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Re: Triangle area bird walks? Also politics and the Owl
On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico wrote:
>
> Are there any groups of people, formally or informally organized, who
> regularly do bird walks around the Triangle? The answer is, I'm sure,
> "yes," so the question really is: how can I contact them? I know there's a
> Chapel Hill Audubon chapter, but is there one in Durham? I'm an amateur
> birder who just wants to get out more often. I don't even own a spotting
> scope... ;-)
Hi Paula and other Carolinabirders,
The most regularly occurring trips in the Triangle vicinity are run by
the Chapel Hill Bird Club. Visit
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/chbc/index.html for more information; they
run trips every Saturday, but it's been a while since they've updated
their schedule which usually says where they are going...
The Wake County and New Hope (Chatham County) Audubon societies have
walks, but not (as far as I know) on a regular weekly basis. When they do
have bird walks, they are usually announced on Carolinabirds, as was
Harry LeGrand's walk for NHAS last Saturday (which I really wanted to
attend, but I overslept...).
With respect to the alleged Snowy Owl, the location appears (according to
http://www.delorme.com/cybermaps/route.asp) about 1 hour from Durham, for
those interested in checking it out. I'm skeptical because the bird is
described roosting in pine trees; of the dozens of Snowies I've seen in
Michigan and Massachusetts, not a single one has roosted in a tree. All
were either on the ground or on bare wood such as fence posts or
telephone poles.
A last point, on politics: allegedly G.W. Bush, contender for the
Republican presidential nomination, has retained Terry L. Anderson as his
environmental advisor. Anderson is an extremist who supports auctioning
off *all* public lands. That's right, no more Pea Island or Bodie Island
or Mattamuskeet or any other NWR; no Croatan or any other NF; no Cape
Hatteras or any other NS; no Great Smoky Mountains or any other NP. The
only lands safe from becoming strip malls, condos, tree farms, or other
developments would be that privately held, such as Nature Conservancy and
Audubon Society properties. Given the relative purchasing power of these
groups vs. the real estate, logging, mining, and other industries, I
shudder to think what might happen if Bush gets elected and this guy
becomes Secretary of the Interior... To read Anderson's own words on the
topic, visit http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-363es.html
Anyone know who McCain has as his environmental advisor?
Good birding,
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/