tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36598047876085094412024-02-18T19:49:13.931-08:00Good MigrationsReflections on Conservation, Art, Science, and Natural HistoryRoss Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-1100415966820046922014-01-02T07:12:00.001-08:002014-01-02T07:12:27.699-08:00Western Tanager in Worcester County, MDA (likely) female Western Tanager, photographed January 1st, 2014 in Worcester County, MD at about 4 PM.<br />
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<br />Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-22631869617312894032010-05-28T10:07:00.001-07:002010-05-28T10:10:52.102-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oqDSXE0wE-VBtiaroGj4IE_dxl1VCtm0lDA_gu9MQzfYBkjQneGqBSKICPxK0zTn2WoTRJtb7c0Yp-EFNDdfS-mpzQVdDLxGs8JZ8UWm1hlCCEeB33CMnmhVRacx-2LNP_QsOvU2/s1600/IMG_0146.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oqDSXE0wE-VBtiaroGj4IE_dxl1VCtm0lDA_gu9MQzfYBkjQneGqBSKICPxK0zTn2WoTRJtb7c0Yp-EFNDdfS-mpzQVdDLxGs8JZ8UWm1hlCCEeB33CMnmhVRacx-2LNP_QsOvU2/s320/IMG_0146.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476369007479768370" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The Blue Angels were in town this week for the</div><div style="text-align: center;">Naval Academy Commencement Ceremonies</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDhZiiBhYlvkkcDQ8Emu4N6KqK0mWTejhfViBzpzDemB5_vqHHc7BP5I4BvfkC_xQYgFU9ILWhGN1nZyBDPWDrc-YqL4WYl6ASfEE_TmkIZ13fKMbeLZeIQJyVWTfDSRNoJTNhiGd/s1600/IMG_0135.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDhZiiBhYlvkkcDQ8Emu4N6KqK0mWTejhfViBzpzDemB5_vqHHc7BP5I4BvfkC_xQYgFU9ILWhGN1nZyBDPWDrc-YqL4WYl6ASfEE_TmkIZ13fKMbeLZeIQJyVWTfDSRNoJTNhiGd/s320/IMG_0135.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476368887810023378" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">In one of their signature maneuvers, all six F-18 Hornets</div><div style="text-align: center;">climbed several thousand feet together in tight formation.....</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoN-yuOGGHrhQLpmuqSQGxCe7bdzJFtTO0IqEka987zE1pWBQW7aR045HwcWfbP3_SGw5xwggXT5n77jbEPTlJCt8zHa6OuJ94HOlzjJimYt_bbiJEXprS2jSwftUH_dMsHhGt4Op/s1600/IMG_0143.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoN-yuOGGHrhQLpmuqSQGxCe7bdzJFtTO0IqEka987zE1pWBQW7aR045HwcWfbP3_SGw5xwggXT5n77jbEPTlJCt8zHa6OuJ94HOlzjJimYt_bbiJEXprS2jSwftUH_dMsHhGt4Op/s320/IMG_0143.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476368811364375074" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">.....then came screaming down together before peeling apart.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-14590970457345154502010-04-18T14:31:00.000-07:002010-05-13T12:52:05.150-07:00Final Prep before TexasOnly two and 1/2 days until I leave for Austin, Texas and points south. This will be my second visit to the Lone Star State, but my first of any significant duration. In 1996 I spent about 3 hours driving across the Texas Panhandle on I-40, which passes through Amarillo. I don't recall seeing so much as a Turkey Vulture in the flat, dry, red-clay country off the interstate, although several were probably soaring above my light green 1971 Toyota Hilux Pickup. My mind at the time was pre-occupied with a crushing break-up on top of being laid off from my first seasonal position in Denali National Park, Alaska. I was pretty much focused on getting home to, of all places, New Jersey, where I could spend some time with my family, whom I hadn't seen in nearly two years. Plus it was early October, and even though fall migration was in full swing, I was more interested in seeking meditative solace in the peaceful silence of the intermountain west and southwestern Great Plains. <div> Needless to say, this trip will be much different. I am heading to Austin for NatureServe's first ever Leader to Leader Training followed by their 2010 Conservation Conference, "Biodiversity Without Boundaries." The Training starts on Friday, but I am leaving the east coast early Wednesday morning to explore the Hill Country west of Austin for a day. </div><div> On Sunday, I'll be touring Hornsby Bend, a wetland sanctuary that is famous for its great mix of waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, as well as eastern songbirds and south-Texas specialty species. On Monday, I'll be presenting at the Conservation Conference on a Mountaintop Removal study I performed for Appalachian Voices.</div><div> After Monday's conference sessions, I'll be heading south to the Lower Rio Grande Valley (aka the LRGV). After nearly 20 years of birding, this trip will be a bit of a pilgrimage for me. Most birders make this trip at some point in their lives, as a number of North American bird species are found only in south Texas, and the LRGV has by far the highest concentration of them. In addition, several "vagrant" or "accidental" species from Mexico have shown up on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on a very rare basis, some only once. For example, just last December, a Bare-throated Tiger Heron, a wading bird found in Mexico and Central America, was seen for the first time ever in the U.S. in Mission, Texas. Birders flew in from all over North America to see it, not exactly an environmentally friendly practice (more on that in another post, I hope). It's this kind of excitement that attracts birders like myself: not only am I guaranteed to find bird species I've never seen before, the prospect of seeing something or even finding something that has never been seen before in the U.S. (at least not in the last 100 years), is utterly tantalizing for a naturalist.