September - Jayhawk Audubon Society

www.jayhawkaudubon.org
VOLUME 38
Monday, September 23rd
Black-footed Ferrets
in Kansas Stepping
Back From the Brink
Marty Birrell and Dave the black-footed ferret from
Prairie Park Nature Center will be our guests at the
Jayhawk Audubon Society program on September 23rd.
Marty will update us on the black-footed ferret reintroduction in Kansas. She will also talk about the history &
natural history of the species, the factors contributing to its
near extinction, the role of captive breeding, the challenges
of finding suitable, disease-free habitat, and the overall
assessment of the success of reintroduction as well as the
need for ongoing monitoring and support. Meanwhile,
Dave will fascinate us simply by being his furry, live self.
14 years directing
all aspects of Prairie
Park NC and
teaching many
classes herself;
10 years directing the
Stone NC in Topeka;
22 years as a wildlife
BF Ferrets at night.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service rehabilitator & the
last 13 as Head of
Rehab in northeast
Ks; many years directing nature education and being a
foster parent at a group home; 7 years teaching science in
public school and in the Peace Corps: Marty Birrell has
dedicated her life to opening young minds to the existence,
biology, needs, and importance of wildlife and the
environment. We are honored to have her as a JAS
presenter. Join us to meet her and Dave the BFF.
BYO Dinner with Marty Birrell (but probably not Dave…)
5:00 p.m. Free State Brewery 636 Mass. St. Lawrence
Please call Joyce Wolf at 887-6019 or
766-0697 to reserve a place for dinner
Program:
7:30 p.m. Trinity Lutheran Church
Fellowship Hall. 1245 New Hampshire St.
ISSUE 1
SEPTEMBER, 2013
JAS Seed Sale Coming Up!
Books & Feeders Too
Saturday, October 12
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lawrence Senior Center, 745 Vermont
Cue the trumpet fanfare! It’s the first seed sale of
the bird-feeding season. Stock up on Audubon bird seed
and browse our carefully selected books, bird feeders, and
field guides. See page 3 for Joyce Wolf’s review of a new
Peterson field guide we’ll have for sale by the editor of
Bird Watcher’s Digest.
Pre-ordering information: page 2
Order forms on the website: www.jayhawkaudubon.org.
Monarch Tagging Day
Saturday, 21 September 2013
7:30-11:30am
What:
Where:
Who:
Monarch butterfly tagging event ~ FREE
& open to the public. Sponsored by
Monarch Watch & Jayhawk Audubon.
Baker Wetlands, 31st and Haskell,
in Lawrence. Directions at
http://www.monarchwatch.org/wetlands/
You, your kids, friends, neighbors &
anyone who wants to try something
different & be a citizen scientist!
See page 3 for important details 2
JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
Board Vacancy Created as Jim Bresnahan
Steps into Vice Presidency
Chapter Chat
Seed Sale Pre-order Info
Because of last year’s drought, no millet will be
available at the 10/12 sale and safflower will be limited.
So, to get safflower, order early! And no millet means
we won’t have our custom premium and economy
blends until the December sale. But we will have lots of
other nutritious seeds that your birds will gobble up.
Board member Jim Bresnahan has volunteered to take on
the duties of Jayhawk Audubon Vice President. Great news,
but it does mean that the Society has a board position to fill.
Position requirements are not burdensome:
Attend board meeting on the 3rd Thursday of the month.
(We skip July and December.)
Perhaps help at a Seed Sale or event such as Eagles Day.
Be a strong advocate for a healthy environment, wildlife
conservation and environmental education and you will
be a perfect fit for our board. Contact Gary Anderson
as given below.
Pre-Orders must be received by, October 8, 2013
The pre-order form is on the website
www.jayhawkaudubon.org.
Make check payable to Jayhawk Audubon Society;
or you may pre-order but pay on the day of the sale when
you pick up your bird seed…& perhaps a new feeder.
Return Pre-Order Form by October 8, 2013
to Linda Lips, P. O. Box 1285, Lawrence, KS 66044-8285.
To order by phone call Cynthia Shaw at (785) 842-0475 or
Linda Lips at (785) 766-3567
To order by email contact Cynthia at [email protected]
or Linda at [email protected]
Prairie Park Nature Center Field Trip
JAS invites you to a guided nature walk at Prairie Park,
on Sunday, September 22nd at 10:00am. We’ll meet in the
PPNC parking lot at 2730 Harper St., Lawrence.
