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Audubon
Members Make a Difference
Idaho Birding Trail
The recently published guidebook for the Idaho
Birding Trail will be available for sale at the upcoming Audubon meeting. The
price is $5.00. The guidebook is also
available for sale at any Idaho department of Fish and Game office. For a preview and more information www.idahobirdingtrail.org.
The
Year in Review
Lisa Hardy
Highlights
of our chapter's 2005-2006 year included the dedication of the Idaho Birding
Trail, a project on which many of our members collaborated; presentations on
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, salmon fishery issues, and orcas; and
field trips to see Sand hill Cranes and pelagic species.
Promotion of the
Audubon-At-Home program was our top educational priority. A series of seven
articles by Janet Callen and Judy Waring titled “The Beautiful Lawn” appeared
in our newsletter, and discussed the specifics of creating an attractive yard
in our area without the use of chemical pesticides, and with reduced fertilizer
application.
We held several
successful field trips designed for beginning birders. Our Kootenai County
Century Count in May tallied a record 115 species.
We elected a new
President, long-time board member Lynn Sheridan, to serve for the next two
years, and welcome new board members Carrie Hugo. Jerry Hanson and Stephen
Johnson
Contact Lisa Hardy
if you would like a copy of the chapter Annual Report. The report gives a
complete review of all chapter activities.
A MESSAGE FROM LYNN SHERIDAN, OUR NEW
CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Fellow
Nature Lovers:
I have cautiously
taken on the responsibility of being our chapter president. I'm following an
accomplished line of leaders: Susan Weller, Mike Mihelich, Ronn Rich, Janet
Callen, Kris Buchler, Dick Cripe and Lisa Hardy. Each one has brought their individual talents and interests to
the job.
The vice president
is Ed Buchler, the secretary and
membership is Jan Severtson, and Ronn Rich continues
as treasurer. Returning
board members are Janet Callen, Roland Craft,
Lisa Hardy, Mike Mihelich . We
welcome Jerry Hansen, Carrie Hugo and
Steve Johnson as new board members.
I have volunteers
for other tasks, but I still need a Hospitality-Raffle person and
a Scrap booker (we're on our 5th volume !).
You do not need to be a board member to volunteer for these and other
jobs. If you are looking for ways to be
active in our chapter, the conservation
and education committees are open for any interested member. The field trip chairperson welcomes new
field trip leaders. Articles, book
reviews, quotations, poems, and bird observations can be submitted to our newsletter editor. (see back page for the people to
contact).
With a lot of help
from my friends, I hope to keep the
ship on an even keel. Please email me
with questions, suggestions, or complaints: alysh16@yahoo.com
Lynn
ADOPT-A- HIGHWAY PROJECT
A June Foray
Judy Waring
As in all of life there is no predicting what will
happen out there on our Highway 95 litter pick-up, except not finding the hoped
for treasure. Yet. Last fall we had eight Auduboners on the job filling up
nineteen bags of trash in four hours. On the recent June foray, ten people
collected sixteen bags in less than two hours. The most likely explanation is
the tweaking of our method: we now pick
up nothing smaller than a pack of cigarettes. It works.
Tally so far:
Round 1: 19 people, 34 bags, 2 hours and 20 minutes
Round 2: 16 people, 17 bags, 2 hours and 15 minutes
Round 3: 13 people, 16 bags, 2 hours and 10 minutes
Round 4: 10 people, 11 bags, 1 hour and 45 minutes
Round 5: 8 people, 19 bags, 3 hours plus
Round 6: 10 people, 16 bags, 1 hour and 45 minutes
Thanks to all the
hardy members for giving over a beautiful summer morning to straightening up
the mess.
Since this won't go away on its own, we
will tackle it again on Saturday, October 7, 2006. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Mica
Flats Grange for the usual donuts and juice and expect to finish by around 11
a.m. If you haven't tried this yet, I encourage you to join us. For more
information, call Judy Waring at 765-5378.
International Migratory Bird Day
Janet Callen
No rain, no
wind, just perfect weather for Coeur d' Alene Audubon’s annual International
Migratory Bird Day Celebration on May 13, 2006. The event, held at the McEuen
field pavilion, also dedicated the Official Idaho Birding Trail. Representative George Sayler, the sponsor of
HCR #38, made the dedication. The
Official Idaho Birding Trail recognizes the Idaho Birding Trail developed by
the Audubon chapters of Idaho and the Watchable Wildlife employees of Idaho
Fish and Game. Our only regret was that
the birding trail maps were not yet available, but when our chapter receives
them, we will distribute to all who requested one.
