International
Migratory Bird Day
May 13, 2006
Janet Callen
Audubon will
celebrate International Migratory Bird Day at the pavilion in McEuen
Field. The event will begin at 10:00 a.m.
with a dedication of the Idaho State Birding Trail by Representative George
Sayler. George is a long-time Audubon
member and he was the sponsor of HCR 38, the bill that created the official
Idaho State Birding Trail. Tubbs Hill
is a part of the state-wide system of birding trails and Audubon chapter
members will offer nature walks on Tubbs at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Please join us for this event. We are
fervently hoping the birding trail maps will be published in time for the event
and available to give to attendees. If
not, we’ll make certain they get to anyone interested. Migratory Bird Day posters will be
available. Go to page 4 to see
the poster and read about Migratory Bird Day.
About International
Migratory Bird Day
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD)
celebrates the incredible journeys of migratory birds between their U.S. and
Canadian breeding grounds and their wintering sites in Mexico, Central and
South America, and the Caribbean. The
event, which takes place on the second Saturday in May each year, encourages
bird conservation and increases awareness of birds through a series of public
events and education programs.
The theme for 2006 is The Boreal Forest: Bird Nursery of the Americas. North America’s Boreal Forest
encompasses approximately 1.5 billion acres (2.35 million square miles) and
stretches from Alaska to Newfoundland.
The region includes one of the world’s largest intact forests, which is
dotted with lakes, rivers and wetlands.
The region’s importance, however, extends
far beyond Canada and Alaska to the Lower 48 states, Mexico, the Caribbean, and
Central and South America. Billions of
birds of over 270 species migrate long distances from these locations to the
Boreal Forest where they nest and raise young in what is known as North
America’s “bird nursery.” Although
still relatively undisturbed, less than 8% of the Boreal is protected, and much
of it is under threat from industrial pressure due to logging, oil and gas
exploration, mining and hydroelectric dams.
Boreal trees provide more than a third of all newspaper used in America,
and the forest feeds the ever-growing supply of catalogs and mail that are sent
out every day.
IMBD will officially be on May 13 this year,
but many organizations will continue to conduct hikes, festivals, bird watching
events and a range of educational programs throughout the entire month of May
and beyond.
To find out how you can register your own
organization’s event, visit www.birdday.org or email MigratoryBirdDay@aol.com. For information on birds and the Boreal
Forest, visit www.borealbirds.org.
From:
Bird Calls, Vol. 10, No. 1,
March 2006. Published by American Bird
Conservancy.
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Audubon Members Make a Difference
GARAGE
SALE!!!!
Our yearly fundraiser will be June 3rd, Saturday, 9:00a.m. -
2:00p.m. at Theresa Potts' house, 4103 Arrowhead Rd. We need help in
organizing/pricing on Friday and selling/clean up on Saturday. A sign-up sheet will be at the May meeting.
Call Theresa at 765-0229 of Shirley Sturts at 664-5318 if you have items to
donate and/or need help in delivering them on Friday. (No clothing, unless new
or almost new). Also, let Jan Severtson, 667-6209, know if you have any items that would be good to put in the
newspaper garage sale add. THANK YOU!
ADOPT-A - HIGHWAY PROJECT
June 17, 2006
Litter, garbage, refuse - I'm talkin' trash
here. It's all out there along our two-mile stretch of Highway 95
awaiting our bi-annual cleanup. It is always surprising to see what the weeds
conceal. Surely this is the round that will yield a treasure!
We will meet at the Mica Flats Grange Hall (left side of the highway just
before mile marker 423) at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 17 for the traditional donuts
and juice. Long pants, long sleeved shirt, and a water bottle are
advisable.
This project calls for several volunteers. The more
"pickers", the quicker it goes, so let us see your smiling faces on
this June morning.
For more information call Judy Waring at 765-5378.
GREEN TIPS
Green tips will be a monthly feature in our
newsletter. It is designed to give you
ideas for taking personal conservation action to improve the environmental
health and habitat quality of our yards and neighborhoods. (Members are encouraged to send tips to
the editor for inclusion in future newsletters.)
