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cOEUR D'ALENE
cHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTed
Sunday December 14
Shirley
Sturts
Fourteen
of us braved the 3 degree weather, with
a wind chill factor added on, to cover
the 15 mile diameter Coeur d'Alene Christmas Bird Count circle.
We
started off with a hot breakfast at Michael D's Eatery. Our seven teams of 2-3 observers each were
on their way by 7:00 a.m. to count birds in their assigned areas.
One team drove around Hayden Lake.
Two other teams divided up Rathdrum Prairie covering parts of Rathdrum,
Post Falls and Hayden Lake (town). The
team covering Cougar Bay and Kidd Island Bay 
used scopes to check for ducks and
geese. One team checked out City Park,
where a Black and White Warbler was found 2 years ago and then birded along the
Spokane River from NIC to Post Falls.
Two other teams had parts of the city of Coeur d'Alene and assorted
areas such as Fernan Lake, Silver Beach, Dalton Gardens, Loch Haven Hills, and
Nettleton Gulch. Helping us out in the
warmth of their homes were 10 feeder watchers.
The
cold weather kept the birds hunkered down,
protecting themselves from the icy wind. Nevertheless, we came up with
57 species and 6477 individuals. Lisa Hardy and Linda Wright had the best bird of the day, two
Tundra Swan. These are new to the Coeur
d'Alene CBC.
Every
team came up with a special species that no one else found. Theresa Potts, Judy Waring and myself, after
several miles of seeing only starlings, found the 2nd best bird
species of the day, a flock of 18 Horned Lark on Rathdrum Prairie. Laura Bayless found our only Brown Creeper,
two of them. Hawks were very scarce on
Rathdrum Prairie but Janet Callen and Lynn Sheridan found four Rough-legged
Hawk. The other Rathdrum team, Theresa
Potts, Judy Waring and myself found the only Red-tailed Hawk (2) and the only
Northern Harrier(2). Kris and Ed
Buchler and Roland Craft added our only Belted Kingfisher, Northern Shrike and
Evening Grosbeak (12). Two teams found
Varied Thrush (1 each), Herb and Jan Severtson and Laura Bayless and Roy
Bell. Bill Gundlach and Derek Antonelli
found our only Barrow's Goldeneye (2)
and Herring Gull (5), along with the highest number of Bufflehead, 185.
Not
to be outdone, two of our feeder
watchers added 2 species missed by the
teams. Steve Lindsay added a
White-breasted Nuthatch and Doug Ward added a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Visit out
Website to see the total results and how this year compares with other years.
http://cdaaudubon.org/cdacbcchart.htm
http://cdaaudubon.org/Cbcount99.htm
Herb
and Jan Severtson hosted our traditional
and always popular potluck.
After sharing our birding adventures with the other teams and compiling
the species and numbers, we sat down to a most enjoyable meal. I want to thank
all the participants, both team members and feeder watchers. A special thanks from all of us to Herb
and Jan for hosting the potluck.
Coeur
d'Alene CBC Trivia for this year
·
Lowest number of species in 18 years
·
8th place out of 18 for
number of individual birds
·
First time we've missed having a Downy
Woodpecker on the count.
·
Waxwings and crossbills were also
missing
·
Cedar Waxwing were seen during count
week
·
26 species
have been counted all 18 years
·
The only bird beating the most seen record in 18 yrs was the Western Grebe with 13.
·
The Canada Goose, with a count of 1980
was our most numerous bird
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Idaho birding trail signs
See the article in our October/November issue about the Idaho
Birding Trail Signs by Kris Buchler. In
the October/November issue we featured the Red-naped Sapsucker sign that is
going up in Mica Bay. The location of this months Eastern Kingbird sign has not been decided.
The text
reads:
EASTERN KINGBIRD
This large
flycatcher got the name “Kingbird” because of its aggressive nature. It defends its territory against all
predators, even crows and large hawks. Kingbirds have been seen riding the
backs and pecking at the heads of these larger birds. All kingbirds belong to a group called the “Tyrant” flycatchers.
The Eastern Kingbird often commands a
high perch with a good view. Its large,
broad bill, with bristles at the base, is made for snatching insect prey,
mostly flies, in the air. While feeding, it is often seen perched on wires or
fence posts. It always flies from place
to place and is rarely seen hopping on the ground.