Questions? Contact Mike Fraley at (785) 550 2785 or
[email protected]
Also Prairie Park will hold a Monarch tagging event on
the 22nd from 1-4pm. Cost is $3. No preregistration
required. www.lawrenceks.org/lprd/summer-fall/13/nature.pdf
CLIP, SAVE & ORDER
JAS 2013/14 Seed Sale Calendar
Saturday, October 12
Saturday, December 7
Saturday, February 1
10:00 a.m. ~ 1:00 p.m.
Lawrence Senior Center 745 Vermont
Order forms at www.jayhawkaudubon.org
JAS Officers & Board Members
President:
Ocean of
bidens
blooms at
Hoosier
National
Forest in
Indiana
Gary Anderson: 785-246-3229
[email protected]
Vice President:
James Bresnahan
Recording Secretary: Julie Maxwell
Corresponding Sec’y: Pam Chaffee
Treasurer:
Jennifer Delisle
Board Member: Lisa Ball
Board Member: Volunteer Needed
Board Member: Jennifer Dropkin
Board Member: Dena Friesen
Board Member: Susan MacNally
Board Member: Jon Standing
Member Chapter
Change Report: Chuck & Ruth Herman
Membership Promotion: Dayna Carleton
Newsletter:
Susan Iversen: 785-843-1142
[email protected]
Conservation:
Randy Kidd
Programs:
Joyce Wolf
Education:
Sandy Sanders
Field Trips:
Mike Fraley
Publicity:
Pam Chaffee
Facebook Page: Jennifer Dropkin, Principle Administrator
[email protected]
Chuck Herman, Administrator
[email protected]
Webmaster:
Steve Kinder/KLW webworks
Bird Seed Sales: Linda Lips
Birdathon:
Richard Bean
Christmas Count: Galen Pittman
Eagles Day:
Bunnie Watkins
Hospitality:
Kelly Barth
Historian:
Ron Wolf
Books & Feeders: Ron & Joyce Wolf
Audubon of Kansas
Chapter Representative: Joyce Wolf
JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
A Seed Sale Goody!
Identifying and Feeding Birds by Bill Thompson III is an
excellent guide for beginning birders, but it’s also great for
more experienced birders who want to know how to make
their yard more attractive to birds. It’s a Peterson Field Guide
beautifully illustrated with full color photos of bird-friendly
backyards. There are tips on bird-feeding basics, how best to
provide water and housing, and a section on what the author
calls “special customers” like hummingbirds, bluebirds, finches, woodpeckers,
sparrows, orioles & squirrels!
Thompson has spent more than 40
years studying and enjoying birds, and
this book is packed with his insights
and advice, along with answers to
FAQs about bird behavior and the best
seeds to offer. He even explains why
Red-headed Wood- you should save the egg shells after baking or
pecker: a special
making omelets. Because gardening is
customer indeed!
another favorite hobby of mine, I especially
appreciate the section of the book where he
lists trees, shrubs, vines & flowers that are beneficial to birds.
The last section of the book has large photos of 125
common backyard birds. At first I thought the inclusion of
both eastern and western birds would be confusing to a
beginning birder, but there are great range maps which
eliminate any possible confusion. We will have copies of this
book at the first seed sale. MSRP $14.95, member price
$13.50. JAS revenue from the sale of books, feeders and seed
supports our education and conservation projects.
~ Joyce Wolf
More about Monarch Tagging Day
Wear ~ Clothes you don’t mind getting wet or
dirty. Ditto shoes. Hat. Insect repellent!!
Bring ~ Water. A snack if you’ll need one.
No food or water will be available.
~ Bring a net if you have one, but we will
have nets available.
Expect ~ Tagging demonstrations will take place
all morning. No experience necessary!
~ Historically, thousands of southbound
Monarchs stop to refuel on nectar from
the wetlands’ ocean of yellow Bidens blooms
~ We will have check-in/information tables
at the boardwalk entrance to the wetlands
but you can arrive and leave as you please.
Check the Monarch Watch website or the JAS
facebook page a few days beforehand to make
sure SLT construction isn’t going to necessitate
changes to the venue. www.monarchwatch.org/
3
A Whoo’s Whoo of Conservation Allies:
The Kansas Land Trust
KLT is dedicated to conserving natural
ecosystems, farm & ranch lands & scenic
open spaces —our state's most precious
natural resources. Preserving these special
places is vital to maintaining the economic
& environmental well-being of all Kansans
now and in the future.