Home
Improvement
Lisa Hardy
Indonesia has the third largest expanse of tropical forest in the
world, after Brazil and Congo, and it is losing that forest at a rate of 2
million hectares (roughly the size of Mass-achusetts) per year. The country's
timber-processing capacity is three times greater than the harvest allowed by
the Ministry of Forestry, and the extra timber comes from illegal operations.
These illegal logging operations produce lumber at a lower cost because they
are not paying royalties. It is estimated that illegal logging worldwide
depresses prices on the order of 10%, and spurs legal operations to cut costs,
typically by reducing employee wages. This is of course good news for our
wallets when we purchase lumber for our latest home improvement project, but
there is a hidden cost in the resultant loss of biodiversity and lack of
economic sustainability.
Large purchasers
of wood have come under increasing pressure in this country to support ethical
and sustainable logging. Home Depot and Lowe's, respectively, the number one
and number two largest buyers of wood in the world, have both agreed to align
their procurement policies with such goals. To that end, both Lowe's and Home
Depot carry lumber products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council, a global organization that has developed a set of criteria for forest
management. To read these criteria, go to the FSC website http://www.fscus.org/. Next time you buy lumber or wood products at either of these
chains, ask for products that carry the FSC logo. U.S. Forest
Service.
BLUEBIRD PROGRAM
PRESENTED IN SANDPOINT
Kris Buchler
Coeur d’Alene Audubon was invited to present
a program to the members of the Kinnikinnick Chapter of the Idaho Native Plant
Society on March 25. This chapter has a
large membership and over 50 people attended.
Among them was renowned birder Earl Chapin, our link to birding
activities in Bonner and Boundary Counties.
Kris Buchler traveled to Sandpoint to share
our slide program, “The Gertie Hanson Memorial Bluebird Trail” and a delightful
video, “Bluebirds inside the Nest Box,” which documents nest building, egg
laying, hatching and rearing of bluebirds.
The video cam has allowed observers to see the most important part of
the lives of bluebirds. This migratory
species has only a few short months to reproduce before returning south for the
fall migration.
The audience enjoyed seeing our nest display
with real bluebird eggs. Many were
interested in nest boxes and where and how to place them to encourage bluebirds
or other nest box users.
Following the program, Earl Chapin was to
lead a field trip to Denton Slough for an afternoon of birding.
Bird House
Program Expands
Dick Cripe
For several years
Lynn Sheridan has spear-headed Audubon's program of checking, cleaning,
repairing and/or replacing bird houses on local golf courses.
This spring, Lynn and Dick Cripe visited Brian Woster, manager of Circling
Raven Golf Course at the Coeur d'Alene Casino near Worley, and were given a
tour of the course. Brian had already placed 17 bird houses around the
course, and wanted advice as to how to attract a greater variety of
birds. He reported that mostly wrens were using his
houses. After checking with our experts, we delivered four of Roger
Young's birdhouses to Brian and advised him where to place them to attract
bluebirds (on a post next to a tilled or natural field; not on a fairway, in
the trees, or near bushes). We agreed that we will stay in touch
with Brian and help monitor the bird activity at Circling Raven throughout
the year.
While building
the bird houses in his workshop, Roger suggested that we place
some of the houses at the nearby Ponderosa Springs Golf Course, a
small par-3 course on French Gulch Road. After meeting with the
owners who were very enthusiastic about the plan, Roger and Dick placed six
houses on that small course.
Roger and
Dick have been taking morning walks exploring the north slope of Best
Hill where there are some cleared fields, remnants of old orchards and a dairy
farm. They located a couple of desirable-looking sites and placed six
bluebird houses. Just as the last house was being secured
to a fence post, a pair of Western Bluebirds was already checking out
one potential homesite. So Dick and Roger are hopeful that the
houses will see a lot of use this breeding season.
Earth Day
April 22
Janet Callen
If the number of
attendees is any measure of an event’s success, then the Earth Day celebration
at the Harding Center was a smash hit. Visitors streamed in the open door all
day. Since Audubon’s display was the
first one by the entrance, Lynn Sheridan, Kris Buchler and I were kept busy all
day talking with people interested in birds and gardening without
pesticides. The focus of our display
was maintaining a good-looking lawn with a minimum of chemical products. We gave away door prizes which were donated
by several area businesses. Single
bright yellow Marigolds, potted in small paper cups were given to every visitor
and were a hit. Lynn generously donated
a pink Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) as one of the door prizes.
