Klamath Basin Audubon Society
The Grebe
December/January 2005-2006
It's Party Time for KBAS! Food, Fun, a Special Guest. Be There!
Birders and friends of birders, it's that time of year again. Mark your calendars this very minute for Wednesday evening December 7 at 7 p.m.
Yes, it's the annual Klamath Basin Audubon Society's Christmas Potluck Party, THE social event of the year.
Come and party with some of the nicest and most interesting folks in the Klamath area. Bring a guest, or simply come as a guest. We'll welcome you.
Members will bring sweet and savory Christmas treats. (Savory, for the culinary-challenged, means tasty without sweetness--as in cheese and crackers, perhaps?). And, hey, whoever brought that homemade almond shortbread a few meetings ago, it was outstanding!
But potluck treats are just the beginning. Members and guests are also invited to share a few of their favorite photos, slides or sound recordings of birds. This may lead to some interesting stories.
We'll also have a "Bird Quiz". But don't worry--no one will ever know if you got the answers right or wrong, and there will be no pop quizzes.
As if that weren't enough, we'll have a very special guest. (Story follows.)
So, once more, mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 7. The day is a change from our usual Thursday meetings in order to avoid a conflict with the Snowflake parade. Come to the large meeting room downstairs in the County Courthouse. The Courthouse is at 316 Main St.
Celebrate Audubon's Centennial with Oregon Audubon's Dave Eshbaugh
The Great Auk and Labrador Duck were extinct. The Passenger Pigeon and Carolina Parakeet were soon to follow. Rampant market hunting, plume collection, and habitat destruction were destroying many North American bird populations. Grebes, herons, waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds--all were in jeopardy.
The number of Great Egrets -- now the symbol of Audubon -- was reduced by 95 percent across the continent; in Oregon there were so few that they no longer bred in the state. 100 years ago--in 1905--these circumstances helped launch the National Audubon Society, giving rise to one of the most successful conservation movements ever.
Join Dave Eshbaugh, Executive Director of Audubon Oregon, for a special Audubon Centennial presentation during which he will talk about the beginnings of Audubon nationally and in Oregon, their evolution, a century of accomplishments, and some of the challenges Audubon will face in the next 100 years.
Since raising a pair of baby robins at age four to release to the wild, Dave has been a lifelong bird and nature enthusiast. He has led many tours in search of some of the world's most remarkable birds and wildlife.
Read a Paper Lately with No Avian Flu Story?
Avian flu is big news these days. Is it media hype or should you be concerned?
The answer is probably "both". Conservation organizations including Audubon, as well as health and animal groups, both national and international, are taking it seriously. Even if you feel no personal threat, as a birder you may by affected by other people's fear of the feathered creatures we love to watch. And you probably live in the Klamath Basin! So here is a summary.
Some Background
There are at least 144 different strains of avian flu, which fall into four categories:
- The vast majority circulate in low levels in wild bird populations, causing mild illness. They can cause an occasional lethal outbreak in domestic poultry.
- A few strains are more virulent and cause high mortality in both wild birds and poultry stock.
- A few sub types are highly lethal and can be transmitted from birds to humans.
- The worst (and fortunately very rare) virulent avian strains can be transmitted from bird to human and then mutate to allow human to human transmission.
A devastating example of type four was the so-called "Spanish Influenza" of 1918, a pandemic outbreak which killed an estimated 40 to 50 million people (plus an unknown number who suffered after effects during their lives).
Today we have a disease which is affecting wild birds, domestic birds, and humans. We are reading about it almost daily. It is a strain of avian flu named H5N1. Into which category does it fall? Right now it seems to be a category three avian flu. The concern, of course, is that there is a possibility it could mutate to category four. But that is only a possibility.
Very Short History of H5N1
Since 1997 this high mortality strain has infected more than 120 people and caused at least 65 deaths in East and Southeast Asia. It appears to be transmitted to people through direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Well over 150 million domestic birds have been killed to contain outbreaks. However, certain cases involving health care workers suggest that H5N1 has a very limited ability to be transmitted from person to person.
Wild Birds and H5N1
In Southeast Asia, domestic flocks are often allowed to mix freely with wild birds, especially waterfowl. There have been several reported die-offs among migratory waterfowl.