KLT helps landowners with the legal
work of placing permanent conservation easements on their
properties, then monitors the easements annually to ensure
that the land is being cared for in accordance with the easement. With the help of our members, we've preserved 53
easements with 22,327 acres of treasured Kansas prairie,
woodland, farmland, and ranchland forever. See www.klt.org
The KLT logo memorializes the lone elm that
stood on the Elkins native prairie. The clandestine plowing of that prairie in 1991 galvanized
Kelly Kindscher to form the Kansas Land Trust
with other conservation minded activists.
On Oct. 12, KLT is sponsoring a Disc Golf
Tournament at the private Thornfield Disc Golf Course in
Stillwell, KS located on one of our beautiful easements. To be
a sponsor or attend the tournament call Carol Huettner at
KLT: 785-749-3927 or email [email protected].
Check the newsletter on the web for color pictures/
extra content. Friend JAS on Facebook for updates.
Mini Calendar Sept/Oct.
Sat. 9/14: Monarch Watch Open House. Food, Butterflies,
Caterpillars, Games. Foley Hall, KU West Campus
http://monarchwatch.org/openhouse/
Sat. 9/14: Science on 8 Legs. Science Saturday at KU Natural
History Museum. Free. 1-3pm. 785-864-4450.
Sat. 9/21: Monarch Tagging Day at Baker Wetlands. See p. 1.
Sun. 9/22: JAS Field Trip to Prairie Park. 10:00am. See p. 2.
Mon. 9/23: Black-footed Ferrets in Kansas. Marty Birrell.
JAS Program. 7:30 pm. Trinity Lutheran. See p. 1
Oct. 5 & 6: Kaw Valley Farm Tour. 10am-6pm both
Sat/Sun.
days. Many farms. Ticket and other info
at www.kawvalleyfarmtour.org
Oct. 11: Wild & Scenic Film Fest. Friends of the Kaw
Fri. 7-9:30pm. Liberty Hall www.kansasriver.org
Oct. 12: JAS Seed Sale. 10am-1pm. See pp 1, 2,5,6
Sat. 745 Vermont. www.jayhawkaudubon.org
Oct. 12: Kansas Land Trust Disc Golf Benefit
Sat. Tournament. Visit www.klt.org.
Sign-up 785-749-3917 or [email protected].
JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
4
Capturing My Soul A Report from the America’s Grasslands Conference
A conference room filled with biology-type academicians, conservationists, and ranchers is not a
place where I’d expect one of life’s peak experiences, but it worked for me at this year’s America’s
Grasslands Conference: The Future of Grasslands in a Changing Landscape held in Manhattan in
August. I’m sitting in the first plenary session (thanks to a National Wildlife Federation sponsorship)
amid the other 200-plus attendees, watching a photography show presented by Michael Forsberg. My
expectations of photography presentations are not usually high, but this one proved to be different.
Forsberg gave a photo-documentary of how his personal background eventually led to America’s
Grasslands as his primary photographic subject. Forsberg is a Nebraska native, and as is true of many
flatlanders, all he wanted to do was to get out and live in the mountains … until one day while
climbing Long’s Peak in Colorado with friends, he noticed they were all looking westward to the
mountains, while he was mesmerized with the beauty of the horizons to the east. So, Forsberg took his
camera to the Middle American Grasslands and spent several photographically productive years there.
One assignment had him on the edge of a prairie dog colony trying to get a good shot of a burrowing owl – which proved to be harder than he’d imagined. After several very boring days of looking
Burrowing
into empty prairie, he was about to give up, when there it was. A head slowly appeared over the
Owl fledgling
burrow mound, then a body, and legs. The bird slowly rose to full height, lifted one leg, and flapped
its wings overhead. All the while staring directly into the camera. “That’s when it happened,” claims
Forsberg. “It was right then that that bird’s eyes captured my soul. Quite literally captured my soul.
I’ve been a prairie photographer ever since.”
As he’s telling his story, the photo of the owl is on the conference’s giant screens
at the front of the room. Now, I’m not sure about the other attendees, but the story of
engagement with the land, the photo of the bird, the bird’s posture, and of course, the
bird’s eyes, those riveting eyes -- all of them had captured my soul too. They had
taken my breath away and literally captured my heart and soul.
OK. I admit soul capture is maybe a bit too much to expect from one photograph
or even from one experience. But the way I see it is that the key to us preserving
Nature, the key to us preserving what is left of the American Grasslands, the key to
preserving my backyard in the Flint Hills, all rely on our ability as elders and as
teachers to help those coming after us, our grandchildren and their grandchildren, to
see in Nature, to see in the Prairies something -- anything -- that captures their soul.
