Advertising Card with an Owl

Found in an antique mall in Morgantown, West Virginia: an ad card for Boraxine brand soap, copyrighted 1884 by J. D. Larkin & Co. of Buffalo, N.Y. The front of the card features an owl on a nest with three eggs in the foreground and a quaint village scene in the background. The owl is identified simply as a "Brown Owl;" to my eyes, it most closely resembles a Barred Owl. The back of the card reads:

* * * USE * * *

"IDEAL" WHITE SOAP

for any and all purposes.

* * * * * * *

A Fine Silver-Plated Tea Spoon

GRATIS WITH EACH BAR.

Try getting anything for free today! This card, which was handed out for free in it's day, cost me $3.00, which I thought was reasonable.

Bird Highlights from the Mountain State of West Virginia--Winter 2001-2002

The following records are excerpted from Robert C. Leberman’s seasonal report for the Appalachia Region, as published in North American Birds (Volume 56, Number 2, Pages 174-176, 2002):

Green Heron - One in Raleigh County on December 29 (fide Ron Canterbury) was "an unexpected find."

Greater White-fronted Goose - One at Kingwood, Preston County, on January 5 (Gary Felton) and six on the Ohio River at Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, Mason County, on February 1 and thereafter (photograph, Wendell Argabrite and many other observers) represented just two of the "scattered sightings" in the Appalachia Region.

Rough-legged Hawk - One wintered at Pickway, Monroe County (Jim Phillips), a site somewhat south of the normal wintering range.

Sandhill Crane - Six were at Huntington on December 30 (Wendell Argabrite).

Great Black-backed Gull - One on the Ohio River at Huntington, January 10-16, was "a rare find" for the locality.

Snowy Owl - A bird that appeared in Pleasants County in late November and remained through December 20 (Jeanette Esker) was part of "a minor invasion" of the species into the Appalachia Region.

Tree Swallow - The "early return of the first" Tree Swallows on February 23 at McClintic Wildlife Station, Mason County (Wendell Argabrite) was "indicative of the mild late winter weather."

Black-capped Chickadee - This species was "completely missing" at the Southern West Virginia Bird Research Center (Ron Canterbury), "where they occurred during the past few winters."

House Wren - Singles at Lake Stephens, Raleigh County, in December (Ron Canterbury) and at Parkersburg, December 29 (fide Jeanette Esker), were "well n. of the usual winter range."

Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco - An individual of the Oregon race was at Pipestem State Park, December 24 and later (Jim Phillips).

Snow Bunting - One in Ritchie County on December 16 (Gary Felton) was south of the normal wintering range.

Red J Chewing Tobacco Collectible

Found in an antique mall in Fairmont, West Virginia: an old tobacco tin bearing the brand name Red J Chewing Tobacco, a product of the American Tobacco Company, Incorporated, and probably dated from the 1920s or '30s. The tin measured approximately 6 inches square and 4 inches deep. The lid bore the name Red J and depicted a perfect likeness of a Blue Jay, except that instead of being blue it was a brilliant red. A neat tobacco tin in good condition, and a good example of an avian advertising collectible, but the dealer's asking price of $35 was more than I was willing to pay.

Mountain Stage and Nighthawks in the Mountain State

My wife and I fulfilled a dream a several years this past weekend when we journeyed south to Charleston to see Mountain Stage performed live at the Cultural Center. There was a packed audience to see Los Lobos and four other musical groups. Our favorite was The Joanna Connor Band.

After the performance we drove to the Fifth Quarter restaurant to get a bite to eat. As we walked across the parking lot, a Common Nighthawk was displaying in the last rays of daylight. This is my first sighting of a nighthawk this summer. When we moved to the Eastern Panhandle city of Martinsburg in the late 1980s, the calls of nighthawks were heard nightly on hot, humid summer evenings, but I have not heard them there since the early 1990s. I miss them. This is a phenomenon that has occurred across the country. Common Nighthawks in the eastern United States, for example, have been steadily declining at a rate of about 4.6 percent per year since 1966. As a result, breeding populations today are only about one-third of what they were just 35 years ago.