</div><div> There are about 53 species of "lifebirds" that I could potentially see on this trip. Some of these birds are essentially guaranteed to be found, like the Golden-fronted Woodpecker, south Texas's counterpart to the Red-bellied Woodpecker. These two species are actually very similar, and I would not be surprised if there is a hybrid zone. Another example of similar geographic relationships is the Black-crested Titmouse, which looks much like the East's Tufted Titmouse except that it has a black crest. These two species do in fact hybridize in central Texas near Austin, and it was only about ten years ago that the two species were split.</div><div> While I'm in Texas, my friends Warren and Lisa Strobel, the "Bird Couple" (www.birdcouple.com) are experiencing a similar trip in southern Arizona, which is probably the only location in the U.S. that can rival south Texas for its avian diversity and extraordinary composition of "Mexican" species that extend their range into the southwestern U.S. I spent several days there back in 1994 during my formative years as a young naturalist and birder. Living on the road, I camped in the Chiricahua Mountains, where Geronimo made his last stand against the U.S. Cavalry. It was an exhilarating experience, and I recall finding several dozen life-birds in a mere 2.5 days. </div><div> </div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-47516974786190054942010-02-02T17:08:00.000-08:002010-02-02T17:25:44.237-08:00Big January Report<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Well, the storm this past weekend provided a great deal of adventure, frustration, and excitement to the finale' of my Big January, or perhaps I should say, my "Not So Big" January.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Just to be clear: this was no record attempt. Prior to me embarking on this journey, the most species I had ever officially tallied during the month of January was under 100. Granted, I was much less vigilant about my record-keeping back in the '90's, when I very well could have broken 100, 120, or 140 species in January as a seasonal naturalist in the Everglades without even realizing it, but alas, that information is lost forever......</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> So this was my first honest attempt at a true "big month", and I decided to keep it all in</span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_0" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maryland</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, my new home birding state.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> I must give credit where credit is due: I took some inspiration from the hard cores of 2009 who broke the MD record. The vicarious thrill of reading about big days and months is hard to resist, and I admit to the perverse desire to chase rarities in frigid weather, probably a spillover from my CBC days on the Maine Coast or grad school trips to Cape Anne, Mass in winter. But it was actually the Bird Couple, Warren and Lisa Strobel (</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.birdcouple.com/" style="line-height: 1.2em; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; "><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_1" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">www.birdcouple.com</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">), who really prompted me to act on these (some would say) foolish whims, when a few days before the New Year they told me they were attempting a Big January with the goal of 100 species, very attainable for an active birder in Maryland. We all decided to make a friendly competition out of it.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It turned out to be a real roller-coaster of a month. </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_2" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">New Year's Day</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> dawned calm and foggy, and as the fog lifted, birds of all types were just waiting to be ticked off. Maybe this would be another epic month like last year? Then the arctic blasts came down from up North, and soon all waterways were frozen over with ice. Within days, all waterfowl seemed to virtually disappear, and songbirds hid for cover deep in the thickets and woods. Still, some good birds were to be found.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> By mid-month, the weather thawed again, and species began returning, like a </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_3" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Glaucous Gull</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at Jug Bay Wetlands. But overall, this was a really slooow January, especially when compared to 2009's mega-rarity bonanza. For you eBird junkies, I'm sure you noticed the cumulative species tally for 2010 only reached 175 on Jan 31: that's 14 fewer species than Jim Brighton alone had during his big January last year (my apologies to the other record-setters, as I don't know all of their species totals).