Adult Burrowing Owl (on right, note barred underparts) attending older fledgling.
Our job is to help them see and connect with whatever part of nature captures
their soul; to help them experience whatever parts of nature make their heart sing;
to help them engage with that same passion of experience that has likely affected
all of us “old” prairielanders.
The challenge is not an easy one – as no challenge worth pursuing should be. We elders will need to connect to Nature the parts
of the youngster’s heart and soul that have been captured by the addictive blare of TV and the mesmerizing impact of social media.
We will have to do more than just transmit information about Nature; we will need to engage learners in experiences that have the
potential to capture their souls and imaginations. As I’ve said, no challenge worth pursuing will be an easy one. But reconnecting
the human spirit with the soul of nature is a challenge worthy of pursuit. Indeed, it may be the most important challenge we
humans, as a species on this planet, face in today’s world.
~ Randy Kidd
JAS Conservation Chair
Eagles Day Committee Challenge
Randy’s article has likely made you eager to work on the
challenge of forging a link between kids and nature. One
very useful & fun way to do that is to help produce
Eagles Day. Contact Bunnie Watkins at 785-213-5053 or
[email protected] to learn more.
Not just Soul Mates, but also natural
pest control we cannot afford to lose
A Burrowing Owl family can eat 1,800 rodents
& 7,000 insects, mostly grasshoppers, during
a single summer.
www.naturesask.ca/rsu_docs/80933_owl_fact_bookfinalcopy.pdf
JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
5
A Little More About Burrowing Owls:
(Kansas Burrowing Owls are technically Western Burrowing Owls: Athene cunicularia hypugaea).
Burrowing Owls are 9-11 inches long with a wingspread of 20-24 inches. They have noticeably short tails and long legs.
Average clutch size is 6 with a range of 4 to 12. In Kansas Burrowing Owls nest in shortgrass prairies using abandoned burrows
in black-tailed prairie dog colonies. They occur in low numbers in the western half of the state with the greatest population of
birds found in the Cimarron National Grassland. Wintering grounds are Arizona, Texas and Mexico although it is not unknown
for some to stay in Kansas for the winter. Burrowing Owls are uncommon and local in suitable habitat throughout the Western
Hemisphere. There are over 20 subspecies. Refs.: The Kansas Breeding Bird Atlas, Busby, W. H. & Zimmerman, J.L., 2001,
and the USFWS document cited below.
To see the Michael Forsberg photo referred to in Randy Kidd’s
article go to: http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/birds/
wbo/Western%20Burrowing%20Owlrev73003a.pdf .
Help the Monarchs through the yearly cycle
MIGRATING MONARCH GAME.
Players take turns rolling a die to see how many spaces to move.
If you land on a box with instructions follow those instructions.
6
JAYHAWK
AUDUBON
SOCIETY
The
first player
to reach FINISH
wins for the Monarchs!!.
Cut out the Monarchs & paste
them on pieces of cardboard to
make your game pieces. Game
courtesy of Scholastic.com
JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
7
Summer World: A Season of Bounty
By Bernd Heinrich
Reviewed by Barbara Watkins
Abbot’s Sphinx Moth caterpillar
I hope that I have done this book justice in my rush to get my garden weeded and planted in this wild and crazy spring. As I
started to read Summer World (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2009, pbk.) in early May, snow was still forecast. Just two days after a frost on
May 2nd, the temperature was 95 degrees. Appropriately, one of Bernd Heinrich’s primary themes in this book is the adaptability of
birds, insects, and other creatures of this world to the vagaries of temperature and seasonal delays.
Bernd Heinrich is a 72-year-old University of Vermont emeritus professor of biology. Every summer his goal is to learn something new about the creatures at his log cabin in Maine. Writing with authority about the union of curiosity and science, he documents the “ingenuity of life more locally, as life-forms interact with one another—the main order of business in the summer.” The
range of his interests and experiments is impressive: from trees to wood frogs to bald-faced hornets and mud daubers, to moths and
flies, hummingbirds and woodpeckers, and the effects of summer’s stages on them. For most species summer is the season of
“reproduction, feeding, growing, and trying to avoid being eaten...the season of courting, mating, and birthing, of living and dying.”
Summer typically begins later in New England than here in Kansas. Heinrich identifies with the beavers in his bog: in winter
“much of my living is, for months, repressed...summer releases it.” As summer begins, dawn comes earlier each day & he “awakens
with yearning and anticipation.” The early birds, who return when “summer is still only a promise,” make him feel “hopeful and
rejuvenated.” They may indeed get the worm and the male birds may get good territory, but the costs of betting on an early arrival—
bad weather and a lack of food—may be fatal. “Summer in the northern hemisphere is short and preparation for it is long.” Trees
and creatures can be deceived if they misjudge an early thaw or warm spell. As long as tree buds stay dormant, they are safe.
