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Latest
News .
Read the August Newsletter in .pdf - - Big May Day Bird Count in .pdf
See List of The Fall Trips - - Read the list of what was seen on each Trip.
The 2009 Christmas Bird Count Results (pdf)
 Someone said Robins were attractive, but what does that have to do with magnets?
Robins can literally see magnetic fields, but only if their vision is sharp - just in case you are interested. That is what we have been told and you can discover more . . I will confess that the robins in the study were not OUR robins, but those from Europe - not that there is anything wrong with that.
It is an interesting article and will give you just one more reason to appreciate the wonderful diverstiy that surrounds us.
Read more about the Earth’s magnetic field and how birds use it from Discover .
 Board Information
The dates for the upcoming board meetings are Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, skip December, then Jan. 11, Feb. 8, March 8, April 12, May 10, and June 14. All members are welcome to attend to share and ask. It might be wise to call someone (Gary) to be sure we are really meeting, as sometimes it can all be done by e-mail saving a trip.
The Board meets in the Achatz Hall of Science at the University of Saint Francis. The new atrium is completed so we may use the front door.
Some believe that hummingbird feeders can be taken down by Labor Day because these little birds will migrate south for the winter. However, one woman in Mansfield, Ohio left her hummingbird feeders up late and discovered that a rufous hummingbird was coming to it well into December.
See a 7 minute video of this bird and learn more.
Christmas Bird Count Results
Jim Haw has sent the compilation of the Ft. Wayne Christmas Count. The species total was our lowest since 1984, and the number of individuals was the lowest since 1980. The snow on count day surely contributed to the subpar result; birds just weren't active for most of the day. And in my opinion, there just wasn't much out there anyway. Winter finches aren't coming this year, Rough-legged Hawk had not been seen at all in northeastern Indiana until we got one on the Pigeon River Count on Sunday, Northern Harrier has been very scarce, and some species that normally winter here in small numbers, such as Golden-crowned Kinglet and Swamp Sparrow, had all pulled out before it got cold.
The 2009 Christmas Bird Count Results (download .pdf)
Pokagon Christmas Bird Count 2009 Report
Thanks to all who were able to attend our 30th annual Pokagon Christmas Bird Count. Sorry for the difficult weather and illness that struck some of you and prevented your participation. We had a slower day for a variety of reasons, but a poor day birding beats a good day at work as the saying goes. I did both a I guess, and am grateful for the opportunity to do so, and now for the opportunity to share our results.
The 2009 Pokagon Chirstmas Bird Count Results (download .doc)
Fred Wooley, Park Interpreter
- Pokagon State Park
How About an Awesome Ditch Project?
 On Saturday, November 21, six people representing Stockbridge Audubon, went on a very interesting tour of a ditch. This is an new experimental type of ditch called a two-stage ditch which is resulting in cleaner water and less flooding. The tour and this experiment is being conducted by Chad Watts of The Nature Conservancy and Purdue University.
By observing natural processes of stable streams and rivers, researchers have designed a drainage channel that will benefit both agriculture and the environment. Known as the two-stage ditch, its a conservation tool that truly works. We will soon have more information and pictures.
mail Paul McAfee for more information. - and/or - Click picture or here for more info.
About the Stockbridge Board Members and Meetings
The Board meets in the Achatz Hall of Science at Saint Francis. The new atrium is completed so we may use the front door. I recommend that you not park in the rear of the building.
We welcome Terri Gorney, Elizabeth Noll and Peter Hurley to the Stockbridge Audubon Board. They and all of the previous Board members will be back to our regularly scheduled meetings for the rest of this year.
* * Results of the Big May Day Bird Count, May 9, 2009 (pdf) – Allen County, Indiana
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The oil and gas industry never gives up in its efforts to ruin the pristine wilderness of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to polar bears caribou, musk ox, and millions of migratory birds.
 The latest attempt is a new bill to encourage full-scale development along the borders of the refuge, including horizontal drilling from off-shore platforms into refuge lands. The bill, S 503, also recycles old attempts to do very damaging seismic exploration and exploratory drilling within the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge—the biological heart of the refuge.
