Loose Feathers #358

Palm Warbler / Photo by Keenan Adams (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• Fossils discovered in China provide an example of therapods eating prehistoric birds and small feathered dinosaurs.
• Scientists are trying to find out if Blue Tits might be able to control an invasive moth in the UK.
• Climate change may increase the spread of avian influenza in wild birds by disrupting their normal migration patterns. 
• The breeding population of Chinstrap Penguins is declining on the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers think that climate change is the most likely culprit.
• This video shows a Green Heron using a piece of bread as bait to catch a fish.
• A series of images show a Velvet-purple Coronet and a Buff-tailed Coronet fighting over the right to feed at a banana flower.
• Ecologists are pushing the French government to stop unregulated hunting on the island of Guadeloupe.

Nature blogging

• Net Results: Dearborn Passenger Pigeons: Then and Now
• 10,000 Birds: How do Birds get their Color?
• Birding Frontiers: Jankowski’s Bunting: A Very Rare Bird Indeed
• The Smaller Majority: Danger, in black and white
• Bug Eric: Wasp Wednesday: Ageniella accepta/conflicta
• BugBlog: On insect migration and fairy tales
• Nemesis Bird: Maryland Herald Petrel – 8/25/12
• Laelaps: Giant Squid vs. Mosasaur
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Robins start with a magnetic compass in both eyes, and end up with just one 
• PetaPixel: Hiker in Alaska Killed After Taking Close-Up Pictures of a Grizzly Bear

Environment and biodiversity

• Scientists finally figured out what a strange-looking marine larva becomes as an adult.
• A recent study showed how the extinction of one species can hurt other species.
• A botany study proved that New England Banksia is a separate species from Hairpin Banksia.
• Three prehistoric arthropods — a midge and two mites — have been found in Triassic amber from Italy.
• Sea ice in the Arctic is already at a record low. With three weeks of melting left, this summer will likely break the record by a substantial margin.
• Shad have virtually disappeared from the Delaware River, and attempts to restore them have had frustratingly slow results.
• Yosemite National Park has closed 91 cabins after two people died from hantavirus after sleeping there.
• A man was caught trying to enter Switzerland with 15 kilograms of caterpillars in a false compartment in his luggage. When he was caught, he started eating them.
• Climate change may cause significant changes to the stretches of the Atlantic coastline within the National Park system from erosion and rising temperatures. 
• The Obama administration has given Shell permission to start preparations for drilling in the Chukchi Sea.
• An unidentified white moth from Venezuela has become a hit on social media sites.
• Five new species of cuckoo bees were documented on the Cape Verde Islands.

Grass Diversity

Recently someone asked me questions about particular grasses, and I realized I could not answer them because I knew next to nothing about grasses. I mean, I can recognize certain grasses like the ubiquitous Phragmites australis and a few other wetland grasses like cattails and Spartina. Beyond those, though, my knowledge is very limited. So I have been making an effort to learn more about the grasses I encounter in the types of habitats I bird frequently.

Grasses (family Poaceae) are an incredibly important group. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, and rice are all grasses, as is bamboo. Many species of butterflies and moths, such as skippers and grass-veneers, use grasses as their larval host plants. Some bird species also associate with particular grasses or depend on habitats where grasses predominate. Along with grasses, rushes (family Juncaceae) and sedges (family Cyperaceae) may be found in those sorts of habitats and present similar identification challenges. Grasses, sedges, and rushes are all in the order Poales, along with many other plant families.

One of the distinctive native grasses is wild rice, a plant of wetland habitats. The wild rice sold commercially is usually Zizania palustris, a species native to the Great Lakes region. In my area, the native wild rice is Zizania aquatica. Wild rice is an important food source for waterfowl and other wetland birds. A distinctive feature of wild rice is that the male and female flowers are on separate branches. The female flowers are on thin branches that stick up from the top of the stem; male flowers droop from horizontal branches below the female flowers. The photo above shows the male flowers on one plant.

Another wetland grass is cockspur (Echinochloa sp.). Plants in this genus are sometimes grown as forage crops for livestock, but otherwise just grow wild. I think this is E. walteri, a grass of both saltwater and freshwater marshes that characteristically long bristles along its spikelets.

