Bird Study MB and Climate Change and Outdoor Code

[SiouxRanger]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:58 PM, yknot said:

Birdcast

Oh, thank you so much for this.  I had no idea how many birds were migrating overhead. I've seen the warblers move through in the Spring, but no sense of the number of birds. And the hummingbirds who arrive and KNOW where the feeder was last season (me being late to put one up this season) they circle the corner of the house where the feeder was hanging in the Fall. They remember.  Smart critters. And the ducks, and geese. Aways heard geese flying in the Fall at night. Just no sense of the vast numbers migrating.  And an article about the number of birds dying in Chicago during the migration.

[yknot]

You're welcome. Migration is often thought of as a daytime event, which it is for many species, especially the very visible raptors, or because of what is seen during local fallouts and daytime feeder visits. Songbird migration, though, at least on the wing, is largely a nighttime phenomenon. Hopefully things like Birdcast will help build an appreciation for what is overhead on many nights in the spring and fall. The recent full moons in the northeast have been great for showing this to kids.

[SiouxRanger]

9 hours ago, yknot said:

You're welcome. Migration is often thought of as a daytime event, which it is for many species, especially the very visible raptors, or because of what is seen during local fallouts and daytime feeder visits. Songbird migration, though, at least on the wing, is largely a nighttime phenomenon. Hopefully things like Birdcast will help build an appreciation for what is overhead on many nights in the spring and fall. The recent full moons in the northeast have been great for showing this to kids.

Unbelievable. Incredible. Had no idea such a site existed.

I have some vague recollection of a bird which was named the "Tennessee or Carolina... or ??? Warbler) back in Audubon's time, the "joke" being that the bird was "collected" in the state of its name, but the bird never resided there-just migrating through.

[RememberSchiff]

"Antibodies found in early results of a historic new vaccine trial are expected to give endangered California condors at least partial protection from the deadliest strain of avian influenza in U.S. history.

The California condor is the only bird species in the U.S. that has been approved for the new emergency-use vaccine, which was administered this summer to condors bred in captivity during a trial at the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Oregon Zoo."

More at source:

https://apnews.com/article/california-condors-vaccine-avian-influenza-65e27a0751666eee0e3ab3b82ae18251

[RememberSchiff]

North Dakota:

Jackson Sperry's Eagle Scout project will provide safe nests for mallard ducks.

Sperry and fellow scouts are using 14-gauge mesh wire rolled into circles, and clipper together with an insulating straw wall to produce a nest.

(When completed)... “We’re going to wait until the water freezes over so we can walk on top of the ice, and then drill a hole. And then use the pole driver and drive it into the ground. And then connect the T-pole on top with the nest portion already in,” said Jackson Sperry with Troop 123.

More at source including photo:

https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/12/03/bismarck-scout-troop-working-project-mallard-birds/

[RememberSchiff]

Microsleeping...

For sleepy scouters, nodding off can be inconvenient—say, during a scoutmaster conference—or even downright dangerous, say while sitting around a campfire.    ... "But for Antarctica’s nesting chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus), these seconds long bits of shuteye known as “microsleeps” may help them survive. These mininaps net the birds about 11 hours of sleep per day, potentially offering them a way to rest while remaining vigilant over their eggs and chicks, researchers report today in Science. The work could shine a light on how different animals adapt their dozing to cope with stressful circumstances."

"Penguins live in a high-stress environment. They breed in crowded colonies, and all their predators are there at the same time," said Daniel Paranhos Zitterbart, who studies penguins at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and was not involved in the study.

Microsleeping is "an amazing adaptation" to enable near constant vigilance, he said.

Sources:

https://www.science.org/content/article/antarctic-penguin-sleeps-11-hours-day-few-seconds-time

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/national/penguin-parents-sleep-for-just-a-few-seconds-at-a-time-to-guard-newborns-study/article_94cbd4c6-9092-11ee-ac98-4343b405b629.html

Edited December 3, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

Wildlife photographer "Daniel Dencescu spent hours following the starlings around the city and suburbs of Rome, Italy.

Finally, on the cloudless winter's day, the murmuration, swirled into the shape of a giant bird."  (Perhaps communicating to photographer to stop following them? )

He was a finalist in Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award competition.

More on "The Secrets and Science Behind Starling Murmurations". 

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/starling-murmurations.htm

An interesting read on the study of murmurations and application to animations (bats in Batman Returns) and swarm robotics (drones).

[yknot]

Cornell's backyard bird count is next week for anyone with interested scouts. It's also a great community awareness/recruitment opportunity. 

https://www.birdcount.org/

 

 

[RememberSchiff]

Former scout, Abigail Sanford is a fish and wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"I am a fish and wildlife biologist with the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office Central Coast Division, and I largely help analyze impacts to threatened and endangered species. I am the species lead for the San Joaquin kit fox and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard.

In high school, I knew I wanted to go to college, but had no idea what I wanted to study. When it came time to select a major, it was like staring at a blank wall hoping an answer would appear. So I spoke to one of my mentors at Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts of America). He gave me the advice to go into a major that would allow me to really explore and utilize my ‘jack-of-all-trades' skills. At the time, I knew that an environmental major could lead to a lot of different kinds of jobs like teaching, communications, and biology. So I chose it because I knew it would allow me to further explore what I really wanted to do rather than trying to figure it out while still in high school and not really having a lot of real-world experience yet.

 It took me a while to figure out that I wanted to be a biologist. It was actually internships at the USFWS that were vital in helping me identify that I wanted to be a biologist and work at the Service."

