Golden Eagle To Be Released With Satellite Transmitter

Tuesday, January 18th at 4:oo pm, the National Eagle Center and Audubon Minnesota will  release a golden eagle with a satellite-linked tracking device. The release will take place outside Wabasha, MN (along Wabasha County highway 32), near where the bird was captured. This release is part of an on-going project investigating golden eagles that winter in the blufflands region. By tracking, golden eagles known to use the blufflands in winter, researchers hope to better understand migration patterns and breeding origins for these birds. The Golden Eagle Project has already released two golden eagles with transmitters, and hopes to release up to six golden eagles, during this multi-year project. The eagle released in 2009, migrated from western Wisconsin and spent the summer north of the Arctic Circle. Maps detailing the migrations and location of these birds are available here.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to track this golden eagle because so little is known about them and their presence here in the blufflands.” Says Project Co-coordinator, Scott Mehus. “That’s why the National Eagle Center is involved in this pioneering effort to understand and protect these amazing birds.”

This release also comes on the heels of the 2011 Wintering Golden Eagle Survey, which took place on Saturday, January 15th, when volunteer observers combed the blufflands looking for these majestic birds. Results are not yet tabulated, but this year’s survey covered several new areas, so there is a good chance the total could top last year’s survey high of 100 golden eagles in southeast Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa.

The Golden Eagle Project is a partnership of National Eagle Center and Audubon Minnesota, with support from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Division, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, as well as United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Winona District.

Bird Show In Atlanta

Well, it's January and that means that I check out a birding trade show.  In the past, I was at Bird Watch America, but this year I'm in the Birding and Nature Show at AmericasMart.  I'll most likely be tweeting up a storm on (hopefully) new and interesting product.  If you're interested, you can follow that on Twitter under Birdchick.  I'm sure some of it will work it's way here but mostly it will go to Twitter and eventually Birding Business. Oh and speaking of Twitter, if you didn't see my link to One Lazy Duck, follow that link, you will chuckle.

Things To Look Forward To In January!

I've updated my appearances page and I have some fun things to look forward to this year.  One thing that is coming up quickly is that I'm going to be a guest with the Rockstar Storytellers this Sunday at the Bryant Lake Bowl.  I'll be performing with talented local actress Zoe Bentson my The Woman Who Could Talk To Bird.  A true story based on my days working about the bird store and a woman who claimed she could psychically talk to birds. There's also the Birds and Beers at Joe's Garage to watch the massive crow roost and some snowshoe programs with my National Park.

And for those who would like to get out in the snow, I'm leading a couple of Moonlight Snowshoe walks at Crosby Park.  I'll bring my scope and we'll take a look at the moon and maybe a few stars.  We'll also listen for owls and get some GREAT exercise.  The dates are January 21, 2011 and February 19, 2011 from 7 pm - 8:30 pm.  If you need snowshoes, you can borrow them from the park, but you need to call and reserve them.  It is a free event, but we ask that you call and sign up so I can call you if we have to cancel due to something like a blizzard or if we have more people than I anticipated, I can corral an extra ranger to come along on the walk.  Call 651-293-0200 to sign up!

Bird Die Offs

There are more bird die offs being reported--now in other countries.  I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, I'm irritated that every dead flock is being reported with added commentary (like CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewing Kirk Cameron about the birds kills) asking if this is a sign of the "end times."  On the other hand, I'm happy that flocks of dead birds are reported and that people know this happens. Let me be clear about one thing: THIS IS NOT THE END TIMES.  This happens A LOT.  We just don't hear about it.  To give you some perspective, millions of birds (of several species) are killed by windows, cell phone towers, wires, free roaming cats and vehicles every year.  The numbers may not be seen, the dead birds are often eaten in the night by opportune scavengers.

According to Bird Conservation Network: at least 100,000,000 birds are killed and even more are injured every year across North America by collisions with windows.

An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 birds, mostly lapland longspurs were killed on the night of January 22, 1998, at a 420 foot tall communications tower in western Kansas--cause for serious concern and panic...especially since this sort of thing happens a lot and few people hear of it.

According to US Fish and Wildlife: At least 4 million and as many as 50 million birds are killed annually in tower collisions, the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates. Here is a GREAT document from US Fish and Wildlife about birds and collision injuries.

From my perspective, incredibly common birds like red-winged blackbirds, grackles and starlings that have a tendency to move around in tight knit flocks of hundreds of birds getting wiped out by colliding into power lines, vehicles, each other via panic from fireworks is a concern but not a panic.

Cause for panic is BP trying to say that the Gulf of Mexico is fine and only 2000 birds were killed.  There were more, they are not easily recovered in the water and we have yet to see how wintering ducks are going to fare (not to mention how many birds their response teams killed by driving over their nesting colonies).  Will there be enough food for years to come.  I'm still far more concerned with the BP big picture than I am with the Arkansas Aflockalypse.

