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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
National Audubon Society wants to hear what you think about their dropping the Audubon name – [Survey]
[Posted by Chuck Almdale]
Great Egret captures a lizard (Ray Juncosa 2-28-16)
To all readers:
National Audubon Society sent out the email letter below on Monday, 17 Oct 2022 at 21:21:27-0400. They want your reply within 9 days (7 days, now) by 26 October, which is Wednesday next week. Some of us have already taken the survey. While there are multiple questions, the issue of dropping “Audubon” from the name is the crux of the matter, and it doesn’t appear until near the end of the survey. There is space at several spots to express your opinion. The survey stays open if you need to step away for a few minutes. You can’t go backwards through the pages if you change your mind, and the last question, “Before you finish this survey, is there anything else you would like to share that we have not covered?” comes when you’ve hit 95% completed.
The board of Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society thinks that the entire membership of Audubon chapters and National Audubon Society should have the opportunity—whatever their views—to take this survey and express their opinion.
The following is the email from NAS.
| Dear Chapter Leaders, The National Audubon Society Board of Directors is seeking your input on the use of John James Audubon as our organization’s namesake. The strength of our organization comes from our vast network and from many individuals who share in the love of birds through chapter activities and programs. We deeply value your thoughts on this topic and ask you to take some time to complete the survey below. This survey will be open through October 26. Click here to begin, and let your voice be heard. We are asking for your individual views and opinions, and not necessarily for a collective recommendation on behalf of your entire chapter. Feel free to complete the survey sharing your personal opinions and thoughts. We invite you to share the link with others on your chapter board to ensure maximum participation from your chapter. Lastly, please note the survey contains a number of basic screening questions to assess respondents’ connection to the Audubon network or to environmental work in general. Since the survey is going to both internal and external audiences, these questions help us establish a baseline across many audiences when venturing to understand differing views and opinions on the topic. Why are we doing this? We understand that there are varying opinions regarding the actions of historical figures and that many feel passionately about their views. Before coming to any conclusion about the use of John James Audubon as our namesake, we are committed to listening to the input from our community, including chapter leaders such as yourself, as well as members, volunteers, donors, partners, and staff. For brief overview of who John James Audubon was please read Audubon publications: “What do we do about John James Audubon” by Dr. Drew Lanham and “The Myth of John James Audubon” by Dr. Gregory Nobles. What will be done with my response? The entirety of the audience engagement effort is being performed by our consultant�sparks & honey�so that we ca can ensure anonymity of individual respondents and to mitigate bias in the process. The insights gained from the surveys, interviews, and listening sessions will be synthesized by sparks & honey and presented to a Board Task Force in the coming months. Who should I contact to share my opinions? We understand that many have strong feelings around this topic and we encourage you to use the survey as the outlet for your perspectives to help inform the Board Task Force’s review. Please do not reach out to Chapter Services to provide your input. Opinions shared through the survey go directly to our consultant, to help retain anonymity and ensure ease of compiling feedback. We are unable to record and tabulate opinions not submitted through the survey at this time. When will a decision be made? With the amount of input that is being collected, the current plan is for sparks & honey to synthesize the audience engagement data and present it to the Board Task Force in December after which the task force will deliberate, culminating in a recommendation to the Full Board in February 2023. What does this mean for my chapter? We recognize the power of a network unified in name and we recognize the power of a chapter’s self-definition. As independently incorporated entities, each chapter has the autonomy and authority to make decisions in respect to their naming as best serves their needs. Some chapters name their organizations after prominent geological features, others after conservationists. Some have never had the name Audubon in their organization’s name at all. Still other chapters are eschewing the word “society” as it can be seen as exclusionary and superfluous. We welcome all of your organizations in our network, regardless of name. Take the Survey |
Huntington Central Park: 15 Oct 2022
[Written by Elizabeth Galton, posted by Chuck Almdale]
Red-shouldered Hawk, juvenile(ish) (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
There was a threat of rain on the day of our Huntington Central Park bird walk, but in the end it was merely overcast, and the grass was wet. Seven intrepid birders met for this walk. The local Mycelia had rapidly used the little rain there was to send up a few hundred mushrooms, visible from the parking lot.