Approximately 25 people attended the
10:00 a.m. dedication. At 11:00
a.m. Kris Buchler, Dick Cripe and
Jonathan Brennecke led a group of interested individuals on a nature walk
around Tubbs Hill. Tubbs Hill is a part
of the Idaho Birding Trail and a wonderful place to celebrate Migratory Bird
Day and the dedication. Thanks to
Kris, Dick , Jonathan and Lynn Sheridan
for their help. .
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?
WE HAVE ANSWERS
Call or email us with your questions about birds, bats and other
wildlife. If we don't know the answer, we know where to go to get an answer.
We'd also like to hear your suggestions and comments. See below for the best
person to contact regarding your specific questions.
Did you see a
rare bird? Do you have a question about bird identification?
Shirley Sturts maintains a state-wide database of bird sightings, and is
Secretary of the Idaho Bird Records Committee: 664-5318 - s.sturts@verizon.net
For questions
about orphaned baby birds, problem birds or injured birds,
contact local wildlife rehabilitator Kris Buchler: 664-4739 - eagleroost@adelphia.net
Do you have bats? Questions about bats? Ed Buchler is the man to call.
He is a professional biologist currently working on bat research in North
Idaho: 664-4739 - eagleroost@adelphia.net
For questions
about diseased or sick birds, or any questions concerning wildlife or chapter
activities, contact Field Trip Chairman, Lisa Hardy: 682-4808 - lsh28@cornell.edu
Do you have
questions about logging or development disturbing nesting birds or other
wildlife? Is there ongoing habitat destruction
that Audubon should be made aware of? Give Roland Craft (457-8895) or Mike
Mihelich (664-4741) a call with your questions about conservation issues.
"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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GREEN TIP
Green tip is 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
Fish
for Dinner
Lisa Hardy
I like fish, and try
to eat fish once a week, but making choices of what to buy can be overwhelming in
the face of all the caveats involving sustainability and health. Some people
just throw up their hands in despair, like the late Susan Weller, founder of
our chapter, and a passionate advocate for environmental issues, who said,
"Don't tell me anything about shrimp! I love shrimp, and it is one of the
few things I can eat! So, I don't want to hear it!" I've gone close to the
other extreme and stick pretty much to wild Alaska salmon, and sardines
(product of Canada). The far end of the spectrum is represented
by the young biologist in "Eye of the Albatross" who,
after seeing first-hand the effects of long-line fishing on seabirds, gave up
all seafood in favor of chicken.
Sustainability
issues fall into two categories: the first is that we are exhausting our wild
stocks of ocean fish. The second is that seafood farming in coastal waters
causes environmental damage from nutrient-overloading caused by the release of
wastes and excess feed, and from transference of diseases to wild populations.
The Marine
Stewardship Council is an independent, global, non-profit organization which
was set up in 1997 to find a solution to the problem of over fishing. The MSC
has developed an environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed
fisheries, and certifies the fisheries that meet that standard. I had read
about the MSC, but I was surprised to find the MSC label on a package of frozen
Alaskan salmon at my local grocery store, Yoke's, and promptly bought it, but
alas, I have never found any MSC-labeled fish there since.
If you, too, are
unable to find MSC -labeled seafood at your grocery store, you can check the
Audubon website for the most sustainable choices in seafood.
Meanwhile, I baked my
MSC fillet with olive oil, dill, and salt, and had a delicious dinner.
More information
about the Marine Stewardship Council can be found at: http://eng.msc.org/
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Beginning
birders field trip.
Dick Cripe
This trip, originally scheduled for May 20 and
cancelled due to rain, took place on the following Saturday, May 27. We had an equal number of beginners and
"intermediates" to see what there was to see at Fernan Lake and
Fernan Creek. The weather was high
clouds and the light was adequate. We
checked out the Great Blue Heron rookery at the west end, and the Bald Eagle nest
at the east end.
There were a few
waterfowl that we watched at leisure.
We listened for common songbirds so were able to do a little birding by
ear. We found at least one Wilson Snipe
and watched a pair of Killdeer with a new brood of three chicks.
The trip was
low-key, relaxed, and successful.
Participants were: Penny Gedeon, Judy Roehr, Paula Yanes-Robers, Lynn
Sheridan, Janet Callen, and Dick Cripe.
We hope that we have some new "regulars" as a result of this
experience.