Thanks to the following
donors for their generous support of Earth Day and Audubon.
Cooperative Supply, Inc. (Cenex): A bag of Bradfield Organics Luscious Lawn
& Garden Fertilizer. 5831 North
Government
Way.
Northland Nursery: Uncle Malcolm’s
Weed-Whompin Mulch, with corn gluten 8093 W Prairie Ave.
Pedal Pushers Nursery: 48 healthy
Marigolds. 1842 N Government Way.
Wild Birds Unlimited: A bag of black-oil sunflower seed and a
small feeder. 296 W Sunset Ave.
We hope all of you will visit these
establishments when you need plants, organic products or bird seed and feeders.
If I were to make
a study of the tracks of animals and represent them by plates, I should
conclude with the tracks of man"
Henry David Thoreau
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brown Bag Birding
Lynn Sheridan
It was a cool, sunny day as Penny Gedeon,
Betsy Heber, Pat Benson, Judy Edwards, Roland Craft and I met at the 11th St
entrance to Tubbs Hill. A robin greeted us at the start, while Violet-green
Swallows flitted overhead. We were all happy to see many yellow glacier
lilies, pinkish spring beauties interspersed with a few shooting stars,
buttercups, grass widows and bedstraw.
More robins sounded, then we heard
Red-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Common Raven and Red Squirrel
(imitating a flicker). Near the dock, a dozen Ring-billed Gull squawked
overhead
We were delighted to spot a lovely
Common Loon very close.
Thank you everyone. See
you again in May.
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Othello Sandhill Crane Trip
Dick Cripe
It
didn't start out auspicious - rain, wind, low-hanging clouds, light so limited
it was hard to see your map, auto mechanical problems, and screwed-up lodging
reservations - no, it was not a good day Saturday. We patrolled the plowed fields southwest of Othello where the
Sandhill Cranes are often seen. I am
told that we saw cranes, but I can't confirm that. Through my rain-spotted scope I made out some gray apparitions
that someone said were cranes moving around on the far side of a field, so
maybe they were. Through the window
wipers of the car we did manage to see a few other birds that day.
Sunday, however, was another day with high clouds, no rain, light wind,
and Doug Schonewald, a local birder from Moses Lake, who became our guide. Doug led us through the refuge to various
habitats. We saw a variety of birds
including great views of small clusters of 
cranes as they
approached, landed, fed, lifted off, and soared away from a small flooded
field.
We
had a great view from a bluff where we could look down on the cranes in the
field.
We saw a large assortment of waterfowl and
several species of shore birds including Black-necked Stilts, Greater Yellowlegs,
American Avocet, Long-billed Curlew, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer,
and Caspian Tern. We saw several
raptors and a nest of Great Horned Owls, but did not spot any Burrowing Owls. In total we saw 61 species. Participants: Herb and Jan Severtson, Bill
and Joan Gundlach, Marv and Karen Williams, Dick and Antje Cripe, Ed and Kris
Buchler, Roland and Pat Craft, Lisa Hardy, Russ Hersrud, and Janet Callen.
Those who stayed over Sunday night report
having sat on the dock with wine and cheese, with a beautiful sunset over
Pothole Lake, watching several loons in breeding plumage at fairly close
range. Lisa, Janet, and Karen spent
Monday on the Washington State Birding Trail from Othello to Grand Coulee and
saw a whopping 85 species.
Overall, everyone was glad they came,
impressed with the refuge as a birding place, and grateful to Doug Schonewald
for his guidance. Let's go back!
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8th
and final article in a series of
articles about lawn care
The Beautiful Lawn,
Part VIII
Janet Callen
I telephoned 22 lawn-care services listed in
the Coeur d’ Alene phone book, asking each if they provided organic lawn
services. Only two companies
responded.
A Natural Solution is locally owned and
operated, and has been in business since 1998.