In August an outbreak of H5N1 was detected at a remote lake in northern Mongolia, far from any known poultry sources. This has led many researchers to conclude that, at least in some case' wild birds can spread the virus along their migratory routes. It is estimated that about 10 percent of the world population of the rare Bar-headed Goose died in a recent outbreak in China.
Last month H5N1 was found in domestic ducks and poultry in Turkey and Romania, and a Mute Swan in Croatia.
While there is no evidence of wild birds being able to transmit H5N1 directly to people, laboratory studies indicate that domestic ducks, as well as Mallards and perhaps other wild species, may be able to carry and transmit the virus to other birds, without showing signs of illness.
The Audubon Society, along with many national and international conservation, health and animal groups are vigorously opposed to the culling (killing) of wild birds. This has been done, for example, in Thailand where Asian Openbill Storks were targeted.
Such culls, say the groups, have the potential to make things worse by dispersing infected birds and stressing healthy ones, making them more prone to the disease.
What about the U.S. and the Klamath Basin?
H5N1 has not yet been reported from either North or South America. Few birds migrate from Asia all the way to the lower 48. However, many mingle in Alaska with local populations of waterfowl and shorebirds whose migratory pathways bring them through Oregon, including the Klamath Basin.
Perspectives: Three
Points of View on
Avian Flu
From Audubon:
"While there is strong circumstantial evidence that wild birds may be able to spread the disease along their migratory paths, more testing of healthy waterfowl and other birds is needed before we can be certain that migratory birds are the source of the H5N1 virus infections reported in Eastern Europe. Global testing of both domestic waterfowl and wild bird is urgently needed in order to monitor the extent and spread of the virus in both populations."
From Pepper Trail, Rogue Valley Audubon:
"Amid all the concerns that avian flu raises, the good news is: even in the areas where H5N1 has been reported, the observation and enjoyment of wild birds are not associated with any increased risk of avian flu. Birding remains what it has always been: a blessed escape from the worries of the world."
From Abigail Zuger, M.D., written in a New York Times column, Oct. 25,2005:
"Of four patients I saw in a single hour last week, three announced how scared they were of the avian flu. I reassured them, but there was quite a bit I did not say, and here it is.
I did not say: If you want to be scared, then how about that drug habit of yours you think I don't know about? How about the fact that you are 100 pounds overweight and cat nothing but junk?
I did not say: How about the fact that in a few short months Medicaid is going to stop paying for your very expensive medications and no one knows how just how high that Medicare Part D deductible and co-payment are going to be?
I did not say: If you want something to be scared of, how about the drug-resistant Klebsiella that is all over this very hospital, an ordinary run-of-the-mill bacterial strain that has become so resistant to so many antibiotics that we've had to resurrect a few we stopped using 30 years ago because they were so toxic.
That Klebsiella is one scary germ. It's in hospitals all over the country, and by now it's probably killed a thousandfold more people than the avian flu."
KBAS Wants to Thank a Few People
Ann Taylor, a long-time Basin resident and former member of KBAS, died recently at the age of 92. She left instructions to send donations to KBAS in her memory. Donations were received from Donna Lancaster, Agnes Green, and Barbara Gillaspie.
Lynn Patterson of Cornelius, Oregon wrote:
"Greetings. When my husband and another couple were in Klamath Falls (our first visit) in March, we lucked into a bird watching expedition led by Charlotte Kisling. It was such a thrill--we had a fantastic time.
We're just beginning this hobby and what an introduction!
This donation is a token of thanks to your group for welcoming us. Please convey out thanks to Charlotte, too, for the wonderful day. Lynne"
And last, but far, far from least, thank you to KBAS Board members Jane and Woody Morf, for your extremely generous donation.
Happy Holidays!!
Traveling to the San Francisco Bay area in September to bird at Pt. Reyes , Hawk Hill and Grizzly Island with trip leader Charlotte Kisling, were Julie Van Moorhem, Joan Spencer and three Matzens: B.J., his son Andrew and his grandson Damian. Another of BJ's sons, Ben, joined us from Richmond as did guests from Ashland and Napa.
It was high adventure with wild extremes of weather, mind boggling traffic, missed connections and impromptu destination changes. Charlotte came through with a wonderful, memorable trip. Many thanks!!