Beaver Sparks Blaze

This unlikely event was reported in the March-April 2002 issue of Petersen's Hunting magazine, as follows:

A beaver was the unlikely arsonist in a forest fire that destroyed 70 acres in Watauga County, North Carolina. The beaver had been gnawing down trees to make a dam when one of the trees fell and landed on power lines, causing them to spark and ignite a blaze. Investigators said all evidence pointed to the animal being the culprit. There were teeth marks on the tree, and it was located right next to a pond that was stopped by a beaver dam.

Cormorant Greeting Cards

Birds on greeting cards are nothing new (bluebirds, cardinals, chickadees, doves, etc.). But a cormorant? That's really different! The front of this card depicts four cormorants sitting atop a piling, as they are wont to do. A birthday cake sits among the cormorants and one of them is wearing a party hat. Upon opening the card, you are greeted with a message on the inside that says:

Happy Birthday to someone highly esteemed among piers.

A note on the back of the card from the artist, Jennifer Blomgren, reads:

The old ferry dock in Port Townsend is a popular place for cormorants to fish, hang out their wings to dry, rest, and gossip. While sketching this, I felt sure that, given opposable thumbs, they would have been playing poker or bridge. Animals, birds, and all the earth's creatures need habitat, affection, esteem, and respect–from people especially–and especially now.

The card is distributed by Madison Park Greetings of Seattle, Washington; is the product of Twenty-four Carrot, Incorporated, "a creative company made possible by an initial grant from the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation;" and is copyrighted by Jennifer Blomgren.

This is a real rarity in the world of greeting cards: a trilogy of zany cormorant artwork, clever humor, and a conservation message all rolled into one.

(Thanks to Cyndi Perry for bringing this card to my attention.)

Latest News from the Redstart

The January 2002 issue (Volume 69, Number 1) of the Redstart, the quarterly journal of the Brooks Bird Club arrived in the mail two days ago. The January issue is traditionally dedicated to reports about the annual Foray, an intense one-week investigation of the plants and animals living within a prescribed 15-mile diameter circle. Here are the contents of the latest issue:

The 2001 Foray, Camp Kidd, Tucker County - 2-35

Singing Male Census: 2001 Foray, Tucker County - Greg Eddy - 2-6

The 2001 Foray Bird List and Breeding Bird Records - Janice Emrick & Scott Emrick - 7-13

The 2001 Foray Breeding Bird Surveys, Tucker County, West Virginia - Ralph K. Bell & Carol McCullough - 14-18

Lepidoptera of the 2001 Tucker County Foray - Virginia Johnson - 19-20

Reptiles and Salamanders of the 2001 Foray - Jane J. Whitaker - 21-23

Mammals at the 2001 Foray - Jane J. Whitaker - 24-26

Ferns and Fern Allies of the Tucker County 2001 Foray - Thomas R. Fox & Dawn A. Fox - 27-29

The 2001 Foray Plants - Albert R. Buckelew Jr. - 30-32

The 2001 Foray Weather - Mariah Fowler - 33

The 2001 Foray Participants - 34-35

Field Notes: Summer Season (June-August 2001) - James D. Phillips (Ed.) - 36-39

An Attack Swan Named Fred

As reported in The Reliable Source, Margaret Heckler, former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, continues to battle a serious infection three months after being viciously attacked by a Mute Swan owned by her former (and now deceased) husband.

How Many Birds Are There?

Historical Estimates

McAtee (1931) estimated that there were about 2.6 billion breeding land birds in the United States.

Peterson (1948), using figures from the Breeding Bird Census, estimated the total population of breeding land birds in the Unted States at not less than 5 billion birds and perhaps closer to 6 billion birds in the beginning of summer.

Using a more complicated method than Peterson, Leonard Wing (in Terres 1980:748) estimated a summer population of 5.6 billion birds in the United States.
It is important to point out that all of these estimates, apparently, were of breeding land birds only. For the most part, they did not incorporate breeding populations of waterbirds (e.g., watefowl, colonial-nesting waterbirds, marsh-nesting birds) and almost certainly underestimated breeding populations of crepuscular and nocturnal birds (e.g., goatsuckers and owls). They did not account for coastal-nesting seabirds (e.g., pelicans, storm-petrels, cormorants, gulls, terns, alcids). They also did not account for the large populations of shorebirds that migrate through the contiguous United States to nest in Alaska and Canada, or the immense numbers of shearwaters and other tubenoses that migrate through coastal waters enroute to and from breeding grounds in the Southern Hemisphere.

