| MURIE AUDUBON SOCIETY CASPER, WYOMING |
| VOLUME 39 - ISSUE 6 MONTHLY PUBLICATION OCTOBER 2005 |
CALENDAR
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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HERE)
age Grouse populations have been declining over most of their range over the past three decades. Several petitions have been filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide protection under the Endangered Species Act. In January, the federal agency determined that the bird did not require federal protection.
The future of the sage grouse in the west lies largely in the hands of citizens spread out over 58 Local Working Groups across 10 western states where the grouse can be found. In Wyoming, there are eight Local Working Groups. The sage grouse working groups were formed last year under the auspices of the state’s sage grouse management plan approved by the Game and Fish Commission in July 2003. The sage grouse plan aims to stabilize and increase sage grouse populations and habitat in Wyoming. Wyoming’s Local Working Groups will oversee the process of distributing about $425,000 in state money for conservation projects benefiting sage grouse and their habitats.
Stacey Scott, Murie Audubon Board Member and member of the Bates Hole/Shirley Basin Sage Grouse Working Group, will be our speaker for the October program. Stacey will present biological information about the Greater Sage-Grouse then update us on the Local Working Group’s ongoing work.
Join us on Friday, October 7th at 7 pm at the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Building at 2211 King Blvd. As always, the program is free and open to the public.
Bruce Walgren - Program Chair
FROM
THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
here’s been a nip in the air recently. Fall is just around the corner and the leaves are coloring-up or falling across the lawn. Does the fact that we have yet to experience our first hard freeze portend a warm winter?
I would like to give a big thanks to the following people who have been filling the feeders at Audubon Center at Garden Creek for the past year - Sophie Bogart (Monday), Liz Rea (Wednesday), Chris Michelson (Thursday), and Pat Claussen (Saturday). (I, also, fill feeders on Sundays.) Merlyn Herold and Dick & Doris Von Holdt have begun sharing Fridays - Merlyn filling during his off-rehab season and the Von Holdts during the rest of the year. Mike Szymczak has started filling feeders on Tuesdays. Bruce Dudley filled the feeders when one of the volunteers was unable to make it up to the Center and now Diana Walter fills that role. Thanks to all of your for your dedication!
We say a fond farewell to Peg Cullen who had resigned from our board and moved to Sheridan, WY. She has served on the Murie Board as President, advisor, and been the Banquet chairman. She will be greatly missed but I know we will see her from time to time. We wish you all the best, Peg!
We extend our sympathies to Bob and Barb Yonts in the loss of their step-daughter, Sheryl Downs. Sheryl has valiantly fought lung and brain cancer for the past 6 1/2 years. She is at peace now but will be greatly missed by her loving family.
We will be having a new kind of raffle at the Oct. & Nov. meetings. Raffle tickets are $1.00 a piece, 6 for $5.00. If you buy $5.00 worth, you will receive a 2006 pocket calendar. The pocket calendar has a lot of great features, maybe the best being our name on the front!
Remember to bring your used printer cartridges to the October 7th meeting.
I have enough bird cards for the bird boxes - thanks to everyone who donated cards. Anyone interested in donating candy for the bird boxes? After-Halloween-candy-sales is a great time to get small pieces of candy at low prices. The boxes measure 1 1/2” x 1 1/2” x 3/4”. I will need approximately 100 pieces.
Rose-Mary King - President
all migration is in full swing; a variety of birds are making their way through Wyoming, including species of warblers, sparrows, hummingbirds, and shorebirds. Fall migration is always more challenging – streaky juvenile sparrows, winter-plumaged shorebirds and gulls, lots of brown ducks, and of course, the fall warblers – always a challenge!! Yellow-rumps, Wilsons, redstarts, and Townsends in identifiable plumage have been reported, but then there’s the little greenish-yellowish-grayish jobs! Perhaps their purpose in life is to give us a lesson in humility; if so, it certainly works for this birder! But each birding “season” offers a chance to increase our identification skills, to learn a little more about these feathered creatures that many of us find so fascinating.
I hope this fall migration has enabled many of you to add some new birds to your Wyoming county lists. In January we will be calling for your county list submissions, so if you haven’t totaled them up yet, start working on them!!