Field Trip Report: Hawk Hill and Pt. Reyes, Sept 28, 29, 30, Oct. 1, 2005
We got together early Thursday morning at a big shopping center in Novato. Traffic was so horrendous that we decided to bird for awhile and did so in back of the shopping center buildings, looking out over the marsh. (Julie: "A UPS driver saw us and stopped his truck. I thought we might be trespassing. Instead he showed us a family of Barn Owls nesting high on a covered ledge on the back of one of the shopping center buildings.")
The family of Barn Owls was the neatest thing. But we still had to fight heavy traffic, finally arriving at Hawk Hill. The day was very hot with little or no wind, but we did see lots of Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks. One Osprey came very close and several Broad-winged Hawks gave us good looks at that species. Non-raptors included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Bushtits and Vaux's Swifts.
Since the heat was a bit much, we left the area and did a little birdingjust south of Novato before the heat got to us again. Friday, we went to Point Reyes, but due to the lack of a good weather system, it was as slow for rarities as I have ever seen at that time of the year at the outer point. Fog started coming in while we were at the lighthouse and it began to cool considerably.
Things picked up a little when we went to the Bear Valley visitor center and were treated to watching Acorn Woodpeckers working on filling their larder trees. By the time we got to the Limatour area, it was quite cool and we picked up a few more species. On Saturday, a horse named Lost in The Fog was running away from its competition at Bay Meadows racetrack while we were lost in the fog below Hawk Hill. So we took in the Marine Mammal center, which proved to be the best birding spot of the entire trip.
Great Birding at Marine Mammal Center
Townsend's warblers seemed to be everywhere and Bewick's Wrens were common. Two Say's Phoebes perched right next to a Black Phoebe. The group split for a time for lunch so BJ and I did a little birding before heading up the hill. We liad great looks at a pair ofWrentits. The hill was almost completely fogged in all of the time we were there and jackets were called for, quite a difference from Thursday. (Julie: "The director of the Golden Gate Raptor Society gave a wonderful lecture to the crowd gathered in the fog on top of Hawk Hill.")
We finished the day doing a little birding around Richardson Bay. Other birds seen that are not commonly seen up here included Common Loon, Brown Pelican, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, White-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Seraipalmated Plover, Sanderling, Heel-man's and Western Gull, Elegant Tern, Anna's Hummingbird .Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Northern Mockingbird, and the Great-tailed Grackles seen by Joan Spencer and Julie Van Moorhem at Grizzly Island on Wednesday. (Joan: "My trip favorite was the White-tailed Kite at Grizzly, which put on an acrobatic display. It hovered a long time directly opposite our car, dangling its marionette-like legs.") Every day at least some of our group saw Brush Rabbits, a small western species of cottontail and the Marine Mammal Center released two California Sea Lion pups while we were at Drake's Beach. .(Julie and Joan: "We hunted on the way back for a Yellow-billed Magpie. At Willows, we got off 1-5 and spent a half hour looking in vain for the birds lliat the gas station attendant said 'Hang out around here all the time'.")
Kevin Spencer's Field Trip Report: a Saturday Morning in Moore Park
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, started out wet, but it soon cleared and the birds started showing up. In Moore Park, an up close, mixed flock changed a quiet walked into something to talk about. Golden-crowned Kinglets, Mountain Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Pygmy Nuthatch, and Audubon's Warbler came in close for good views.
Wilson's Snipe and Long-billed Dowitchcr had good comparison views in the scope at Putnam's Point. While there, the group saw almost all the likely herons to be seen in the Basin, including: Great Blue Heron, Common Egret, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, and a single cryptic Green Heron. Before we left a single Bonaparte's Gull quickly flew by overhead.
The walk down the north end of Link River was sparrow haven with Golden-crowned, White-crowned, Lincoln, and Song Sparrows moving around in the brush along the trail. A late season female or immature Black-headed Grosbeak was seen eating blackberries. About 5-6 Hooded Mergansers were seen in the Link River!
While headed back, the group was able to see an uncommon Northern Flicker. This flicker had yellow shafts and was at least a hybrid, if not an actual Yellow-shafted Flicker. In about 3 hours the 6-7 birders saw or heard 58 species, a nice total for a real fall morning.
CONSIDER A GIFT THAT CAN CHANGE YOUNG LIVES
National Audubon produces Audubon Adventures, a news magazine to encourage children's natural curiosity about their environment.
We have sponsored the magazine for children in Klamath County elementary classrooms for many years. However, the KBAS budget is limited.