Like grasses, rushes have round stems, but their flowers and seeds are structured somewhat differently. On this Soft Rush (Juncus effusus), the flowers burst in a clump from the side of the stem rather than emerging from the top.

Sedges are another group of plants that grow in wetlands and meadows. As a group, sedges are fairly easy to recognize because most of them have obviously triangular stems ("sedges have edges"). Narrowing down to a species, though, can be more difficult. I think the plant above is a Dark Green Bulrush (Scirpus atrovirens), which shows one common sedge structure. The main stem ends in a leafy bract, from which several branches emerge that bear the sedge's flowers. Another plant that shares a similar structure is Yellow Nutsedge.

So far I have been aided in my learning by Grasses: An Identification Guide by Lauren Brown. This guide, published by Houghton Mifflin, uses simplified terminology and emphasizes broad characteristics such as shape and color rather than minute details. (The latter, unfortunately, may still be necessary to confirm a species identification.) The book contains a key followed by descriptions of 135 species from the Midwest and Northeast. I have found it very helpful as an entry point to learning about grasses.

Loose Feathers #357

Puerto Rican Nightjar / Photo by Mike Morel (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• EBird has finished its latest taxonomic update. Here's an explanation of the changes.
• Male Rock Sparrows vary their songs based on their reproductive success; in particular, male sparrows react to their mates' infidelity by singing more loudly.
• Seabird colonies have an under-researched impact of the global environment through their impressive ammonia production (via guano). Recent research concluded that seabirds produce 404 Gigagrams of ammonia each year — about 2% of global ammonia production. Penguins account for 80% of this total.
• Speaking of seabirds, Scotland's kittiwake colonies are undergoing severe declines.
• Use of native plants in landscaping can be helpful for birds living in urban settings.
• Squirrels do not just empty seed from bird feeders; they also chew into zoo enclosures and let the caged birds out.
• The American Bird Conservancy has produced a 30-minute film on the ongoing extinction crisis in Hawai'i.
• A new bird species, the Antioquia Wren (Thryophilus sernai), was discovered in Colombia along the Cauca River. Unfortunately its habitat is threatened by mining and deforestation since none of it is protected. 
• Two new owl species were discovered in the Philippines, Camiguin Hawk-owl (Ninox leventisi) and Cebu Hawk-owl (Ninox rumseyi).
• Xeno-Canto has a feature article on Rufous Antpitta vocalizations.
• Here are some photos of critically endangered Blue-throated Macaws.

Nature blogging

• Laelaps: Unless They’re Zombies, Fossils Don’t Live
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Brain in Hand
• The Smaller Majority: The holotype that walked away 
• Sibley Guides: Identification of Waterthrushes 

Environment and biodiversity

• Much has been written about how climate change will harm some parts of the world more than others. A recent analysis shows that such variation exists even within a single state. 
• As climate change progresses, many cities will need to make decisions about how to cope with these changes, such as rising sea levels. Olympia, Washington, is considering whether to build a new sea wall or gradually abandon part of its city center, which was built on fill.
• Using data from butterfly counts conducted by the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, a new study found that climate change is causing butterfly species to shift their ranges northward. Two species that have shown exceptional increases are Giant Swallowtail and Zabulon Skipper. Meanwhile Atlantis and Aphrodite Fritillaries are rapidly decreasing.
• According to a new report, up to 40% of food in the United States is wasted, and up to 25% of the food that Americans buy goes to waste. Here is the full report from the NRDC. One of the more discouraging statistics for conservationists is that 50% of seafood goes to waste when many fish stocks are in severe decline due to overfishing.
• A new spider species called Trogloraptor has been found in the caves of southern Oregon. Trogloraptor is 4cm long and sports curved claws at the ends of its legs. The species is so novel that naming it required the creation of a new spider family.
• Political events this week revealed that a prominent member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee is profoundly misinformed about science, a problem that seem to be widespread among members of that committee, with disturbing implications for both wildlife conservation and mitigating climate change.
• In better news, Madagascar protected 1,438 square miles of rainforest as Makira Natural Park. The new park is home to numerous rare and endangered wildlife species.
• A newly-discovered rat species has only incisors for teeth, with no molars to back them up. This is highly unusual for a rodent species and indicates that it probably eats a soft diet.
• Two new species of forget-me-nots have been found in New Zealand.
• Yao Ming is filming a documentary meant to persuade Chinese residents to stop using elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.
• Some scientists are investigating a new dispersant formula made from edible ingredients that would break up oil slicks and keep oil from sticking to birds' feathers but would be less harmful than current dispersants. I am skeptical of this working and being implemented on a large scale, but I see any research towards less unhealthy oil dispersants as a positive step.
• Most states do not require energy companies to tell residents if they are fracking nearby.
• In some English cemeteries, groundskeepers are trying to develop a more natural landscape that includes wildflowers and other native plants.

