HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE 21ST YEAR OF THE COeuR D’ALENE CHRISTMAS
BIRD COUNT
Trumpeter Swan – Hayden Lake
Photograph by Lisa Hardy
- 71
species plus 2 count week birds – tied for 2nd place ( 73
species in 2003 and 2007 - 71
species in 2000 )
- 8,798
individual birds – 4th highest number (10,119 individual
birds in 2007)
·
25 birders in the field on 7 teams plus 12 feeder
counters
- Best Bird: Virginia Rail (1) at the east end of Fernan
Lake, along Fernan Creek - found by Laura Bayless, Dick Cripe, Mary Deasy
and Forsberg. Not only is it a
first for the CDA CBC, it is the first winter record I have for this
species north of Lewiston.
- 2nd
Best Bird: Trumpeter Swan (3) on
Hayden Lake – found by Lisa Hardy, Nancy Mertz and Matt Thurley – they
also had 1 of the two Great Horned Owls.
- Best
Feeder Bird: White-breasted Nuthatch (1) reported by Nancy Kroese
- Best
Waterfowl: Cackling Goose (11) on the Spokane River observed by Bill Gundlach,
George Sayler, John Scarola and Doug Ward
– They also had our only Northern Shrike.
- Most
hawks: (19) found by Shirley Sturts, Theresa Potts, and Derek Antonelli
(including the Merlin found by Doug Ward in their section)
- The
highest number of American Robin (18) and Black-billed Magpie (28) plus
one of 2 teams finding a Great Horned Owl are credited to Janet Callen,
Lynn Sheridan and Judy Waring.
- Mourning
Dove numbers were low this year - 23 compared with 107 in 2003. Jan and Herb Severtson, Eula Hickam and
Diane Partridge came up with 9 of them.
Another 9 were found by Kris and Ed Buchler, Roland Craft, Carrie
Hugo and Darlene Carlton.
- Double-crested
Cormorants (5) showed up on the CDA CBC for the first time in 2001 and
have increased every year until this year. We had 77 in 2010 but only 55 this year. Kris Buchler’s team
counted 53 and, the other 2 were found by the team led by Laura Bayless.
·
The 420
Common Mergansers beat the record for the most seen on 21 counts. Lisa Hardy,
Nancy Mertz and Matt Thurley
counted 417 of them on Hayden
Lake.
·
The
Greater Scaup seen by Doug Ward during count week was a first for the count.
·
The 24
Canvasback and 34 Redhead, not seen every year, were the highest number counted
on any previous year. Kris Buchler’s
and Bill Gundlach’s teams found these species on their routes.
·
All
together 7 teams walked 6 ½ miles and
drove 378 miles. We spent 9 hours on
foot and 46 hours driving. The 12
feeder counters spent a total of 24 hours counting at their feeders.
Thank you
field and feeder participants for taking part in the Christmas Bird Count this
year. Good weather, good roads and lots
of enthusiasm made it one of our best Christmas Bird Counts. A special thanks goes to Laura Bayless for
hosting our potluck and compiling session.
See results on our Website.
FISHING
LINE POSTERS
Our Audubon Chapter had these
signs made some time ago. Our
Conservation Committee distributed them at boat launches and other areas where
fisherman could see them. Because they
are so cute, people were taking them.
Since that time Roland Craft has been taking them to the Forest Service,
Idaho Fish and Game, etc. and asking them to post them in more secure
places. I noticed the other day that
one is posted at the Mica Bay boat launch under glass where it can’t be taken
down. We recently had a request for
posters from Kearstin Edward, Natural Resource Specialist from the North Fork
& Palouse Ranger Districts, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Roland mailed her several and they will be
posted on the North Fork Ranger District along
popular fishing rivers next spring.
Next time you see Roland, be sure
to thank him for his efforts in getting these signs posted. If you know of good secure places for one of
these posters, Roland has several available.
BAR-TAILED
GODWIT
Article
from “Now I Know” by Dan Lewis
Dan invites you to subscribe to
”Now I Know” at http://dlewis.net/nik
Pictured
above, the Bar-tailed Godwits is a type of migratory bird. It weighs, on
average, about a pound, give or take half a pound, and eats and rests only on
land. The birds are native to Australia but breed in the Northern Hemisphere --
primarily in Alaska, Scandinavia, and northern Asia. But note that the trip
from Australia to Alaska is almost entirely over the Pacific Ocean, without any
land of which to speak. This fact highlights a peculiarity of the Bar-tailed
Godwit: it can travel extreme distances -- thousands of miles at a time --
without stopping for food, rest, or even sleep.
In February of 2007,
researchers in New Zealand, working with the United States Geological Survey’s
(USGS) Alaska Science Center, captured 16 Bar-tailed Godwits and outfitted them
with satellite tags. The birds were set free, now able to be tracked by the
USGS scientists. One of the birds, named "E7" (due to its tracking
code), was tracked migrating up to Alaska via China. The first leg of the
flight, according to the BBC
(link on our website), was a record 6,340 mile trek. The second leg was a
similarly impressive 3,000 mile trans-Pacific flight to Alaska. But E7 wasn't
done yet. On her return trip to New Zealand, she skipped the China stopover,
making an eight-day trip of approximately 7,250 miles. That's two and a half
times the distance of New York to Los Angeles or nearly four times the distance
between Paris and Moscow.