Is there a child in your life you would like to encourage to leam about wildlife? Or perhaps you are a generous person who would like to share this gift with many. For $35 year you can provide a child's whole class with this excellent magazine.
If you would like information about the Audubon Adventure, call Jim Rooks, our Education Chairperson, (541- 851-0209), and he'll be glad to answer your questions.
If you participate, please send your check for $35 per class, and specify if this is to support a particular class or classes at a particular school. Send to: KBAS/Audubon Advisor., P.O. Box 354, Klamath Falls. Falls, OR 97601
What's going on with The Grebe and the Grebes?
Where is our little Grebe who has been with us for so many years? Hs needed some R&R (restoration and rejuvenation). He's earned it! He'll return in the next issue or two, paddling through the pages, having fun and helping out.
The new logo, a Western Grebe with chicks, was drawn for the exclusive use of KBAS by professional wildlife artist Elva Hamerstrom Paulson. The daughter of two well-known ornithologists, her interest in birds and art began when she was very young. She has lived in Oregon for more then 30 years.
Elva has illustrated seven books, including the outstanding Birds of Oregon; A General Reference, published in 2003 by the Oregon State University Press.
She and her husband, Dale, spend a great deal of time in the field. Elva sketches while Dale takes photographs. She lives in Roseburg, where she is a member of her local Audubon Society.
"The Klamath Basin has a special place in my heart," Eva says. "Dale and I spend a lot of time there."BLM REVIEWS MAY MEAN MORE TIMBER CUTTING
Back in the late 1800's Congress was handing out huge land grants to railroad builders. Almost 400,000 square miles of Oregon (in "checkerboard" alternating sections) were given to the Oregon and California Railroad. Since it was never built, that land was eventually given to the BLM to manage under the O&C Act of 1937.
The law was quite progressive. It specified management for multiple uses, including sustainable timber harvesting, wildlife protection, waterways protection, recreation, and fire management.
The original law mentioned an annual harvest of 500 MMBF (million board feet). Over the years, practices changed with politics, and harvests varied. The peak was in 1983 at 1,185 MMBF. Then, in 1995, the Clinton administration's Northwest Forest Plan cut MMBF down to 211. A law was enacted in 2000 to provide federal funds to counties which had lost jobs and lost the percentage of timber sales which they had been receiving.
BLM now manages the O&C lands under the Clinton plan. Checkerboard lands are notoriously difficult to manage (think access, waterway protection and fire protection for starters.) But the Klamath District (including Lake County) is fortunate; most of the alternating sections are public domain also under BLM management
Bad News for the Birds on the Way?
However, timber companies sued the BLM, claiming that timber was being short changed under the 1995 Act. In 2003 the lawsuit was settled, with the BLM agreeing to review all six management areas in Oregon.
The kicker in that settlement: a requirement that each management plan revision contain at least one alternative which will not require ANY reserves on O&C lands except as required to avoid jeopardy under the Endangered Species Act. (See story on page 10 about what's happening to that protection.)
So, good-bye to multi-use (water, wildlife, sustainabihty, fire management, recreation) if any of tliese "required alternatives" are adopted. The deadline for public comment on the revising process was November 21.
Ralph Opp, KBAS Conservation Chairperson, sent the following letter to the BLM
Attn: Western Oregon Planning Revision (OR930.1)
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Oregon/Washington State Office
Portland Oregon 97208
We are submitting the following comments in the name of Klamath Basin Audubon Society, our local Klamath Basin area Audubon chapter. We have at the very least the following concerns and statements to submit.
We are especially interested and concerned about our local area, the area most familiar to most of us, that being the area in SW Oregon and especially the area within the BLM Klamath Falls Resource Area.
The Klamath Falls Resource Area is of special interest and concern because we know it stands out in uniqueness from the remaining planning area because it contains mixed occurrences of both O&C as well as Public Domain categories of land. We feel it be more expedient to manage it all as Public Domain because of mixture of the land types. We feel also that primary management emphasis can be given deservedly to sustainable water quality, wildlife habitat and recreational uses. The area is additionally unique in that it is a transition zone harboring both 'east side' and 'west side' Cascade Mountain Range vegetative and wildlife habitat characteristics. Too, it occurs in a much lower rainfall (drier) area than much of the remaining (Westside) O&C lands under study and necessarily requires appropriate management consideration in line with thai characteristic or quality.