Drilling over, under, or in the refuge, it's still the same attempt to ruin this internationally important bird and wildlife refuge. Even more alarming, the bill waives key environmental laws that currently protect the refuge—the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act. The removal of these most important legal safeguards sets a dangerous precedent for the management of our public lands.
A committee vote on this latest attempt to drill in the Arctic Refuge could happen next week—but only if its proponents think they have enough support. Let's stop this bill dead in its tracks!
Take Action - Write to your U.S. Senators today. Urge them to oppose efforts to open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas development in any shape, fashion, or form!
Learn more and send a message
 Birding At Science Central
All birders and Stockbridge Audubon Club members should know that Science Central in Fort Wayne is starting a family birding project that will introduce children and their family to bird watching. Teresa Danials, the leader of the project is looking for old bird guide books and/or extra binoculars that could be donated to this Science Central project. The birding begins June 6 and continues on the first Saturday of each month through December. Taking part requires pre-registration for the program and will provide many opportunities to learn about birds and the environment. You might also want to look at the All About Birds - Inside birding story and web site below.
Teresa Daniels - Floor Programs Coordinator at Science Central
1950 North Clinton Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
Phone: 1-260-424-2400, extension 426
Email: teresa@sciencecentral.org
 All About Birds - Inside Birding is a great new web site from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Whether you’re new to birding or a seasoned expert, interested in sharpening your identification skills or wondering how to clean your binoculars, you can visit the web site and watch videos that will help you identify birds. It shows how to use size and shape, color patterns, behavior and habitat to ID birds. Click Here or on picture for the web site.
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 Mockingbirds recall who agitates nests
A study showed that mockingbirds, like the one seen here, learned to identify people who had threatened their nests.
A study showed that mockingbirds, like the one seen here, learned to identify people who had threatened their nests. While they may look alike to people, but they can tell us apart and are quick to react to folks they dont like.
Birds rapidly learn to identify people who have threatened their nests, and they sound alarms and attack those folks while ignoring other people, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Associated Press photo . . . . Read the full Journal Gazette article
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Another story on Dancing Birds With a Beat (and other animals)
Read about the 2009 Big May Day Bird Count.
The objective of the BMDBC is to count the number of birds of each species occurring in a participating county area from midnight to midnight on Saturday May 09, 2009.
Check the hummingbird migration map to monitor the northbound trek as spring continues.
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Spring Meeting was at U. of St. Francis: “Watching Spring Warblers”
Held: April 19, 2009 @ 2:00 PM (Sunday)
At Achatz Hall, University of St. Francis
Our presenter, Don Gorney, told us why Everyone Loves Warblers. Don is a former board member and newsletter editor of Stockbridge Audubon. He shared photos and life histories of the more common warbler species found in northern Indiana. For instance, did you know that Golden-winged Warbler is now believed to be extirpated as a breeding species in the state? It was a great spring meeting and everyone who attended gained more understanding and appreciation of warblers. There were at least 25 birders in attendance and most stayed for refreshments afterwards.
Check Our Spring Field Trips - Dates and Destinations
Read Lists of Birds Seen on our Field Trips.
 2009 was another record year for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)! Birders from across the United States and Canada submitted more than 93,629 checklists during the four-day event, a 9 percent increase in checklist submissions since last year. Participants counted a record 11,550,200 individual birds representing 619 species and submitted thousands of photos of common and rare birds. Go to the Great Backyard Bird Count
Birds and Climate Change: An Analysis of the Christmas Bird Count
Birders have noticed some interesting shifts in the winter distribution of birds over the last several decades. Many have noticed more American Robins staying farther north through winter and species like Northern Mockingbirds and Carolina Wrens shifting north - READ MORE from Audubon
If you are new to birding or just interested in learning to identify birds or are an experienced birder, please join one of our Spring Field Trips.
