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Plover Month at National Audubon
In honor of Plover Month at National Audubon, we have created a new blog page devoted to Snowy Plovers. So far it features a multi-part article, updated since originally published in Malibu Patch last summer.
California Audubon is embarking on the Bird of the Year campaign again. This year, Western Snowy Plover is one of the candidates, and we hope all of you will vote for it as the Audubon Bird of the Year. Vote early and often!
California Audubon has put together a blog post about the Snowy Plover which features a video they just put together. Help us get the word out about protecting the Western Snowy Plover and its habitat! This blog includes many great links, including: National Audubon’s plover page, a video about the Bird of the Year campaign, and dozens more.
We are putting a permanent link to this blog in our Audubon Links section on the right side of the blog. Look for it!
[Chuck Almdale]
Western Snowy Plover NO:WW, banded at Vandenberg AFB Summer 2009; wintering on Surfrider Beach (C. Almdale 11/22/09)
Bolsa Chica Reserve Trip Report: 6 October, 2012
Reddish Egret – Star of the show momentarily motionless (J. Kenney 10/6/12)
The highlights were the shore birds and the biggest raves were for our friends the Reddish Egrets. They were very active, visible and dancing to their own rhythms (or maybe fishing). We were delighted to find an adult molting Black Tern (little guy!). We also had many of the usual birds…. 3 different teal, 3 different grebes, 6 herons/egrets, and a total of 71 different species including the dowitcher sp. (both of which can be found there in abundance and we could not tell which was which). Even the Great Blue Heron posed for us – staring with his great yellow eye. An excellent day for birds and people.
Bolsa Chica Conservancy has a new (2011) checklist that we found most useful.
Link to prior Bolsa Chica field trips: October 2011, October 2009.
[Ellen Vahan]
Savannah (probable Belding’s) Sparrow – a saltmarsh obligate (J. Kenney 10/6/12)
| Trip List – Bolsa Chica | 6 October, 2012 |
| Brant | Red Knot |
| American Wigeon | Sanderling |
| Mallard | Western Sandpiper |
| Blue-winged Teal | Least Sandpiper |
| Cinnamon Teal | Dunlin |
| Northern Shoveler | Dowitcher sp. |
| Northern Pintail | Ring-billed Gull |
| Green-winged Teal | Western Gull |
| Ruddy Duck | California Gull |
| Pied-billed Grebe | Black Tern |
| Eared Grebe | Forster’s Tern |
| Western Grebe | Elegant Tern |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Rock Pigeon |
| American White Pelican | Mourning Dove |
| Brown Pelican | Anna’s Hummingbird |
| Great Blue Heron | Allen’s Hummingbird |
| Great Egret | Belted Kingfisher |
| Snowy Egret | Nuttall’s Woodpecker |
| Reddish Egret | Downy Woodpecker |
| Green Heron | American Kestrel |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | Peregrine Falcon |
| Turkey Vulture | Black Phoebe |
| Osprey | Say’s Phoebe |
| White-tailed Kite | Loggerhead Shrike |
| Northern Harrier | American Crow |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Bushtit |
| American Coot | House Wren |
| Black-bellied Plover | European Starling |
| Killdeer | American Pipit |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Common Yellowthroat |
| Willet | California Towhee |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Savannah Sparrow |
| Whimbrel | Savannah (Belding’s) Sparrow |
| Long-billed Curlew | White-Crowned Sparrow |
| Marbled Godwit | House Finch |
| Ruddy Turnstone | Total Species – 71 |
Progress on the winter ramp tidal clock (J. Kenney 10/10/12)
A Malibu Patch blog of 9 October relates that about one-half of the 70,000 plants have been planted and that California State Parks received a 15-day extension to 31 Oct. to work in the wetland area of the channels in order to finish planting. Dike removal, originally scheduled to begin on 2 Oct. is now planned for 15-17 Oct. They are also hoping for rain, which will benefits the new plants.
View to South Bay across channels & Santa Monica Bay (J. Kenney 10/10/12)
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This video of a Yellow Legged Tinamou by Gustavo Magnago of Linhares in SE Brazil proves three things: this endangered bird still exists, not all tinamous are boringly brown, and this little bird works hard to make his woo-woo call.
Handbook of Birds of the World (1992) reports this species status as “insufficiently known.” Formerly widespread throughout the Atlantic Forest from NE Brazil to NE Argentina, deforestation and hunting has reduced this bird to hanging on at a few sites, of which Linhares is one. In fact, the Atlantic Forest itself – home to several hundred endemic bird species – is vastly reduced.
[Chuck Almdale]
Birdy News
Peacocks ruffle feathers, make a rumble
New recordings reveal that male birds use infrasound, emitting low-pitch sounds detected by peers but inaudible to human ears
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341606/title/Peacocks_ruffle_feathers%2C_make_a_rumble
From Science News Online – 6/19/12
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Lead poisoning stymies condor recovery
California’s iconic comeback species may need human help as long as even a small percentage of the carcasses they eat contain lead shot.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341811/title/Lead_poisoning_stymies_condor_recovery
From Science News Online – 6/27/12
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All dinosaurs may have had feathers
Well-preserved fossil sports long, fine plumage and a bushy tail.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341948/title/All__dinosaurs_may_have_had_feathers
From Science News Online – 7/3/12
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Not your typical pterosaur
A beautifully preserved fossil from Germany displays a wing unlike any ever seen.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342172/title/Not_your_typical_pterosaur
From Science News Online – 7/10/12
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Bumblebees navigate new turf without a map
The insects can quickly calculate the best route between flowers.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345298/title/Bumblebees_navigate_new_turf_without_a_map
From Science News Online – 9/21/12
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Birds catching malaria in Alaska
The mosquito-spread disease may be transmitted north of the Arctic Circle as climate shifts.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345337/title/Birds_catching_malaria_in_Alaska
From Science News Online – 9/22/12
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Feather finds hint at Neandertal art
Plumage found at ancient sites may indicate capability for abstract thought among humans’ Stone Age cousins.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345354/title/Feather_finds_hint_at_Neandertal_art
From Science News Online – 9/25/12
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[Chuck Almdale]
Full Harvest Moon 9/29/12 8:19 p.m. PDT
Here’s another update from SMBAS Blog on that large, disc-like, shining object which has frequently and mysteriously appeared in our nighttime sky this year (cognoscenti simply call it…the moon).
Sept. 29, 8:19 p.m. PDT — Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon. Usually the full moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans and wild rice — the chief Indian staples — are now ready for gathering.
The next significant full moon will occur on Oct. 29, 12:49 a.m. PDT. Keep an eye on this spot for additional breaking news on this unprecedented event.
This information comes to you courtesy of:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45911225/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/how-s-full-moons-got-their-strange-names/#.T16CDHlIXUx
But that’s far too long to type in, and besides, you don’t need to go there because SMBAS has done the work for you!
[Chuck Almdale]
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 