The Klamath River Canyon occurs within the Resource area, bisecting the extreme southern half. It has Scenic River status, hosts at least one pan- of nesting bald eagles, contains historic peregrine falcon nesting sites and harbors unique vegetative and wildlife habitat types. The Canyon also hosts highly valuable historical qualities, like the Frain Ranch site, the Topsy (road) grade among them. We are concerned about certain 'haul' road-type changes (improvements ?) to the Topsy Grade distracting from its historic character and value. It is our firm recommendation that the special historic and wildlife values within the Klamath River Canyon be re evaluated and given the special management consideration they deserve.
We believe that a limited level of access to the entire resource area will go a long way in better maintaining multiple resource values especially wildlife habitat values. Road densities higher than one half mile per section (square mile) greatly reduce wildlife habitat effectiveness.
Timbered and/or vegetative stream buffers of a minimum 300 feet should be maintained in both categories of land. Public Domain, as well as 0&C lands. It is the only way of assuring maintaining good water quality as well as important wildlife habitat including in-stream habitat.
It is also of utmost importance that the classified wild horse herd in the Klamath Falls Resource area be maintained at or below management levels, as they can be quite destructive to other resource values. Complete removal of that herd should remain a planning alternative as other resource damage and impacts have been continuously displayed and documented.
We further believe that extra special attention be given for the management of sensitive wildlife species and their habitat known or reported to occur in the Klamath Resource area, such as Townsend big eared bats, wolverine, ringtail cat, western pond turtle and a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians. The area also hosts a fairly large population of highly migratory (unique) wintering black tailed deer. And of course there is little question that listed species and their habitat should be protected. It is a well-known fact that protecting and reversing the depletion of the bald eagle's habitat played a major part in their recovery.
We are also concerned about the poor direct access to planning information by way of a federal agency web site. It is a technology resource that many people have come to rely on. It is almost inconceivable that the BLM as a federal agency apparently has had an on again off again web site for this very important program.
We do however appreciate having been formally and personally contacted and informed of the planning and review process even though it occurred late in the scoping process.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment during this important BLM planning and review process. We remain very interested in how our public lands are being managed and utilized. We wish to be kept informed of further informational steps in this ongoing process.
Respectfully submitted,
Ralph Opp, conservation ecologist for Klamath Basin Audubon Society
2005 Fall Migration Count: Six Birders and 16,844 Birds on One Day
Led by Kevin Spencer, that large number represents 138 species--an example of how much six expert, dedicated birders accomplished on one rainy September day.
North America Migration Count (NAMC)
DATE: September 17, 2005
Low temp: 45 degrees F High temp: 61 degrees F
Wind dir: Variable, 1-5 km/h
Clouds: 80%, Precip in AM: showers/intermittent rain
Observers: Julie Van Moorhem, Jean Van Hulzen, Charlotte Kisling, Dave Haupt, Wes Stone, Kevin Spencer
Areas Covered: Owling on Clover Ck., Dead Indian Memorial, Cold Springs, VarneyCk. Rds. Regular: Odessa CG, Rocky Pt., Westside Rd., Seven-Mile GS., Crater Lk. NP, Modoc Pt., Chiloquin, Wood River Wetlands, Kimball-Jackson, Wood River Picnic Area, Bonanza area, southern Klamath Co.,
Total Hours: 40.25, Car Hours: 16.5, Car miles: 280.5 Foot Hours: 23.75, Foot Miles: 11.25 Owling Hours (not included in total): 3, Miles Owling; 27 Observers Owling: 2 Start Time: 0330, End Time; 1930