Recent Estimates

Based on the detection of an average of about 3,325 birds/square mile on the 1973 Breeding Bird Survey, Aldrich et al. (1975) estimated 9.975 billion breeding landbirds for the United States exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii, and concluded that the autumn population was probably about double that figure, or around 20 billion birds.

Banks (1979) used a figure of about 10 billion breeding birds in the contiguous United States in his assessment of the relative impact of different sources of mortality, and assumed an average annual mortality of about 10 billion birdes.

I examined Breeding Bird Censuses for 1991 and 1992 (J. Field Ornithol. 63 [Suppl.] and 64 [Suppl.]. The median breeding densities on plots censused were 220 pairs/40 hectares in 1991 (n = 126) and 206 pairs/40 hectares in 1992 (n = 132). Extrapolating these figures to pairs/square mile (1,430 and 1,334, respectively) and expanding to the land area of the contiguous United States (2.966 million square miles), the two samples yield estimated poplations of 8.4 and 7.9 billion birds, respectively; figures that are similar to Banks' (1979) estimate of 10 billion birds.

But what about Alaska and Canada? Given the uncertainty about bird population densities in Alaska and Canada

All of these calculations suggest that there are far more individual birds out there than people realize. In round figures, it's probably safe to talk about minimum breeding populations on the order of 10 billion birds and minimum fall populations on the order of 20 billion birds, in North America north of Mexico. More realistically, perhaps, North America may support something on the order of 10-15 billion birds in spring and 20-30 billion in fall.

Comparative Estimates

Fisher (1940) calculated a density of 1,350 breeding birds/square mile in Great Britain, or an overall total of about 64 million birds. Using figures similar to Fisher's, Moreau (1972) estimated that 5 trillion(!) songbirds were present each autumn in western Eurasia.

Literature Cited

Aldrich, J. W. (Chair), R. C. Banks, T. J. Cade, W. A. Calder, F. G. Cooch, S. T. Emlen, G. A. Greenwell, T. R. Howell, J. P. Hubbard, D. W. Johnston, R. F. Johnston, and L. R. Mewaldt. 1975. Report of the American Ornithologists' Union ad hoc Committee on Scientific and Educational Use of Wild Birds. Auk 92(3, Suppl.): 1A-27A.

Banks, R. C. 1979. Human-related mortality of birds in the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Spec. Sci. Rep.--Wildl. 215, 16 pp.

Fisher, J. 1940. Watching birds. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Endland.

McAtee, W. L. 1931. Local bird refuges. U.S. Dep. Agric. Farmer's Bull. 1644.

Moreau, R. E. 1972. The Palaearctic-African bird migration systems. Academic Press, New York.

Peterson, R. T. 1948. Birds over America. Dodd, Mead, and Company, New York.

Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Notable Bird Quotes X

"Sparrowhawks, Ma'am." --reply of the Duke of Wellington when asked by Queen Victoria how to remove sparrows from the Crystal Palace (from The Quotable Birder, edited by Bill Adler Jr.)

Messy Ways Vindicated

As one who cannot undertake any project, no matter how small, without leaving behind a cluttered desk of books, papers, files, and reference materials, some of which invariably overflows onto the adjacent window sill or the floor beside the desk, I have often regarded uncluttered desks as a sign of a sick mind. The following article from the August 2002 issue of Readers Digest, as told by Sarah Safir, justifies my cluttered ways, which I gave up trying to tame long ago:

In Defense of Clutter

Don’t feel quilty about the Everest-like mounds of paper on your desk. They’re an essential part of the human thought process, according to one research team. In a series of studies across many occupations, social scientists Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper, co-authors of The Myth of the Paperless Office, observed that when people read at work, they use annotating, cross-referencing and paper-sorting to tackle complex problems. When only electronic files were used, or when papers were filed away, workers weren’t as effective. Piles of paper, they say, serve as ‘temporary holding patterns’ for ideas in progress. ‘People with messy desks don’t have messy heads,’ says Harper. ‘Quite the contrary--they’ve taken the mess out of their heads and piled it on their desks.’ So the next time someone comments on your state of disarry, tell them you’re a stacker, not a slacker.