Yellow Tree Fungus (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
Our first sight was a mobbing, by five or six crows, of two perfectly peaceful looking perched Red-shouldered Hawks, although there was another one flying around calling. As we went to the lake, we saw a Belted Kingfisher flying. Nobody remembered having seen one there before. Also a perched Osprey indicated there must be good fishing. Swimming birds were limited to American Coots, in the beginning, and altogether it seemed there were rather few birds. Snowy and Great Egrets were represented in few numbers. A Green Heron stayed camouflaged and hard for some of us to see. A Northern Flicker and his wife presented lovely views as they perched near a Brazilian Pepper Tree.
Northern Flicker (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
As we walked around to the more extensive part of the lake, we saw 18 Long-billed Dowitchers, busy fishing. A Double-crested Cormorant sat drying his wings. A couple of Black-crowned Night-Herons sat across the lake.
Long-billed Dowitcher (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
From the butterfly garden we were able to see the usual White-faced Ibis, busy fishing, then running with outspread wings. I saw a beautiful Townsend’s Warbler in the trees. We were pursued by about five Mallards, but we turned out to be ultimately disappointing to them.
White-faced Ibis without its white-faced alternate plumage, but iridescent olive-green on the back (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
Several lovely Lesser Goldfinches were clearing the seeds off a plant. One Downy Woodpecker, a gnatcatcher too hard to identify further (but most likely Blue-gray), several Orange-crowned Warblers, House Finches, and a number of Black Phoebes almost complete the list.
A Great Egret who might have something stuck in his craw (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
What others reported having seen, but we didn’t: Pin-tailed Whydah, Townsend’s Solitaire.
We did not see the resident owl.
Osprey, overhead, where they often are until they suddenly aren’t (Ray Juncosa 10-15-22)
Trip List: Huntington Central Park – 15 Oct 2022
34 Species
- Cinnamon Teal 1
- American Wigeon 5 M&F
- Mallard 37
- Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 1
- Allen’s Hummingbird 7
- American Coot 30
- Long-billed Dowitcher 18
- gull sp. 1
- Double-crested Cormorant 1
- Great Blue Heron 1
- Great Egret 2
- Snowy Egret 3
- Green Heron 1
- Black-crowned Night-Heron 3 Adult 2 juvie1
- White-faced Ibis 1
- Osprey 1
- Cooper’s Hawk 2
- Red-shouldered Hawk 3
- Red-tailed Hawk (calurus/alascensis) 1
- Belted Kingfisher 1
- Downy Woodpecker 2
- Northern Flicker 2 M&F
- Black Phoebe 8
- American Crow 10
- Swinhoe’s White-eye 10
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Heard only
- House Wren 2
- House Finch 12
- Lesser Goldfinch 4
- White-crowned Sparrow 3
- Song Sparrow 1
- Orange-crowned Warbler 4
- Common Yellowthroat 7
- Yellow-rumped Warbler 14
- Townsend’s Warbler 1
We look for the local Great Horned Library-Owl, a most erudite fellow and friend of Pooh.
Reservation necessary: Contact Liz Galton
Huntington [Beach] Central Park is a well-known Autumn trap for all our western migrant songbirds.
But wait, there’s more! Every fall the park hosts small numbers of stray flycatchers, vireos, sparrows and warblers from the eastern U.S.
And more! It also has resident exotics like Scaly-breasted Munia (aka Nutmeg Mannikin & Spice Finch) Lonchura punctulata, Orange-cheeked Waxbill Estrilda melpoda, Orange Bishop Euplectes franciscanus, and Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura. Anything can happen!
If you take photos, please consider emailing them to leader for the trip report. Include photographer’s name.
Maximum participants: 20
Wide open spaces at the park: Mask wearing optional, Covid cards will not be checked.
NOTE: PLEASE SIGNUP WITH LEADER. IN CASE OF NO SIGNUPS, THE TRIP IS CANCELLED.