Herons at De Korte Park

Yesterday I was at De Korte Park in the Meadowlands. There had been a number of interesting sightings there in the past few weeks, and I was eager to track down a few of them. The first, Least Bittern, was in its usual spot at the start of the Marsh Discovery Trail. Least Bitterns bred here over the summer, and for the past few weeks, the juveniles have been coming out of the reeds and sitting in the open. The bitterns were really hard to see yesterday, perhaps owing to the high water level. One briefly came out of the reeds, and another perched just inside the reeds on the other side of the island. Initially I mistook the second one for a rail, but it turned out to be a second Least Bittern juvenile after further examination. Neither was in a good clear position for me to photograph them. It was delightful to see them, especially since I had not seen one in five years, and it was my first sighting of one in New Jersey.

A second bird I was interested in seeing was a Tricolored Heron. This immature heron was foraging at the far end of the East Shorebird Pool, almost all the way to the NJ Turnpike. There are also quite a lot of Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets patrolling the edges of the pools.

As I mentioned, the water levels are higher than ideal, which means in turn that shorebird numbers are pretty low. However, there are still about 500 Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Shorebird Pools, along with a few dozen yellowlegs. I noted on Short-billed Dowitcher and one Spotted Sandpiper in addition to those birds.

Donaldson Dragonflies

Recently I started participating in the Dragonfly Pond Watch Project run by the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership. I hear about a lot of projects like this through insect bloggers; in this case I heard about it through the Xerces Society's newsletter. This particular project tracks the migratory movements of two very common dragonflies, the Common Green Darner (Anax junius) and Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata). It involves periodically counting dragonflies at the same pond over the course of the fall migration period. This works well for me since an artificial pond is part of my normal walking route through my local patch, and I can just add 15 or 20 minutes to my normal route to count dragonflies there.

So far the results have not been auspicious. My first visit, on August 2, netted exactly one Black Saddlebags and no Common Green Darners. During my second visit to the pond yesterday, I saw neither of the target species during my count period. Most of the odonate activity around the pond consisted of Eastern Amberwings and Familiar Bluets, with an Eastern Forktail thrown in for good measure. One red dragonfly caught my eye, so I photographed it as best I could. After reviewing my dragonfly resources, I think this is a male Needham's Skimmer. The lack of black triangles along the sides of the abdomen rule out most meadowhawks. The closest species in appearance is the Golden-winged Skimmer, which is more uncommon in this state than Needham's Skimmer, especially on the coastal plain. Plus there are hints of a few other features characteristic of Needham's but not Golden-winged.

I mentioned in the previous paragraph that I did not see either of my target species during the count. Of course, when I walked along the river to continue my route, what do I see on the other side of the field? Black Saddlebags. And not just one, but a half-dozen or more. In their company was a Common Green Darner. If I did my watch by the basketball courts instead of at the pond, I would be recording more sightings.