A Move I'd Like to See But Can't Find--Nearly as Rare as the Title Implies

Rare Birds–starrring William Hurt, Molly Parker, and Andy Jones–was released in September 2001, perhaps part of the reason the movie hasn't received more attention. It has apparently been available on video and DVD for several months now, but I've been unable to get it from my local video store. Described as a "dark comedy," the movie takes place in a small coastal village in Newfoundland. Hurt plays the proprietor of a struggling restaurant, appropriately named The Auk, who conspires to invent stories about sightings of a rare duck in the waters below the restaurant. Soon, the restaurant is jammed with birders from across the continent. Read the critic's reviews here and here.

Birds are a Topic of Note

Birds Etcetera made Kiplog's 7/17/2002 list of topical blogs, "a sample of well-known and not-well-known blogs that stick to a topic."

Nocturnal Emissions: Tracking Migratory Birds Electronically

This week’s Living on Earth program features this fascinating interview with ornithologist Bill Evans, who has devised a way to track numbers of migrating birds by recording their nocturnal vocalizations using a network of computer-integrated electronic recording devices.

The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter is a What?

I am a great admirer of Mary McCrory, a long-time national columnist for the Washington Post. But the following story reveals that even the best of writers are not beyond making an occasional technical error. In her column in today's Washington Post on the security monster, McCrory wryly notes that "The new department [of homeland security] will not include the CIA and the FBI, which are principally responsible for our safety, but it will include the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture, which licenses pet shops [among other things]." Yours truly commented on the absurdity of transferring APHIS to a new department of homeland security in this article posted on June 9th.

McCrory then goes on to document a few of the complaints that have been offered by David Obey, a House member from Wisconsin and one of the chief critics of the homeland security proposal. She concludes with this paragraph:

"Obey's complaint is that the program was thrown together 'by four White House hotshots' who don't know much about agencies . . . . Some of the inclusions would indeed make you think the standard was not 'why?' but 'why not?' An Obey example: The Agriculture Department division charged with 'protecting our wine producers from the glassy winged sharp shooter,' a bird [emphasis added] apparently as predatory as al Qaeda."

In truth, the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter is an insect, not a bird. From the way McCrory's sentence is structured, it is difficult to tell if the mistake is attributable to Obey, McCrory, or both.

So why is the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter--quite a menacing name for a member of the relatively innocuous leafhopper family--even in the news? Because, since the about 1990 it has invaded the wine country of southern California. If it were just the sharpshooter, that probably wouldn't be a big deal, but the sharpshooter is host to a bacteria that causes Pierce's Disease in grapes. Pierce's Disease almost always kills the host plant, hence the fear that the sharpshooter is a significant threat to the multi-million dollar California wine industry. The University of California has assembled an online media kit that includes just about everything you might ever want to know about the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter and Pierce's Disease.

Participation Rates by Ornithologists and Birders in Field Ornithology

In an earlier post, I opined that "a very small percentage of bird sightings made by listers find their way into publicly accessible data sets (databases and publications) where they could contribute to our knowledge of bird distribution and abundance, which are the building blocks of effective bird conservation," but lacked statistics to back up the claim. North American Birds, a journal published by the American Birding Association, strives to "provide a complete overview of the changing panorama of our continent's birdlife, including outstanding records, range extensions and contractions, population dynamics, and changes in migration patterns or seasonal occurrence." This is accomplished with the help of a cadre of field observers who voluntarily contribute their sightings to Regional Editors who, in turn, produce seasonal reports that highlight significant sightings and events. What do we know about these field observers?