If you doubt that millions of birds are killed every year, here's a great example.  On September 11 of last year, they put up the Tribute of Light for the fallen Twin Towers and thousands of birds were trapped in it.  New York is on a major migratory bird route.  The winds were right for fall migration and birds were on the move.  With the tower lights on, they were attracted and couldn't leave.  The lights had to be turned off several times to get the birds to leave rather than spending the night trapped in the lights, exhausting their energy resources and possibly killing them.  This is just one night in one spot.  That to me is cause for panic.  Thousands of birds of several different species.  Many of these birds are the insect eating kind, not the "pest kind" like blackbirds who raid fields.  Here's a video of the event:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZAQSw0qCAI&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

So, listen to those news reports, don't freak out that the end is near but do find ways that you can help solve these collision problems in your neighborhood and city.

Birds and Beers This Week

So, what does a bacon framed photo of the Golden Girls playing Dungeons and Dragons with Wil Wheaton have to do with anything.  It serves as a reminder that tonight is the final night to see Non Birding Bill and me in the Golden Girls Christmas Carol at the Bryant Lake Bowl. This is also a heads up that there is a Birds and Beers this week on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 6pm at Merlins Rest. We can discuss the snow, the birds, the Ross's gulls popping up all over the US or the upcoming Christmas Bird Counts.

Speaking of CBCs, WildBird on the Fly had a very interesting post about alerting communities that those freaky people with optics in your neighborhood may not be casing your joint, but counting birds.  It's a good idea.  May be too late for this year, but for the future, consider writing letters to the editor of local papers warning about the counts.

Bayer & EPA Causing Colony Collapse Disorder With Clothianidin?

This is an interesting story and is not getting as much play as it should.  It is the first news that has made me think we may have a serious idea of what might be causing bee colonies to disappear, commonly called Colony Collapse Disorder.

This is a must read--why?  Because a pesticide called clothianidin was approved for use in the US in 2003 (this pesticide is banned in France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia).  Colony Collapse Disorder was first on the Beekeeper RADAR in the winter of 2004/2005 and became a media headline in 2006.

A beekeeper by the name of Tom Theobald wrote an article for Bee Culture magazine this past summer about clothianidin. It is a pesticide produced by Bayer that is absorbed by plants and then released in pollen and nectar to kill pests.  Basically, anything that pollinates can get a dose.

After the article came out, an Environmental Protection Agency employee contacted Theobald and told him that his article led to a study about the pesticide.  He asked if could get a copy of the study and the EPA employee emailed it over .  You can look at a PDF of it here.

Here are some interesting quotes from that memo that raised BIG RED FLAGS to me in several areas of my life:

As a beekeeper:

"Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects. An incident in Germany already illustrated the toxicity of clothianidin to honeybees when allowed to drift off-site from treated seed during planting."

"This compound is toxic to honey bees. The persistence of residues and potential residual toxicity of Clothianidin in nectar and pollen suggests the possibility of chronic toxic risk to honey bee larvae and the eventual instability of the hive."

As a birder:

"This compound is toxic to birds and mammals. Treated clothianidin seeds exposed on soil surface may be hazardous to birds and mammals. Cover or collect clothianidin seeds spilled during loading."

And can I point out as a birder who loves hummingbirds, which are a native pollinator--are they affected by this too??

As a fishing enthusiast:

"This product is toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply directly to water or to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high-water mark. Do not contaminate water when cleaning equipment or disposing of equipment washwaters. Do not apply where runoff is likely to occur. Runoff from treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Apply this product only as specified on the label.

What do we need to do? Get the EPA to recall this pesticide now!  This is not a matter of "Oh no, Neil and I might lose our cute bees," this is a matter of, "Holy crap, this affects the world wide food supply!"

Buy A Duck Stamp Now! It's a great gift

Hey Minnesota--this story from Outdoor News is troubling: "Hunters this year bought fewer state duck stamps than they ever have before.

As of earlier this week, the DNR had sold just more than 87,700 stamps. While the goose season still is open, it's unlikely hunters will buy enough stamps to match the previous low sales point - 89,228 in 1988."

Birders, bird lovers, bird enthusiasts, nature lovers, fishermen, beekeepers, tree huggers, botany lovers, shroomers, nerds, geeks, countrymen...we MUST not let that happen this year, this can't be the lowest year for the Minnesota Duck Stamp.  The Duck Stamp is not just for hunters and if fewer hunters buy it and no one else picks up the slack, the stamp will be done away with and all of us who enjoy walking in natural areas will lose out--especially all the critters who use them.

Why is the Duck Stamp so cool?

The Minnesota State Duck Stamp is similar to the Federal Duck Stamp.  Birders and others who care about wildlife and wetlands can help protect habitat by purchasing Minnesota waterfowl stamps. Improved waterfowl habitat naturally benefits cranes, bitterns, warblers, and other species too--think of all the animals and plants that are found where ducks are found.  The Minnesota DNR says that state duck stamp dollars (about $750,000 annually) pays for about 17% of the waterfowl habitat work done by the DNR.  The money goes to things like water-control structures and eliminating rough fish, as well as waterfowl research, including aerial waterfowl surveys (you know, those things I do up in the plane in the fall).

So, if you have to do any gift giving this year and don't know what to get someone, consider a Minnesota Duck Stamp or a Federal Duck Stamp.  They're perfect for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.  You're not only giving the stamp, but you're also giving a gift of conservation.