August Yard Birds – For the month of August, Wayne and I received 169 yard bird selections from 20 states, with 86 different species reported. Of these, there were 5 species of hummers, 6 species of woodpeckers, and 11 species of warblers. The top yard bird choice was actually a three-way tie between Common Nighthawk, Pine Siskin, and American Goldfinch. In second place is Blue Jay. Third place was shared by Townsend’s Warbler, Gray Catbird, and Red-naped Sapsucker. It’s going to be very interesting to see what is reported for the month of September.
Casper: Doris Von Holdt – Northern Waterthrush, Dick Von Holdt, - Red-eyed Vireo, Pat Classen – Yellow Warbler, Cecil Foote – House Finch, Chris Michelson – Common Nighthawk, Jim Herold – Blue Jay, Joanne Odasz – Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Frank Odasz – Common Nighthawk, Rose-Mary King – Pine Siskin, Bruce Walgren – Western Kingbird, Donna Walgren – MacGillivray’s Warbler; Cheyenne:
Barb Gorges – Townsend’s Warbler; Douglas: Billie Snell – Townsend’s Warbler;
Evanston: Patti Gorman – Rufous Hummingbird, Tim Gorman – Common Grackle;
Jackson: Margie Melton – Townsend’s Warbler; Lovell: Glen Olsen – Yellow-breasted Chat.
Thanks to all who helped with the Yard Bird Project in August!! Keep watching your yard and pick the bird you most enjoyed seeing in, over, or from your yard in September; then send your choice to Donna Walgren (ph. 234-7455), 4311 S. Center St., Casper 82601, or email to bwalgren_AT_coffeyDOTcom. Thanks again!!
To find out what birds have been seen in Casper and around the state, call Murie Audubon’s Bird Hotline: in Casper, 265-BIRD, outside of Casper, 1-888-265-BIRD.
Donna Walgren
aturday, Oct. 8, Norm Brown will lead the field trip to Alcova and the dinosaur trail. This will be a leisurely trip starting at 9:00 am from the Piggery. Bring a lunch and warm clothes. Norm will discuss the geology of the area and we will look at any birds that show up. Call Stacey Scott at 265-6213 with any questions.
Stacey Scott - Field Trip Chair
The Board voted to offer one full scholarship to a Casper area elementary student (4th, 5th, or 6th grade) to attend the EcoTracks Discovery Camp for Kids to be held at the Lucius Burch Center at Trail Lake Ranch near Dubois.
The Conservation Committee is continuing to follow the progress of the controversy surrounding Buckboard (or River Plain) Park; it is still hoped that the developer will consider leaving the area as natural as possible.
The Board approved the purchase of a projector and laptop from Computer Professionals Unlimited. This equipment will be available to Murie members giving PowerPoint presentation programs, and also for use by guest speakers at our monthly meetings. The majority of the cost will be covered by the money raised by two birdathons conducted last May (with the remainder of the cost coming from Murie’s general fund). Many thanks to all who helped make these Birdathons a big success.
The Strategic Planning Committee is continuing to work on the final draft of Murie’s Strategic Plan. The Board discussed the idea of construction of a Murie Audubon Center/Museum; it was generally agreed that at this time such a building would not be feasible within a 5 year time frame (which is usually the time span expected for a strategic plan). The Committee also is asking for more input and ideas from everyone on how to increase active membership in our chapter.
Rose-Mary reported that the bridges on Garden Creek at the Audubon Center at Garden Creek need repair work and replacement; Audubon Wyoming estimates that at least $5000 is needed for materials. It was suggested that perhaps Murie could “buy a bridge,” that is, donate the cost for repair of one bridge (depending on what that cost is, of course).
Rose-Mary also said that Audubon Wyoming needs to raise $1500 for membership dues in the Casper Museum Consortium by Sept. 30. The Board voted to donate $500; it was suggested that perhaps this donation could serve in lieu of chapter dues to Audubon Wyoming.
The Board also discussed the possibility of selling personalized (with Murie’s name) 2006 day planners as a fund raiser. These would have to be ordered soon in order to be available; prices and shipping costs are being investigated.