To answer that question, I first focus on the Appalachia (sometimes referred to as Appalachian) Region. As defined by the NAB editorial staff, the Appalachia Region includes parts of 11 different States, extending from Pennsylvania to Alabama and Georgia. West Virginia is the only State that lies entirely within the Appalachia Region. The Appalachia seasonal report for fall 2001 (North American Birds 56:51-53, 2002) was comprised of information provided by 95 contributors. Males outnumbered females by 2.8 to 1. Nine (10%) of the 95 contributors were ornithologists (i.e., they were listed in the 2001 issue of The Flock, the membership directory of the Ornithological Societies of North America), 48 (or 50%) were birders (i.e., they were listed in the 2002 membership directory of the American Birding Association), 5 (5%) were members of both OSNA and the ABA, and 43 (45%) were members of neither organization.

And what about the situation in West Virginia? Of the 10 West Virginia residents who contributed observations, 6 were members of OSNA (3), the ABA (6), or both (3). Thus, participation by West Virginia OSNA and ABA members was rather low–11% (3 of 27) for OSNA members and 8% (6 of 78) for ABA members. The low rate of participation by West Virginia OSNA and ABA members is discouraging. It suggests either that (a) a fairly large percentage of the members of these organizations are not active field birders or (2) they are not motivated to submit their observations to North American Birds. On a positive note, these observations suggest that there is a fairly large and capable force of field birders outside the influence of OSNA and the ABA who are active participants in documenting the state of the birds in Appalachia. This indicates the existence of a core group of eager volunteers that can be tapped to participate in other citizen-science projects, and thus bodes well for the future of bird conservation in the region.

And for those who think I might be pontificating on this issue, let me assure you that my purpose is not to point fingers. I did not qualify as either an ornithologist or a birder, as defined above, and did not submit observations for the fall 2001 report. I'm not particularly proud of the latter, just stating a fact (I guess that makes me part of the "silent majority").

Bird Spam

Well, it was bound to happen sometime, I suppose. I’ve been too cheap to subscribe to a reputable email provider. Instead, I’ve been putting up with Hotmail and all the spam that comes with it. In all fairness, I have to say that the Hotmail service has been quite reliable; I have no complaints there. I’ve simply come to accept that I’m going to receive a daily load of spam that I have to delete before I can attend to the messages of consequence. Today, one email caught my attention. It professed to be from the Bird Watch Corp and the Subject line read: Feed the Birds not the Squirrels! I opened it. And then read the following:

Have a Ball Watching Squirrels Try to Outwit this Birdfeeder! THE DEFENDER Birdfeeder. Made of STAINLESS STEEL With a LIFETIME WARRANTY!

A Google search for “defender birdfeeder” revealed no legitimate Web site, just rantings from someone else who had received this same spam message. Why am I not surprised?

Pelican Quarter

The Louisiana quarter is the latest in the series of commemorative State Quarters being issued by the U.S. Mint. It features a very nice image of a Brown Pelican, the State Bird, on the left-hand side of the coin. The Louisiana quarter is the second coin in the series to feature a bird. The South Carolina quarter, issued in 2000, features an image of a Carolina Wren, the State Bird. Official First Day Coin Covers (something I didn't even realize existed) commemorating the issuance of these coins are available from the U.S. Mint.

Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival

That's the name of the new book by Carl Safina, founder and director of the National Audubon Society's Living Oceans Program. I have not yet seen it but, judging by the many glowing reviews it has received, it sounds like a book well worth reading.

Of What Value is Bird Listing?

Birders (or birdwatchers, if you prefer–some have gone to great pains to draw distinctions between the two groups, but I tend to lump them) are obsessed with keeping lists of the birds they have seen and identified. This affliction is known as listing. One of the major driving forces behind the establishment of the American Birding Association in the early 1970s was the desire of the organizers to compile annual lists of the number of species tallied by members, an activity that continues. There are life lists (a list of species seen at some point in your life), year lists (seen during a given calendar year), monthly lists, weekly lists, and daily lists. Each of the above categories can be further divided into world lists, continent lists, country lists, State lists, county lists, city and town lists, garden lists, yard lists, and so forth. The variations are endless. There are lists of birds seen from the office window, birds seen while driving to work, birds seen at the feeder, birds seen copulating, birds photographed, birds banded, and on and on.

