[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

More Durham warblers; web polls and field guide



Hi Carolinabirders,

The warbler flow through Durham has slowed but not stopped. This morning 
in my yard the Black-throated Blue was still singing, joined by a 
yard-first Northern Parula and a couple of Ovenbirds. No action during my 
bike ride to school, but at lunch on campus I saw my first Yellow Warbler 
of the year. I walked back to the Bio Sci building and heard the songs of 
Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, and American Redstart, as well as a 
Great Crested Flycatcher. Any Duke-based birders who want to investigate 
before they go home, this was in the woods on the west side of the Bryan 
Center. I'm about to ride to the Primate Center, maybe there'll be more 
warblers there...

I also found a pair of Columbines flowering in a weedy patch at the edge 
of the woods too. Are they native to the Piedmont? I've seen wild ones in 
Massachusetts before, but these are the first I have seen in NC.

I may have mentioned this before, but in case I haven't, the National 
Audubon Society has created an on-line version of their field guides at 
http://www.enature.com/. Not only are the birds here, so is everything 
from mammals through spiders and seashells. It has the usual weaknesses 
of the Audubon guides which we've discussed on this listserv before (use 
of photos, organization by physical resemblance instead of taxonomy) but 
also the same strengths (similar species grouped together, interesting 
text). It might come in handy for folks who have a question in mind when 
their field guide isn't handy. For example, about the Columbines I just 
mentioned, it says that Aquilegia canadensis ranges from Canada south to 
Georgia (but doesn't distinguish between mountains, piedmont, and coastal 
plain).

My last point is a little off-topic, even for me. But it's shown up on at 
least three other birding listservs, so I expect it'll show up here 
eventually too. The Environmental News Network has weekly on-line polls 
about various issues at http://www.enn.com/poll/. Most are about general 
issues like politics and energy. Last week's concerned the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund, which (if I recall correctly) diverts some revenues 
from offshore oil production to purchasing land for conservation (which 
includes bird habitat, the closest this comes to relevancy for 
Carolinabirds). According to messages on the other birding listservs, 
anti-environmental groups have targeted this website's polls and are 
urging their members to vote against protection in wildlife habitat. The 
results of the polls probably have no direct consequences, but they do 
give environmental organizations ammunition with which to lobby 
government officials and make good things happen, and it's just plain 
embarassing to have poll results claiming that we *don't* want to 
conserve wildlife habitat. So anyone with a few spare moments, visit that 
website and vote in their polls; you can vote in some dating back to 
January on all kinds of topics, and after you vote you can see the 
results of the poll so far.

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

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