Loose Feathers #356

Snowy Egret / Photo by Mary Ellen Urbanski (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• According to a new study, migrating Pink-footed Geese are able to detect and fly around or over offshore wind farms.
• The new eBird taxonomy update includes the placement of falcons and parrots together with passerines, a change made official in the latest AOU checklist supplement.
• Residents in Millville, New Jersey, were horrified to see Red-winged Blackbirds dying in the streets after a nearby farm poisoned them.
• A New Jersey Audubon program pays farmers to produce black oil sunflower seed, which is then sold in New Jersey Audubon nature centers as bird seed. The program helps to preserve the state's farmland.
• Runway expansion at the Sunshine Coast Airport in Australia threatens a colony of Eastern Ground Parrots. The Sunshine Coast population of this species has already shrunk from 300 to 4o parrots.
• A recent study found that for some songbirds, a little bit of stress was associated with a higher rate of survival.
• The evolution of wing lice followed the evolution of birds to fill different ecological niches.
• Tropical shade plantations with some native trees left standing provide better habitat for most birds than open farmland.
• Some Antarctic moss colonies grow on penguin poop to take advantage of a rich source of nitrogen.
• Eurasian Roller chicks vomit in self-defense; their parents can smell the vomit and stay away from the nest in response.
• Stricter regulation is leading to the adoption of new technologies to reduce seabird bycatch from commercial fisheries. However, bycatch remains a problem, as does overfishing.

Nature blogging

• The Smaller Majority: Galapagos: The birds
• Bird Ecology Study Group: Crow anting in an anthill
• Sibley Guides: Determining the age of white egrets and herons in late summer
• Anything Larus: Louse Spots: A Sign of Poor Health?
• Audubon Guides: Ravenous Ravens
• Birding is Fun!: Birder Personality Profiles
• March of the Fossil Penguins: How smart was Paraptenodytes?
• Cicada Mania: Tibicen canicularis – Dog Star Rising
• South Jersey Butterfly B/Log: Double-Header Rarities
• Skeptical Science: Hansen's New Climate Dice - Hot, Loaded, and Misunderstood
• Earbirding: King and Clapper Rails

Environment and biodiversity

• Cleaning up polluted waterways poses some difficult questions, such as whether it is better to leave contaminants in place on a river bottom or risk stirring them up in order to remove them. The EPA is just starting a cleanup of the Passaic River near a factory that used to produce Agent Orange.
• Unusual deformities were found in pale grass blue butterflies (Zizeeria maha) from Fukushima that were larvae at the time of the tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster. Here are more photos of the deformed butterflies.
• Wind power accounted for a third of new electricity generation in the United States in 2011, but a lot of that growth depending on funding via the stimulus package. As a result of that and Romney's promise to end wind power subsidies, it is likely to be a politically potent issue for the 2012 election.
• The Forest Service released a new report on how climate change might affect northeastern forests.
• Greenland has already broken its record for summer melting, four weeks before the melting season ends. Meanwhile, the Northwest Passage is open, and the glacier at Glacier National Park may disappear within eight years.
• A Rutgers professor argues that there need to be tighter pollution controls in order to restore Barnegat Bay's health.
• A rare mongoose species was photographed by a camera trap in Indonesia.
• A beached fin whale died on a beach in Cornwall.
• Female hide beetles are attracted to male pheromones only when they accompanied by the smell of rotting flesh.
• A rocksnail species that was thought extinct has been rediscovered on the Cahaba River in Alabama, where it was living in the company of several other snail species, including a federally endangered species. The discovery was published in PLoS ONE.
• A Burmese python captured and killed in the Everglades was found to contain a record 87 eggs. I wonder how many of those would have lived to adulthood if the python had not been killed first.
• Analysis of shark tooth weapons from the Gilbert Islands shows that the waters around the islands were formerly home to shark species long since extirpated.
• A new water distribution plan could threaten farmers on the Sacramento River delta.
• Farmers in Oregon are worried about genetically-modified canola crops contaminating their specialty crops via pollination.
• New York City's chief naturalist leads evening walks in Alley Pond Park in Queens. The events include setting up a black light to watch for moths and other nocturnal insects.