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Notably absent were any winter finches: </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_4" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">pine siskin</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_5" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">purple finch</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, redpolls, crossbills, let alone Evening or Pine Grosbeaks, a natural occurrence after such a major irruption last winter. Also absent were birds like </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_6" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Eurasian Wigeon</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_7" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Snowy Owl</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, and of course, who could count on another </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_8" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tufted Duck</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> on the heels of last January's?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> But as I said earlier, this was not a record attempt. Instead, I ended up learning a great deal about wintering birds in Maryland [i.e. </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_9" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Marsh wrens</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> will stick around in frozen-over marshes, but Laughing gulls essentially depart the state at the very end of December]. I got to meet a lot of folks in the birding community, if not in person, at least electronically and sometimes over the phone. I also got to visit many of the great habitats that up until now, I have only read about. And finally, I had a lot of fun.....</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Which brings me to the final weekend, if it could be called "fun". I had several routes planned out to pick up as many 25-30 additional species in the two final days. I was still missing big-time easy species like </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_10" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Barred Owl</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_11" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">American Coot</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, so my plan for Saturday the 30th was to hit key locations on the </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_12" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">western shore</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for about 6-7 hours and do cleanup: Piscataway Park on the Potomac for RH Woodpecker, Jug Bay area for Barred Owl, possibly </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_13" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lake Artemesia</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for Coot, and RB Nuthatch and </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_14" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Wild Turkey</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at Soldier's Delight/Baltimore County. A private feeder stop would yield </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_15" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Rusty Blackbird</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and an over-wintering </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_16" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Baltimore Oriole</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Then the snow started to fall.....<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It took 3 hours just to get the RH Woodpeckers at Piscataway. Balt Co. was out of the question. Accidents were everywhere on Rt. 301 and the backroads. Fortunately, I've lived most of my life in </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_17" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">snow country</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, and my car is an AWD Subaru. Jug Bay proved fruitless after a mile hike in the snow, so I headed for my feeder stop with an hour of daylight left. Both the Oriole and the Rusties were cooperative in the dim, windy, snowy light of late afternoon/evening. Time to head home and shovel the driveway and rest up before my final "Big Day".</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> 3:45 start and off to Kraft Neck Road for Barred Owl. Nada. Road? What road? Not even a car track. 15 degrees and moderate 10-15 mph winds as the sun came up over the marshes. No Black-crowned Night Herons posing as Yellow-crowneds. Everything was frozen over and locked up again, and apart from the wind and the crows, the eagles and gulls overhead, nothing was stirring in the marshes. An AMERICAN </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_18" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">PIPIT</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at Elliott landing was a nice county bird, but not a new tick for my January. Horned Lark flocks were everywhere along the Dorchester County back roads en route to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, but no Lapland Longspurs or Savannah Sparrows were among them. Instead, large groups of Song Sparrows where congregating along the roadsides, something I didn't see after the big blizzard back in December. The constant "big-day" style pressure prevented me from lingering too long, otherwise enough persistence would have paid off. I arrived at Blackwater only to find the place