But the house wrens magically return to my property at the same time each year in late April. After they move into their familiar
wren house, my property becomes theirs. They assume control over the territory and when I weed and plant in their vicinity, they
loudly let me know that I am in big trouble. Heinrich describes how birds and insects both make distinctive nests, for which the
design and construction are encoded in their DNA. Some wasps, barn and cliff swallows all make nests from mud of clay mixed
with saliva “always exquisitely ‘perfect’ in functional design and constructed unerringly.”
Birds have “specialized behavior to capture insects, and insects have specialized behaviors to try to avoid capture.” As one
participant in an “evolutionary arms race gets better at hiding, the other gets better at finding.” On a research trip to Minnesota,
Heinrich observed an Abbot’s sphinx moth caterpillar, which is truly a “master of disguise.” The larvae “transforms itself through
an amazing series of four disguises==a noxious insect, two different kinds of camouflage, and a snake.”
One of Heinrich’s former students, diagnosed with a “severe illness”, wrote him a letter expressing concern about greenhouse gas
problems caused by cremation and asked whether he could be a “permanent resident at Heinrich’s summer camp”—a green burial.
Heinrich applauds his choice and expresses his own concern that “overpopulation compromises all of our freedoms, from birth to
grave.” He asserts that the “coffin is a last attempt to place a boundary between ourselves and nature...Offering oneself to the ravens
when the time comes is to me religion at its best.”
We sometimes see strange sights around the time of the first frost; spring blooming shrubs and flowers suddenly show signs of
life, including dandelions, one of my least favorite plants. But for the leaves that fall, the hibernating beavers, and the female frogs
carrying full egg clusters, “the end of summer is also the beginning.”
Beaver constructing their lodge.
Other books by Bernd Heinrich:
Heinrich has written 18 books on his explorations of
nature including:
Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival which
takes us into cold snowy woods to learn about the coping
mechanisms and strategies of birds and animals in the
challenging months of winter. (HarperCollins, 2004)
(http://www.thebesttimes.org/readings_writings/
book_reviews/0312_winter_world.shtml)
Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with
Wolf-Birds documents Heinrich’s decade of studying and
interacting with both wild and captive ravens.
(HarperPerennial, 1999, pbk.)
Jayhawk Audubon Society
P.O. Box 3741
Lawrence, KS 66046
Return Service Requested
Nonprofit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Lawrence, KS
Permit No. 201
9/21: Monarch Tagging Event p. 1
9/22: Field Trip to Prairie Park Nature Center. p. 2
9/23: Black-footed Ferret Reintroduction & Dave p. 1
10/12: Seed, Book, Feeder Sale p.1 & 2
Kansas Land Trust; Calendar, Field Guide Review p. 3
Capturing My Soul—America’s Grasslands. Randy Kidd p. 4
Burrowing Owls. p. 5
Book Review by Barb Watkins: Summer World p. 7
Kids’ Page: Migration Game p. 6
Application for New Membership in both the National Audubon Society and Jayhawk Chapter
___$15 Student; ___$20 Introductory for NEW members; ____$15 Senior Citizen.
(Make check payable to National Audubon Society.)
Application for Chapter-only Membership (Jayhawk Audubon Society). No Audubon magazine.
___$10.00 Chapter-only (Make check payable to Jayhawk Audubon Society.) Those with National
Audubon memberships are encouraged to support the chapter by voluntarily paying these dues. Chapter
membership expires annually in July. JAS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
National Audubon Society members receive four issues per year of the Audubon magazine and are also
members of the Jayhawk Chapter. All members also receive 9 issues of this newsletter per year and are
entitled to discounts on the books and feeders we sell to raise funds to support education and conservation
projects. Please send this completed form and check to Membership Chairs at the following address:
Ruth & Chuck Herman; 20761 Loring Road, Linwood, KS 66052; e-mail contact:
[email protected] . {National Members Renewing: please use the billing form received from
National. Send it with payment to National Audubon Society, PO Box 422250, Palm Coast, FL 32142-2250}.
Name __________________________; Address__________________________________;
City ___________________________; State ______; ZIP Code (9) digit ______________;
Telephone (with Area Code) ___________________ Email:_________________________________
C0ZJ020Z