SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
October 2003 - Volume 10, No. 9
John Magera, Manager of the Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge, will present a program on this newly established Refuge along the Mississippi River for SIAS on Friday, October 24th starting at 7:30 p.m. This new National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), located roughly from north of St. Louis south to Cape Girardeau, was established following the great flood of 1993. Mr. Magera will explain how the "Middle Miss" is progressing in its goal to relieve landowners from the burden of flood prone agricultural lands and in turn provide riparian forest habitat along the Mississippi River for migratory water-fowl, wading birds, and songbirds as well as endangered species like the pallid sturgeon. He will also discuss the current and future management goals of this unique refuge resource and its conservation partners.
John Magera was hired in August 2002 as the first manager (and currently its only employee) of the Middle Mississippi River NWR and is stationed at the Crab Orchard NWR headquarters until a more permanent office near the Mississippi can be acquired. John, a native Texan, earned a bachelor's degree in Forest Wildlife Management from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. Since 1991, he has worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service as an assistant manager on the Lower Rio Grande Valley (TX), Buenos Aires (AZ), Aransas (TX), and Bitter Lake (NM) National Wildlife Refuges. He wife Karin is a park ranger at Crab Orchard NWR.
The meeting will start with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. If you can, come at 6 p.m. to help set up. Bring a main course, side dish or a desert o share and dinnerware (preferably not disposable.) Some beverages will be provided. Mr. Magera's program follows the potluck.
All SIAS meetings are held in the Fellowship Hall of First United Methodist Church, 214 W. Main St., Carbondale. A parking lot is located on the west side of the church and can be accessed from University Avenue or Main street. Enter from the right of the west side. SIAS meetings are open to the public. Bring a friend!
Speaker: John Schwegman on Birds I Have Photographed.
Potluck, election of officers, program and silent auction. Speakers: James & Eleanor Smith on Edgewood Farms, IL Land & Water Reserve.
Pre orders for the SIAS Fall Bird Seed Sale must be received by noon on Monday, 10/20. Orders are to be picked up from Dillinger's Feed Store, 109 S. Washington St., Carbondale, on the day of the sale, Saturday 10/25, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. You may also place your order directly by either calling Laraine Wright at 457.8769, or sending an e-mail to her at imabirder@earthlink.net.
If you miss the pre order deadline, visit Dillinger's on the day of he sale. Seed will be regular prices but the sales will be tax-free. If you want to purchase seed but cannot pick up your order the day of the sale, please call Laraine to make arrangements for delivery or for later pick-up at Dillinger's.
Volunteers are needed the day of the sale. Please call Laraine at 457.8769 if you can help with the sale. Thanks in advance for your seed order!
Who'd like to remind everyone to keep your bird feeders full (and clean 'em regularly!)
SIASers Wanted! If you would like to serve on the Nomination Committee or on the SIAS Board, we want you! Please contact President Richard LaSalle or any of the Board members. See end of newsletter for Board member contact information.
A huge Thank You goes out to all of the volunteers who helped station our SIAS booth during the Hunting and Fishing Days at John A. Logan College 9/27 and 9/28. The exposure was good for those passing by and inquiring about our organization and what we have to offer. We received a whole page of people's names requesting newsletters and dates and times for our monthly meetings. Our location was one of the better spots, next to Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge and across from the silent auction. Up for bid was one goose call with only a few attendees trying it out.
Thanks again to volunteers Carolyn Mann, Richard and Cindy LaSalle, Genevieve Houghton, Phyllis Beck, Lilly Crane, David Kvernes, Laraine Wright, Jerry O'Malley, John and Susie Utgaard, Nelda Hinckley, and Trevor Hinckley. Unfortunately Greg Kupiec had to give up his station due to an injury. We wish him the best and a speedy recovery.
-Vicki Lang, Cons./Ed. Chair
On Thursdays from 12 noon till l p.m., birders meet informally to eat lunch, watch birds, and chat at Carbondale water treatment plant off McLafferty Road.
Join Crab Orchard NWR for the dedication of their newly remodeled Visitors Center. For more details and a schedule of events phone 997.3344.
Come meet the trees of the Giant City State Park forest. Discover why leaves change color in the fall. Learn the ways we identify trees as heir leaves disappear. You will never look at a tree the same way again. Meet at Giant City Visitors Center along Giant City Road at 10 a.m., outing lasts until noon. For more info call 457.4836.