closed down and gated. No time to wait around for the snowplow, so onward to </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_19" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Worcester County</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Truitt's Landing Road was unplowed, but a pickup or two had made their way down the squirrelly track. A fun, wild, ride through the powder down to the marsh. I love my Subaru. Finally found a </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_20" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">MARSH WREN</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> as the road opens out into the wetland. Best bird of the day, my only one ever in January, and its habitat seemed devoid of liquid water: only snow and ice, a mind-blowing experience for me. The temperature was still only 21 degrees F at this point.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_21" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Worcester County Landfill</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> was also all but shut down, it being a Sunday after a storm. Finally got permission to look around a bit, found a few groups of gulls, but nothing unusual.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Right around this time, I reached into my pocket for my cell phone so I could call Jim Brighton; what I found instead were my wife's car and house keys that I forgot to put away after shoveling the driveway. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> I called her to tell her the news just as she was heading out the door. We negotiated. We compromised. My wife is a very generous soul, and I'm thankful she understood my predicament. Needless to say, my Big January would be ending earlier than planned, as I could not in good conscience stay out until nightfall and make her miss her appointments.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> A half-hour later I was at Castaways Campground near Ocean City picking up my last bird of the month: a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, when the Bird Couple called me. They were stuck in the Finzel Swamp Parking Lot, unable to move their car at all. They were awaiting a snow-plow to pull them out. Later they told me they lost 3 hours there, but they still managed to pick up twice as many species as I did for the day: 6 to my 3 (a flyover Sharpie in Church Creek avoided another big miss). </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> I figured I had better quit soon before I suffered a similar fate, or heaven forbid, worse. But I had to try for just one more species. Sifting through gulls at OC Inlet, Jim Brighton called to report the </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_22" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Blue-headed Vireo</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in Wicomico Co. Oh, man, how tempting! It was </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_23" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">20 minutes</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> off the highway, though, and I had just enough time to stop at Hooper's before high-tailing it home so my wife could make her appointments. Today, February 1st, I realize I could have cut through </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_24" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Berlin</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> on Rt 374 and still gotten the bird while losing little time. A lesson in local Maryland Geography learned.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Instead my last stop proved not to be: Hooper's Restaurant entrance was plowed in except for tire tracks where a 4 x 4 truck had barreled through to do some "skijoring" in the parking lot. At the last minute, I committed to turning in with the flow of traffic right behind me. No turning back. I gunned it, but I was too angled and got lodged in the cement-like snowbank. 15 minutes later, the guys with the 4 x 4 pulled me out, but I was out of time. On the way home, a quick stop at Kent Narrows failed to turn up any coot. Most importantly, though, I made it home safe and on time.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> My final tally was a modest 120 species, well behind several active birders this year. My best birds were a RING-NECKED PHEASANT in </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_25" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Caroline County</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, A GOLDEN EAGLE at Bucktown Road, the GLAUCOUS GULL at Jug Bay Wetlands, followed by BALTIMORE ORIOLE (female) in PG County, TREE SWALLOW, SHORT-EARED OWL (both at Deal Island), a close-up PEREGRINE while driving over the </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_26" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Bay Bridge</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at sunrise, </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_27" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in 3 counties, and, for me at least, the MARSH WREN at Truitt's Landing.