How do these birds do it? While much of it is a mystery to
us, NPR has a few details
(link on our website). First, the birds eat an enormous amount before taking
flight, doubling their body weight as some internal organs which will not be
very useful during the trip (such as intestines) shrink to make room for the
extra fat. All of this additional weight is lost during the trip. Second, the
bird kind of, sort of sleeps on its journey -- again, as NPR states, by
"shutting down one side of the brain at a time."
In total, the typical Bar-tailed Godwit will fly
300,000 migratory miles over its roughly 20 year lifespan.
Editor’s note: I added a
Bar-tailed Godwit to my life list - June 22, 1999 Nome, Alaska. I was on a birding
tour with Goldeneye Tours. John Shipley
led the trip.
SCOUTING FOR THE
COEUR
D’ALANE
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
Roland
Craft
On December 3rd, the Coeur d'Alene Audubon birders had an interesting
day scouting the Coeur d'Alene area prior to the actual count. We were hoping
to see a Snowy Owl, Snow Bunting, Common Redpoll, Eurasian Collared-Dove,
Pacific and Red-throated Loons and a Prairie Falcon, all having been seen in
the area recently. Unfortunately, we did not spot any of these
birds!! But we did find many other species, such as Red-tailed Hawk,
Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Northern Shrike, Common Raven,
Black-billed Magpie, European Starling, American Robin, many Canada Geese both
on the prairie and at NIC and City Beach, Ring-necked Pheasant, numerous
Mallard, Ring-billed Gull, Bufflehead, and Double-crested Cormorant. Also
viewed were 20 pure white pigeons, a Rock Pigeon and a mature Bald Eagle.
Not too bad for 2/3 of a day.
Birders present were Shirley
Sturts, Janet Callen, Judy and Phil Waring, Darlene Carlton, Matt Thurley,
George Sayler, Kris Buchler and Roland Craft
IDAHO BIRD
OBSERVATORY
If you travel to Boise, be sure to visit the Idaho
Bird Obervatory’s new office. It
is located at the corner of University
Dr. and Capitol Blvd...near the Quiznos Subs.
Excerpts from Idaho Bird Observatory e-newsletter: December, 2011
Lucky Peak
2011 marked our 19th season on the Boise Ridge! The season
was a huge success due to the generous support from our donors and volunteers....
thank you! We couldn't have done it without YOU! We banded over 5,000
song-birds, over 1,000 raptors, and almost 600 owls! Over 1,000
people visited us and we hosted a record 45 organized groups from
around the community including school and scout groups.
Editor’s Note: Several
of our Audubon members visited Lucky Peak as part of a 4 day field trip on
October 6-9, 2010. The trip was led by
Lisa Hardy. Their most numerous species
that day was Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
Long-billed Curlew Project
This was the third year of the
Long-billed Curlew project, which is also being conducted in conjunction
with IDFG. 2011 was not a good year for Long-billed Curlew numbers in our
study area. Reproductive effort was very low compared to previous years.
The crew found only 3 curlew nests (compared to 17 and 20 in the previous
two years), and only 1 of the 3 nests was successful. Thanks to the
2011 crew members and volunteers: Morgan Parks, Alex Lamoreaux, Anna Fasoli,
Heather Craig, Shaun Olson, Eddie Shea, Lauren Whitenack, Dave Wike,
Alessia Cantaboni, Cheryl Huizinga, Patty McGrath, and Sandy Vistine-Amdor
for all their hard work!!
Long-billed Curlews are declining throughout their range and we don't know
exactly why. Contributing factors may include habitat loss and degradation
and/or human disturbances. Some threats may be during migration and/or on their
wintering grounds. But the problem is that we don't even know where
the curlews that breed in Idaho go in the winter! Our knowledge about what
curlews do once they leave Idaho is extremely poor, hampering our ability to
explain population declines.
Basic questions about which we lack information include:
- What migratory routes do curlews take to reach their
wintering grounds?
- When do Idaho curlews arrive on their wintering grounds,
and where do they winter?
- What habitats do curlews require during migration?
What about in winter?
- What threats are they facing on their travels between
Idaho and their southerly wintering grounds?
The Long-billed Curlew is a Species of Greatest
Conservation Need in Idaho,
and is also a species of concern with the BLM, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, and Environment Canada. Satellite transmitters can provide valuable
insights into the species' migratory routes, timings, and habitat requirements
across Canada, the US, and Mexico. This information will help researchers in
their efforts to conserve curlews!! Did you know?.... A satellite transmitter
study in Montana documented a Long-billed Curlew traveling nearly 1,250 miles
in just 27 hours!!! Wow!!!
Adopt a Long-billed Curlew!!!
Would you be
willing to sponsor a satellite transmitter and create a unique opportunity to
follow the migration of your very own curlew?
Along with
weekly blog and/or email updates about your curlew's migration progress, donors
will receive a portrait of their curlew and will be recognized in our annual
newsletter. In addition, full sponsors will receive a footprint cast of their
bird and the opportunity to name their curlew.
All donations are tax deductible. We are a non-profit, 501 (c)
(3) organization. You can also support education in Idaho by requesting
your donation go toward a "classroom bird" in a local school! Your
donation will allow schools to name and track their own curlew in the classroom
each week, while learning about ecosystem interactions, conservation,
geography, migration and curlew natural history!!
To sponsor a Long-billed Curlew
for you or as a gift for someone else (or if you have any questions) please get
in touch with Dr. Jay Carlisle at the Idaho Bird Observatory: jaycarlisle@boisestate.edu or call us at
208-426-5203.
Photo: Alex Lamoreaux and Anna Fasoli
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