Loose Feathers #355

Ruby-throated Hummingbird / Photo by Bill Thompson (USFWS)

Birds and birding

• Sleepless male Pectoral Sandpipers tend to have the most offspring since their lack of sleep gives them more time for mating, mate-guarding, and other reproductive activities. The most successful males were active up to 95% of each day and seemed not to suffer any ill effects from sleep deprivation.
• A new species of barbet, Sira Barbet (Capito fitzpatrick), was discovered by recent college graduates in Peru.
• Excavations at a Mayan site in Guatemala suggest that Wild Turkeys were domesticated much earlier than previously thought.
• Here is an account of birding in Costa Rica's Parque Nacional de los Quetzales, a prime location for seeing quetzals and many other birds.
• The Philadelphia Inquirer reviews Moonbird, a new book on an exceptionally long-lived Red Knot.
• Hawaii's native birds are slowly going extinct without much attention from U.S. birders.
• Birds that live with more variable weather tend to have more diverse songs.
• Bald Eagles are repopulating the San Francisco Bay Area.
• One of the Common Cuckoos being tracked by the British Trust for Ornithology took an unexpected route back to Africa.
• Forests remain the best habitat for tropical birds, but birds fare much better on shade plantations (particularly for coffee) than in open farmland.
• A businessman in England is trying to keep gulls away by painting his rooftop red.
• A study by scientists at the University of Georgia found that outdoor cats kill more wildlife than previously thought. The study used collar-mounted CritterCams to monitor the daily activities of 60 pet cats that spent time outdoors. Of those, 30% killed wildlife, of which 12% were birds, 41% were reptiles or amphibians, and 25% were small mammals. You can read more on the project website. (via 10,000 Birds)

Nature blogging

• Round Robin: A New Generation of “Digital Ornithologists”
• Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds:  Cathartic California Birding: The Yellow-footed Gull
• Audubon Guides: Invader, Meet Invader
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Dividing up the Brain
• Audubon Guides: Hawk ID Part 1: ID Techniques 101
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: Prisoners do science, help to save endangered butterfly
• Insect Museum: Insect Minute – Ticks, what to know
• Cicada Mania: Cicada Killer Wasps Are Busy Killing Cicadas
• Bug Eric: Time to Delete "Moth" From Our Vocabulary
• South Jersey Butterfly B/Log: Limenitis Complexities
• Extinction Countdown: Fishing Nets, Climate Change Threaten Yellow-Eyed Penguins in New Zealand  
• Running Ponies: If only you could see yourself, Atretochoana eiselti
• Discoblog: Long-Dead Bishop’s Coffin is Full of Coffin Beetles
• The Plover Warden Diaries: swallows in road, helicopter in sky, chicks on beach

Environment and biodiversity

• A new species of lacewing was identified based on a photo posted on Flickr. After seeing the Flickr photo, a scientist recognized that the lacewing was not a known species and obtained a type specimen. The research was published in ZooKeys. The Flickr photographer posts under the handle Orionmystery; here is one of his lacewing photos. See also Finding a new species on Flickr.
• A Chevron refinery fire near San Francisco this week created such dangerous air pollution that residents were advised to stay indoors. Here is an infographic that shows possible sources of pollution from a refinery.
• Chevron also faced a deadline this week to pay penalties for polluting Amazon waterways in Ecuador.
• July 2012 was the hottest month on record in the contiguous 48 states. Its average temperature of 77.6°F broke the previous record of 77.4°F set in July 1936. A new study connects recent extreme heat waves to climate change.
• Here is an informative page on the life history of cicada killers.
• Maui dolphins are still in danger of extinction despite new conservation measures. The major threat remains commercial fishing.
• European scientists have created a tool for identifying bats from their calls. The tool is available online as iBatsID. 
• Genetic analysis indicates that shark fin soup is often made from endangered sharks.

Spiders Celebrate National Moth Week

While I was conducting my mothing session for National Moth Week, some spiders decided to observe the week in their own idiom. When I put the black light out, I spend most of my time watching and photographing moths on the white sheet I hang next to the light. However, I also check potential moth perches away from the sheet — hosta leaves in the garden next to the sheet, the lattice fencing I hang the sheet from, the back wall of the house, and nearby trees. Two spiders had spun webs against the back of the house. When I first noticed them, they were simply lying in wait, but they soon moved to action.