Donna Walgren, Recording
Secretary
ast May the Rowdy Ruddys Birdathon team received a pledge for 50 cents/species, but there was no
return address on the envelope and no name on the pledge slip. We very much appreciated the pledge, but were unable to send a “report” letter to the person making the pledge. So if you never received a letter from us reporting the results of our day-long hunt for birds – and if you still would like to contribute to the Projector/Laptop Fundraising Project – let us know who you are! Thank you!!!
Bruce and Donna Walgren (aka the Rowdy Ruddys)
ORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA – Come to where the birds are and join Morro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) for our 10th Annual Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival, January 13-16, 2006. Located on California’s scenic Central Coast, Morro Bay is an important stop on the Pacific Flyway and one of the country’s pre-eminent birding spots. The area is recognized worldwide for its diversity of both resident and wintering birds, and at last year’s festival, over 200 species of birds were identified!
The Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival is sponsored by MCAS and gives you the chance to join local and national birding experts on a variety of field trips and workshops. Field trip group sizes are limited to maximize spotting and identification opportunities. The Festival also offers workshops aimed at sharpening your birding skills, as well as evening programs with outstanding speakers. This year’s festival will feature presentations by Kenn Kaufman and Nigel Marven.
For more information about the Festival, check out our new
website or call (805) 772-4677. You can request that your name be added to the mailing list for our 2006 brochure, or register online. Both the brochure and online registration will be available in October 2005. The registration deadline is January 4, 2006 and early signups are encouraged as the most popular events fill up quickly.
joint field trip by Cheyenne - High Plains Audubon Society and Laramie Audubon Society Saturday, Oct. 15, will offer birders a chance to look for migrating waterfowl and other birds at the Laramie Plains Lakes west of Laramie.
Participants can meet at 7:15 a.m. at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens parking lot or at 8:30 a.m. at the yellow caboose in Laramie, (I-80, Third Street exit). Bring water, lunch, binoculars and spotting scope if available, and dress for the weather.
The field trip is free and open to anyone interested in birds. Please call Barb Gorges, 634-0463, if interested in carpooling.
(FRANK & LOIS LAYTON)
ere is the list of species “admitted” thus far in 2005.
(Status abbreviations: DOA – dead on arrival; EOA – euthanized on arrival; DBT – died before treatment)
Mallard (1) – DBT
Canada Goose (5) – 4 newly hatched, 1 adult – all released
Turkey Vulture (1) – released
Prairie Falcon (2) – 1 EOA – 1 holding
Golden Eagle (3) – 1 DBT, 2 holding for spring release
Short-eared Owl (5) – 1 EOA, 1 holding, 3 tiny nestlings – released
Great Horned Owl (5) – 3 EOA, 1 DBT, 1 holding
Northern Saw-Whet Owl (1) – DBT
American Kestrel (6) – 1 DBT, 1 released, 4 died (reason unknown)
Red-tailed Hawk (6) – 3 EOA, 1 DBT, 2 holding
Swainson’s Hawk (1) – EOA
Pheasant hatchling (1) – died
Belted Kingfisher (1) – died
Northern Flicker nestlings (5) – 2 released, 2 died, 1 holding
Mourning Dove (1) – died
Bohemian Waxwing (6) – 5 DOA, 1 released
Blue Jay (2) – 2 released
Imm. American Robins (4) – 1 DOA, 2 released, 1 died
Ovenbird (1) – released
Also “admitted”
Little Brown Bat (1) – DBT
Zebra Finch (1) – still have
THE
SCOPE OF THE AUDUBON ADVENTURES PROGRAM
wenty-one schools are involved in the program this year. Seventeen of which are in Natrona County, one in Glenrock, one in Douglas, one in Rozet and Wyoming Indian Elementary School in Ethete.
As of Sept. 19th, 64 classrooms are enrolled. I have several more people to contact. Two teachers that have been involved for years, retired last spring, three teachers went to Central Services to work, one moved to a higher grade, and one moved to a lower grader. Some teachers that did not continue said they just don't have the classroom time. I have enrolled ten new teachers for the year. Several of the sixth grade teachers moved into Junior High and I am trying to locate them to see if they want to continue with Audubon Adventures.
We have 16 of the 64 classrooms sponsored thus far for the 2005-06 school year.
