Bulk Uploading for eBird

The bulk upload tools for eBird that were previously in beta are now officially released. You can read more about them here.

New Jersey's Peregrine Falcons

Peregrine falcons are now more numerous in New Jersey than they were historically.

“Falcons are a top-of-the-food-chain species, like eagles,” Clark said. “They were never as abundant as deer.” Twenty nesting pairs, she said, are more than the state had in the early 1900s.

“There were at least six pairs at the Palisades Cliffs,” she said. “And we have some historical data that there were four to five pairs along the upper Delaware River. That’s it.” ...

“We never set a numeric goal for the population, because when we started, we didn’t have good historic information,” Clark said. “But one of our milestones was always to get them back into historic habitat.”

That natural habitat is Palisades Cliffs. Early attempts to place fledgling falcons at what are called “hacking” sites at the cliffs failed. “The release of young birds didn’t work in the cliff area,” Clark said, “because they were eaten up by great horned owls.”

Hacking, or hack sites, refers to feeding the falcons, while allowing them to fly and go wild as they learn how to hunt for themselves.

Adult falcons can stand up to the big owls, but the fledglings weren’t yet strong or smart enough. So the state shifted its repopulation efforts in the 1980s to towers in salt marshes.

There were fewer predators there. As a result, the birds did well in New Jersey and other states. “The salt marshes were the engine that fueled the recovery,” Clark said. “Here and in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.”

According to a report (pdf) on the state raptor website, there were 20 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons statewide in 2007. Of those, 4 nested on cliffs in the Palisades, 13 on towers and buildings, and 3 on bridges. New Jersey sent 12 young falcons to Virginia and West Virginia to help recovery programs there.

A Rare Bird by Subway

This morning I went to see the Scott's Oriole that was reported from Union Square Park in New York City. The oriole has been sighted repeatedly over the past several days in a small garden on the southwestern corner of the square. Apparently it was first seen in December, but at the time someone misidentified it as an orchard oriole. The bird's true identity was only established last week.

When I arrived, several birders were present, but the oriole was not. As we waited, several raptors flew through the park, including a peregrine falcon, an American kestrel, and a Cooper's hawk. There was a single yellow-bellied sapsucker tapping at the trees and a marge mixed crowd of white-throated sparrows and house sparrows picking through the garden.

About a dozen people had gathered by the time the oriole appeared. It sunned itself for a short time at the top of a tree and then flew to the ground to feed. After a few bites it flew into a nearby bush and perched there for about fifteen minutes. While I was watching, it did not display any of the aggressive behavior noted by Corey.

The Scott's oriole was my 300th life bird.

Several photos of this Scott's oriole are available around the internet, especially on Flickr. I noticed that the feathers of the back and head, rather than being plain black, have an intricate pattern of black, gray, and green. Some of that can be seen in this photograph, but the effect is much more striking in person.

As a side note, a building across the street from the park has a speaker that plays peregrine calls to scare away the pigeons. The pigeons do not seem to be bothered by this at all since they sit on a ledge above the speaker, even while the calls are playing. They only budge when a real peregrine appears.

Birdcamming - Recent Visitors

After deserting the feeders for the last two months of last year, the birds have suddenly returned in large numbers again. House sparrows are still mostly absent, but others are coming back.

There have been house finches and dark-eyed juncos...

...and cardinals...

...and wrens...

...and mourning doves.

One of the squirrels managed to open a suet feeder and run off with the cake, which was still fairly large when I last saw it.

The Mate Choices of Lark Buntings

A study of Lark Buntings shows that female songbirds look for different traits in prospective mates, depending on the conditions present in a particular year.

For male lark buntings, reproductive success depends on whatever traits are in vogue among females that season. By staying flexible and seeking out partners with the physical qualities most needed at the moment, females ensure that more chicks successfully leave the nest. If the prairie is overrun by ground snakes, for example, mother birds might choose the most protective males -- a quality that might be signaled by wing-patch size. If grasshoppers are scarce the next year, maybe they will look for partners with big beaks, which might make them good providers.

Apparently this is the first time changes in preference have been documented in female songbirds.

A link provides some good pictures and videos of lark bunting mating displays.

Big Garden Birdwatch

As John mentioned, this weekend is the Big Garden Birdwatch in the U.K. The event is run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to monitor trends among common European birds. Results from previous surveys indicate severe declines in the population of house sparrows and starlings. Meanwhile, chaffinchs and great tits have grown in number. According to the BBC, over 400,000 people participated last year.

North America has similar event coming up in a few weeks - the Great Backyard Bird Count. As always, the GBBC will fall on Presidents Day weekend, February 15-18.

New Post Ratings

I added a new ratings feature to my blog posts. So far it only seems to appear on the newest post on the homepage, but it does display each individual post page. I added it to get another source of information for which posts are most interesting to readers. So, if you like a post, give it a good rating, and I will try to write more like it.

Two New Birding Websites

Nature blogs now have their own toplist: the new Nature Blog Network developed by Mike of 10,000 Birds. Toplist sites rank member blogs according to traffic levels, given an idea of how your site is doing compared to others. The list is similar to other birding toplist sites like Fatbirder 500 or Bird Top 100. The new toplist is limited to blogs and is open to naturalists other than birders. As more people join, the site will help bloggers find out about other bloggers who write on similar themes.

The second site is Birdstack, created by David of Search and Serendipity. This is a bird listing site for world listers. You can add observations of any bird species from anywhere in the world, with a great amount of detail about the birds and locations. It also provides forums and sidebar widgets for websites. Eventually the site will provide an easy way to share sightings from the western hemisphere with eBird. Unfortunately I have been too busy the last two weeks to try it as much as I would like, but the site looks promising.