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Biggest Misses:</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> too many to mention, really, but the ones that stick out include Wild Turkey, Barred Owl(!), the aforementioned Coot, </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_28" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Red-breasted Nuthatch</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_29" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline- color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Chipping Sparrow</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, all the marsh sparrows, both Shrikes (I never did make it out for the Loggerhead - thanks to those who provided info); and two gimme birds of the interior: Black-capped chickadee and </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1265159270_30" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Common Raven</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, due to my lack of effort in that part of the state.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Biggest mistake:</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Not starting out aggressively enough early enough and going after the hard-to-get species right away, like making a trip out west early in the month when time is less critical. And forgetting to put away my wife's car keys.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Biggest surprise:</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> the power of eBird as a virtual scouting and route-planning tool. Oh, and did I mention the MARSH WREN in the frozen marsh? Still can't get over that. As for the Bird Couple, Warren and Lisa, I'll let them chime in if they want to disclose their own results. I won't say who "won" but I will say it was close: only four species separated our two "teams". I'm just glad they didn't freeze to death out there at Finzel yesterday!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Thanks to my wife, Julie, for her support and acceptance of my birding habit. Thanks to Jim Brighton, Jeff Shenot, Lynn and Hal, Mikey Lutmerding, Bill Hubick, David Yeany II, Sean McCandless, Frode Jacobsen, Paul Woodward, Dan Haas, and everyone else who provided information and/or landowner access to some good habitat. I know there were others on email, so sorry if I've forgotten to mention you here.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Oh, and as if birding in 15-degree January weather isn't sadistic enough, looks like I'll see you Pelago-philes on the boat this Saturday if she sails. The perfect cure for post-Big January blues, right?</span></span></span></div></div></div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-14812269683635348122009-09-10T11:03:00.000-07:002009-09-10T11:15:13.134-07:00EPA to Announce Decision on 84 Mountaintop Removal Permits<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oeDXMci11DI9rKSOUc9BN5-Fx6hZPKyzMc23lJfOA5dqYysOtcKrJDS_u3HXGco2UxzZ5P_zH-CSyc9JY8QBHnHFA37jYgR1FkLIw2RjQay7nKjuaIIIx05msbXQNTSMpaKxLr_2/s1600-h/image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oeDXMci11DI9rKSOUc9BN5-Fx6hZPKyzMc23lJfOA5dqYysOtcKrJDS_u3HXGco2UxzZ5P_zH-CSyc9JY8QBHnHFA37jYgR1FkLIw2RjQay7nKjuaIIIx05msbXQNTSMpaKxLr_2/s320/image002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379903199875429122" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow, Sept. 11, 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to announce her agency's decision on 84 Mountaintop Removal/Valley Fill permits in Appalachia. This permit review is a major step in the new "coordinated review process" that the Obama administration has undertaken in recent months. Conservationists and members of the public have documented the severe environmental impacts of this practice of surface mining.</div>You can view these permits in Google Maps, thanks to a dedicated team of mappers at Appalachian Voices and the Alliance for Appalachia here:<div><a href="http://opensourcecoal.org/epa-short-list.php?lat=&lon=">http://opensourcecoal.org/epa-short-list.php?lat=&lon=</a></div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-64006269640762715592009-08-18T18:33:00.001-07:002009-08-18T18:36:01.160-07:00Yosemite<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigpKmsiw5qt4Ga1MGq197IY5-cK-mpLAuuYYut1ka0ikYOtBsGVrF3fNsylwCIpd5as0BjmilnHUECDdyakW8Jkq8XXYkgy0zh2CHwn1dMA68N1fniMZk3-4okZpfIizpB6-XOSuy/s1600-h/LA635-3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiigpKmsiw5qt4Ga1MGq197IY5-cK-mpLAuuYYut1ka0ikYOtBsGVrF3fNsylwCIpd5as0BjmilnHUECDdyakW8Jkq8XXYkgy0zh2CHwn1dMA68N1fniMZk3-4okZpfIizpB6-XOSuy/s320/LA635-3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371482519584103330" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Yosemite Valley Storm, 2002</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3659804787608509441.post-55281381681248587822009-08-18T16:25:00.000-07:002009-08-18T18:31:03.218-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep3ry8WfZg5RF_jQ5skQUgZcoi0OO8UMjh8WXGoDkcVwJ6_8rwM4cFAwlLrIWN0y6tIlOMKx36NQWDPz3Cg7usPYjlbu8NMSM2ZwzQZW5lz24uWWrFpnaFBl4W0qgASmibEYo3SaQ/s1600-h/LA_Ostional1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep3ry8WfZg5RF_jQ5skQUgZcoi0OO8UMjh8WXGoDkcVwJ6_8rwM4cFAwlLrIWN0y6tIlOMKx36NQWDPz3Cg7usPYjlbu8NMSM2ZwzQZW5lz24uWWrFpnaFBl4W0qgASmibEYo3SaQ/s320/LA_Ostional1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371481236633731490" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Ostional, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. 2008.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ross Geredienhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16900337585368690069noreply@blogger.com2