They provide services to customers in Kootenai and Spokane
Counties. To quote their web site: “A
Natural Solution Organic Based Lawn, Tree & Shrub Care offers a safe
alternative to traditional methods of lawn care & tree care. All of our programs are based on your
tolerance level towards pesticides. Applications
are selectively done, so that you control the level of any products applied on
your property.”
Telephone (509) 226-2122 (208) 660-0188
Web: www.a-naturalsolution.com/ e-mail: anaturalsolution@msn.com
Living Water Lawn & Tree Care, is a Spokane-based
company that will use organic fertilizer when it is requested.
Telephone 1 800 529 6227 email: contactus@livingwaterspray.com
There may be other services that will
provide some organic products if one asks for them. Ask your lawn care company
what they will do for you.
And another source for organic lawn products
is Cooperative Supply Inc. (Cenex) at 5831 North Government Way, in Coeur d’
Alene. Not only do they carry Orland’s
Safe-T-Weed Corn Gluten meal, they stock the following products:
Bradfield Organics Luscious Lawn &
Garden Fertilizer,
Bradfield Organics Luscious Lawn/Corn Gluten
Meal
Bradfield Organics, and
Perfect Pasture & Farm Fertilizer
They also carry 100% organic seeds produced
by Ferry Morse.
The store has a variety of organic flower
and garden fertilizers and the manager, Art Grant is very helpful.
TruGreen ChemLawn
offers a Natural Nutrient Program using non-synthetic fertilizer and core
aeration.
www.trugreen.com 1-800-846-8548
Thanks everyone for listening. And thanks to Judy for helping.
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OBSERVATION POST
From
the Journal Kathleen Cameron -
1 May 2006 - Bellevue, ID
A Brambling
at My Feeder
Several
people have asked me what it was like to have a rare bird visiting my feeders.
Well, first of all, it was exhilarating to say the least! It was terribly
exciting from the moment that I glanced out the window and it registered in my
brain, “That bird doesn’t belong here.” From that moment through the next
twenty-four hours I was charged with feverish energy; it was nearly all
consuming. It made my hands shake as I pointed my telephoto lens at the bird
below my feeder knowing that I HAD to get this shot for fear that no one would
believe me without proof.
Once
I had the proof, I ran to the phone, and adrenalin caused me to sound as if I
had just run a marathon according to one of the first birders I contacted with
the news of the Brambling. Then with the arrival of each new visiting birder
and the recounting of the story, the energy would surge again and again. When
each new seeker saw the bird, their burst of birder excitement got me going
again!
By
the dawning of the second day of the Brambling event, I was exhausted. I truly
was pooped but totally happy to peer between the mini-blinds in the front room
and see carloads of eager binoculared eyes trained on my front yard. Every
morning for eight days this early morning scene awaited me at the crack of
dawn.
As
the days progressed and the Brambling kept showing up along with birders who
also had traveled a good distance to Bellevue, Idaho, I started to feel
somewhat responsible for whether or not they would see it. I knew that I was
being irrational about this, as all seasoned birders know that there is no
guarantee when it comes to chasing a rare bird. But still it was hard not to
have some concerns about this. I especially felt this way when the Brambling’s
visits became less frequent and erratic, and folks had driven several hundred
miles for a glimpse of the lovely black, orange, and white stray from Eurasia,
but each and every person told me that they were simply happy for the chance to
possibly see the bird and thanked me for sending out the alert.
In
all, the entire experience was thrilling, and thought provoking, as well as
being a Zen moment to be graced with the sight of this beautiful Brambling as
well as with all the people who came to see it. I was in awe of being in the
presence of this tiny phenomenon of nature, one little 0.74 ounce being that
was on an unplanned adventure during his first spring migration, drawing the
attention of dozens of interested observers who then paused in their busy lives
to appreciate his presence, marvel at his endurance, and consider the mystery
of this arrival so far from home.
From
the Journal of Kris
Buchler - April 18, 2006
Ed spotted a large bird soar over the
house and into view from a dining room window.
It was an immature Bald Eagle and probably about 4 years old, judging
from an almost white head and tail and over 50% mottling of brown and white
body feathers. It cruised north towards
a Western Larch snag that is a favorite roost for eagles and hawks. Instead of perching, it seemed to select a
branch too small for its size, breaking it and dropping it to the ground.