Loose Feathers #134

Common Merganser / Photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment

• A new study suggests that avian flight evolved when birds learned to flap their wings at the correct angle.
• Delaware will retain its limit of 100,000 males on the horseshoe crab harvest.
  
• About 15,000 birds at the Great Salt Lake have died of avian cholera.
• A hunter in Mississippi shot a northern pintail that was banded in Japan. This was the first Japanese band recovered in the Mississippi Flyway.
  
• The French oil company Total received a €575 million fine for an oil spill in 1999 that affected 150,000 birds.
• The British government is exploring whether habitat can be replaced for the 65,000 birds that would be displaced by a Severm barrage.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• 10,000 Birds: Join the Nature Blog Network
• Search and Serendipity: Birdstack: World bird lists online for free
  
• Susan Gets Native: Species profile: Barred Owl
• Field of View: Birds of the Chukchi Sea
• Drawing the Motmot: Painting The Bird With Bling
  

Carnivals an newsletters

• Friday Ark #175
• I and the Bird #67
• Tangled Bank #97
• Birds in the News #115
  

I and the Bird #67

Trevor wants to take us all on a birding holiday in honor of the 67th I and the Bird. I'd say that is a very generous offer given the number of bloggers involved.

Counting on the Canal

Last weekend I put the "DC" back in "A DC Birding Blog" with a return trip for the Tenth Annual C&O Canal Midwinter Bird Survey. This count is sponsored by the DC Audubon Society with the help of several regional bird clubs and many birders. (About 80 birders participate each year.) For the last two years I have helped to coordinate the count by providing web support and contacting volunteer observers from previous years.

For this year's count, I counted birds with two other coordinators, Mary and Denise, on some segments close to D.C. We spent the morning covering miles 4 and 3, which includes the Chain Bridge and Fletcher's Boathouse. Our party included some special guests, including officials from the Interior Department, National Park Service, and National Audubon Society.

We recorded 37 species in the two miles. The highlight for me was a small flock of American tree sparrows, a species I have seen only twice before in D.C. We were also treated to common mergansers, both kinglets, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and several flocks of eastern bluebirds. Near the Chain Bridge, we picked up belted kingfisher, ring-necked ducks, and wood ducks. The last birds for the morning were two pileated woodpeckers that visited Fletcher's Boathouse while we stopped for photos and coffee. Our guests seemed to enjoy the morning. I certainly enjoyed being back at one of my old birding spots.

The afternoon session was a (slow) race against time, as Denise, Mary, and I needed to complete a four-mile stretch before the light became too dim to see birds. Starting at Edwards Ferry, we had to backtrack for almost a mile to cover all of mile 30 before heading west towards White's Ferry. Our first mile was full of woodpeckers, including four yellow-bellied sapsuckers. We also saw several red-shouldered hawks, a species I rarely see in New Jersey. As we made our way through subsequent miles, flocks included a hermit thrush and several winter wrens, one of my favorite birds.

The real highlights, though, were the owls. As the afternoon light faded, barred owls became more active. We saw our first when it flushed from close to the towpath and landed in a tree farther back in the woods. It sat and looked directly at us for a long time. The second flew in and landed at close range before flying off again. As I have remarked before, watching a barred owl at close range is one of the true privileges of bird watching. Seeing two is even better. Later, as we trudged along the towpath in the dark, a great horned owl gave its booming call. In the course of walking six miles, the three of us managed to record at least 47 species of birds, not bad for a winter day inland.

Saturday's C&O Canal Count received positive press from several Washington-area newspapers. The most notable was a Metro section article in the Washington Post, which assigned a reporter to follow our group in miles 3 and 4. Reporters from other local papers interviewed count volunteers near Williamsport, MD, in Frederick County, near Cumberland, MD, and at Edwards Ferry.

Data from the count is trickling in; a running tally is available in the right sidebar here. Totals are provisional until the data has been reviewed. We already have some good sightings confirmed, though. The highlights so far are a golden eagle in mile 152 and four chipping sparrows in mile 4. The latter is a first record for the canal count. Photos from the count are being posted here and here.

No OLF at Pocosin Lakes

The Navy announced yesterday that it would drop plans to build an Outlying Landing Field near Pocosin Lakes NWR.

The Navy also announced that it is abandoning four other North Carolina sites previously under consideration in Craven, Bertie, Hyde and Perquimans counties. Instead, the Navy will consider two new sites in North Carolina -- Sandbanks in Gates County and Hales Lake in Camden/Currituck counties -- and three in Virginia - Cabin Point, Mason, and Dory.

Congress failed to provide money for the project in this fiscal year and taken steps to de-authorize funding for the project in the future. Previously, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Navy had violated federal environmental laws in planning for the OLF.

For five years the Navy has attempted to locate a landing field to practice jet take-offs and landings 3.5 miles from Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge hosts more than 100,000 snow geese and tundra swans, and other waterfowl each winter, which would be greatly affected by the Navy jets that would use the OLF to practice each day. In addition, the Navy’s OLF plans prohibited farmers from growing corn, wheat and soybeans – staples of the local farming economy – on 25,000 acres of farmland surrounding the proposed landing field....

The Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the National Audubon Society, North Carolina Wildlife Federation, and Defenders of Wildlife and the law firm of Kennedy Covington, representing the community interests in the case, filed a lawsuit against the Navy in 2004, arguing that the Navy violated the National Environmental Policy Act in planning for the OLF. This lawsuit resulted in rulings from a federal district court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Navy had indeed violated national environmental laws in selecting the site for the OLF.

The project was vehemently opposed by environmental groups and local residents and never gained any support among North Carolina's federal legislators. Senators Dole and Burr both opposed the OLF site, as did Governor Easley.