The larger one, identified on BugGuide as Neoscona crucifera (a type of orbweaver), caught a moth larger than itself. The moth appears to be a noctuoid of some sort, but I would not be able to identify it to species without unwrapping it and depriving the spider of its meal.

The second spider is most likely a House Spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) or a closely-related species. It caught a small moth, probably a micromoth. This moth is so well wrapped that I am not even sure what superfamily it belongs in. Seeing these two acts of predation make me wonder how much my black light influenced the spiders' success. Were these moths blundering around the back of the house because their direction-finding capabilities were addled by the ultraviolet light? Or would these moths have been caught anyway?

Black Blister Beetles

On Saturday I was at Fairview Farm in Somerset County to look for odonates and butterflies. As I passed through one of the meadows, I noticed that the goldenrod plants were covered with black beetles. Upon closer examination, they turned out to be blister beetles, most likely Black Blister Beetles (Epicauta pennsylvanica), which are common on goldenrod in the late summer.

Blister beetles are so-called because they secrete a toxin called cantharidin as a defensive mechanism when they are threatened. Contact with cantharidin can cause blistering of the skin; ingestion can cause renal damage or even death. For this reason, it is best to avoid touching blister beetles directly. If you must move one, capture it in a container and move it that way. Fortunately, their distinctive shape makes blister beetles easy to recognize.

Draft General Management Plan for Sandy Hook and Jamaica Bay

Yesterday the Star-Ledger reported that Gateway National Recreation Area is in the midst of drafting a new general management plan. This is the first I can remember hearing about this, although it is possible that I heard something about it previously and did not recognize its significance. The plan will set priorities for programs and maintenance at all the parks within Gateway. These include Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Fort Tilden, Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Wadsworth, and Great Kills in New York, along with several smaller units. You can read the general management plan and its various alternatives and submit comments on Gateway's website.

Many of these parks were once part of New York City's harbor defenses, a role they played as recently as the Cold War. The remaining coastal fortifications are a unique historic resource that deserves to be protected and as open to the public as possible. Because these areas were involved in harbor defense, much of the land remains minimally developed, in contrast to adjacent parts of the metropolitan area's coastline. This means that the various parts of Gateway are also important wildlife areas. Finally, Gateway provides public access for the metropolitan area's beachgoers and related recreational activities.

Each of these elements is important. However, the first two are what make Gateway unique within the metropolitan area so they should get special emphasis in any future management plan. New Jersey has relatively few areas along its Atlantic Coast where natural dune communities and related ecosystems may flourish: Sandy Hook, Island Beach State Park, the Two Mile Beach division of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and the complex formed by Cape May Point State Park and the Nature Conservancy's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge. Sandy Hook's beachfront, saltmarshes, and maritime forest make it an important stop for migratory birds during both spring and fall migration. They serve as breeding grounds for endangered Piping Plovers and other beach nesters and host numerous waterbirds in the winter months. Dense development of the rest of the state's coastline makes the few remaining natural areas all the more critical. Likewise, the historic structures of Fort Hancock (and elsewhere in Gateway) are a unique resource that should be maintained for future generations and as open to the public as possible. Some of the structures are in very poor condition, and I worry that if something isn't done to preserve them soon, that they will pass a point of no return and eventually be gone forever. For that reason, my preference is that the National Park Service adopt Alternative C: Experiencing Preserved Places as the basis for future management at Sandy Hook and elsewhere within Gateway.

There are some good elements within Alternative B and Alternative D that ought to be considered regardless of which alternative the National Park Service chooses. Under Alternative B, the park's historic structures would see the most adaptive reuse, something that could probably be done under any of the three action alternatives. This means that the buildings would retain their historic appearance but would be renovated for use as restaurants, lodging, or offices. Buildings that are actively in use are more likely to be maintained, so adaptive reuse could further the goal of maintaining Sandy Hook's historic character. Expanding transportation options is also an excellent idea. In particular, a shuttle linking points on Sandy Hook, the ferry terminal, and the closest NJ Transit train station could reduce traffic congestion and provide alternative ways for people to visit the park. Kayaking facilities could enhance the recreational experience as well as provide a vehicle for environmental education if naturalists led kayak tours around Sandy Hook. The hiker/biker trail on Sandy Hook is often very crowded (sometimes with packs of birders) so widening the existing trail or adding other trails could make it easier to get around the park.

