Oct - Mecklenburg Audubon Society

October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
AUDUBON NEWS
Mecklenburg Audubon Society | P.O. Box 221093, Charlotte, NC 28223
October Monthly Meeting
What’s Inside
Low Country Birds
Field Trips
1
2-3
Big Sit
3
Climate Change & Birds
4
Shorebirds 101
Hawk ID Webinar
!
5-6
7
Upcoming Events
10/2
Hinson Lake
10/4
Clark’s Creek Grnwy.
10/5
Beginning Birder walk
10/7
Campbell Creek Grnwy.
10/11
Ribbon Walk NP
10/12
Big Sit
10/16
McAlpine Creek Park
10/18
Huntington Beach
10/25
Beginning birder walk
10/28
Four-mile Creek Grnwy.
!
Who’s New?
Kathleen Anderson
Lucia Barber
The South Carolina Lowcountry is host to an incredible
diversity of habitats, flora, and
fauna, and is a birder's and nature photographers dream! Join
Mecklenburg Audubon for our
October membership meeting
as naturalist and wildlife photographer Marvin Bouknight will
give us a presentation tour of
South Carolina's Lowcountry,
unique habitats, and the incredible array of birds that reside
there temporarily, seasonally,
and permanently.
Marvin Bouknight is a professional naturalist and wildlife photographer, and author of the
book, South Carolina's Lowcountry … Naturally. He is originally from South Carolina, where
he earned a degree in Wildlife
and Fisheries biology from Clemson University, and he is now the
new director for the Charlotte
Nature Museum. So join us for a
leisurely stroll through South
Carolina's lowcountry on Thursday, October 2nd at 7:30 PM at
the Tyvola Senior Center (2225
Tyvola Rd.).
Peggy Burke
Steven Burke
James Carpenter
Elizabeth Cook
Ann Dunnam
Harry Gedney
Jeannette Gedney
George Irby
Jerri Irby
Mary Montroy
Christopher Montroy
Audubon News
Dedication ‑ Susan Gardener Bench"
This year during the Big Sit we will be dedicating a newly constructed
bench in the viewing stand to the memory of Susan Gardener. Susan
was a long time member of Mecklenburg Audubon and a Cowan’s
Ford stewart for the Mecklenburg Park and Rec Department’s Natural
Resources Center. She dedicated many hours to monitoring nest
boxes and watching for hawks during migration. Now there is a bench
dedicated to Susan in the Cowan’s Ford viewing stand that will make
it easier for everyone sit and watch birds and other wildlife in the
refuge. The dedication will take place at 10 AM.
!1
October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
Field Trips
All Mecklenburg Audubon Field Trips are free and open to the public. Directions for all trips
can be found on the Mecklenburg Audubon website - meckbirds.org/trips/trips.html. Please
remember to contact the trip leaders several days before the trip. If you don’t, you may not
receive information about last minute changes or cancellations. Also, if they don’t know you
are coming, they might leave without you!!
Thursday, 10/2 - Hinson Lake (Rockingham)
2/3 Day • Easy • Contact: Tom Ledford [[email protected]] This is a half-day trip to this 300-acre wildlife conservation area near
Rockingham, NC. There are 2 1/2 miles of trails through mixed woods,
marsh, open pond, meadow and beaver pond. Meet at 8 AM at Hinson
Lake. Contact Tom for directions to the lake.
Saturday, 10/4 - Clark's Creek Greenway
1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Jeff Lemons [[email protected]]
Jeff will lead a walk on this little birded greenway which winds its way
through woods. We'll meet in the greenway's parking lot adjacent to
Mallard Creek Elementary school at 8:30 AM.
Sunday, October 5th - Beginning Birder Walk
1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: The Blakesley [[email protected]]
This walk is designed for new birders, but anyone can come. Binoculars
will be provided, if needed. We will meet in the parking lot of Six-mile
Creek Greenway at 8:30 AM.