Loose Feathers #133

Common Eiders and Harlequin Ducks / USFWS Photo

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment

• Scientists have found antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria in Arctic birds living in isolated locations. The resistant bacteria probably arrived in the Arctic via migratory birds.
  
• Botulism is killing thousands of birds around Lake Michigan. The disease may be spread through zebra mussels and round gobies that are eaten by many birds.
• A climatic atlas predicts that three-quarters of European bird species will see their ranges shrink due to climate change.
• North American bird ranges are also shifting northward.
• Gulls in some coastal areas of Spain show high levels of toxins in their blood. The toxins are linked to a oil spill in 2002.
  
• A species of nematode found in Peru reproduces by inducing infected ants to display themselves for birds to eat and then hatching eggs in the resulting bird droppings.
• This year's flock of young whooping cranes has reached its winter home in Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, Florida.
• The Laysan Duck had a productive breeding season in 2007. There are now about 200 of the species in the Midway Atoll NWR.
  
• The seafood company responsible for 23 bald eagle deaths has apologized for the incident.
• 2007 and 1998 are tied as the second-warmest years on record. (The warmest was 2005.)
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• BESGroup: Scratching on the wing
• Towheeblog: The physics of puffery
• BirdCouple: What are we feeding them?
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Friday Ark #174
• Oekologie #13
• Birds in the News #114
  

Dying in Fish Guts

Dave of Bird TLC pointed out this sad story from the Anchorage Daily News:

About 50 eagles were watching and waiting for a meal outside the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant when the uncovered dump truck pulled out of a garage, said wildlife biologist Brandon Saito, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Once the birds began landing to gorge themselves, their massive numbers pushed others down into the sludge, which was about the consistency of quicksand, Saito said. Factory workers, who had apparently moved the truck out only for a few minutes, pulled it back inside when they saw what was happening.

"It's not a very big space for that many eagles to get into," Saito said. "Some of the birds got crushed and buried. Some were drowning in the slime. It was really heavy, thick stuff."

Temperatures in Kodiak on Friday afternoon were in the midteens, causing some of the soaked eagles to "flash freeze" when they were pulled free, Saito said.

Many of the eagles survived but were in urgent need of medical care for injuries or oiling. Dave has updates on their condition.

Upcoming Event: C&O Canal Count

The 10th Annual C&O Canal Midwinter Bird Survey will take place next Saturday, January 19th. This count is coordinated by the DC Audubon Society with the help of several other bird clubs and numerous individuals. Each January, teams of observers fan out along the 184.5-mile canal to count birds along short sections of the towpath. Last year, at least 80 birders participated on count day. Somewhere between 100 and 150 birders have participated at least once during the past ten years.

The count was begun to monitor the winter birdlife in the C&O Canal National Historical Park, which follows the course of the Potomac River from Washington, DC, to Cumberland, Maryland. The park's biodiversity is impressive; volunteers have recorded 113 species over nine years, and over 80 species will be found in a typical year.

We hope that the bird survey may eventually reveal how some long term trends affect the park's birdlife. Counties of Maryland and Virginia west of DC have undergone a remarkable land use transformation in the past two decades. Former agricultural areas have been paved over to create suburbs and exurbs. In addition, climate change has altered migration patterns of many species, with some wintering farther north and others not coming south in lower numbers.

Most of the mile segments have been assigned, but there is still time for DC-area birders to sign up and participate. (Currently miles 30-33, 39, and 76-80 have no volunteers at all.) Just send an email to canalcount@gmail.com and let us know your skill level and what areas of the canal interest you the most.

Accidents

Via xkcd.

Prior to this post, "died in a birding accident" returned zero results on Google.

Meanwhile, "died in a blogging accident" now returns 6,830 results.

Loose Feathers #132

Northern Pintail Pair / Photo by Donna Dewhurst (USFWS)

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment

• Siberian jays have developed alarm calls that communicate not only the presence of a predator but also the predator's behavior. The jays give different calls depending on whether a hawk is perched, searching for prey, or attacking.
• Analysis of satellite imagery from the island of New Britain shows that 12% of the forests overall, and 20% of forests under 100m, was lost between 1989 and 2000.
• Tricolored blackbirds in California's Central Valley abandoned their nests by the thousands after their eggs failed to hatch this summer. The cause is uncertain, though unusually dry weather may have contributed to a lack of food.
• Scientists are studying winter habitats of the red knot to learn more about possible causes for the species's precipitous decline. A key question is what role Florida's beaches play.
• The number of nests of two critically vultures in Nepal has doubled in the two years since the replacement of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug given to cattle.
  
• An avian retrovirus has now killed thousands of crows in six New York counties: Orange, Dutchess, Albany, Jefferson, Montgomery, and Steuben.
  
• The Asbury Park Press has recommendations for attracting birds to your backyard.
• Three rare slaty-backed gulls recently appeared in Massachusetts.
  
• A Scottish farmer lost his government agricultural subsidies because his game warden killed birds of prey.
• New York City passed a law requiring large stores to provide bins for customers to recycle plastic bags.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• Mike's Birding & Digiscoping Blog: Getting Close to Birds
  
• Sibley: A Character Index for Redpoll identification
• Metafilter: John James Audubon's Birds of America
• Big Spring Birds: Birding by Ear
• Iowa Voice: House Finch - Hold On to That Seed!
• Two Birders to Go: Ruby, Ruby
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Friday Ark #173
• I and the Bird #66
  
• Tangled Bank #96
  
• Birds in the News #113
• Learning in the Great Outdoors #8
  
• Carnival of the Blue #8
• Writers from across the blogosphere
  

I and the Bird

The first I and the Bird of 2008 has been posted at Born Again Bird Watcher.