Tour the Tunnel Hill State Trail. The trail, which stretches 42 miles along the abandoned Norfolk Southern Railroad Line between Harrisburg and Karnak, provides bicycling and hiking opportunities through a varying landscape. These tours will highlight two different sections of the trail and provide opportunities for non-hikers and bikers. Contact the Tunnel Hill State Trail Office at 658.2168 for a tour schedule.
The University Museum is hosting a display of handcrafted turkey calls by master call-makers. The University Museum is located in Faner Hall North, on the Campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It's open Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sat.-Mon. 1-4 p.m.
A Living History Performance By John Wallace
John Muir, naturalist, writer, explorer and pioneer ecologist popularized the cause of conservation - at a time when natural resources seemed inexhaustible. Settle in for an evening of wild adventure tales and gentle philosophical perspectives of wilderness given by John Wallace. Contact Cypress Creek NWR for program time and location at 634.2231.
John Utgaard, Professor Emeritus in Geology at SIUC will lead with stops at Kinkaid Lake Spillway, Fountain Bluff, Grand Tower, La Rue - Pine Hills, Trail of Tears, Alto Pass, and Cobden to examine the Paleozoic sandstones, shales, and limestones and modern depositional environments. The outing will look at the rocks for evidence of the paleoenvironmental conditions under which they were deposited.
Meet under the sign at Murdale Shopping Ctr. in Carbondale at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning for carpooling.
The 15th Annual Acorn Round-Up is planned for this weekend at Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area. Maps of the watershed conservation effort and patches will be provided and tee-shirts will be available for sale at the collection site. More info phone Dave Maginel, Conservation Technologies, at 201.1694.
The Shawnee Sierra Club is sponsoring this Tyson Creek Canyon hike and a walk on top of Fountain Bluff on Sunday the 9th. For more info contact Bob Tyson, 684.5643.
Discover the many ways that plants and animals adjust to the winter cold. Meet at Giant City Visitors Center along Giant City Road at 1 p.m., outing lasts until 2 p.m. For more info call 457.4836.
The Shawnee Sierra Club is sponsoring this hike on the south side of Fern Clyffe State Park. For more info contact Bob Tyson, 684.5643.
Register on the internet! Check next newsletter for details.
December 15--Cypress Creek NWR. Meet for assign-ments at Shawnee Community College in Ullin at 6 a.m. For more details call Cypress Creek NWR 634.2231.
December 17(unverified)--Carlyle Lake (Clinton Co.) Advance registration required. Meet for assignments at the McDonald Restaurant near the Lake entrance at 6 a.m. For more details contact Dan Kassebaum, compiler, at 233.5451; email: at kdan@htc.net.
December 20(unverified)--Crab Orchard NWR (Williamson Co.). Meet for assignments at the CONWR Visitor's Center at 6 a.m. For more info to follow.
December 20(unverified)--Rend Lake. Advanced registration required. For info contact Keith McMullen, compiler, at 632.1057; email: Keith.A.McMullen@mvs02.usace.army.mil.
December 20--Warbluff Valley (Pope Co.). For more info contact Andrea Douglas, compiler at 564.2079; email: anderatd@yahoo.com.
December 28(unverified)--Centralia (Marion County). Meet in the parking lot of the Raccoon School, just west of I-57 at the Centralia exit. For more info call Joe Merkelbach, compiler, at 532.3112; email: jemerk@netwitz.net.
December 29--Horseshoe Lake (Alexander Co.). Advance registration required. For assignments, meet the evening of 12/28 tentatively at the Union County Refuge Office. Persons unable to meet the group the evening before the count should contact Vern Kleen, compiler, at 217.787.3515 or kleen@quixnet.net.
December 30--Union County. Advance registration required. For assignments, meet on the evening of 12/29 tentatively at the Union County Refuge Office. Persons unable to meet the group the evening before the count should contact Vern Kleen, compiler, at 217.787.3515 or kleen@quixnet.net.
December 31--Mermet Lake. For more info contact Frank Bennett, compiler, at 524.7370; email: fkbennett@email.com.
January 1--Jackson County. Meet for assignments at Denny's in Carbondale at 6 a.m. To arrange owling hours, backyard feeder bird counting, or an assignment in advance, contact Rhonda Rothrock, compiler, at 684.6605; e-mail: woodthrusheola8@netscape.net. Advanced registration appreciated but not required. :-)
Reserve your spot on the 2004 John A. Logan College Central American Adventure and spend eight days in a tropical paradise. Start at he Talamanca Highlands and Cerro de la Muerte for Volcano Junco, Timberline Wren, Quetzals and Guans. Other stops include Las Cruces OTS Station, Wilson Botanical Garden, and the rain forest of the Osa Peninsula.