Tuesday, 10/7 - Campbell Creek Greenway
1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Ron Clark [[email protected]]
Located on the east side of town, this 2 1/2 mile walk is on flat asphalt. It
is mostly wooded with a creek. The parking lot is on Margaret Wallace
Road. Meet at 8:30 AM.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Fall Plumage)
Saturday, 10/11 - Ribbon Walk Nature Preserve
1/2 Day • Moderate • Contact: Ron Clark [[email protected]]
This area is mostly wooded, and includes three ponds and a large field.
We'll cover about 1 1/2 miles. Meet at 8:30 AM in the parking lot on Hoyt
Hinson Rd.
Thursday, 10/16 - McAlpine Creek Park
1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Tom Ledford [[email protected]] MAP
This park off Monroe Road has a variety of habitats; woods, lake, beaver
pond, short grass and brush. This is about a 1 1/2 mile flat walk on gravel
trails. Meet in the Monroe Rd. parking lot at 8:30 AM.
Saturday, 10/18 - Huntington Beach State Park
All Day Trip • Strenuous • Contact: Judy Walker [[email protected]]
This is our fall sojourn to a South Carolina birding hot spot. Fall migrants –
hawks and warblers – will still be moving through, wintering shorebirds will
have settled in and a few ducks may also have begun arriving. This is
probably the best time of the year to see Peregrine Falcons and Merlins,
and I am sure we will be delighted with spectacular views of thousands
of tree swallows.
We will meet in the parking lot on the oceanside of the causeway at
7:30 AM. It can get pretty hot so remember a hat, sunscreen and plenty
of water. We will eat lunch in the park so you will also need to bring food.
Since many participants stay for the weekend, we usually go out to dinner on Saturday night. At dinner we will plan where we will go on Sunday.
Audubon News
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October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
Saturday, October 25th - Beginning Birder Walk
1/2 Day • Easy • Contact: Marcia Howden [[email protected]]
This walk is designed for new birders, but anyone can come. Binoculars will
be provided, if needed. We'll start at 8:30 AM in the parking lot to the right
just inside the gate of Latta Nature Preserve.
Tuesday, 10/28 - Four-mile Creek Greenway
Song Sparrow
©Jeff Lemons
1/2 Day • Easy* • Contact: Judy Walker [[email protected]]
It's almost Halloween, but we'll only get treats on this greenway. We'll cover a two-mile stretch walking through a variety of habitats. Meet at 8:30
AM in the parking lot on Johnston Rd.
The Big Sit! An International, Sedentary Birding Event
The Big Sit! is an annual, international, noncompetitive birding
event hosted by Bird Watcher's Digest and founded by the New
Haven (Connecticut) Bird Club. Every team that observes the
year's "Golden Bird" has a chance to win $500. Every year, bird
watchers from around the globe unite on this special day by participating in this free event, open to any person and club in any
country! The Big Sit! is sponsored by Swarovski Optik.
Some people have called it a
"tailgate party for birders."
Sunday, October 12th
We just call it fun birding.
Come join us on the viewing
platform at Cowan’s Ford any
time from dawn to dusk for as
long as you can. We will keep
a running tally of what we see.
Although this is an all day
event, you don’t have to be
there all day. If you can great!
If not drop in for several hours
during the day to help us
count. Viewing will begin at
6:30 AM and go to dark.
We’ll have hot coffee and
tea and a grill for hot dogs or
you can bring your own picnic
lunch. Bring some folding
chairs if you plan to be around
for a while. During the counting lulls there will be time to
swap birding adventure stories. You don’t have to tell us
you’re coming, just show up.
Audubon News
The Big Sit! is like a Big Day or a bird-a-thon in that the object is
to tally as many bird species as can be seen or heard within 24
hours. The difference lies in the area limitation from which you may
observe. Find a good spot for bird watching—preferably one with
good views of a variety of habitats and lots of birds. Next, create a
real or imaginary circle 17 feet in diameter and sit inside the circle
for 24 hours, counting all the bird species you see or hear. That's it.
Find a spot, sit in it, have fun. Then submit your findings.
Participants are allowed to come and go from the circle—especially for the purpose of bringing food back into the circle—and
the circle need not be be occupied for the entire 24 hours.
There are Big Sit! circles all over the world, including
Guatemala, India, the Netherlands, England, Vietnam, and New
Zealand.