Much more at Source:

https://www.fws.gov/story/2024-01/abigail-sanford-faces-fish-and-wildlife-service

Edited March 7 by RememberSchiff

[yknot]

Winter birding highlights are over in my neck of the woods, but spring migration brings plenty to look at, even at night: 

Birdcast went live March 1 for the spring migration season. As noted in a fall post, it uses radar to track what is flying overhead at night and what kind of local fall out might occur in the morning. A good forecast, combined with full moon and clear skies, means scouts can birdwatch after sundown: Binoculars trained on the moon can see silhouettes of hundreds to thousands of songbirds migrating in night skies.  

https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/live-migration-maps/

American woodcock have made an appearance at most of our March campouts over the years, and have often peaked interest in the Bird Study MB thanks to their breeding displays and behavior. Another species that can be studied at night, this is a link to a current migration and population research project:

https://www.woodcockmigration.org/

Sandhill Cranes are rare in many places but elsewhere in the country they stage north in huge numbers -- a sight to see. This 24 hour live cam at Rowe tracks them now through April: 

https://explore.org/livecams/birds/crane-camera

 

 

 

 

 

[InquisitiveScouter]

5 hours ago, yknot said:

Winter birding highlights are over in my neck of the woods, but spring migration brings plenty to look at, even at night: 

Birdcast went live March 1 for the spring migration season. As noted in a fall post, it uses radar to track what is flying overhead at night and what kind of local fall out might occur in the morning. A good forecast, combined with full moon and clear skies, means scouts can birdwatch after sundown: Binoculars trained on the moon can see silhouettes of hundreds to thousands of songbirds migrating in night skies.  

https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/live-migration-maps/

American woodcock have made an appearance at most of our March campouts over the years, and have often peaked interest in the Bird Study MB thanks to their breeding displays and behavior. Another species that can be studied at night, this is a link to a current migration and population research project:

https://www.woodcockmigration.org/

Sandhill Cranes are rare in many places but elsewhere in the country they stage north in huge numbers -- a sight to see. This 24 hour live cam at Rowe tracks them now through April: 

https://explore.org/livecams/birds/crane-camera

 

 

 

 

 

We have been keeping a list, since 01 Jan, of the different species we have seen in our yard so far this year.  We are up to 30. 

The Tufted Titmouse has been notably missing from our feeding stations this winter.  They have been quite plentiful in the past.  Our birding neighbors have noticed the same.  

Their absence is a mystery.

Anyone else seeing a decline of these?

Post script: Appears West Nile Virus may be one factor:  https://www.rappnews.com/wildideas/wild-ideas-disappearing-birds-are-we-once-again-facing-a-silent-spring/article_e5bb42b6-0254-11ea-9624-db770acf0ef4.html

Edited March 13 by InquisitiveScouter

[yknot]

5 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

We have been keeping a list, since 01 Jan, of the different species we have seen in our yard so far this year.  We are up to 30. 

The Tufted Titmouse has been notably missing from our feeding stations this winter.  They have been quite plentiful in the past.  Our birding neighbors have noticed the same.  

Their absence is a mystery.

Anyone else seeing a decline of these?

Post script: Appears West Nile Virus may be one factor:  https://www.rappnews.com/wildideas/wild-ideas-disappearing-birds-are-we-once-again-facing-a-silent-spring/article_e5bb42b6-0254-11ea-9624-db770acf0ef4.html

Good article.  I too went from having dozens in the yard to zero. I did see some last year and a few so far this year, so regionally there may be rebound. You can search eBird for your state to keep track. Disease events are somewhat normal, and ideally a species should be numerous enough to rebound. As the article notes, though, so many species are in serious decline from the cumulative effects of habitat loss, human interference, etc., that it's a bit concerning. Not sure where it will wind up.  Last year, I had very few warblers despite normally having large flights of multiple species. I tell kids to get out now and see some of these things, like the linked American woodcock, while they are still relatively common. In the future, they may not be as easy to see.  The Bird Study MB is the most accessible of all the outdoors badges -- while binoculars are nice, scouts can study birds for free almost anywhere and almost any time, even at night, and can even do so with limited mobility. 

 

[skeptic]

I am not a watcher per se, though do take note on occasion.  Our local paper just had an article last weekend about the changes in bird migrations and related things that appear related to the climate issues.  Most noted was the moving of boundaries from the past, with many birds going farther north than in the past periods.  

 

Edited March 17 by RememberSchiff
typo wateher changed to watcher

[yknot]

17 hours ago, skeptic said:

I am not a watcher per se, though do take note on occasion.  Our local paper just had an article last weekend about the changes in bird migrations and related things that appear related to the climate issues.  Most noted was the moving of boundaries from the past, with many birds going farther north than in the past periods.  

 

Yes, it's really interesting to look at. There is a lot of ongoing research, there is a lot of viewable citizen science you can access on things like eBird, and it is also easy to notice things locally on your own. First of spring arrival and nesting dates are being recorded earlier and earlier for many species. Where I am, American woodcock arrivals and breeding displays used to be an early March to April event and are now more of a late February to mid March thing. We'd see them commonly at one camp out that traditionally occurs late March. Now, if I want to see them in any number there, I have to visit by early March. Black vultures, more of a southerly species, used to be uncommon here but are now so common they seem to be pushing out the native turkey vultures.  

[yknot]

I hope OK to post: I grabbed it from a US Fish and Wildlife Service page. Clear skies tonight will be good for migration, so tomorrow could be interesting depending on where you are.