The male and female use soft materials
such as weeds, moss and feathers to build their nest near the tip of a
horizontal branch, in the fork of a tree, or a shrub over water. Some Eastern Kingbirds have been known to
nest in the same trees with orioles.
A migratory species, the Eastern Kingbird
spends winter months in South America where its expanded diet includes fruit.
To learn more or to
sponsor a sign, call Kris Buchler 664-4739 or
Jenny Taylor 666-9898
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Pick a Plant for Wildlife – Quaking Aspen
Populus tremuloides
By Carrie Hugo
Aspen are an often
forgotten component of north Idaho forests. Although they have never been
a dominant tree in Panhandle forests, there certainly are fewer aspen on the landscape
now than there was historically. In other parts of the West, aspen can
occur in stands of 100 acres or more. In the northern portion of the
Rocky Mountains (like here in north Idaho), aspen form small groves that can be
thought of as a keystone cover type. This is a fancy way of saying
that the small stands have more value and greater use by numerous wildlife
species than one would expect, considering how small the portion of the land is
that they occupy.
Aspen are deciduous
trees that survive where evergreen conifers are far more common. Interestingly,
aspen bark has chlorophyll that is capable of photosynthesis in the late fall
and early spring, making it a rather novel deciduous evergreen tree. Another
notable trait of aspen is its longevity. Most aspen stands you see, even the
larger stands in Colorado and Wyoming, are not so much individual seedlings,
but in fact they are clones whose source may be only a handful of trees.
While the tree you see above ground may be short-lived relative to the conifers
around it, the plant itself could be thousands of years old because of root
sprouting. Indeed, aspen may live longer than any other tree. Because
most reproduction occurs as a result of suckering, seedlings are rarely
encountered over much of aspen’s range. Only a few successful seedlings are
necessary to maintain the populations of such long-lived plants. In north
Idaho, aspen stands rarely exceed 5 acres in size. A great exception
to this 5 acre rule is the very large aspen stand along Highway 3 near Rose
Lake. Just west of Rose Creek Road is a very large aspen stand, perhaps
more than 20 acres.
Aspen are very shade
intolerant, and they flourish in landscapes where fire is a regular occurrence.
In lieu of fire, timber harvest may stimulate aspen suckering in areas where a
few trees can still be found. If a few trees are present on the site
after a disturbance like fire, they take advantage of the new sunny openings in
the forest canopy. Hundreds and thousands of suckers that are genetically
identical to the parent tree spring up around its base. You may have been
frustrated by this adaptation if you have aspen growing in your lawn or garden
area. The suckers just never quit!
Aspen appear to be
declining throughout the western United States. And here in the
Panhandle, the number of these small aspen stands is fewer than it used to
be. This change can largely be attributed to the lack of fire on our
forests. Without fire, sunny open spots in the forest canopy that aspen
love are not created or maintained. Existing aspen stands are often
eventually overtaken by more shade tolerant coniferous species. Drought
that makes the trees more susceptible to insects and disease is thought to be responsible
for some aspen declines. Other threats to aspen include grazing by
livestock and wildlife. In many parts of its range, aspen is an important
food source for livestock. Aspen forests can provide 1400-1600 pounds per
acre of forage, whereas a coniferous forest generally provides around 100-200
pounds per acre of forage. Overgrazing of aspen stands can prevent the
trees from successfully suckering, and too much use of the bark by wildlife, or
drought and disease may seal the fate of stands that are also heavily grazed.
So what critters use
this plant in north Idaho? Lots! Elk, in particular, have a taste
for aspen bark, especially in winter. They’ll also eat the leaves and
shoots that they can reach. Moose, mule deer, and white-tailed deer enjoy
the leaves, buds, and bark, as well. Porcupine love to eat the bark and
beaver will preferentially choose aspen where it is available. Not only
do beaver use the logs for their dams, but they cache and eat the saplings
under water in the winter as well. Even bears will eat the catkins (the
fruiting parts) and buds in the spring.
Aspen are
particularly valuable to our local bird communities. Ruffed grouse are
closely associated with aspen throughout their range. The buds provide a
great food source for grouse throughout the winter and the catkins provide
energy for those cold, wet days of early spring. Aspen stands seem to
support larger numbers of insects than adjacent coniferous forests. As a
result, insectivorous animals like bats and birds especially value aspen
stands. Wood peckers make cavities for their nests in mature aspen trunks
and numerous other birds and mammals take advantage of abandoned woodpecker
holes for their nests. The pygmy, northern saw-whet, flammulated, and
western screech owls all use cavities in aspen. Song birds, waterfowl and
other birds use these holes for secure nesting sites as well. Some of
these include western flycatchers, tree and violet-green swallows, all of the
chickadees and nuthatches, brown creeper; house wren, and western and mountain
bluebirds. Flying squirrels, red squirrels, and gray squirrels will use
the cavities in winter and to raise their young in early spring. Pocket
gophers and other small mammals will eat the soft bark of seedlings and
saplings that are buried in winter under deep snows.