Although The Big Sit! is a non-competitive birding event, there
are three basic categories in which teams can "win":
1. Best Overall Count (Most species seen by a single circle—
you win Big Sit "braggin' rights")
2. Best State Count (Highest combined total from circles within
a state—you win State "braggin' rights")
3. The Big Prize!: Swarovski Optik is offering $500 to the circle
who finds the "Golden Bird". After all of the Big Sit! results are
tabulated, a bird species will be selected by random drawing
from the total list of all species seen in North America. All of the
circles that listed that bird will be put into another random
drawing. The randomly selected winning circle wins the Golden
Bird prize of $500. The winner is required to choose a non-profit,
environmental organization to receive the $500 donated by
Swarovski Optik.
!3
October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
Greatest Threat Our Birds Face Today
North America's birds are
and will continue to be affected by the impact of climate
change on their existing and
future habitats. Many species
that breed, nest, migrate or
winter in North Carolina are
among those at risk. According
to a landmark study released
by The National Audubon Society, Brown-headed Nuthatches, American Oystercatchers,
Golden-winged Warblers, and
hundreds of other species will
be threatened or endangered
in our children's lifetime. Of the 588 continental United States and Canadian bird
species examined in the sevenyear study, 314 species are at
risk. Of those, about 1 in 5, 126
species, are at risk of severe
declines by 2050, and a further
188 species face the same fate
by 2080, with numerous extinctions possible if global warming
is allowed to erase the havens
birds occupy today. Just like the
canaries in the coal mines, these
birds are sounding the alarm
that it's time for people to act
before it's too late.
In North Carolina, citizens
have a unique opportunity to
protect a wide range of bird
species threatened by climate
change from the mountains to
the piedmont to the coastal
plain. Audubon NC scientists
are integrating the report results
into existing conservation programs and projects to support
birds through conservation of
crucial habitat.
Brown-headed Nuthatch
©Jeff Lemons
What YOU can Do NOW!
While some species will be able to adapt to shifting climates, many of North America's most familiar and iconic
species will not. Here is what you can do right now to help:
American Oystercatcher
©Ron Clark
•Learn more about Audubon's report on climate change
and how you can get involved to protect North America's
birds. •Click here for media resources, including an animation introducing the science, video interviews and more.
•Follow Audubon North Carolina State Director Heather
Hahn on Twitter to get the latest information.
•Learn more about the conservation programs already in
place in North Carolina to protect our birds. •Sign-up for our NC Action Alert network to stay informed as
we implement plans to save the strongholds birds will need to
survive the impact of climate change in our state. This study is just the start of a continuing work focus on climate change impacts on birds in North Carolina. Stay tuned to
our Facebook page, eNewsletter and special eBulletins to learn
how you can be involved.
Audubon News
Golden-winged Warbler
©Mark Peck
!4
October 2014
Shorebirds 101
From Jack Connor’s The Complete Birder: A Guide to Better Birding. He
goes into detail on how to distinguish between the individual species.
Winter is a great time for seeing a variety of shorebirds in the
Carolinas. So in preparation for the Huntington Beach trip and/or
any other trip you may have planned to coast this winter here are
five basic principles especially important in shorebird identification:
1. Learn habitat preferences.
Like the ‘song’ in ‘songbird’, the ‘shore’ in ‘shorebird’ is something of a misnomer. Most shorebirds prefer marshes and wetlands
to coastal shores and inland areas attract nearly as many species
as saltwater areas. In fact, several species - upland and buffbreast- ed sandpipers, mountain and golden plovers, and others are actually easier to find thousands of miles inland than near the
ocean.
2. Slow down and specialize.
Shorebirding requires a radical change of pace from other
forms of birdwatching. Since only a handful of shorebirds are identifiable at a glance, it’s seldom possible to reel off a string of identifications without hesitation. Ordinarily, a lot of work is involved,
and there is much time for doubt. Urgency and impatience are
mortal sins, dogged persistence the cardinal virtue.