1 in 1,000,000

I have written about eBird on a few occasions on this blog (for example, here and here). EBird is a website, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that solicits sightings reports from birders across the Americas. Data from the submitted checklists is used by scientists at the CLO for population and distribution studies. The site's public software allows registered users to view their own submitted data, along with data submitted by other birders.

Since late summer, I have been contributing lists of my bird sightings to eBird. In December, one of my lists became the one millionth checklist submitted to eBird.

The one millionth checklist was one I submitted for a recent trip to Liberty State Park. Shortly after the submission, I received a notification from eBird that my name would be featured in a press release and that they would send me a pair of Zeiss binoculars as a gift to commemorate the occasion. The news came as a real surprise. I had no idea that eBird was planning a prize for the one millionth checklist, or that the one million-checklist milestone was even approaching.

The press release is now online.

Here is the millionth checklist.

Location:	Liberty State Park
Observation date:	12/15/07
Notes:	30degF; 20mph wind
Number of species:	34
Brant	400
Canada Goose	150
Mute Swan	1
Gadwall	100
American Wigeon	3
American Black Duck	30
Mallard	6
Ring-necked Duck	1
Greater Scaup	170
Bufflehead	10
Red-breasted Merganser	3
Ruddy Duck	60
Horned Grebe	5
Double-crested Cormorant	8
Great Blue Heron	1
Black-crowned Night-Heron	1
Northern Harrier	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Killdeer	3
Ring-billed Gull	180
Herring Gull	40
Great Black-backed Gull	3
Rock Pigeon	100
Mourning Dove	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Horned Lark	3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Northern Mockingbird	3
European Starling	40
American Tree Sparrow	3
Song Sparrow	2
Snow Bunting	60
American Goldfinch	4
House Sparrow	20

Green Energy Links

More and more companies and individuals are using "carbon offsets" to balance their contribution to global warming. A "carbon offset" basically puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions - pay x amount of money per y amount of carbon dioxide to an offset company, which then puts the money into "green" projects. Common examples include investment in wind or solar energy and tree-planting. Now the FTC is investigating the claims made by offset companies.

Carbon offsets are essentially promises to use money in a way that will reduce carbon emissions. Panelists at the F.T.C.’s session on Tuesday raised a number of questions about certifications behind the claims, wondering if the offset companies might be double-counting carbon reductions that would have happened even without their efforts.

There is even disagreement over how much carbon dioxide can be neutralized by tree-planting, which is the type of offset that is easiest to grasp.

Carbonfund.org, for example, which provides offsets to companies like Amtrak, U-Haul and Allstate, uses the offset money in three ways: to plant trees; to subsidize wind and solar power so that it can be sold at more competitive prices; and to purchase credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, which barters among hundreds of companies trying to reduce their emissions.

Even the companies that market carbon offsets say they have wondered if the providers were living up to their promises. When Gaiam, a yoga-equipment company, began selling offsets for shipping to consumers through the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization, Chris Fischer, the company’s general manager, says he insisted on visiting one of the tree sites in Louisiana.

Right now the offset market is largely unregulated. Some guidance from the FTC could be very useful.

Also, new research shows that switchgrass is a far better feedstock for ethanol than corn.

Switchgrass yields more than 540 percent more energy than the energy needed to produce and convert it to ethanol, making the grassy weed a far superior source for biofuels than corn ethanol, reports a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Collecting data from 10 farm sites in Nebraska, North and South Dakota in which farmers grew switchgrass in fields ranging from 7 to 23 acres over a five year period, Marty Schmer, a researcher with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and colleagues found that, on average, switchgrass produced biomass equivalent to 320 gallons of ethanol per acre — more than 60 percent more the average yield for an equivalent area of corn after factoring in fossil fuel use for fertilizers and pesticides. The study also found that average greenhouse gas emissions from cellulosic ethanol derived from switchgrass were 94% lower than those from gasoline.

I am not sure if this finding is sufficient to make biofuels fully viable, but it enhances their credibility. Corn-based ethanol is a loser for many reasons - including fertilizer runoff and higher food prices. If ethanol is to be a viable long-term energy source, it needs to lose its dependency on corn as quickly as possible.

Sandy Hook Solitaire

Today felt unbelievably like spring - so warm that some butterflies (orange sulphurs?) were flitting around. It was a fine day to visit Sandy Hook and check for some recent sightings. At first, it was slow going - the Bohemian waxwing was not with the waxwing flock, the Townsend's solitaire was not by the maintenance building, the king eiders were not at Lot C, the orange-crowned warbler was not at Spermaceti Cove, and the western kingbird was not at the North Beach Pavilion.

The Hook was not bereft of birds. The holly forests around the scout camp and maintenance areas were full of golden-crowned kinglets and yellow-rumped warblers, along with a couple hermit thrushes. A handful of tree swallows were still present. One of the more interesting sights of the day involved some very common birds. At the North Beach Pavilion, a northern mockingbird was vigorously defending its perches from the intrusions of numerous European starlings. It was thirty against one, but that one mockingbird succeeded in chasing them away.

Finally, a second try in the late afternoon netted the Townsend's solitaire. It landed in the top of a tree in front of a large yellow maintenance building on Randolph Road. After flying again to a second tree, it perched in full view for several minutes before diving back into the shrubs. My impression was of a very nervous bird as it kept twitching its wings and tail. This bird has persisted at Sandy Hook for over a month and has been seen by many birders (e.g., here and here).

In the end I missed five potential lifebirds but saw a good one.

Turbines in State Forests?

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is holding hearings on whether to allow a private wind company to lease state land for a wind farm.

A Pennsylvania company, U.S. Wind Force, is asking the state for leases in Potomac and Savage River state forests so it can clear about 400 mountaintop acres and erect about 100 wind turbines, each about 40 stories tall. The turbines would be visible from Deep Creek Lake and much of Western Maryland.