Pin-tailed Whydah, normally found in Africa.
Leader: Liz Galton egalton[AT]ucla.edu
Family Guide: 1-2 miles of walking on paved & crushed granite pathways and lawn.
Google Map to Huntington Central Park
Directions to Park [17775 Goldenwest St., Huntington Beach 92647]
From Santa Monica – 42 miles, allow 1 hour.
Take SAN DIEGO FWY (I-405), exit on GOLDEN WEST ST. Go south about 3 miles to SLATER AVE. Turn left on SLATER AVE, then about 100 yds to parking lot on right. Meet in parking lot.
Scaly-breasted Munia male. (Photo: Chris Tosdevin)
BirdCast: Migration Data & Forecasting
[written by Marsha Collins, posted by Chuck Almdale]
Screensnip from Birdcast introductory page.
Living along the Pacific Flyway, migratory birds are a seasonal delight. For those who seek additional information about birds on the move to their seasonal grounds, Cornell University’s Birdcast is an important resource. In partnership with Colorado State University and UMass Amherst, among others, Cornell’s team has created an intuitive interface. Two types of information are available: historic (two years) and current.
“Migration forecasts come from models trained on the last 23 years of bird movements in the atmosphere as detected by the US NEXRAD weather surveillance radar network. In these models we use the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) to predict suitable conditions for migration occurring three hours after local sunset.” A primer on the science of using weather radar to detect bird migrations is available here.
This data-rich site supports customization by region and date. Data covers 2021 and 2022.
Location search is currently limited to the contiguous United States; some parts of the Rocky Mountains are not well covered due to radar interference from the mountains.
On the Migration Dashboard, select either a state or county. Click the Search icon.
In this example, California was selected.
Current display defaults to the night before the date of your search.
For county-specific locations, enter county name. Here’s Los Angeles County from October 3, 2022.
BirdCast can issue migration alerts. Here are two cities for Weds. Oct 6, 2022.
Angelinos can sleep in; Great Benders might want to get up and look around.
Archived Data
Selecting St. Louis County, in Minnesota (home to Hawk Ridge on Lake Superior, a major flyway for raptors), and September 1, 2022.
Real-time data is available nightly, providing a glimpse into particular regions of activity.
Available details include:
- Total birds in flight
- Flight direction and speed
- Altitude
- Expected nocturnal migrants
Consider adding this resource to enhance your birding knowledge.
Written by Marsha Collins
The recording of this program is now available.
If you email John, he will add you to his mailing list which advertises his upcoming trips
Sterling’s Photo Galleries: 1000’s of photos: www.SterlingBirds.smugmug.com
Email: jsterling[AT]wavecable.com
Here’s the passcode if you need it: !R%13g=3
The first 42 seconds of the recording are dead air.
|
Bolivia and Argentina: Diversity and Rare Birds, with John Sterling.
Original Zoom presentation: 4 October, 7:30 p.m.
John will take you on a virtual tour of the diverse landscapes, habitats and birds (and mammals) of these two amazing countries. Bolivia has the highest species list for a landlocked country. Argentina is huge and stretches from sub-Antarctica to tropical rainforests to high elevation Andes. John lead tours to both countries this summer and photographed many rare and endangered birds along with endemic birds to the countries and regions.
John Sterling has been a hard core birder in California since he was shown a Pileated Woodpecker in 5th grade camp in 1971. He is a professional ornithologist and has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, US Forest Service research stations, HT Harvey & Associates, Arizona and Oregon state universities among other organizations since 1981. John has traveled extensively throughout California learning about local bird distribution and is an authority on that state’s avifauna. In 2015 he set the California’s new big year record with 501 species and has many big day records as well. He has traveled internationally as a guide and ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, The Philippines, Sumatra, Canada and Russia. John currently has his own company, Sterling Wildlife Biology (www.sterlingbirds.com), specializing in tours, birding classes, research and environmental consulting for The Nature Conservancy, the Kern Water Bank, the California Rice Commission, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Audubon’s International Alliance Program, CA Dept. of Water Resources among other organizations.
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 