A Really Good Site to Visit About Celebrating Urban Birds
Neighborhood activities focus on birds and nature
Ithaca, NY--The Cornell Lab of Ornithology invites people, organizations and educators to it's Celebrate Urban Birds Project. A local Celebrate Urban Birds event connects the arts, music, dance, and gardening with birds and science. Visit www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org.
From: Jim Haw as in : IN-BIRD-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
Lake Michigan, Kankakee FWA Sat, 28 Mar 2009
Eleven birders participated in Stockbridge Audubon Society's windswept field trip to Lake Michigan today. We started at Michigan City harbor and birded west along Beverley Shores to Port of Indiana and Ogden Dunes. There was not much action along the lakefront, other than large numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers. Our highlights were two White-winged Scoters, one Great Black-backed Gull, and one Caspian Tern at Michigan City; about 8 Rusty Blackbirds on Beverley Drive; one Caspian Tern at Port of Indiana. We looked for the Spotted Towhee without success.
The lakefront being rather unproductive and rather cold and windy, we headed for Kankakee FWA after lunch. There was still a very good variety and number of the expected duck species (we ended up with 20 species of ducks for the day), but no geese other than Canadas. One Lesser Yellowlegs and about 7 Pectoral Sandpipers along hwy. 39 south of 8, plus a Vesper Sparrow on 500W, Laporte Co. rounded out the highlights there.
Snowy Owl Is Back - Dec., 08 - Cindy Grodrian phoned Jim Haw from school to report that the snowy owl is still hanging around her home on Hoffman Rd./Franke Rd. and she and her husband had seen the bird several times recently. She stated that the last time they observed the owl was Saturday when they made a video from the road and got some pics of it not too far off the road. It appears to be the same bird with the dark cap...is that a sign of a juvenile or first year?
OWL EXTRAS
- see fresh pictures of the snowy owl from Pamela Firks.
An AWESOME slide show of the owl by Jim Sullivan Great, great pictures
Ed and Cynthia found the Snowy Owl Thursday at about 1 p.m. in SE Allen Co., along Franke Road, south of Hoffman Rd. It was on the east side of Franke Road in a bare field.
Latest word - the bird was killed by hitting a car. It's now in Fox Is. freezer awaiting taxidermy.
UPDATE: Cynthia Powers has reported in August, 09 that the same Snowy Owl is back, mounted and on display at the Fox Island nature center. She said it looks great!
 News From The National Audubon Society
We hope you
find this edition of "Audubon In the News" interesting and informative.
Please note: you may have to register with individual news sites to view
some stories; if you are unable to link directly to articles of interest,
we suggest that you try copying and pasting the URL into your
browser.
August 1, 2008
AUDUBON POLICY
The Journal of
Commerce featured a report as Maine Audubon announced support for
Kibby Wind Power plan
www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id29270
From
the Audubon web site:
A plan
being considered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open up millions
of acres of private land into agricultural production was abandoned in a
decision last week in Washington, D.C. The Conservation Reserve Program,
or CRP, has been a vital resource for farmers, wildlife, consumers, and
American taxpayers. Audubon advocated in favor of the program, which means
more grasslands for birds.
www.audubon.org/campaign/farmBill.html
Audubon
joined other conservation groups? yesterday urging the Bush
administration to withdraw its proposed procedures for complying with the
National Environmental Policy Act when managing ocean fish and to craft a
new rule that will protect valuable natural resources while allowing for
greater public participation in the environmental review process. Dr.
Steve Kress stressed harmful impacts for seabirds.
www.audubon.org/news/NEPA.html
AUDUBON STATE
PROGRAMS
Maryland Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation, David
Curson, was featured in an Urbanite magazine article focused on urban
wildlife.
http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=62§ionID=4&articleID=981
Audubon
North Carolina took a small group of reporters to one of 20 sanctuary
islands that the organization protects along the coast. Click
on links below to view news reports from this tour.
