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

Re: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes



No Steve, it's not my agenda... unless my agenda is to avoid politics!  My
wife and I are of opposite political parties.  We've learned not to discuss
politics.  The same should be said of the bird list server.  I'm not
pro-industry, but I'm not anti-industry either.  I did do some research into
there environmental track records and other than the shipping industry and
the end users the industry is very clean.  I think we can make a bigger
environmental impact by cooperating and suggesting meaningful guidelines
that will help protect fragile areas.

Anyway its not an issue anymore.  So lets get back to birding... dang, now I
have to worry about hair splitting ... maybe I'll be an avi-fauna observer!

Stu Gibeau
Black Mountain

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Compton" <scompton@sc.rr.com>
To: "Gibeau, Stu" <Stu.Gibeau@afccc.af.mil>; "Gamble, Tim"
<timg@cityofgastonia.com>; <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 4:58 PM
Subject: Re: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes


> Stu,
>
> Pardon me, your political agenda is showing.
>
> Steve Compton,
> Summerville,SC
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gibeau, Stu" <Stu.Gibeau@afccc.af.mil>
> To: "Gamble, Tim" <timg@cityofgastonia.com>; <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 1:12 PM
> Subject: RE: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes
>
>
> > I think one of the biggest problems birders have with oil drilling stems
> > from old movies.  One's portraying oil spraying everywhere.  They don't
> > drill like that anymore.  Today's oil drilling technology is vastly
> > improved.  They've been pumping oil out of Alaska now for decades and
> > haven't had any environmental accidents at the drilling sites or along
the
> > pipeline.  We have government agents whose only job is to constantly
> monitor
> > the sites for violations and they will come down hard on the production
> > teams for as little as one quart of oil spilled.  I think we could have
a
> > lot more impact on the industry if instead of always yelling
"Environment"
> > we gave them criteria for protecting what's there.
> >
> > I don't understand how people can be zealot's about an issue like oil
> > drilling and yet drive cars that run on fossil fuels, and use products
> made
> > with plastics.  Your feeding the industry you hate.
> >
> > Me, I'm just a birder, and I really don't have a political agenda.  I
quit
> > Audubon because they became too political and lost their focus on birds.
> I
> > hope that doesn't happen here.
> >
> > I think migration is about to hit, lets go see!
> >
> > Stu Gibeau
> > Black Mountain, NC
> >
> >
> > >Subject: RE: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes
> >
> >
> > >  I truly don't understand how someone can appreciate the beauty of
> > birds/nature and at the same time favor things like oil-drilling in
ANWR.
> >
> > >Okay, I'm straying too far into politics so I will stop now.  Happy
> birding
> > everyone!
> >
> > Tim Gamble
> > Schiele Museum of Natural History
> > Gastonia, NC 28054
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Joshua S. Rose [mailto:jsr6@duke.edu]
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 11:50 PM
> > To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
> > Subject: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes
> >
> >
> > Hi Carolinabirders,
> >
> > Trying to ignore events in other countries, and look for silver
linings...
> > After certain senatorial slimeballs from Alaska snuck oil drilling in
the
> > Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into a mammoth budget bill, the US
Senate
> > voted to block the plan! So the nesting grounds of many of our
shorebirds
> > and sea ducks are saved again, at least until the next vote... One story
> > on-line at
> > http://www.msnbc.com/news/884132.asp
> > In the name of nonpartisanship, it should be noted that *seven*
Republican
> > senators (though none from our part of the country) voted AGAINST the
> > drilling; and five Democrats voted for, including Zell Miller from the
> > Carolinas-bordering state of Georgia.
> >
> > More locally, Multiple folks here have corresponded with me about the
> > tract of land near the corner of Eubanks Road and Old NC 86 in Orange
> > County. Those who have not can read about the contreversy surrounding it
> > at
> > http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2003-02-26/burtman.html
> > Anyway, I visited the tract again on Monday afternoon, along with a few
> > members of the committee making plans for its future. We observed a pair