Counted, but not tallied within summary below: Strix sp.- 2 (not conclusive about Spotted vs. Barred owl screeching) titmouse sp. -1 (observation in overlap area; considered intermediate between Oak and Juniper) Duck sp.-60 (too distant for id) Swallow sp. - 75 (too distant for id)
Total Species: 138 Total Individuals: 16,844
1035 Canada Goose, 23 Wood Duck, 121 Gadwall, 238 Mallard, 16 Cinnamon Teal, 5 Northern Shoveler, 5 Lesser Scaup, 11 Bufflehead.13 Hooded Merganser, 59 Common Merganser, 2 Ruddy Duck, 1 Ruffed Grouse [1], 391 California Quail, 51 Pied-billed Grebe, 213 Western Grebe, 59 Clark's Grebe, 141 American White Pelican, 309 Double-crested Cormorant, 21 Great Blue Heron, 152 Great Egret, 5 Snowy Egret, 4 Green Heron [2], 24 Black-crowned Night-Heron, 80 White-faced Ibis, 82 Turkey Vulture, 2 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagle, 17 Northern Harrier, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Cooper's Hawk, 5 Unidentified Accipiter, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 1 Swainson's Hawk, 58 Red-tailed Hawk,3 Golden Eagle, 27 American Kestrel, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 3 Prairie Falcon, 1 Sora, 2614 American Coot, 39 Killdeer, 31 Greater Yellowlegs, 7 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Spotted Sandpiper, 17 Least Sandpiper, 305 Long-billed Dowitcher, 1152 Unidentified Dowitcher, 16 Wilson's Snipe, 2 Franklin's Gull [3], 886 Ring-billed Gull, 5 California Gull, 5 Caspian Tern, 2 Forster's Tern, 29 Rock Dove, 25 Mourning Dove, 1 Barn Owl, 5 Great Horned Owl, 2 Northern Pygmy-Owl. 2 Anna's Hummingbird [4], 10 Belted Kingfisher, 20 Lewis' Woodpecker. 12 Red-breasted Sapsucker, 3 Downy Woodpecker, 2 Hairy Woodpecker, 36 Northern Flicker, 3 Pileated Woodpecker, 13 Western Wood-Pewee, 1 Hammond's Flycatcher, 1 Unidentified Empidonax, 1 Black Phoebe [5], 1 Say's Phoebe, 5 Cassin's Vireo, 5 Warbling Vireo, 36 Stelier's Jay, 30 Western Scrub-Jay, 28 Pinyon Jay [6], 102 dark's Nutcracker [7], 61 Black-billed Magpie, 57 Common Raven, 340 Tree Swallow, 253 Violet-green Swallow, 50 Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 64 Cliff Swallow, 506 Barn Swallow, 3 Black-capped Chickadee [8],, and 56 Mountain Chickadee, 10 Chestnut-backed Chickadee [9], 3 Juniper Titmouse [10], 27 Bushtit, 22 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch [11], 15 Pygmy Nuthatch, 4 Brown Creeper, 5 Bewick's Wren, 4 House Wren, 2 Winter Wren, 18 Marsh Wren, 19 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 8 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 24 Western Bluebird, 6 Townsend's Solitaire, 6 Hermit Thrush, 165 American Robin, 1794 European Starling, 25 Cedar Waxwing, 121 Orange-crowned Warbler, 61 Yellow Warbler, 303 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2 Black-throated Gray Warbler [12], 2 Townsend's Warbler, 3 Hermit Warbler, 2 MacGillivray's Warbler, 5 Common Yellowthroat, 24 Wilson's Warbler, 6 Western Tanager, 15 SpottedTowhee, 75 Chipping Sparrow, 5 Brewer's Sparrow, 2 Vesper Sparrow, 54 Savannah Sparrow, 11 Fox Sparrow, 50 Song Sparrow, 29 Lincoln's Sparrow, 69 White-crowned Sparrow, 132 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 83 Dark-eyed Junco, 2 Black-headed Grosbeak, 1241 Red-winged Blackbird, 33 Western Meadowlark, 3 Yellow-headed Blackbird, 1687 Brewer's Blackbird, 66 Brown-headed Cowbird, 16 Purple Finch, 30 Cassin's Finch [13], 49 House Finch, 3 Red Crossbill,3 Pine Siskin, 130 Lesser Goldfinch, 12 American Goldfinch, 171 House Sparrow
Footnotes:[1] Odessa CG, [2] Odessa CG, and Wood River Wetlands,[3] Agency Lake off Henzel County Park,[4] Chiloquin feeder,[5] Big Springs Park, Bonanza (present previous fall also),[6] Bonanza feeder,[7] Almost all at Crater Lake; consuming White-bark Pine nuts,[8] Wood River Wetlands and near Yacht Club,[9] Rock Ck Rd., Westside of Upper Klamath,[10] Bonanza area, [11] near Odessa CG, [12] Rock Ck., Westside of Upper Klamath southern Klamath Co.[13] Most at Crater Lake.