The price of only $2650, includes airfare,
lodging, all meals, and field trips. Contact Nelda Hinckley, Professor
of Biology, John A. Logan College, Carterville, at 457.7676 ex. 8323 or
549.5588.
About rails Roger Tory Peterson has this to say: they "are compact, rather hen-shaped marsh birds of secretive habits and mysterious voices; more often heard than seen. Flight brief and reluctant with legs dangling."
Their name, according to Ernest Choate in his Dictionary of American Bird Names, is probably from Old French raale, "to make a scraping noise," from Latin raelare, "to scrape." This refers to their vocalizations, apparently, although not all rails make scraping sounds. The clapper rail, seen mostly in coastal areas and not in Illinois, makes a clapping sound. Other rails, with one exception, are named for their color (yellow and black rails), their general appearance (the king rail is large and stately), or their range (Virginia rail). The exception is the sora, which has one of the few Native American bird names that have lasted. The sora is the most common rail in southern Illinois but is here mainly in migration. The others are very rarely seen here.
Since rails are so secretive and therefore hard to see and identify, here are some suggestions for finding some unusual species. Try he bars on Illinois Avenue in Carbondale--at Gatsby's and PK's look for brass rails. Along well-developed two-lane highways, especially at bridges and on curves, keep an eye out for guard rails. In residential areas, mostly on houses built before 1950, look for porch rails. Finally, a question and answer: Since, as David Bohlen points out in his excellent book on Illinois birds, "rails are such poor fliers it is difficult to imagine them as long-distance nocturnal migrants," how then do they manage it? Answer: They ride the railroad.
-David Kvernes
Little red-breasted nuthatch toots his tiny tin horn. Announcing his arrival on a sunny autumn morn.
On 09/21 Frank Bennett viewed an immature glossy/white-faced ibis in a undisclosed area. It was first located by a friend of his the day before.
Frank then headed up to Rend Lake where he located 2 American golden plovers along with lesser yellowlegs, pectoral sandpiper, and a few Franklin's gulls.
Vicki Lang had a ruby-throated hummingbird at her feeder on 10/11, the last she's seen this season.
On 10/33 Vicki saw a male Cooper's Hawk at Campus Lake Greek Row on SIU Campus.
Steve Juhlin reports that an immature rufous hummingbird began visiting a feeder in Cape Girardeau the weekend of Oct. 10 and was still present on the 14th.
The Rufous Hummingbird is tiny, less than 4 inches long. Males have an iridescent copper-colored throat patch, a rusty-brown head, body, and tail. Rufous hummers closely resemble Allen's hummingbird with immatures and females nearly inseparable. A widely-distributed western species, they are found regularly in winter along the Gulf coast. Occasionally in the fall a misguided Rufous shows up in the mid-west or east. For this reason it's worthwhile to keep hummingbird feeders out through November. Bringing feeders in at night prevents nectar from freezing as fall temperatures drop.--- http://www.hummingbirds.net
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A recent National Geographic Radio Expeditions story featured a study in Canada where large areas of Alberta's Boreal forests are being carved up for logging and oil wells. Biologists studied the impact of logging on songbirds migrating to the Boreal region to breed. Evidently in he first year after logging, bird numbers in woodlands bordered by logged land was higher than in the previous unlogged year, a "crowding effect". But in the following year, bird numbers dropped. "...not only in areas hat had been cut, but also in adjacent forest left standing. The decline in some migratory bird populations was as high as 50%. " To hear of this story visit: http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2003/oct/boreal/index.html
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Little Gap Raptor Research Group, and the Wildlife Information Center are entering the fourth and final season of color marking Red-tailed hawks at Little Gap on the Kittatinny Ridge in eastern Pennsylvania. Be on the lookout for these birds throughout the migration season and through winter and spring. Birds have been reported from the Atlantic coast through the Appalachians from Quebec to Tennessee.