The agency has moved the first public hearing from an elementary school, which had a small capacity, to the larger Garrett College Auditorium at 687 Mosser Road in McHenry. This hearing has been moved back a week, from the original Jan. 23 date to Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m.

The second hearing, also postponed for a week, will now be will held at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 in Room 161 of the Arundel Center, 44 Calvert St. in Annapolis.

Comments may also be submitted online.

I generally support the use of wind power as a source of cleaner energy, but this project seems dubious to me. One concern with wind power is what effect turbines may have on birds in a particular location, particularly during migration. The most obvious threat is the possibility of birds hitting the turbines. A more insidious threat is the reduction of habitat by 400 acres, and the degradation of surrounding forest with the introduction of more edge areas. Answering that concern would require significant field research; I would hope that the DNR would have that data on hand before granting permission for the project. (There is at least some cause for concern.)

My second concern is the use of public land for private gain. State parks and forests should primarily benefit the public - by conserving natural resources, preserving historic sites, and providing opportunities for recreation. Some commercial use of public lands is acceptable. For example, I would certainly endorse leasing fields for agriculture in WMAs since the practice benefits both the leaseholder and wildlife. A 400-acre wind farm is something else entirely. It would present a substantial and permanent intrusion into one of the wildest areas of Maryland. All of the profits would go to the energy company while the citizens of Maryland would be left with a smaller state forest and possibly less wildlife.

Overall, I think this is one project that the DNR should drop. What do you think?

Linnaeus's Legacy

Linnaeus's Legacy is a relatively new blog carnival that showcases blog posts about biodiversity. As one might expect from the name, taxonomy is one of the carnival's core topics. However, the carnival also accepts posts about evolution, endangered species and extinction, ecology, and other related subjects.

Greg Laden has posted the third edition of the carnival. The next edition will be in February.

2008 BIGBY List

BIGBY is an acronym for "Big Green Big Year." This is a list of all the species that I see in 2008 while using only foot, self-propelled vehicles, or public transportation. For a longer explanation, see here.

	Common Name	Location	Date
1	Snow Goose	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
2	Brant	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
3	Canada Goose	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
4	Mute Swan	Kearny Marsh	1/28/2008
5	Gadwall	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
6	American Black Duck	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
7	Mallard	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
8	Blue-winged Teal	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
9	Northern Shoveler	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
10	Green-winged Teal	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
11	Greater Scaup	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
12	Bufflehead	Donaldson Park	1/21/2008
13	Common Goldeneye	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
14	Hooded Merganser	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
15	Common Merganser	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
16	Red-breasted Merganser	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
17	Ruddy Duck	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
18	Common Loon	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
19	Double-crested Cormorant	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
20	Great Cormorant	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
21	Great Blue Heron	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
22	Great Egret	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
23	Snowy Egret	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
24	Little Blue Heron	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
25	Tricolored Heron	CMBO Hawk Watch	9/1/2008
26	Green Heron	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
27	Black-crowned Night-Heron	Cape May Point SP	9/4/2008
28	Glossy Ibis	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
29	Black Vulture	New Brunswick	4/26/2008
30	Turkey Vulture	Donaldson Park	2/27/2008
31	Osprey	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
32	Bald Eagle	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
33	Northern Harrier	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
34	Sharp-shinned Hawk	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
35	Cooper's Hawk	Union Square	1/28/2008
36	Red-tailed Hawk	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
37	American Kestrel	Union Square	1/28/2008
38	Merlin	CMBO Hawk Watch	9/1/2008
39	Peregrine Falcon	Union Square	1/28/2008
40	American Coot	Central Park	3/29/2008
41	Semipalmated Plover	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
42	Killdeer	Donaldson Park	2/21/2008
43	American Oystercatcher	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
44	Spotted Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/29/2008
45	Solitary Sandpiper	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
46	Greater Yellowlegs	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
47	Lesser Yellowlegs	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
48	Ruddy Turnstone	Cape May - The Rips	8/24/2008
49	Sanderling	Cape May - The Rips	8/24/2008
50	Semipalmated Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
51	Least Sandpiper	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
52	Baird's Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	9/4/2008
53	Pectoral Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
54	Short-billed Dowitcher	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
55	Laughing Gull	Cape May - The Rips	8/24/2008
56	Bonaparte's Gull	Donaldson Park	1/30/2008
57	Ring-billed Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
58	Herring Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
59	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
60	Great Black-backed Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
61	Least Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/24/2008
62	Gull-billed Tern	Cape May - Sunset Beach	8/26/2008
63	Black Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
64	Common Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
65	Forster's Tern	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
66	Royal Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
67	Black Skimmer	Cape May Point SP	8/30/2008
68	Rock Pigeon	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
69	Mourning Dove	Home	1/1/2008
70	Long-eared Owl	Central Park	1/28/2008
71	Chimney Swift	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
72	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
73	Belted Kingfisher	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
74	Red-bellied Woodpecker	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
75	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Union Square	1/28/2008
76	Downy Woodpecker	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
77	Hairy Woodpecker	Donaldson Park	1/21/2008
78	Northern Flicker	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
79	Eastern Wood-Pewee	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
80	Least Flycatcher	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
81	Eastern Phoebe	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
82	Great Crested Flycatcher	Cape May Point SP	8/29/2008
83	Eastern Kingbird	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
84	White-eyed Vireo	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
85	Warbling Vireo	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
86	Philadelphia Vireo	Cape May Point SP	9/4/2008
87	Red-eyed Vireo	Cape May Point SP	9/3/2008
88	Blue Jay	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
89	American Crow	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
90	Fish Crow	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
91	Purple Martin	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
92	Tree Swallow	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
93	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Donaldson Park	4/11/2008
94	Bank Swallow	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
95	Barn Swallow	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
96	Carolina Chickadee	Donaldson Park	1/25/2008
97	Black-capped Chickadee	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
98	Tufted Titmouse	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
99	Red-breasted Nuthatch	Central Park	1/28/2008
100	White-breasted Nuthatch	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
101	Brown Creeper	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
102	Carolina Wren	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
103	House Wren	Donaldson Park	4/23/2008
104	Golden-crowned Kinglet	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
105	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
106	Hermit Thrush	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
107	American Robin	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
108	Gray Catbird	Donaldson Park	4/23/2008
109	Northern Mockingbird	Home	1/2/2008
110	Brown Thrasher	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
111	European Starling	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
112	American Pipit	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
113	Cedar Waxwing	Cape May - Sunset Beach	8/26/2008
114	Blue-winged Warbler	Cape May Point SP	9/2/2008
115	Northern Parula	Home	5/15/2008
116	Yellow Warbler	Home	5/1/2008
117	Magnolia Warbler	Cape May Point SP	9/2/2008
118	Black-throated Blue Warbler	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
119	Yellow-rumped Warbler	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
120	Prairie Warbler	Cape May Point SP	9/2/2008
121	Black-and-white Warbler	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
122	American Redstart	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
123	Ovenbird	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
124	Northern Waterthrush	Cape May Point SP	8/29/2008
125	Common Yellowthroat	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
126	Western Tanager	Central Park	3/29/2008
127	Eastern Towhee	Home	4/30/2008
128	American Tree Sparrow	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
129	Chipping Sparrow	Home	4/14/2008
130	Savannah Sparrow	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
131	Song Sparrow	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
132	White-throated Sparrow	Home	1/1/2008
133	Dark-eyed Junco	Home	1/1/2008
134	Northern Cardinal	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
135	Indigo Bunting	South Cape May Meadows	8/28/2008
136	Bobolink	CMBO Hawk Watch	9/1/2008
137	Red-winged Blackbird	Donaldson Park	2/7/2008
138	Rusty Blackbird	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
139	Common Grackle	Donaldson Park	1/25/2008
140	Boat-tailed Grackle	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
141	Brown-headed Cowbird	Donaldson Park	2/19/2008
142	Baltimore Oriole	Home	5/8/2008
143	Scott's Oriole	Union Square	1/28/2008
144	House Finch	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
145	Common Redpoll	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
146	American Goldfinch	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
147	House Sparrow	Home	1/1/2008