Christmas Bird Count Coming Up - Contact Kevin Spencer to Join
Kevin Spencer will lead the 106th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Saturday December 31. Birders of all levels are welcome. It is fan and a way to get started birding and meeting the Klamath birding community. There are expert birders in every group, so it is a good learning experience.
Contact Kevin at , or at 884-5739, and he will assign you to a suitable group. Then you can contact the leader for detailed information. Each group covers a specific part of the Klamath Falls area.
It is an all-day activity. Counters meet at the end of the day to tally results and share experiences. Unlike almost all KBAS activities, (which are free) National Audubon charges $5 per birder (always the subject of much grumbling!).
The CBC is great fun, but it is more than that. It is vital in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds across the Northern Hemisphere.
The information gathered is a crucial part of the U.S. government's natural history monitoring database. It is 100% volunteer gathered. Count results from 1900 to the present are on Audubon's website at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc.
The information you contribute will be added via Audubon's website (above). The 106th counts will be available in near real-time. You can explore this data and see if and how the 106th status of your local birds (or those of any other area) has changed in the last year...25 years...50 years... or 100 years. (Well, maybe it is worth that $5!)
Northwest Old Growth Forest Under Siege by Timber Industry and Feds: Marbled Murrelets to Lose Protection
A year ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that Marbled Murrelets in California, Oregon and Washington were not a distinct population from those in Canada and Alaska.
"The policy decision came in part from Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson, who confirmed that Washington D.C. officials had overruled the agency's Pacific Region biologists who viewed the three-state population as separate. The 8-inch Murrelet has served as the key obstacle in stopping... timber concerns from logging old growth forests..." (SF Chronicle Oct 27, 2005)
In late October Fish and Wildlife confirmed it will propose delisting the Murrelets from protection under the Endangered Species Act by the end of 2005. Several other species are under consideration for delisting, including the Western Snowy Plover.
"The delisting was prompted by a petition from the American Forest Resource Council, a group whose 'mission is to create a favorable operating environment for the forest products industry', according to its website." (Northcoast Journal Weekly, Nov. 3, 2005)
"The Murrelet is the absolute best indicator we have of the health of old-growth forests. If it's allowed to go extinct, you can just wave bye-bye to the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest," said Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson. (iSF Chronicle, Oct. 27,2005)
"Bush administration officials have undercut or ignored warnings and conclusions of government scientists and some of the world's experts on...the Marbled Murrelet." (Seattle Times, Sept. 27, 2005)
"The move reverses" an earlier pledge by Fish and Wildlife not to remove the [Murrelets' protections] until it examines how the entire species is faring. Many biologists think the Murrelet is declining in Alaska and Canada." (The Oregonian, Oct. 21, 2005)
Kieman Suckling said the Bush administration is increasingly using a loophole in the Endangered Species Act that allowed it to [delist] animals under the Endangered Species Act based on the argument that they are not a distinct population segment. The same strategy was used with killer whales and gray wolves, but judges shot down those decisions. (Seattle Times. Oct. 27, 2005).
"It's policy, not science, ...they shield themselves against science." Suckling said. "What we're seeing now is a strategy to employ this policy to either remove species from the list or prevent species from getting on the list." (Seattle Times, Oct. 21, 2005)
"The Central Oregon Coast includes an area that is one of the chief habitats of the Marbled Murrelet... two small areas--Rock Creek and Cummins Creek--with the National Audubon's Ten Mile Sanctuary in between, constitutes the only large, unfragmented old growth habitat on the Oregon coast suitable for breeding habitat... (Newport News Times, Oct 28, 2005)
Environmental groups, including four based in San Francisco, Garberville CA, Portland and Tucson have announced that they will sue if U.S. Fish and Wildlife goes ahead with its intention to delist the Murrelet.
FEEDBACK
We would love to hear from you. Please direct your comments, suggestions, or ideas to: Editor of The Grebe, c/o Klamath Basin Audubon Society, P.O. Box 354, Kamath Falls, OR 97601.
An estimated six million birds are killed every day by domestic cats, according to the Klamath Bird Observatory.
KBAS is updating the Birding Guide To The Klamath Basin, which describes birding sites and species that can be found there. We would appreciate anyone who would help by going birding at any one of the sites and checking the book for current accuracy. If you can help with this project, call Rick Hardy at 885-2504.