The hawks are marked with yellow, green or red dye on the first 4 secondaries forming a square patch of color along the trailing edge of each wing. If you see one of these birds please report your: Name, Address, Phone, Email, Date and Time (EST), Location (State, County, exact locality), Age of hawk (adult, immature), Dye Color, Behavior of hawk when observed. Send info to: Dan Kunkle, Wildlife Information Ctr, P.O. Box 198, Slatington, PA 18080; 610.760.8889; wildlife@fast.net
Drinkable water becomes more valuable each year. One water-conserving alternative that merits study is the use of gray water. Daily, homeowners misuse or waste an average of 33% of valuable drinking water. Most of this water misuse is for diluting toilet, sink and laundry wastes and from slightly-used sink, shower and laundry water. Ever day we use many gallons of drinkable water for purposes such as landscape irrigation, which could employ gray water.
Crabapples, hickories, oaks, dogwoods, mulberry, elderberry, blackberry, persimmon, sumacs, wild grapes, gooseberry, American holly, sunflowers, coneflowers, trumpet creeper, and sweet gum provide berries or seeds for birds to feed on. Eastern red cedar, bayberry, pines, firs, yews, spruces, and purple leaf plum provide birds with shelter from wind, inclement weather, and predators. Fall is a good time to plant. Check with your local green-houses and nurseries for these and other bird friendly plants. Try to avoid ornamentals known to be invasive.
A new economic report released in October by the USFWS found that 66
million Americans spent more than $38 billion
in 2001 observing, photographing, or feeding wildlife. The 2001
National and State Economic Impacts of Wildlife Watching Addendum
report relied on data collected in he Service's 2001 National Survey of
Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated recreation.
Direct expenditures by wildlife watchers included expenditures for
items such as cameras, binoculars and bird food, and for trip-related
expenses such as lodging, transportation and food. For each
$1 of direct spending associated with wildlife watching, an
additional $1.49 of economic activity was
generated. Only participants whose principal motivation for he trip,
activity or expenditure is wildlife-related were counted. The full
report is available on-line at
http://federalaid.fws.gov.
The USFWS recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Michigan's Dept. of Information Technology and the Michigan State Police to study bird strikes at communication towers. The study is intended to assess the effects of lighting, height, and guy wires on avian collisions at selected towers in the 350-500 foot height range in the State Police System. The study is designed to help identify reasonable and cost-effective measures that might be available to minimize impacts of the towers on migratory birds.
The construction of towers creates a potentially significant impact on migratory birds, especially some 350 species of night-migrating birds. The number of lighted towers greater than 199 feet above ground level is currently over 45,000. The total number of towers exceeds 74,000. Communications towers are estimated to kill at least 4 million birds per year. Birds may be con-fused in low visibility, flying into towers and guy wires.
In an effort to promote the conservation of imperiled species on private lands, the USFWS proposes two separate rules that would revise regulations governing conservation agreements for federally designated threatened and endangered species.
"We believe these proposed changes will result in increased numbers of landowners working with us to develop Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances. Both of these programs provide immense conservation benefits while helping citizens coexist with imperiled species," said Service Director Steve Williams. Both Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances are intended to remove potential disincentives for landowners to manage their property for the benefit of listed and candidate species.
The text of the proposed rules can be found online at http://endangered.fws.gov. The public in encouraged to send comments on both proposed rules to: Division of Endangered Species, USFWS, Room 420, Arlington Square Building, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 by 11/10/03.
The Service has released a Final Rule and Record of Decision that will allow more flexibility in the control of double-crested cormorants in areas where they are causing damage to aquaculture and public resources such as fisheries, vegetation, and other birds.
The rule allows the USDA to conduct winter roost control, establishes a public resource depredation order allowing certain agencies o conduct cormorant control for the protection of public resources, allows control of cormorants at winter roosts near fish farms, and allows fish hatcheries to protect their stock from cormorant predation.
For more info on this and other USFWS news releases visit their website at: http://news.fws.gov OR phone 202.208.5634.
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We welcome new members
Carolyn Mann of Carterville Linda and Russ Dutcher of Carbondale.
To Join The Society: Contact Vicki Devenport, Membership Chair.
A French poodle and a collie were walking down the street. The poodle
complained to the collie, "My life is a mess; my owner is mean, my mate
is having an affair with a German shepherd, and I'm as nervous as a
cat."
"Why don't you go see a psychiatrist?" asked the collie.
"I
can't," replied the poodle, "I'm not allowed on the couch."
Southern Illinois Audubon Society P.O. Box 222, Carbondale, IL 62903-0222
Affiliate of the Illinois Environmental Council and the Illinois Audubon Society
(Written on a contantly reused computer! Are you using recycled paper?)
:-)