Everybody seems to be doing it, but what is the end result of all this listing? Most of the lists end up in desk drawers, filing cabinets, notebooks, bookcases, closets, boxes in the attic, etc. A few of the more sophisticated and dedicated listers have adopted electronic formats for keeping their lists, either adopting databases or spreadsheets, or buying one of the several dedicated software packages available on the market. The latter allow individuals to retrieve historical data, and to order and sort their lists by species, locality, or date. But still, in the end, the information is largely of value and interest only to the individual who has gathered it–not being much different from a stamp collection in that regard. Individual bird lists seem to serve no useful purpose for bird conservation. In fact, one could argue (and many have) that the time and resources (think gas and oil) spent tracking down rarities–for the sole purpose of ticking them off on your life, year, or State bird list–is counterproductive to bird conservation. I suspect, but don't have the facts to prove it, that a very small percentage of the bird sightings made by listers find their way into publicly accessible data sets (databases and publications) where they could contribute to our knowledge of bird distribution and abundance, which are the building blocks of effective bird conservation.

Bird Highlights from the Mountain State of West Virginia--Fall 2001

The following records are excerpted from Robert C. Leberman’s seasonal report for the Appalachia Region, as published in North American Birds (Volume 56, Number 1, Pages 51-53, 2002):

Introduction - “Banders at the Three Rivers Migration Observatory (TRMO) in southern West Virginia . . . enjoyed their best fall migration (5,522 birds banded) since the inception of that program in 1995 (Ronald Canterbury). In contrast, 3,826 birds banded at the Allegheny Front Migraton Observatory (AFMO) in northeastern West Virginia was the sixth lowest fall total in 44 years and just 67% of average (George Hall)."

Red-throated Loon - one at Salem on November 6 (Phil Calise).

Least Bittern - one found dead in Parkersburg on October 19 was a first record for Wood County (fide Jeanette Esker).

Cattle Egret - one reported in Wood County, October 27-30 (Nina Ott).

Common Merganser - the presence of six birds on the Cheat River at Rowlesburg throughout August and into September (Gary Felton) “suggested the possibility that the species may be breeding in the State.”

Least Sandpiper - a flock of 100+ at Canaan Valley, Tucker County, August 17 (fide Gary Felton), was termed “exceptionally large” for that locality.

Snowy Owl - one at Willow Island Dam, Pleasants County, November 20-29, was one of a few that invaded Appalachia in late November.

Short-eared Owl - one at Masontown, Preston County, November 21 (Gary Felton), was considered a “rare find.”

Common Nighthawk - the 100 birds at Athens, August 22 (Jim Phillips) , was among the “better” counts reported for the Region.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - a record 844 birds were “counted in passage” at AFMO (fide George Hall and Ralph Bell).

Blue Jay - the 13,212 birds counted passing by AFMO “was the 3rd best flight there in 44 years” (fide George Hall), and a heavy flight was also noted in Morgantown during the first three weeks of September (George Breiding).

Wood Thrush - the 17 birds banded at the Three Rivers Migration Observatory (TRMO) “was almost three times greater than the six-year average and twice the previous high” (Ronald Canterbury), but the 21 banded at AFMO “was just average.”

Swainson’s Thrush - the flight “was good,” with the 336 banded at AFMO being “a little above average” and “a record” 79 birds banded at TRMO.

Tennessee Warbler - the fall flight was considered “locally heavy,” as evidenced by “a record-high total of 806 (200% above average)” banded at TRMO (Ronald Canterbury) with a peak of 170 there on September 18. But att AFMO, the 305 birds banded “was just a little above average.”

Blackpoll Warbler - historically the most common species at AFMO, the 374 birds banded there “was down 37% cmpared to the most recent ten-year average,”

Cape May Warbler - the 63 birds banded at AFMO was down 70% compared to the most recent ten-year average.

Bay-breasted Warbler - the 49 birds banded at AFMO was down 43% from the most recent 10-year average, while the 51 birds banded at TRMO “was the highest fall total since that station began operation in 1995.”

Black-throated Blue Warbler - the 849 birds banded at AFMO was 20% above average.