> > of Red-shouldered Hawks flying by and calling; I'm not sure if we saw a
> > courting pair, or two rivals sparring over territorial boundaries. Saw
two
> > Field Sparrows in the powerline cut, and heard one of them sing, first
> > such song I've heard this year. Spring Beauty and Spicebush were
> > flowering, though Heartleaf Ginger (Hexastylis arifolia) was not yet;
> > Elderberry was leafing out, Commas (or maybe Question Marks) were flying
> > around, and an Eastern Fence Lizard skittered around a tree and under
some
> > bark. And we found a small pond full of Spotted Salamander eggs,
> > alarmingly close to the planned construction zone...
> >
> > Also saw a different pool full of mosquito larvae, and one of my
> > companions said he'd removed ticks from one of his children already.
> > Spring is here, time to dig the bug repellent out of storage!
> >
> > Tidbits from the net: Jack Siler posted an article discussing Christmas
> > Bird Counts, a topic of frequent discussion here:
> > http://birdingonthe.net/includes/robsimbeck.html
> >
> > On Tue, 18 Mar 2003, Gamble, Tim wrote:
> > >
> > > My two cents worth on the "Bird Watching" vs. "Birding" debate:  These
> > > terms describe two very different hobbies with only superficial
> > > similarities.  Birding tends to be more about science and bird
watching
> > > tends to be more about art.
> >
> > Really interesting. Tim's take on the dichotomy is almost the exact
> > opposite of the usual definitions. Normally what comes out of such
> > discussions is that "Birding" is about lists, rarities, and chasing, and
> > so is much more of a sport (an extreme sport, we often say!) than a
> > science. And usually "Birdwatching" focuses instead on behavior, and
> > ecology, and variation among individuals of a species, all more
> > scientific. Under this definition, much of professional ornithology can
be
> > considered birdwatching, whereas trying to make birding into a science,
> > beyond the science of identification, involves endeavors like the CBCs
and
> > GBBC that run into statistical challenges from folks like Nathan...
> >
> > Of course, the thing about all dichotomies (even when we all agree which
> > name goes on which end) is that they break down in the middle, and most
of
> > us run both ways. The birder in me is still wired about *finally*
getting
> > my lifer Dovekie last week, and is looking forward to the spring bird
> > counts, and to finishing my Ph.D. so I can do some more big days. The
> > birdwatcher noticed this afternoon that the mockingbird pecking dried
> > fruit out of the woodpecker feeder was doing the jerky opening and
closing
> > of wings that I've previously only seen done by mockingbirds on the
> > ground; I had seen theories that this behavior helped scare insects out
of
> > the grass, but seeing the bird doing it while perched on a feeder seems
to
> > argue in favor of something else, maybe a display of territoriality.
> >
> > My main worry about Tim's definitions, other than being different from
> > what I usually hear, is that they place values on the terms, with
birders
> > being superior to birdwatchers. I like to think of them as the two ends
of
> > a see-saw.
> >
> > Speaking of chasing and such, I have to share something else. For most
of
> > the winter there has been a Blue Mockingbird coming to a yard in the
LRGV
> > of Texas. The owner of this yard has been charging a fee for birders to
> > enter and see the bird, something like $10 a head; and I've heard he has
> > set up a photo blind and charges even more, like $35, to use it. More
> > recently, a Slate-throated Redstart has shown up in the same yard. Both
> > species are not only extremely rare - I think there are less than 5 US
> > records of the mocker, and less than 10 of the redstart - but are non-
> > migratory mountain residents, much more likely in the mountains of West
> > Texas or SE Arizona than the arid LRGV lowlands. And both are brightly
> > colored, attractive birds; the mockingbird is reportedly common as a
cage
> > bird in markets in Mexico, and the redstart would not be a complete
shock
> > there either. And birders from all over the US are converging in this
> > person's yard, and ticking one or both species off on their ABA lists,
and
> > he's making money hand over fist.
> >
> > Just a few observations.
> >
> > Anybody know where I can find a pet shop that sells Green Violetears? Or
> > maybe Barrow's Goldeneyes?
> >
> > Good birding,
> >
> > Josh
> >
> >
> > Joshua S. Rose
> > Duke University
> > Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
> >
> > jsr6@duke.edu
> > http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
> >
>