An Audubon Adventures packet for one classroom is $41.50 which can be sent to Chris Michelson, Treasurer, P.O. Box 2112, Casper, WY 82602. Your support of this program is greatly appreciated.
Ann Hines - Education Chair
ume’s Ground-Jay (Pseudopodoces humilis) was long an enigma. Found on the Tibetan plateau and thrown around to various families, most recently with the corvids (it does look a bit like a Eurasian Jay and a lot like an Asian bird called the Xinjiang Ground-Jay, Podoces biddulphi — note the “podoces” in both scientific names). Helen James, at the Smithsonian, decided to examine it. Her passion is avian anatomy (bones). As an arbitrary comparison, she put under the scope the skull of a Great Tit (Parus major). “And the characters just jumped out at me!!” [I heard her talk at an American Ornithologists’ Union talk at Cornell a few years ago]. Characters mean things like the shape of the mandibular fossa (whatever that may be). But when she showed a slide of the skulls, by golly the skulls really did match up — not so with the Xinjiang Ground-Jay, its putative relative. She goes on to do a detailed morphological analysis AND a genetic analysis. The crowning touches: 1) (an interesting character in some other systematic puzzles) -- the nest. Like all the chickadees and tits (family Paridae) the mystery bird nests in cavities. 2) A range map of the mystery bird fits the hole in the doughnut for the range of the Great Tit and some of its very close relatives (e.g., the Turkestan Tit, Parus bokharensis). Apparently, the distant ancestor of the mystery bird simply rode the Himalayas upward as they rose and became separated by habitat (above
tree-line) from its relatives. Under the force of natural selection, it converged on the features of unrelated birds (something known as convergent evolution). It has a long, decurved bill, very long, strong legs and spends its time on the ground (habitat is above
tree-line). Frank Gill and two colleagues went on to do a more comprehensive analysis of the systematics of the parids. Genetically, the bird is more closely related to the Great Tit, than the Great Tit is to the Marsh Tit (which look about as similar as a Mountain and a Boreal Chickadee, say). Also turns out that our chickadees (now genus Poecile) are more closely related to SOME of the Eurasian tits than those tits are to other Eurasian tits (genus Parus). An absolutely fabulous story of how accumulated knowledge, skill and enthusiasm can solve an evolutionary puzzle.
The figure below shows the Ground Tit (center), between its close relative, a tit (above) and what it was previously classified (wrongly) as resembling, the Xinjiang Ground Jay of Asia. The punch line again: the Ground Tit is more closely related to the Great Tit (genus Parus) than is our black-capped chickadee, despite the fact that even a novice birder would immediately recognize the many similarities between our chickadees (genus Poecile) and the Old World tits of the genus Parus.
The references:
James, H.F., P.G.P. Ericson, B. Slikas, F.-M. Lei, F.B. Gill, and S.L. Olson. 2003. Pseudopodoces, a misclassified terrestrial tit (Paridae) of the Tibetan Plateau: evolutionary consequences of shifting adaptive zones. Ibis 145:185-202.
Gill, F.B., B. Slikas, and F.H. Sheldon. 2005. Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Auk 122: 121-143.
David B. McDonald, dbmcd_AT_uwyoDOTedu
Dept. Zoology & Physiology, University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82071-3166
Nov. 4 - Meredith Taylor Ancient Corridors: The Trapper's Point Story
December - Christmas Bird Count
Jan. 28, 2006 - Annual Banquet - Guest Speaker Chris Madson, Editor of Wyoming Wildlife Magazine
April 7 - Craig Benkman - Crossbills in Wyoming
You know your PARENTS are FANATIC BIRDERS when:
10. They steal your York University parking pass to go see the hawks on campus.
9. There is more food in the house for the yard birds than there is for their own child.
8. They take over my computer to talk to you other birders on the net.
7. Their daughter can even make up a top ten list.
6. Every single coat pocket has bird seed in it.
5. It takes you an extra two hours to get to your destination because they have to
make a detour to the 'hot bird spots'.
4. Their idea of a romantic evening is dimming the lights and listening to bird calls.
3. They have a life list for all the birds they have seen on wallpaper.
2. They keep a copy of their life list in the safety deposit box.
1. They wake you up to show you their glow in the dark bird poop pajamas.
-- from Jennifer Worthington, 1/14/1997