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CBC, MD Mute Swans, BRC listserv, etc.



Hi Carolinabirders,

Spent the weekend with family in Massachusetts. No terribly exciting birds
up there, though the Wilson's Storm-Petrels were feeding surprisingly
close to shore near the mouth of Marblehead Harbor. Also saw Bonaparte's
and Laughing Gulls in the harbor. Returned home to Durham to find the
hummers still brawling over the feeders, while the Lantana in the
windowbox was visited by the very hummer-like Snowberry Clearwing moth.
Cool!

But between the trip to Mass., the drive to Chattanooga, and assorted home
and work commitments, I haven't been able to join the shorebird-watching
frenzy. Has anyone tried visiting the Falls Lake mudflats? For example,
the ones off the Will Suitt Road railroad bed that had Yellow Rail, Buff-
breasted Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, American Golden-Plover, etc. a few
falls ago? Or does Falls Lake have a higher water level and thus less
habitat than Jordan at the moment? I've also heard a rumour that Lake
Murray might be getting drawn down sometime this fall, maybe allowing
Columbia-area birders to get some action.

Received my copy of the CBC issue (unsolicited) before leaving town for
the weekend. Came home to find two more waiting for me. I usually don't
order the issue, just pay my $5 in the name of bird conservation and enjoy
meeting folks and seeing new places. I would say that Audubon is not
spending their money wisely, stripping down the content to save printing
costs, then printing many more total pages in order to send out loads of
duplicate copies to people who participated in multiple CBCs...

Interesting to note that we in the Carolinas rate pretty highly in terms
of CBC species totals. While the top 23 US counts are all from Texas and
California, the Carolinas have three of the top six CBC counts from states
other than TX and CA, four of the top ten, and six of the top 25. The
Southport-Bald Head count tallied 166 species, trailing only Cape May and
Sabine NWR (LA); Savannah was just two less at 164, and Wilmington had
160. Morehead City counted 156 species, Litchfield/Pawley's Island 152,
and the infamous Hilton Head (which, to be fair, hasn't reported anything
too terribly ridiculous in the last couple of years, though this year's
Greater Shearwaters sure sound fishy) had 151. Just for those of us who
are already filling in their calendars for the coming winter holidays!

A few things on-line that might interest folks. First, the Maryland Dept.
of Natural Resources e-mailed me (and a few hundred other random
bird-related folks) asking for comment on their proposed Mute Swan
management plan. The comments are predictably, sometimes entertainingly,
polarized between the swan-lovers, the swan-haters, and the swan-shooters.
They can be read at
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/msmpcomments.html

Meanwhile, Jack Siler's archive has added a couple of new items, including
a listserv devoted to Bird Record Committees and the issues which they
have to deal with. Makes for fascinating and insightful reading, including
great quotes like "It's better to reject 100 good records, than to accept
one bad one." Also some discussion of the relationship - or lack thereof -
between state BRC decisions and people's private lists. Archive is at
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/BRCF.html

And lastly, the Florida birding online community has suffered a schism, so
that the state now has TWO statewide e-mail listservs! In addition to the
former list, which only allows posts of in-state bird sightings, a second
list has sprung up which allows promotion of pelagic and other birding
trips, sightings from the Bahamas, and other topics which are forbidden
on the Floridabirds-L listserv. See
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/FLBA.html

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/