However, such recreational facilities should not be expanded at the expense of Sandy Hook's natural ecosystems. I would not want to see expanded camping areas eat away at the unique maritime forest on Sandy Hook. I would not want to see expanded boating activities adversely affect the saltmarshes and coves along the bayside. Both Spermaceti Cove and the inlets at Plum Island (across from Lot B) are heavily used by waterfowl and other birds as migratory stopovers and throughout the winter. Any expansion of beach facilities, particularly at North Beach and including the addition of shade structures and concessions, should take care not to disrupt the breeding activities of endangered Piping Plovers and other beach-nesting birds.

The combination of natural ecosystems and historic structures make Sandy Hook unique, both in New Jersey and in the wider metropolitan area. I hope that the National Park Service will take care to preserve and enhance these resources. This post is based on a comment I submitted to the National Park Service yesterday. I encourage any birders that visit one or more of Gateway's park units to submit comments of their own. Comments do not necessarily need to be long or address every aspect of the alternative plans, but I do think it is important that the National Park Service hear from us.

Loose Feathers #354

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds / Photo credit: Brady Smith (U.S. Forest Service)

Birds and birding

• Using a camera strapped to an Imperial Cormorant's back, scientists have recorded a cormorant diving 150 feet underwater to catch fish on the seafloor. A video is available at the link.
• Multiple color morphs are one way that Common Cuckoos trick their hosts.
• This year, there are at least three wild-hatched California Condor chicks in Arizona.
• The RSPB is encouraging the use of its wildlife-friendly farming practices. In the 12 years since the RSPB started managing a farm this way, wheat yields are up and famland birds have tripled.
• National Parks Traveler discusses the use of pishing and playback on federal lands.
• The Piping Plovers at Sea Girt, New Jersey, have fledged.
• A Brown Booby showed up in northwestern New Jersey for a few days this week.
• The federal government is placing restrictions on a 28-turbine wind energy development in western Maryland to protect migratory birds and bats.
• A 300-turbine project using massive 28-foot blades is planned for the Gulf of Mexico just off Brownsville, Texas. The siting is a concern given that the area is a major route for Neotropical migratory birds.

Nature blogging

• The Drinking Bird: Birder Jargon Project: Birds that hate us
• Martin's Moths: Multum in parvo
• Myrmecos: An ant that protects herself with… um… butt foam
• The Smaller Majority: When a bumblebee is not a bumblebee
• Not Exactly Rocket Science: You can thank wasps for your bread, beer and wine
• March of the Fossil Penguins: Peeking Inside the Brain of an Ancient Penguin
• Earbirding: The “Meaningless” Calls of Red-winged Blackbirds
• Round Robin: Counterpoint: 7 Ways European Warblers Outperform American Warblers

Environment and biodiversity

• An underwater microphone moored off Greenland recorded Bowhead Whales singing throughout the winter months, at every hour of the day and night, with over 60 unique songs. The finding is significant because
• The US energy related carbon dioxide emissions were at their lowest level in 20 years during the first three months of this year, largely due to the mild winter.
• Last week the USDA published an internal newsletter telling its employers that they could reduce their carbon footprint by practicing Meatless Mondays, but backtracked under pressure from the meat industry.
• The BBC has a gallery of giant helicopter damselflies.
• Mongabay.com has photos of lynx triplets.
• The Queen Alexandra's birdwing, the world's largest butterfly species, is disappearing from Papua New Guinea's forests, partly due to pressure from palm oil plantations.
• Officials in Oregon are demolishing a dock that floated across the Pacific in the wake of Japan's tsunami; state biologists have already recorded numerous potential invasive species clinging to the dock and are seeking to prevent their further spread.
• Last Sunday, a Minke Whale showed up just offshore at South Amboy, New Jersey.
• A writer argues for the benefits of urban trees.
• Moths actively seek out landing spots where their camouflage will blend in most easily.