3. Concentrate on standing birds.
Shorebirds fly fast; several species can cruise at seventy miles
per hour. They also tend to fly erratically and evasively, twisting
and twirling against the sun, into shadow, back against the sun. A
few species (willet, black-bellied plover and a couple of others)
are best identified on the wing, and shorebird experts can identify
almost all species in flight. As a rule of thumb, however, less experienced shorebirders need not concern themselves with fly- ing
birds. Shorebirds spend the majority of their time with their feet on
the ground. For most of us one shorebird on the ground is worth
ten in the air.
4. Study the silhouettes. Postpone the plumages.
Most shorebirds are better identified by their shapes than by
their colors. Their light browns, creamy buffs, and subtle grays tend
to wash out in the harsh light of the open areas they prefer. Even
more important, the seasonal changes of shorebird feathering are
complex and variable. All species have at least three visibly distinct plumages.
5. Divide and conquer.
Identifying shorebirds is a sort- ing operation. Here more than
with any other group of birds, the process of elimination is the key
technique.
Audubon News
Volume 20 (2)
Habitat Preferences of
Migrating/Wintering
Shorebirds
!
Only those species found regularly in the Carolinas are included
here. And they are listed in order
from most to least common.
Sandy beaches: sanderling, dunlin, red knot, Wilson’s plover,
piping plover
Rocky shores and jetties: ruddy
turnstone, purple sandpiper
Coastal marshes and mud flats:
willet, black-bellied plover,
semipalmated plover, ruddy
turnstone, dunlin, least sandpiper, western sandpiper,
greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, short-billed dowitcher,
American oystercatcher, red
knot, semipalmated sandpiper,
spotted sandpiper, blacknecked stilt, American avocet,
marbled godwit, Wilson’s snipe
Inland, freshwater marshes, wet
fields, and rain pools: killdeer,
greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, solitary sandpiper,
spotted sandpiper, semipalmated sandpiper, western
sandpiper, least sandpiper,
pectoral sand- piper, buffbreasted sandpiper, Wilson’s
snipe, Baird’s sandpiper
Edges of freshwater rivers, large
ponds and deeper lakes:
killdeer, greater yellowlegs,
lesser yellowlegs, solitary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper
Inland fields without water:
[prairies, meadows, sod farms,
plowed fields]: killdeer, lesser
golden plover, upland sandpiper, buff-breasted sandpiper,
Baird’s sandpiper
Deep, wet woodlands: woodcock
!5
October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
Six Questions for Sorting Shorebirds
1. Is it one of the instantly identifiable shorebirds?
2. Is it a plover?
The key components of plover silhouettes are: rounded, relatively
thickish bills that are shorter than the length of its head; short necks; body
lengths not much longer than body heights; and legs that appear roughly
equal to the body heights. The plover silhouette is made of circles and
soft curves.
3. Is it one of the odd sandpipers?
Five sandpipers are identified by their weird, eye-catching bills. The
three curlews have long, curling bills and two godwits - God, what bills
they have – up-swung, huge, and two-toned.
The other three odd sandpipers are made easy by their exclusive
habitat preferences. The woodcock is the only shorebird to be found under a closed canopy in deep woods. Two phalaropes, the red and the
red-necked, are the only shorebirds regularly found far offshore.
From this point onward, the questions become tougher, and the distinctions blur.
Instantly Identifiable:
American oystercatcher,
American avocet, blacknecked stilt
Plovers: killdeer, Wilson’s, semipalmated,
piping, black-bellied,
American golden.
Odd sandpipers: longbilled curlew, whimbrel,
marbled godwit,
woodcock
4. Is it a peep?
And most of the time most of us hope the answer is no. The term
‘peep’ is correctly applied to only six species, the sanderling and the five
Calidris sandpipers that are smaller than the sanderling. They are clustered together in a all the field guides, but the fine distinctions required
within the group make identifying the peeps one of the toughest problems in all birding. [See Connor’s book for a detailed explanation of how
to identify these birds.]
Peeps: sanderling, least,
semipalmated, western,
white-rumped, Baird’s
5. Is it a longlegs?
Eleven sandpipers fit this description. They have legs that are noticeably longer than their body heights; body lengths noticeably longer than
their body heights; and relatively straight bills that are at least as long as
their head lengths and in most cases obviously longer. Most members of
this group also have long necks and a lanky look. The lesser yellowlegs is
typical.