Last updated: 9/6/08

2008 Year List

	Common Name	Location	Date
1	Snow Goose	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
2	Brant	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
3	Barnacle Goose	Califon	2/16/2008
4	Canada Goose	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
5	Mute Swan	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
6	Tundra Swan	Whitesbog	1/12/2008
7	Wood Duck	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
8	Gadwall	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
9	American Wigeon	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
10	American Black Duck	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
11	Mallard	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
12	Blue-winged Teal	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
13	Northern Shoveler	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
14	Northern Pintail	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
15	Green-winged Teal	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
16	Eurasian Teal	Richard W. Dekorte Park	2/2/2008
17	Canvasback	Richard W. Dekorte Park	2/2/2008
18	Ring-necked Duck	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
19	Greater Scaup	Fort Wadsworth	2/9/2008
20	Common Eider	Sandy Hook	1/16/2008
21	Surf Scoter	Island Beach State Park	4/5/2008
22	Long-tailed Duck	Island Beach State Park	4/5/2008
23	Bufflehead	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
24	Common Goldeneye	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
25	Hooded Merganser	Califon	2/16/2008
26	Common Merganser	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
27	Red-breasted Merganser	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
28	Ruddy Duck	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
29	Wild Turkey	C&O Canal - Edwards Ferry	1/19/2008
30	Red-throated Loon	Sandy Hook	1/16/2008
31	Common Loon	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
32	Pied-billed Grebe	Etra	3/30/2008
33	Horned Grebe	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
34	Northern Gannet	Sandy Hook	1/16/2008
35	Brown Pelican	Two Mile Beach	7/1/2008
36	Double-crested Cormorant	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
37	Great Cormorant	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
38	American Bittern	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
39	Great Blue Heron	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
40	Great Egret	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
41	Snowy Egret	South Cape May Meadows	7/2/2008
42	Little Blue Heron	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
43	Tricolored Heron	CMBO Hawk Watch	9/1/2008
44	Green Heron	Two Mile Beach	7/1/2008
45	Black-crowned Night-Heron	Hereford Inlet	6/30/2008
46	Glossy Ibis	South Cape May Meadows	7/2/2008
47	Black Vulture	I-287 (Somerset Co.)	1/5/2008
48	Turkey Vulture	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
49	Osprey	Manasquan Reservoir	3/15/2008
50	Bald Eagle	Gunpowder Falls	1/20/2008
51	Northern Harrier	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
52	Sharp-shinned Hawk	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
53	Cooper's Hawk	Perth Amboy - Waterfront	1/27/2008
54	Red-shouldered Hawk	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
55	Red-tailed Hawk	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
56	Rough-legged Hawk	Great Swamp NWR - Overlook	1/5/2008
57	American Kestrel	I-287 (Somerset Co.)	1/5/2008
58	Merlin	CMBO Hawk Watch	9/1/2008
59	Peregrine Falcon	Union Square	1/28/2008
60	American Coot	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
61	Semipalmated Plover	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
62	Piping Plover	South Cape May Meadows	7/2/2008
63	Killdeer	Donaldson Park	2/21/2008
64	American Oystercatcher	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
65	Spotted Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/29/2008
66	Solitary Sandpiper	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
67	Greater Yellowlegs	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
68	Lesser Yellowlegs	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
69	Ruddy Turnstone	Cape May - The Rips	8/24/2008
70	Sanderling	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
71	Semipalmated Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
72	Least Sandpiper	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
73	Baird's Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	9/4/2008
74	Pectoral Sandpiper	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
75	Purple Sandpiper	Fort Wadsworth	2/9/2008
76	Short-billed Dowitcher	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
77	Laughing Gull	Island Beach State Park	4/5/2008
78	Bonaparte's Gull	Sandy Hook	1/16/2008
79	Ring-billed Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
80	Herring Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
81	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
82	Great Black-backed Gull	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
83	Least Tern	Two Mile Beach	7/1/2008
84	Gull-billed Tern	South Cape May Meadows	7/2/2008
85	Black Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
86	Common Tern	Two Mile Beach	7/1/2008
87	Forster's Tern	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
88	Royal Tern	Cape May - The Rips	8/27/2008
89	Black Skimmer	Hereford Inlet	6/30/2008
90	Rock Pigeon	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
91	Mourning Dove	Home	1/1/2008
92	Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Lord Stirling Park	5/24/2008
93	Black-billed Cuckoo	Cross Estate	6/21/2008
94	Great Horned Owl	C&O Canal - Edwards Ferry	1/19/2008
95	Barred Owl	C&O Canal - Edwards Ferry	1/19/2008
96	Long-eared Owl	Central Park	1/28/2008
97	Short-eared Owl	Suydam Road	3/1/2008
98	Chimney Swift	Duke Farms	4/19/2008
99	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Dismal Swamp	5/17/2008
100	Belted Kingfisher	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