Black-throated Green Warbler - a total of 430 banded at AFMO was 12% above average.

Red Crossbill - one at Pipestem State Park on September 22, and two on October 19 (Jim Phillips), “may have belonged to one of the resident Appalachian populations.”

American Goldfinch - “an unusually heavy . . . migration resulted in a record count of 6,028 flying past AFMO” (George Hall and Ralph Bell) and a “record banding total” of 1,182 birds at TRMO (Ronald Canterbury).

Evening Grosbeak - “small numbers appeared at scattered localities in . . . West Virginia during the last week of October.”

Notable Bird Quotes IX

"As you know, birds do not have sexual organs because they would interfere with flight. As a result, birds are very difficult to arouse sexually. So when they want to reproduce, birds fly up and stand on telephone lines . . . . When they find a conversation in which people are talking dirty, they grip the line very tightly until they are both highly aroused, at which point the female gets pregnant." --Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every Teen Should Know" (from The Quotable Birder, edited by Bill Adler Jr.)
[edit]

Source of Maryland Snakeheads Revealed

Thanks to some clever environmental sleuthing by investigators with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the mystery of how the exotic snakehead came to populate a pond near Crofton has been solved: two fish were intentional released there by a Crofton resident two years ago. Read the latest news in the Washington Post for the bizarrre details as to how this individual happened to be in position of two live snakeheads in the first place. Incredibly, the penalty in Maryland for releasing a nonnative species into the environment is a mere $40 fine--in this case, the statute of limitations had expired. Maryland officials will now have to spend thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to eradicate the fish (the Crofton pair has produced young), which has the potential to become invasive and wreak havoc on the ecosystem if established.

Planting Buddleia

An extremely pleasant day and evening--daytime temperatures in the high 70s or low 80s brought a pleasant respite from the 90 degree weather we've been experiencing for the past week. It was so nice when I got home from work that I was inspired to venture out in the backyard and plant three of the five Buddleia bushes that we bought last weekend. Better known as Butterfly Bush, I at first was hesitated to plant any at all in the yard because they are not native to the U.S. They're also quite easy to growh, produce an abundance of brilliant flowers, and attract a whole host of hative butterflies. I've also convinced myself that they are rather benign in an ecological sense, that their ability to become an invasive is rather low. If it hadn't been for all the weeds I had to pull to make way for the Buddleia, I would have had time to plant all five of them. These five will eventually join the other Buddleia that we planted several years ago. We must now have just about every color of Buddleia known to science: dark purple, light blue, light pink, dark pink, yellow, and white. It will be interesting to see which ones the butterflies prefer.

Salary Survey of Professionals in the Biological Sciences

The American Institute of Biological Sciences has partnered with The Scientist magazine to sponsor a salary survey (click on Salary Survey) of professionals in the biological sciences. The online survey is being conducted through July 15 by Abbott, Langer & Associates, Inc. All professionals employed in the life sciences are encouraged to participate. When I submitted my response, I received an automated query to double-check the figure I had entered for my salary. I don't know if they thought it was too high or too low. Maybe it was just a way of increasing the accuracy of the survey results. Interesting, anyway.

Exotic Fish Has Maryland Officials Bracing for Battle

Following reports of the capture and release of a northern snakehead (Channa argus)--an exotic fish native to China--in a small pond in central Maryland, officials have issued an all-points bulletin for information on further sightings of other individuals of this fish. Snakeheads can survive out of water for up to several days and can use their over-sized fins to “walk” from one water body to another. The fear is that individuals of the species could invade other nearby water bodies, including a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, reproduce, and establish a self-supporting population that could wreck harm on native animals. This event has drawn huge press coverage.

Will Computers of the Future be Powered by Chickens?

A chemical engineer from the University of Delaware is betting that they will. Richard Wool has a patent to make computer microchips out of chicken feathers. Because chicken feathers contain a large amount of air, they transmit electrical signals twice as fast as silicon. Faster computers and less waste from the processing of chickens at the same time! Read the Washington Post story by Louis Jacobson.

The Birds of Baltimore

Check out this Web site for a unique and fascinating historical review of the logos and mascots displayed on the uniforms of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team over the years.