They may not look
like much in winter, but an aspen tree or aspen stand provides a wonderful food
source for critters at a time when they need it most. So if you are
thinking of planting some trees around your property, consider aspen. Not
only do they provide beautiful fall foliage, but they have great value for our
local wildlife species!
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rathrum
prairie Field Trip
Roland Craft
Our November 22 field
trip to find raptors on the Rathdrum Prairie was very successful and enjoyable.
Participants were Roland Craft, Bill Gundlach, Ed and Kris Buchler, Janet
Callen and Jan Severtson.
The raptors sighted
were 7 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Northern Harrier, 7 Red-tailed Hawk (1 was a Harlan's),
1 American Kestrel. In addition to these birds, we also saw European Starling,
Common Raven, Northern
crowned Kinglet,
House Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Northern Shrike, Hairy
Woodpecker, California Quail, and Rock
Pigeon.
Bill Gundlach pointed
out a new area on the prairie where we have not birded before. Standing
on one spot we tallied 7 or 8 species!!.
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Did you know that even after most birds stop singing in
fall, mockingbirds sing new songs? According to one study, their fall
repertoire can be 99 percent different from their songs in spring.
Listen to a song recorded in November.
Learn more about mockingbirds on:
mockingbirds on our All About Birds website.
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Ornithography
by Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003
(The legendary Cang Jie was said to
have invented writing after observing the tracks of birds.)
A light snow last night,
and now the earth falls open to a fresh page.
A high wind is breaking up the clouds.
Children wait for the yellow bus in a huddle,
and under the feeder, some birds
are busy writing short stories,
poems, and letters to their mothers.
A crow is working on an editorial.
That chickadee is etching a list,
and a robin walks back and forth
composing the opening to her autobiography.
All so prolific this morning,
these expressive little creatures,
and each with an alphabet of only two letters.
A far cry from me watching
in silence behind a window wondering
what just frightened them into flight —
a dog's bark, a hawk overhead?
or had they simply finished
saying whatever it was they had to say?
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kINGFISHER TOURS
Go to: www.KingfisherBirdTours.com
John Shipley, a past
member of the Coeur d'Alene Audubon
Chapter now living in Bozeman, has just
announced his tours for 2009. I highly
recommend his tours. They are small
groups, very well run and his enthusiasm for showing you new birds is
contagious. (S. Sturts)
Tour Schedule
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ONLINE BIRDING STORE
email from Kathleen Cameron on IBLE
Dear Fellow Birders, Friends, and Family,
I am happy to let you
know that my good friend Poo Wright-Pulliam has recently opened an online
business that I am sure will be of interest to you. In Poo's store you will
find lots of products that will be of interest to birders, and wildlife
enthusiasts of all types. Yes I am talking binoculars, scopes and birding
accessories.
As Poo's business
grows she will be carrying more brands and more products so please add this
site to your favorites to quickly check to see what she has added.
Please visit Poo's
store today to see what she has to offer!
Here's the link and happy shopping, birding, and nature observation to
you all!
http://www.binocularsandscopespro.com/home
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December
10, 2008
Shirley Sturts
With thoughts of next
spring in our heads, 8 of us met at Roger Young's woodworking shop to build
blue bird boxes for the three blue bird trails we monitor and maintain. We have
some 80-90 blue bird boxes placed along roads and around two of the local golf
courses. Weather damage, rodents
chewing bigger holes, and horses and
cows using them for scratching posts keep us busy repairing and replacing
houses.
We used the last of
the cedar boards that Roger had obtained some years ago for building bird
houses. Roger was able to cut out
enough pieces to make 22 houses. We
divided up into teams of two and put the houses together in a couple of
hours.
Workers were: Ed
Buchler, Roland Craft, Dick Cripe, Bill Gundlach, Theresa Potts, Herb and Jan
Severtson, Shirley Sturts.
A big thank you to
Roger for helping us with our
bird house project
this time and many times before this.
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