Video About Project NestWatch

Here's a video from ScienCentral on Cornell's Project NestWatch. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MRy-4tQr7I[/youtube]

What's interesting is that the video talks about how birds like tree swallows are nesting 9 days earlier than previous records indicate.  I always thought that bird migration was more influenced by how long daylight lasts as opposed to weather.  If daylight is the case, then they would be nesting at about the same time, right?  Unless these are southern tree swallows that tend to be more resident and more apt to nest early.

Speaking of nesting, while writing on the futon today, I noticed a robin lurking in the neighborhood and by this evening, he was singing outside of our apartment.  I wonder if he will be our resident robin this spring?

State Of The Birds Address

Well, yesterday started the media onslaught of the State of the Birds Report. I feel like I'm supposed to be super excited about this big report,but I find myself cautiously optimistic. I think part of it is that every few years, you see a bunch of high profile birders and organizations get together, create a group like "Conservation Through Birding" and a couple of years later it disappears. Usually because there's so much going on, everyone is so spread out, there's not enough money, and another project comes up. So when I see a list of government and well know conservation and academic institutions comes together to release a report about bird population declines, I wonder, "How is that going to work? How will all those organizations play together?"

Here's a list of the organizations:

International Bird Conservation in the US American Bird Conservancy Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies National Audubon Society Cornell Lab of Ornithology Klamath Bird Observatory The Nature Conservancy US Fish and Wildlife US Geological Survey Partners in Flight Partnership for Shorebird Conservation North American Waterfowl Management Plan Waterbird Conservation

That's a bunch of big groups, with their own projects (for the benefit of birds) but big groups can be unwieldy and hard to work with. Will this work?

Basically, birds in the US are in trouble. It's nothing new to anyone interested in birds and you can see an overview of the bird report here. I watched the fancy video, skimmed the report, noted the organizations involved (noticed Ducks Unlimited was not involved and wondered if they declined or is this a case of birders not inviting them and wanting to create their own group away from hunting--which I think is a mistake, the birder and the hunter should be friends and working together will do far more than working apart).

I went through the material asking myself, what is the point of the State of the Birds address--just trying to get the average person's attention?

But then I found the What You Can Do section.

Great Backyard Bird Count, Avian Knowledge Network, eBird, the Landbird Monitoring Network, HawkCount, Project Feederwatch, just to name a few. There are also 6 million note cards housed in a US Geological Survey cabinet with migratory records dating back to the 19th century. Using an online entry form, volunteers (you) can turn scanned cards into database entries, bringing the invaluable data into the 21st century. Anyone care to enter in two records a day or maybe do five a week?

Those are all great projects and relatively easy things that the average person can do. These are a bunch of big organizations with big projects combining their resources. Now this is pretty exciting and I'm curious to see where it goes. This is a way that anyone, any group could help with research and maybe give a clear handle on how to help some of these bird populations.

I also really like that I got press releases out the ying yang from many of the groups involved. I think it's encouraging that they are trying to harness the power of the internet to get people involved with birds they may never had heard about and get the message out.

Questions are still in my head: Can these groups really work together in the long term? Can we keep the momentum going?

We don't know until we try.

So pick a project or two and see if you can jump in and help improve the State of the Birds.

Upcoming Events

Don't forget, tonight is Birds and Beers at Merlin's Rest at 6pm. Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of people of level of interest in birds to get together and talk some birds.

Also, I'm getting excited about the Indianapolis Digiscoping Workshop that will be held at Eagle Creek Park, Sunday, March 29. We'll start with a bird walk at 9am and afterwards do some digiscoping (that part will start at around 11:30am or when the walk is finished). Should see some great migrants.

Also, it looks like we will be moving the blog this weekend from blogger to wordpress. Yikes! Things may look weird on Saturday or Sunday but I'm hoping that the move will help with archiving posts and make it easier for people to search for older blog posts.

And any peeps going the Woodward, OK Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival? Looks I'll be at that one too. I met a someone at the San Diego festival who said her local bird club was making a special trip for it. Looks like it'll be a great time to see a cool bird.

State Of The Birds Address

A bunch of boys are getting together to tell us about the state of the birds in the US:

On Thursday March 19th, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will release the first ever U.S. State of the Birds report.

The report was developed by a partnership among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, state government wildlife agencies and non-governmental organizations. The report documents the decline of bird populations in many habitats due to habitat loss, invasive species and other factors. At the same time, it provides heartening examples of how sustained habitat conservation and other environmental efforts can reverse the decline of many bird species.

Here's the list of participants:

Secretary Ken Salazar
John Fitzpatrick, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Darin Schroeder, American Bird Conservancy
John Flicker, National Audubon Society
John Hoskins, North American Bird Conservation Initiative
Robert Benndick, The Nature Conservancy

Bird Dancing To Ray Charles

This one is better than the bird that danced to the Backstreet Boys and screeched. This one gets its groove on to Ray Charles--you have to see the head spin to truly appreciate this one:

Thanks, President Obama

Remember when the last administration wanted to change the Endangered Species Act? They wanted to relax the rules to eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, allowing the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself whether the project is likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.

Well, President Obama has changed it back. Thanks, dude! And thanks to everyone out there who voiced their concern over this proposed change! From the Washington Post:

Today President Obama will restore rules requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species, according to an administration official who asked not to be identified, marking yet another reversal of President Bush's environmental legacy.

In December 2008, the Bush administration changed a longstanding practice under the Endangered Species Act by issuing rules that allowed agencies to move ahead with projects and programs without seeking an independent review by either the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Environmentalists and scientists said this shift could allow agencies to press ahead with plans that could hurt already-vulnerable species across the country.

Today Obama will issue a presidential memorandum, an administration official said, that will direct departments to yet again consult with the two agencies on decisions that could affect imperiled plants and animals "while the Interior and Commerce Departments review the Bush rulemaking."

The move, the official said, "will restore the status quo ante and allow the Interior and Commerce Departments to determine whether a new rule should be promulgated that will again codify the longstanding consultation practice under the" Endangered Species Act.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Shorebird and Sparrow Workshops

In case you have not seen it, Birdspot has an awesome shot of a dowitcher with the tips of its bill open. Fabulous shot, gotta love what those crazy shorebirds can do with their bills!

Speaking of shorebirds, my friend Doug Buri is offering some of his great brown bird workshops again this year. One being a Shorebird Workshop, my buddy Amber and I went to this a few years ago, if you feel completely lost on basic shorebird id, go with Doug. You'll spend three days in South Dakota learning the 6 - 8 most common dudes in the midwest. The best part is that they are up close, so you can really focus on the birds, we had least sandpipers within five feet us. Doug does a GREAT job of making it fun and approachable and if you miss id a few birds, he works you through it as opposed to making you feel like an idiot. You'll learn that happiness is a summer mudflat in South Dakota.

Doug is also offering a Sparrow Workshop which I hope I can go to this year. He had it last year, but I was out of town. And after reading about Hasty Brook's adventures here and here, I really want to go. Looks like a brown bird bonanza.