Bird Island
Birds are flocking to Bird Island off of the Fort Fisher
coast
USA Today quotes Graham Chisholm of Audubon California on Tejon
Ranch agreement
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-07-29-ecoside_N.htm
Audubon Florida raised concerns
that persistent algae blooms in Florida Bay by the Keys could threaten the
state's largest lobster nursery and the economy it supports. www.bradenton.com/breakingsports/story/771639.html
AUDUBON
CHAPTERS
Greater Long
Beach Chapter of the Audubon Society contend cricket team will monopolize
a "passive" recreation area, endangering the ecosystem of the area's
wildlife.
www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_10027777
EDUCATION AND AUDUBON
CENTERS AND SANCTUARIES
Both NYC Audubon and Prospect Park Audubon Center were mentioned in a New York
Times report on birding in the City
www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/arts/18bird.html?ex=1217044800&en=7abf332
Mississippi
Strawberry Plains Audubon
Center
described as "an outdoor lover's paradise" in Tupelo Daily Journal.
Madge
Lindsay, executive director of Audubon Mississippi, said "We demonstrate how to
attract wildlife into the backyard and how landowners can maximize their
landscape." www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=276719&pub=1&div=News
Illinois
Audubon Society hosts annual hummingbird
festival
www.thetelegraph.com/entertainment/society_16714___article.html/hummingbird_audubon.html
Fond du Lac County Audubon
Society in Wisconsin recruits volunteers to remove
invasive plants. "Definitely the bird numbers in this area have dwindled
with the loss of habitat and the growth of urban areas," said local
Audubon President Diana Beck. http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080730/FON0101/807300436/1985/FONopinion
Buena
Vista Audubon Nature Center featured in
San Diego
travel article with photos http://sandiegocoastlife.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/buena-vista-audubon-nature-center/
Anton Leenders is the new conservation biologist for the
Connecticut Audubon
Society in Fairfield
www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_9944152
IMPORTANT BIRD
AREAS
South
Carolina Wildlife Magazine described the conservation leadership of
Audubon South Carolina and partners on how new
management goals on coastal bird nesting and resting islands have helped
balance birds' needs with traditional recreation. Three islands in
the article are Important Bird Areas, and IBA recognition is cited as
spurring regulatory changes that are improving the conservation status of
the birds and their habitats.
www.scwildlife.com/pubs/mayjune2008/forthebirds.html
Blogs:
The selection of Important Bird Areas (IBAs) has
been a particularly effective way of identifying conservation priorities.
To be recognized as an IBA, the site has to meet internationally agreed
and scientifically-defensible criteria.
10000 Birds - http://10000birds.com
One of Arkansas's most
Important Bird Areas, the
Little River Bottoms in Hempstead County, is under fire from the
proposed construction of a coal-burning power plant.
http://carboncapstaskforce.blogspot.com/2008/07/audubon-arkansas-recounts-coal-fired.html
Wetlands story is a complex one, but Lansford is certainly
one of its heroes. It should be noted that Los Angeles Audubon was also
very much involved in the preservation efforts at Ballona Wetlands, an
Audubon Important Bird
Area.
Audublog -
http://www.audublog.org
BIRDS AND
BIRDING
Coastal Georgia Audubon Helps Children Go Birding
http://coastalgeorgiabirding-lydia.blogspot.com/2008/07/coastal-georgia-audubon-helps-children.html
AUDUBON
MAGAZINE
A
2007 "Incite" column by Ted Williams is credited for creating thoughtful
debate about the damage feral horses and burros do to habitats out West.
The article by Felicity Barringer in the New York Times was picked by
several other major newspapers, including the International Herald
Tribune. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/us/20mustangs.html?hp
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You can check the hummingbird migration map to monitor the northbound trek as spring continues.
The Field
Trips information on the web site.
Forget Everything You Thought You Knew About Cats & Birds
Click here to see the unusual story of a cat and a crow.
For a shorter version.
Learn about BirdSleuth to help build scientific literacy and excitement by engaging students in the scientific process! click here
If you have not seen this, take a look.
For video from the News-Sentinel about Eagle Marsh - go here.
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