6. Is it a plump?
Ten midsized sandpipers have short necks and a chunky look. In specific contrast to the longlegs the plumps have legs that seem not noticeably longer and in many cases much shorter than body heights; body
heights nearly equal to body lengths (excluding the wings); and bills of
various shapes but most obviously curved or noticeably shorter than head
length. The ruddy turnstone and purple sandpiper are typical plumps.
Since apparent leg length and body width can change with posture,
“Longlegs or plump?” is sometimes a close judgment call, and a couple
of species barely fit into one group or the other.
Audubon News
Longlegs: willet,
upland sandpiper, greater
yellowlegs, lesser
yellowlegs, Wilson’s snipe, longbilled dowitcher, short-billed dowitcher,
solitary sandpiper, stilt sandpiper
Plumps: red knot,
ruddy turnstone,
purple sandpiper,
buff-breasted sandpiper, dunlin, pectoral
sandpiper, spotted sandpiper
!6
October 2014
Volume 20 (2)
Continued from page 4
Birds & Climate
Audubon Chief Scientist
Gary Langham and other
Audubon ornithologists analyzed more than 40 years of
historical North American climate data and millions of historical bird records from the
U.S. Geological Survey's North
American Breeding Bird Survey and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count to understand
the links between where birds
live and the climatic conditions that support them. Understanding those links then
allows scientists to project
where birds are likely to be
able to survive - and not survive - in the future.
Audubon's study shows
how climate conditions including rainfall, temperature
and humidity - the building
blocks for ecosystems and
species survival - may have
catastrophic consequences
when tipping those balances.
As the temperature across the U.S.has
gotten warmer from 1966 to 2005, many
bird species are spending their winters
farther north. The Associated Press
http://birds.audubon.org/birds-climatechange-move
Audubon News
Get Comfy With Raptors—
Take a New Webinar ID Series
!
It takes knowledge and practice to identify raptors like this
young Red-tailed Hawk. Cornell Lab or Ornithology’s new raptor
series will help you master key differences in size and shape, let
you know which aspects of plumage to look for in these often
variable species, introduce you to all the North American
species, and more.
Bird ID expert Dr. Kevin McGowan will teach these webinars
on Monday evenings from October 6 to November 3. The affordable sessions include instruction, Q&A, and downloadable
materials. Get the details and register. Learn Your Ducks, Too: A waterfowl webinar series starts November 10. New—Watch Archived Webinars: Can't make the Monday
webinar times? The archived webinars are now available to
purchase and watch at your convenience.
MAS Executi ve
Board
President: Jil
l Palmer [jpal
mer53@earth
Vice Presiden
link.net]
t: Leslie Wiese
r [lesliewiese
com]
[email protected]: Dav
e Hooten [d
ehooten60@
Secretary: Ke
gmail.com]
n Kneidel [ken
kneidel@gm
Field Trips: Jim
ail.com]
Guyton [guy
[email protected]
Education: La
]
uren Schexn
ider
[lauren.sche
xnider@gmai
l.com]
Communicat
ions: Christy
Hill [chill2k5@
Membership:
hotmail.com
Jan Fowler [ja
]
nmfowler@gm
Hospitality: C
ail.com]
hris Hanna [c
hr
ltt
ha
Conservatio
[email protected]
n: Bill Duston
]
[bduston@ca
Members at
rolina.rr.com
Large: Jim Pu
]
gh
[jimfayepugh
com] Bill Row
@gmail.se [birderpa
@
at
Newsletter/W
t.net]
eb: Judy Wal
ker [birdwalke
[email protected]]
Audubo
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n News is pu
blished month
the Mecklen
ly from Septem
burg Audubo
ber through
n So
Local memb
May by
ers receive the ciety, a chapter of Na
tional
mail. It is also
newsletter via
posted on the
postal mail an Audubon.
birds.org.
Mecklenburg
d/or electron
Audubon we
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b site - meck
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!7