Birding Raritan Bay with the Middlesex Merlins

Last Saturday I went birding with the other members of my World Series of Birding team — Patrick, Anthony, and Tom. We started out at Morgan Mudflats, which in recent weeks has been a hotspot for rare terns and other unusual birds. I saw my life Sandwich Tern there a few weeks ago, on a day when over 140 Common Terns were present at the mudflats, with another 350 at Pirate's Cove. Other recent reports included an American Avocet, Gull-billed Terns, and Short-billed Dowitchers.

Tern numbers were down significantly on Saturday but still substantial. Shortly after we started scanning the mudflats, Anthony picked out a Roseate Tern. It hung around the mudflats for the rest of the morning, mostly loafing but sometimes venturing out on short trips over the water. This bird appeared to be banded on both legs, but the distance was too far to make the bands out with confidence. I shot the photo above through Patrick's spotting scope; the bird on the left is a Common Tern.

Patrick picked out another interesting bird, a Surf Scoter swimming just offshore. Scoters are highly unusual anywhere in New Jersey during the summer months, and even more so in Middlesex County where they rarely venture even in winter. This bird was a county first for me; the Roseate Tern was a state first.

We moved on to Pirate's Cove, a spit of beach at the Middlesex-Monmouth border. As at Morgan, the mudflats at Pirate's Cove held a lot fewer terns than in previous weeks. No rare terns were present despite our best efforts to pick one out from the reduced crowd. We did hear a Fish Crow, our bête noire from the World Series. From there we stopped at a couple marinas on the north side of Cheesequake Creek. At the first, we saw a Clapper Rail chick (shown above) foraging in the mud along the edge of the creek. I had never seen a rail chick before, so this was a great way to end the morning.

National Moth Week Summary

I did one mothing session in my backyard during National Moth Week. I had hoped to do more, but it did not work out due to rain on many nights and other evening activities on a few nights. I already posted some highlights, but here is a full list of the species I recorded, ordered by Hodges number. (Hodges numbers are named for Ronald Hodges, who compiled a numbered checklist of all known moth species that occur in North America north of Mexico in 1983.)

Acorn Moth	Blastobasis glandulella	1162
Beautiful Cosmopterix Moth	Cosmopterix pulchrimella	1472
Sweetclover Root Borer Moth	Walshia miscecolorella	1615
Spotted Dichomeris	Dichomeris punctidiscella	2283
Ailanthus Webworm Moth	Atteva aurea	2401
Tufted Apple Budmoth	Platynota idaeusalis	3740
Sooty-winged Chalcoela	Chalcoela iphitalis	4895
Celery Leaftier	Udea rubigalis	5079
Lucerne Moth	Nomophila nearctica	5156
Double-banded Grass-veneer	Crambus agitatellus	5362
Sod Webworm	Pediasia trisecta	5413
Bluegrass Webworm	Parapediasia teterrella	5451
Common Tan Wave	Pleuroprucha insulsaria	7132
Bent-line Carpet	Costaconvexa centrostrigaria	7416
Common Eupithecia	Eupithecia miserulata	7474
American Idia	Idia americalis	8322
Early Zanclognatha	Zanclognatha cruralis	8351
Green Cloverworm	Hypena scabra	8465
Black Fungus Moth	Metalectra tantillus	8502
Celery Looper	Anagrapha falcifera	8924
Large Wainscot	Rhizedra lutosa	9447.2
Variable Narrow-wing Moth	Magusa divaricata	9637.1
Yellow-striped Armyworm Moth	Spodoptera ornithogalli	9669
The Wedgling	Galgula partita	9688
The White-Speck / Armyworm	Mythimna unipuncta	10438
Linda Wainscot	Leucania linda	10445
Pearly Underwing	Peridroma saucia	10915

That makes 27 species, plus two unidentified moths (one very worn noctuid and one probable gelechiid). Several species Several moths were new to either my life list or my yard list, like the Sooty-winged Chalcoela. That makes it a fairly typical summer mothing session for the location.