It flew back towards us, went up over the
house and then dove down about 15 feet from our deck and windows. Our cockatoo shrieked and ducked, a normal
response to a predator, and we gasped in glee as it flew back to the snag.
This time it flew at a large branch, hitting
it with extended feet and talons and breaking it off, just as I have observed
Osprey doing when collecting nesting material.
It clasped the branch and soared around our ridge for several minutes,
turning
and dipping much as a harrier would. We thought it looked to be searching for a
nest sight or playing. It flew out of
site around the ridge but returned in a few minutes, still holding the
branch. A little later it dropped it
and disappeared.
I have seen Osprey do this many times but this
is the first I have observed the behavior in eagles. It only makes sense that they use the same techniques as Osprey
to collect branches for nests. There is
a nesting pair of Bald Eagles at the east end of Fernan Lake and it is
questionable that they would tolerate another pair on the lake. However, Ed and I would happily welcome them
and would be delighted to have a pair nesting in view of our dining room window.
From
the Journal of Shirley Sturts -
nests June 19 - July 11, 1974
June 19th I found two nests today.
One was a Oregon Junco nest on the side of a road cut behind my house on
Fernan Lake. It contains 3 young. They opened their mouths for food when I
looked in on them. The other nest is
that of a Yellow Warbler. It is in the
crotch of a low shrub about 4 feet off the ground. It contains 3 eggs, One egg is considerably larger than the
other. I think this egg is that of a
Brown-headed Cowbird.
June
24 - 29
The junco young are still in their nest and
the eggs in the warbler nest are not hatched.
June 25
I noticed a ground squirrel running across
the road coming from the direction of the junco nest with two juncos flying
near him. Later, when I checked the
nest I found it empty except for one unhatched egg.
June 30 This morning I found
2 baby birds in the warbler nest. One is
considerably larger than the other.
July 3
There are 2 warbler young and 1 cowbird
young in the nest
July 8
The baby cowbird now seems to take up the
whole nest. The two baby warblers are peaking
out from underneath the breast of the big cowbird.
July 9
There is only one baby warbler in the nest
today. Possibly the other one was
fledged. That is my hope anyway.
July 10
3:00 p.m.
The parents are busy feeding the two young
in the nest. I hope the other possibly
fledged warbler may be getting food as well.
The cowbird gets very excited when the adults bring food and at one
point jumped up on the rim of the nest .
In 10 minutes of nest watching,
the cowbird is fed 3-4 times to only 1
feeding of the smaller warbler. 6:00
p.m. The cowbird is on the ground being fed by the male and one of the
young warblers is being fed by the female in a bush about 70 feet away from the
nest. The female came in three times
with food for the fledged warbler.
July 11
The
cowbird fledgling is still on the ground by about 50 feet from the nest and
the warbler fledgling is about 30 feet
away from where it was last night. The
parent birds are still busy feeding them both.
----
No further entries. I left for
an out-of-town trip that day,
----
Brown-headed
Cowbird notes
The cowbirds are known as generalist parasites, laying their eggs is the
nests of about 200 other bird species. Usually there is only one egg laid in a
nest. Often the cowbird will remove one
of the host's eggs and replace it with one of her own. She doesn't want the host species to
abandon the nest. From what I read only
3% of cowbird eggs and nestlings reach adulthood.
If the cowbird is raised in the nest of species that is the same size or
larger than itself, the cowbird has little effect on the nesting success of the
host species, except for the possible removal of one egg. However, if the host bird is smaller, as in
the case of the Yellow Warbler, the aggressive cowbird young can outcompete the
host young, often causing them to starve or crowd them out of the nest.
My Yellow Warbler pair were very diligent parents and they were able to
find enough food for both the cowbird and at least one, if not two, of their
own young.
Cowbirds have been blamed for adversely affecting songbird populations.
This is certainly true for restricted habitat species such as the Kirkland's
Warbler. However, according to David Sibley, it is only one factor and in most
cases not the most important one.
Habitat loss and predation may be more significant.
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THE FISH HAWK 