BIGBY for 2008

BIGBY stands for "Big Green Big Year." The concept of a green big year grew out of discussions on listserves and blogs about the impact of listing on climate change. The amount of greenhouse gases that most birding trips add to the atmosphere is probably relatively small compared to other sources. However, it seems good for birders to be mindful of how their hobby affects the environment.

The writers behind the Sparrowworking blog came up with some criteria for a green year list. The list should include only bird species seen in locations reached by foot, self-propelled vehicle, or public transportation. The "self-propelled" category can include canoes and skis, though it primarily refers to bicycles. So far 118 birders have signed up to attempt a BIGBY this year.

This type of undertaking is going to be easier for some birders than others. City-based birders should have a decided advantage. Those in New York City, in particular, have access to a dense public transportation network that links to some very good birding sites. Birders in DC can bird by Metro. People living in suburban areas are likely to have a harder time, since 20th-century housing developments were generally not designed to be walkable and transportation options are more limited.

I decided to compile a list of birds I see while meeting the BIGBY requirements. In about half a year of birding, I saw 93 species within walking distance in 2007. That figure does not include spring migration, when most species are easier to find and identify by voice. Plus, an occasional birding trip by public transportation is a real possibility. So for 2008, I should be able to build a good BIGBY list.

Primaries Coming Soon

Cartoon by Tom Toles

The Iowa Caucuses are tomorrow, January 3. Soon after, there will be another series of primaries, culminating in a big primary day on February 5. It's hard to believe that we will have nominees from both parties so quickly, but this is an unusual election year.

For whom should birders vote? Our next president needs to make conservation a priority and change the long-standing American opposition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. After the regressive policies of the last seven years, we need significant change to come quickly. Which candidate offers the best hope of doing this remains an open question.

To help answer this question, Nate of The Drinking Bird, assessed each presidential candidate's views on conservation and other bird-related issues. Grist also has some good resources, including fact sheets and interviews for every candidate. The resources at Grist emphasize climate change and energy issues. The League of Conservation Voters has its own assessment.

Top 10 Nature Moments of 2007

Tai Haku, who writes the Earth, Wind & Water blog, challenged fellow nature bloggers to name their own top 10 nature moments of 2007. The theme has since been taken up on many other blogs, so it is time for me to do it.

Here are my top ten, listed chronologically.

1. Watching eastern phoebes and black-capped chickadees in the snow on the C&O Canal.
2. A day for "little brown jobs" around the Mall and Hains Point.
3. Welcoming the early spring migrants at Hughes Hollow.
4. My first visit to the wetlands at Poplar Point, when I saw my 200th species in D.C.
5. Listening to barred owls in Rock Creek Park.
6. Discovering the Franklin Township grasslands sites (and their avian inhabitants).
   
7. Listening to the grunting of harbor seals at Bolinas Lagoon in California.
8. The visit my sister and I made to Jamaica Bay to look for shorebirds.
   
9. Seeing clapper rails and an American bittern at dusk at Sandy Hook.
10. Finding lots of white-crowned sparrows (and a Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow) at Sandy Hook.

Do you have favorite nature moments from 2007? If so, please share them in the comments (or on your own blog).

Meanwhile, I have already seen my first birds of 2008. The very first was a dark-eyed junco. (These photos were taken a couple days ago with the Birdcam.)


Happy New Year!

Raritan Estuary CBC - 2007

For the fourth consecutive year, my mother, sister, and I participated in the Raritan Estuary Christmas Bird Count. The winter solstice is technically the darkest day of the year. However, the day of the Raritan Estuary CBC, usually the last Sunday of the year, seems to best the solstice for dreariness. Today was no different, with the sky blanketed by increasingly thick clouds from morning till night, and then a rainstorm moving in after dark.

As usual, we began the count at the west end of our sector in Johnson Park. This is a good starting point, since it gives us a chance to count a large Canada goose flock before it disperses for the day. This section of the river tends to be good for waterfowl, including common goldeneye, and many hawks use nearby the snags for early morning hunting. The park's small zoo is usually a popular place with songbirds, especially the house sparrows that like to pilfer the food left out for the caged animals. This morning, the house sparrows were joined by a merlin, which caught and ate one. Close by the zoo, we each saw a brilliantly-colored male golden-crowned kinglet. For the rest of the morning we worked our way eastward through the park. The sightings were mostly mundance - lots of dark-eyed juncos, a smattering of woodpeckers, and the typical winter mixed songbird flocks.

After lunch, we birded the other part of our sector, Donaldson Park and some adjacent areas. There were surprisingly few Canada geese and gulls (of any sort) today. Usually we find at least a few hundred of each. There was a great cormorant perched on a marker in the river; this is about as far inland as that species can be found. I had a few American tree sparrows at the east end of the park, as well as a trio of black vultures and a flyby harrier. The last new species for the afternoon was a peregrine falcon, seen only by Belinda.

We closed out the day with an owling trip after dark. I had hoped that we could find great horned owls, since we have encountered them before on this route, and perhaps eastern screech owls. Unfortunately none responded to the playback calls. The steady cold drizzle probably had something to do with that. After a fourth unsuccessful stop, we packed it in for the night.

Here is a table with the full results from our sector. Canada geese account for almost half the total birds!

Species	Number
Canada Goose	2145
Mallard	164
American Black Duck	4
Common Goldeneye	16
Hooded Merganser	2
Common Merganser	20
Double-crested Cormorant	5
Great Cormorant	1
Great Blue Heron	6
Black Vulture	3
Turkey Vulture	1
Northern Harrier	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Red-tailed Hawk	5
Merlin	3
Peregrine Falcon	1
Killdeer	1
Ring-billed Gull	184
Herring Gull	18
Great Black-backed Gull	24
Gull-sp.	73
Rock Pigeon	105
Mourning Dove	143
Belted Kingfisher	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	25
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1
Downy Woodpecker	24
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	9
Blue Jay	107
American Crow	29
Fish Crow	4
Carolina Chickadee	1
Black-capped Chickadee	7
Tufted Titmouse	55
White-breasted Nuthatch	24
Brown Creeper	10
Carolina Wren	10
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
American Robin	51
Northern Mockingbird	10
European Starling	386
American Tree Sparrow	3
Song Sparrow	48
White-throated Sparrow	132
Dark-eyed Junco	147
Northern Cardinal	50
Red-winged Blackbird	1
Common Grackle	2
House Finch	83
American Goldfinch	31
House Sparrow	150
Total Species	51
Total Individuals	4332

Recovery Program for Andean Condors

Like the California condors of North America, Andean condors have long been in decline. A recovery program based at the Buenos Aires Zoo is trying to make sure that Andean condors do not reach as critical a state as their northern cousins. The program incubates eggs in captivity and then releases the young condors in areas where they had previously disappeared.

Condor populations declined for decades throughout South America mainly because of hunting by farmers, many of whom mistakenly believed the condor to be a predatory bird. They would see condors swooping down toward their livestock and then notice that one of their animals was dead, Jacome said. But the birds, which feed solely on carrion, were attracted to the farms because an animal had already died....

In 1965, the condor was declared extinct in Venezuela, and it was believed to be on track for the same fate in Ecuador and Colombia, Jacome said. On the coast of Argentina -- the country that historically had the largest condor population-- the bird had also disappeared.

But today, about a dozen condors live in Venezuela, and a total of perhaps 100 soar in the skies of Colombia and Ecuador. Quite a few nest near Argentina's coast, where the project has released several condors in recent years. Chile and Argentina probably have the most condors, though no precise population estimates exist, Jacome said.