day roosts. Owls
are common victims of collisions with cars because they are not powerful or
swift fliers. Road killed animals
provide easy feeding.
All but the
Long-eared perished from wounds too severe to overcome or starvation and illness. Delicate bones suffer massive damage from
collisions, a common reason for owl mortality.
Some juvenile birds are not experienced hunters and starve when rodent
populations are low.
An excellent source
of regional information on owls is the Owl Research Center in Charlo,
Montana. Its recent newsletter, The Roost, describes several owl
projects and the correlation of breeding success to fluctuations of vole
populations. Several research projects
are led by Denver Holt, Director. Explore: www.owlinstitute.org.
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BIRD QUOTES
When I see a bird that walks like a
duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.
--
Richard C. Cushing --
There is nothing in which the birds
differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a
landscape as it was before.
--
Robert Lynd --
THE FISH HAWK 