101	Red-headed Woodpecker	Great Swamp NWR - Overlook	1/5/2008
102	Red-bellied Woodpecker	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
103	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	C&O Canal--Fletcher's Boathouse	1/19/2008
104	Downy Woodpecker	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
105	Hairy Woodpecker	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
106	Northern Flicker	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
107	Pileated Woodpecker	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
108	Eastern Wood-Pewee	Lord Stirling Park	5/24/2008
109	Willow Flycatcher	Lord Stirling Park	5/24/2008
110	Least Flycatcher	Cape May Point SP	8/27/2008
111	Eastern Phoebe	Manasquan Reservoir	3/15/2008
112	Great Crested Flycatcher	Washington Crossing State Park	5/10/2008
113	Eastern Kingbird	Franklin Parker Preserve	5/3/2008
114	Northern Shrike	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
115	White-eyed Vireo	Higbee Beach	8/31/2008
116	Yellow-throated Vireo	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
117	Warbling Vireo	Dismal Swamp	5/17/2008
118	Philadelphia Vireo	Cape May Point SP	9/4/2008
119	Red-eyed Vireo	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
120	Blue Jay	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
121	American Crow	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
122	Fish Crow	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
123	Purple Martin	Villas WMA	7/1/2008
124	Tree Swallow	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
125	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Donaldson Park	4/11/2008
126	Bank Swallow	Donaldson Park	5/19/2008
127	Barn Swallow	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
128	Carolina Chickadee	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
129	Black-capped Chickadee	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
130	Tufted Titmouse	Great Swamp NWR	1/5/2008
131	Red-breasted Nuthatch	Central Park	1/28/2008
132	White-breasted Nuthatch	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
133	Brown Creeper	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
134	Carolina Wren	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
135	House Wren	Donaldson Park	4/23/2008
136	Winter Wren	Trenton Marsh	1/10/2008
137	Golden-crowned Kinglet	Johnson Park	1/6/2008
138	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	C&O Canal - Edwards Ferry	1/19/2008
139	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Scherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary	6/21/2008
140	Eastern Bluebird	C&O Canal--Fletcher's Boathouse	1/19/2008
141	Townsend's Solitaire	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
142	Veery	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
143	Hermit Thrush	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
144	Wood Thrush	Washington Crossing State Park	5/10/2008
145	American Robin	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
146	Gray Catbird	Donaldson Park	4/23/2008
147	Northern Mockingbird	Home	1/2/2008
148	Brown Thrasher	Dismal Swamp	5/17/2008
149	European Starling	Great Swamp NWR - Overlook	1/5/2008
150	American Pipit	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
151	Cedar Waxwing	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
152	Blue-winged Warbler	Lord Stirling Park	5/24/2008
153	Northern Parula	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
154	Yellow Warbler	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
155	Chestnut-sided Warbler	Cross Estate	6/21/2008
156	Magnolia Warbler	Washington Crossing State Park	5/10/2008
157	Black-throated Blue Warbler	Washington Crossing State Park	5/10/2008
158	Yellow-rumped Warbler	Sandy Hook	1/8/2008
159	Black-throated Green Warbler	Dismal Swamp	5/17/2008
160	Pine Warbler	Assunpink WMA	3/30/2008
161	Prairie Warbler	Franklin Parker Preserve	5/3/2008
162	Palm Warbler	Duke Farms	4/19/2008
163	Black-and-white Warbler	Webb's Mill Bog	5/3/2008
164	American Redstart	Cape May Point SP	8/26/2008
165	Ovenbird	Franklin Parker Preserve	5/3/2008
166	Northern Waterthrush	D&R Canal, Weston Mills	4/19/2008
167	Louisiana Waterthrush	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
168	Common Yellowthroat	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
169	Hooded Warbler	Scherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary	6/21/2008
170	Scarlet Tanager	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
171	Western Tanager	Central Park	3/29/2008
172	Eastern Towhee	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
173	American Tree Sparrow	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
174	Chipping Sparrow	Home	4/14/2008
175	Field Sparrow	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
176	Savannah Sparrow	Donaldson Park	2/23/2008
177	Grasshopper Sparrow	Negri-Nepote Grasslands	4/26/2008
178	Song Sparrow	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
179	Swamp Sparrow	C&O Canal--Fletcher's Boathouse	1/19/2008
180	White-throated Sparrow	Home	1/1/2008
181	White-crowned Sparrow	Richard W. Dekorte Park	2/2/2008
182	Dark-eyed Junco	Home	1/1/2008
183	Northern Cardinal	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
184	Rose-breasted Grosbeak	Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve	5/10/2008
185	Indigo Bunting	Griggstown Grasslands	6/1/2008
186	Bobolink	Griggstown Grasslands	8/16/2008
187	Red-winged Blackbird	Great Swamp NWR - Overlook	1/5/2008
188	Rusty Blackbird	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
189	Common Grackle	Great Swamp NWR - Overlook	1/5/2008
190	Boat-tailed Grackle	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
191	Brown-headed Cowbird	Donaldson Park	2/19/2008
192	Baltimore Oriole	Webb's Mill Bog	5/3/2008
193	Scott's Oriole	Union Square	1/28/2008
194	House Finch	Donaldson Park	1/2/2008
195	Common Redpoll	Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge	3/29/2008
196	American Goldfinch	Donaldson Park	1/1/2008
197	House Sparrow	Home	1/1/2008