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BROWN BAG BIRDING
(This popular one hour event led by Lynn Sheridan
is a good way to get to know what our
chapter is all about. Below is her
account of the May trip on Tubbs Hill.
See Field Trips for Brown Bag
trips scheduled for the coming
year)
Lynn Sheridan
It was a warm
day as Roland and I walked up the north side of Tubbs Hill, from the 3rd street
entrance. Many Northern Flicker were calling and chasing each other
through the trees, We heard American
Robin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Osprey,
Common Raven, and Yellow Warbler.
Sounds in the
underbrush turned out to be 3 or 4 Spotted Towhee. A pair of Pygmy Nuthatch were going in and out of a nest hole in
a snag, being very vocal.
The flowers were
lovely, among them were phlox, lomatia, chocolate lily, false solomon seal, and
blue quamas. Back at the dock area I
saw Tree and Barn Swallow, and a mother Mallard with 7 ducklings.
Thanks, Roland.
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Observaton Post
Shirley Sturts
From the Journal of Stevan McQuiston
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I don't
know how significant this is, but I have had the pleasure of a nesting pair of
wood pewees very near my front deck.
The nest is about seven feet above the deck, roughly the same distance
away from the railing. I cannot see
down into the nest from the deck surface, but can look slightly up at the
nest. Today for the first time, I can
see a nestling's bill protruding upward above the nest rim. What I believe to be the male will perch in
a nearby tree a bit further away and "call" at me when I sit in a
chair and observe the nest. What I
believe to be the female makes frequent flights to the nest with food. I have also seen the parents eat fecal sacs
or transport them away.
For the
first week or ten days, I was not sure of my identification (still somewhat
unsure). I thought at first that I had
one of the empidonax flycatchers, but lack of a prominent eye ring, and the
"stillness" of the parents when they perch has made me lean strongly
towards pewee (one of my references says that empids are "nervous"
perchers with a lot of movement and tail flicking, etc). The "call" of the adult when I
observe is a sort of "zweee" or "pweee" sound. The nest is built of plant material, is
located at the fork of a horizontal branch in a white pine, but is only nine
feet or so above ground rather than the 50 or so that some references say the
pewee uses. In a few days, I expect to
have one or more fledglings.
Update August 10
The
nestlings have fledged; yesterday, I was sitting on the deck within sight of
the empty nest when a pewee flew in and settled on the nest--it did not stay
long--I don't know if it was one of the
original nesting adults, or one of the fledglings returning to its birthplace
before leaving for good.
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New
species for the Washington State checklist
Lisa Hardy
Five chapter members
were among the observers of the first Washington State record of an Ashy
Storm-Petrel on June 24. We were part of a group of 20 birders on a Westport
Seabirds pelagic trip in search of birds that are rarely seen from land,
especially albatrosses and storm-petrels. Some 30 miles offshore, a steep
undersea slope marked the transition from 500' of water to depths of over
3000', while on the surface, this change was reflected in a change in the color
of the crystal-clear water, from green to steely ultramarine blue. Here, where
upwelling currents bring food to the surface, the crew threw out bits of suet
to create an oil slick that attracted Fork-tailed and Leach's Storm-Petrels
with their acute sense of smell. The small birds flew close to the surface to
pick up the bits of suet, sometimes pattering their feet on the water to stay
aloft.
As we turned back
towards shore, the guides became quite excited by a bird that looked much like
the Leach's to me, but had a dark rump. They soon ruled out other
possibilities, and pronounced it a first state record of Ashy Storm-Petrel. A
Norwegian birder on board took photos using an enormous lens, and several of
them are posted on the Westport Seabirds website, affording a much clearer view
than we had tracking the bird with our binoculars from a pitching boat.
The Ashy is fairly
common off the California coast, but there has not even been an accepted record
for Oregon yet. There are probably a handful out there much of the time, but
there are no birders out there looking for them except for a few trips each
month when a boatload of observers samples a tiny portion of this watery
expanse. I enjoyed most the enthusiasm of the guides, and was interested to see
how careful they were to assign credit to who first spotted the bird, who first
noted that it was different, etc.
Other highlights of
the trip: a close-up flyover by a South Polar Skua, a scattered pod of Pacific
White-sided Dolphins numbering fifty to a hundred individuals, dozens of
Black-footed Albatross, and Tufted Puffins in breeding plumage. As we made our
way back to port, we admired the unobstructed view of Mount Rainier, clearly
visible even though more than one hundred miles distant.
THE FISH HAWK 
