Blog for the Birds

Birding Trails New Jersey

The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary used to be a closed area - for birds only! Now that is all changing as the sanctuary will be getting trails. It took a change of ordinance but there will 4 trails completed by end of summer. Do the trails and people walking through bother the birds? As long as the people behave and stay on the trails. According to Pete Dunne, director of natural history information for New Jersey Audubon Society:

Many species are forgiving as long as people adhere to a certain pattern of movement. The birds acclimate themselves.

Bird sanctuary will be human-friendly

Looking for Good Birding Trail in NY?

If you live in the Great Lakes region of upstate New York or southern Ontario, you might enjoy the Seaway Trail along the St. Lawrence Waterway.  The Seaway Trail is an 834 Km (518 mile) trail featuring a wide variety of bird habitats. Educational kiosks are being implemented this summer.  This region is especially good for birding due to its bio-diversity; the forests, grasslands and shrubby habitat provide a stopover for a colorful array of birds including sparrows, cuckoos, warblers, orioles and thrushes.  Free maps are available for download (in PDF format) from their website (below).

Seaway Trail Website

St. Paul Dealing with Pigeon Problem

With a plan that has the blessing of PETA, the officials in St. Paul are implementing a contraceptive plan to reduce pigeon populations. The contraceptive, OvoControl-P, prevents bird eggs from hatching and will be mixed in with feeder food dispersed throughout the problem areas.

St. Paul Using Contraceptives to Control Pigeon Population

Missouri Rest Stops get Bird Houses

S & K Manufacturing donated purple martin and bluebird houses to 19 rest areas along Missouri interstate highways.  This will ensure people who stop there will have plenty of birdwatching to do.  Especially during Purple Martin season.  You have a few more months to see the Martins by the way - they will head south again toward the end of September. Oh and a side benefit to the travelers: the birds eat insects. The Purple Martin especially loves mosquitoes. No wonder we love those martins!

Missouri rest areas provided with bird houses

Don’t be too Quick to Rescue that Nest

What do you do when you see an ‘abandoned’ birds nest?  The first thing is not to assume it’s abandoned.  The parent bird may just be off foraging for food or may be nearby. This article recommends spending at least an hour nearby checking to see if the parent returns.  Other tips for dealing with the nest are also found in this article.

Seemingly unattended birds may not be abandoned

Bird Count Volunteers needed in Utah

Zion National Park needs bird count volunteers for an annual Christmas Bird Count to be held on December 15, 2007. Each group will have an assigned area about 15 miles in diameter. The data collected will be sent to the National Audubon Society headquarters. To find out more information about the bird count, contact Claire Crow at 772-0212 or claire_crow@nps.gov. Claire Crow? Now that’s a birders name.

Man-Made Island in Texas Serves as Bird Habitat

I’m putting this on my places to visit next time I’m Port O’Connor Texas! Actually it sounds like I can’t visit this specific island.  The island in the article doesn’t have a name (the article calls it Chester’s Island) nor does it say how large it is.  Since it’s man-made one has to assume it’s not that large.

But it serves as a nice refuge for birds that nest in colonies.  Birds nesting there include the Reddish Egret, a bird on threatened list. The island has one warden, Chester Smith, and it’s managed by the National Audubon Society. 

This area has long been on my list of places to go due to nearby Matagorda island, a barrier island that is accessible by ferry. About 36,000 of the 45,000 acres on Matagorda are protected and not open to the public, but the remainder is.  And it sounds like birding heaven!  Anyway, you can watch the video at the link below.

Man-made island serves as bird habitat

Ohio Bird Sanctuary Gets Land from BSA

The Boy Scouts of America is transferring 52 acres of land to the Ohio Bird Sanctuary.  The deal was completed on 9/8/07. For the past 12 years, The Ohio Bird Sanctuary had been leasing the land from the Scouts.  Camp Avery Hand was 256 acres and is now reduced to the remaining 204 acres which will stay under the ownership of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The BSA hopes this land transfer will help resolve some of its fiscal issues.

Source

Project FeederWatch Needs more Volunteers

If you’re bummed because spring is long gone and summer is rapidly fading away, and you feel like the best days of birding are behind you, fear not.  Here is a great birdwatching opportunity for the fall and winter.  Project FeederWatch is a birding project under the wing of Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology.  It enlists volunteers to count and report birds on a weekly basis.

This year, Cornell researchers need extra help to track what they suspect are effects of global climate changes.  For example, hummingbirds have been appearing much further north that unusual.  And many insect eating birds are staying north longer into the winter months than usual.  Researchers want to get more data on these and other changes in hopes of identifying trends.

Project FeederWatch gets under way November 10, 2007 and runs through April 4, 2008. To learn about project FeederWatch click the link below or call (800) 843-2473.

Project FeederWatch