Last updated: 9/6/08

A New Life Bird for the New Year

Rough-legged Hawk on Power Lines / Photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth (USFWS)

The Great Swamp in winter provides opportunities to see some unusual birds, if you know where to look for them. This afternoon, my mother, sister, and I set out to find some of the more interesting species reported recently.

Our first stop was the wildlife center on Long Hill Road. We quickly encountered a northern shrike, perched high in a tree above the first of the blinds along the boardwalk. I would have passed it off as just another gray bird on a gray day, except that it struck fear into the smaller birds gathered at the bottom of the tree. Dark-eyed juncos froze with their heads turned sideways to look at it. A flock of black-capped chickadees mobbed the shrike until it finally flew across the meadow where it set off another explosion of alarm calls. It turns out that chickadees are better at identifying members of the genus Lanius than I am.

Another surprise waited inside the blind. Just outside the blind's windows, not ten feet away, an American bittern stalked through a puddle. Being a bittern, it stood very still and moved its feet very slowly. I have never seen a bittern for so long and at such close range before, so it was my first chance to study the subtle and intricate feather patterns on the bird's back. Field guide illustrations do not do justice to this beautiful bird. An American tree sparrow at the feeder - normally a noteworthy bird for me - almost seemed banal by comparison.

The "Friends" blind - the blind at the far end of the boardwalk - had an assortment of waterfowl gathered into one huge flock. I saw wood ducks, black ducks, an American wigeon, a green-winged teal, northern pintails, as well as the unusual suspects. My sister added a gadwall to that list. There were probably other species as well - either too distant or obscured by larger birds. Near the blind a pileated woodpecker called repeatedly before it flew across the trail.

A subsequent drive along Pleasant Plains Road yielded two rough-legged hawks (life birds!) perched in two separate trees. I think that both were light morph, rather than Patrick's dark morph hawk, but it was difficult to tell with that light and viewing angle. Also present along the road were a few northern harriers, American kestrels near the bookstore, and red-headed woodpeckers near the gated bridge. Several small groups of wood ducks flew back and forth across the road. At dusk, hundreds of red-winged blackbirds and thousands of common grackles flew past the overlook. Unfortunately neither owl species reported from Pleasant Plains Road made an appearance today, even at dusk. Maybe we will have better luck another time.

Loose Feathers #131

Black-capped Chickadee / Photo by Donna Dewhurst (USFWS)

News and links about birds, birding, and the environment

• A record number of whooping cranes returned to Texas for winter this year. Currently there are 257 cranes in the Coastal Bend area, with a few more expected to arrive soon.
  
• Measures to reduce bird deaths at Altamont Pass wind farms so far are behind schedule. A legal settlement among Alameda County, the wind farms, and conservationists called for the shutdown or relocation of the 300 deadliest turbines to reduce raptor deaths by 50 percent. A Scientific Review Committee has determined that an additional 100 will also need to be shutdown to meet that goal.
• The number of Florida Scrub Jays is shrinking even in protected areas that have been set aside for them.
  
• Avian reovirus, which causes internal hemorrhaging, is killing hundreds of crows in New York State.
• South Brother Island in the Bronx is now a city park. The island provides nesting territories for 3,000 great egrets, snowy egrets, black-crowned night-herons, and double-crested cormorants.
  
• Coverage of Christmas Bird Counts: Loveland (CO); Jonathan Dickinson SP (FL); Cape Cod; St. Clair NWA (ON); Uxbridge (ON); Comal County (TX); Lake County (FL); Groveland (CA); Truro (MA); Bucks County (PA).
• In San Diego, amateur kayakers rescue birds caught by baited fishing lines.
• Following Delaware's lead, Maryland may create its own birding trail (pdf, p. 9).
  
• Biofuels may have worse environmental effects than fossil fuels. They emit less carbon when burned, but their production requires vast amounts of farmland and reduces biodiversity, especially in the tropics.
• California has filed a lawsuit against the EPA for blocking its fuel efficiency regulations.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• BrdPics: Make It Count
  
• CBCs in the blogs: Ramsey (NJ); Buffalo River (TN); DeKalb (IL); Taney County (MO); Prineville (OR); Sandia Mountains (NM); Pittsburgh; Hudson.
  
• Earth, Wind, and Water: Top 10 Nature Moments meme participants
  

Carnivals and newsletters

• Friday Ark #172
  
• Festival of the Trees #19
  
• Birds in the News #112