Top 8 Nature Moments of 2008

This meme seems to be making the rounds again (see here, here, also here), so here are my top nature moments of 2008.

1. Working with raptors in Cape May – not really a "moment" but still the top nature-related experience of the past year.
2. Seeing a Golden Eagle for the first time (up really close).
   
3. Seeing a Scott's Oriole in Union Square – my 300th life bird!
4. Watching a flock of redpolls.
5. Participating in the 10th C&O Canal Count.
6. Waiting for Short-eared Owls in Franklin Twp.
7. Watching Peregrines slicing through wind and rain.
8. Participating in the Lower Hudson and Raritan Estuary CBCs.
   

It is not really a "nature moment," but this event got the year off to a good start.

See also my top nature moments of 2007.

The State of the Chesapeake

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published a series of articles on the poor health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Cleaning up the bay, which has been in serious trouble since the early 1980s is especially complicated since its tributaries pass through multiple jurisdictions; New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia all contain part of the watershed, which is fed by two major rivers (the Potomac and Susquehanna) and numerous smaller tributaries. That means that cleanup strategies have to be coordinated among the various stakeholders, which then have to fight their own internal battles over funding and enforcement priorities.

In the meantime, work is being left undone.

Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania all pledged that their farmers would put up fences along streambanks to keep cows out. But they didn't make it a legal requirement: Officials feared this kind of regulation would be a burden on farmers and would be difficult to enforce....

But in Virginia, many farmers simply didn't want the hassle. And reimbursement funding, which came out of state budget surpluses, was often short. From July 2006 to June 2007, Virginia turned away 144 farmers who wanted to fence off 84 miles of streambank.

Now, Virginia has reached only about 20 percent of its goal for fencing off streams. Across the Chesapeake watershed, the figure is 27 percent.

The problem with cow manure is that it contains nitrogen that feeds algae blooms, which in turn cause dead zones throughout much of the bay. Cow manure is just one of many nitrogen or phosphorus sources within the watershed. Sources include fertilizers, sewage, detergents, and septic tanks, among others. While the cleanup has effected some reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus, and stabilized some underwater life, it has fallen far short of its goals.

Raritan Estuary CBC 2008

Yesterday my mother, sister, and I participated in the 2008 Raritan Estuary Christmas Bird Count. As we have for the past several years (see previous accounts from 2005, 2006, and 2007), we covered a section along the Raritan River in Highland Park and Piscataway. One additional birder joined us this year, so we were able to split into two equal parties to cover our territory more thoroughly.

Despite our best efforts, the numbers of many species seemed down this year. Whether it was the balmy temperatures, the general gloominess of the day, or some other combination of factors, birds were not active or vocalizing in the morning. We had record lows among Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos. Songbirds generally seemed scarcer than usual in both numbers and species.

All was not gloom, however. We had two new species for our section: Green-winged Teal, found by my sister in a Johnson Park pond, and Brown-headed Cowbird. Raptors included a Peregrine Falcon and eight Red-tailed Hawks. One of the latter, a local nester, was almost all white, matching what Brian Wheeler describes as "incomplete albinism." We flushed another (normal) Red-tailed Hawk, which flew off clutching a squirrel. Aside from that, the many flocks of geese, gulls, and starlings kept us busy counting.

We ended the count day by watching an adult Bald Eagle harass gulls in Donaldson Park.

Species	Number
Canada Goose	1795
American Black Duck	3
Mallard	76
Green-winged Teal	2
Common Goldeneye	10
Hooded Merganser	2
Common Merganser	19
Double-crested Cormorant	5
Great Cormorant	2
Great Blue Heron	2
Black Vulture	2
Turkey Vulture	6
Bald Eagle	1
Red-tailed Hawk	8
Peregrine Falcon	1
Killdeer	1
Ring-billed Gull	163
Herring Gull	315
Great Black-backed Gull	396
Gull-sp.	220
Rock Pigeon	37
Mourning Dove	69
Belted Kingfisher	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	2
Downy Woodpecker	3
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	7
American Crow	7
Fish Crow	12
Crow-sp.	6
Black-capped Chickadee	2
Tufted Titmouse	5
Brown Creeper	2
Carolina Wren	10
American Robin	17
Northern Mockingbird	1
European Starling	474
Song Sparrow	17
White-throated Sparrow	60
Dark-eyed Junco	20
Northern Cardinal	10
Red-winged Blackbird	12
Brown-headed Cowbird	6
House Finch	65
American Goldfinch	18
House Sparrow	35
Total Species	44
Total Individuals	3931

More on the Tennessee Coal Ash Disaster

The flood of water and coal ash from a TVA plant is much larger than the original reports announced – over 1 billion gallons of sludge.

Officials at the authority initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant, about 40 miles west of Knoxville, gave way on Monday. But on Thursday they released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep.

The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards.

This material is highly toxic. So far TVA officials have announced positive tests for lead and thallium, at levels that cause health problems for humans. The water also contains high levels of iron and manganese, which apparently affects taste but not safety. In addition, federal studies have reported high levels of heavy metals and carcinogens in some coal ash, but so far it is not clear if that is true of the ash at the spill site.

Loose Feathers #167

Red Crossbill / Photo by Dave Menke (USFWS)

Bird and birding news

• EBird has a useful overview of how to identify crossbill species by ear, with linked audio samples.
• Cape May NWR acquired an additional 437 acres last week. There seem to be two tracts involved – a saltmarsh along Bidwell Creek in Middle Township and a 371-acre grassland in Lower Township. At least some of the land acquired will be open for hiking and birding.
• In addition, Pennsylvania is getting its third National Wildlife Refuge. The new refuge comprises 20,466 acres in Cherry Valley in the Poconos. Land within the refuge will be protected with a combination of purchases and conservation easements. People with existing property will continue to live within the refuge boundaries. Cherry Valley is the first NWR designated in the Northeast in a decade and the first in Pennsylvania since Tinicum in 1972.
  
• Hen harriers face extirpation in England due to persecution, primarily from game wardens.
• Shade coffee not only benefits birds, but also preserves local plant diversity.
  

Birds in the blogosphere

• Rob's Idaho Perspective: Egg recognition as a defense against intraspecific brood parasitism
  

General environmental news

• A dam burst in Kingston, Tennessee, released 300 million gallons of toxic coal ash into nearby towns and the Clinch River and Tennessee River watersheds. The ash had been dumped within the dike by a TVA power plant. State and federal officials so far are playing down the potential hazards, but past government studies have shown that coal ash contains sufficient amounts of carcinogens to pose a health risk.
• Striped bass living in the San Francisco Bay estuary are exposed to multiple toxins prior to birth, with many birth defects (e.g., smaller brains, dysfunctional livers) as a result.
• The FDA is re-opening its investigation of bisphenol-A, a chemical found in many plastic food containers (including baby bottles) made from polycarbonate (plastic #7).
• Meanwhile, the National Resource Council recommended that the EPA investigate the cumulative risk from long-term exposure to phthalates and chemicals that could cause similar problems.
  
• Those decisions come none too soon, since explosure to endocrine disruptors like bisphenol-A has been linked to a variety of birth defects in all major classes of vertebrates. (via)