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9 Feb RE: Re: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds ["littonsphac" ] 8 Feb Re: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 8 Feb flurry of darkbirds ["Jerry L. Litton" ] 8 Feb Pine Warblers. Palm Warblers. ["J. Allen Burrows" ] 7 Feb Lee County [Wayne Patterson ] 7 Feb Field Trip: Arkabutla Lake ["Van Harris" ] 7 Feb Pickwick Damn ["Jesse Yancy" ] 7 Feb Re: [MISSBIRD] Dendroica warblers on the ground ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 7 Feb Dendroica warblers on the ground ["Jesse Yancy" ] 7 Feb Re: Pine Warblers? [Morgan Ihlefeld ] 7 Feb Purple Martin, Vicksburg ["David J. Ringer" ] 6 Feb Pine Warblers? ["Rob Heflin" ] 6 Feb Birder cards [Lew Proudfoot ] 5 Feb re: birder cards ["Sheri L. Glowinski" ] 5 Feb Re: Fw: Birder cards [Lew Proudfoot ] 5 Feb Re: Fw: Birder cards ["Dr. Lin Harper" ] 5 Feb Re: Fw: Birder cards [ruth pullen ] 5 Feb song sparrow [ruth pullen ] 5 Feb Bird in garage ["J. K. Cliburn" ] 5 Feb From the Knight's Yard- Pine Siskin ["knights" ] 5 Feb Fw: Purple Martins ["Charley" ] 4 Feb Birder of the Year! [Dick Burkepile ] 4 Feb Great Backyard Bird Count [Nick Winstead ] 4 Feb Re: [MISSBIRD] First day of spring? ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 4 Feb JACKSON AUDUBON FIELD TRIP [Mary Stevens ] 4 Feb Rusty Blackbirds [Nick Winstead ] 4 Feb Re: First day of spring? ["knights" ] 3 Feb Yellowlegs and sandpipers ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 3 Feb First day of spring? ["David J. Ringer" ] 3 Feb the humanity! ["J. Allen Burrows" ] 3 Feb RE: Bluebirds ["Jerry L. Litton" ] 3 Feb Re: Bluebirds ["Rob Heflin" ] 3 Feb Re: Bluebirds [Barbara Qualls ] 3 Feb Re: Horrors [Kathy Shelton ] 3 Feb Bluebirds ["Diane Lafferty" ] 3 Feb RE: Horrors ["littonsphac" ] 3 Feb RE: Horrors [Nick Winstead ] 3 Feb Re: Horrors [Hal Mitchell ] 3 Feb RE: Horrors ["Mark Bonta" ] 3 Feb RE: Horrors [Nick Winstead ] 2 Feb Re: Horrors ["Rob Heflin" ] 2 Feb RE: Horrors ["Mark Bonta" ] 2 Feb Re: Horrors ["REID, Bruce" ] 2 Feb Re: Horrors ["Rob Heflin" ] 2 Feb Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 2 Feb Horrors ["Valery Smith" ] 2 Feb Re: Horrors ["REID, Bruce" ] 2 Feb Re: How do you photograph? [J K Cliburn ] 2 Feb Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 2 Feb Horrors ["J. Allen Burrows" ] 2 Feb How do you photograph? ["J. K. Cliburn" ] 2 Feb Fw: Birder cards [Dick Burkepile ] 31 Jan Monroe Co. and Bay Springs Lake [Wayne Patterson ] 01 Feb Questions on Gulls ["Wade Grant" ] 1 Feb Another eagle nest in Humphreys Co. ["Rob Heflin" ] 31 Jan Another eagle nest in Humphreys ["delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" ] 31 Jan rock dove ["Jerry L. Litton" ] 29 Jan American Woodcock displays, Jackson Co [Adam Stuckert ] 29 Jan No Subject ["JoRee Pease" ] 29 Jan Rusty Blackbird Blitz [Jake Walker ] 29 Jan Grand Bay NERR shorebirds [Jake Walker ] 29 Jan Re: Birder gone mildly wild [Jake Walker ] 28 Jan Reducing aircraft-wildlife strikes at airports [Matt Kennedy ] 29 Jan Yellow Rail Captured [] 27 Jan Jennifer Coulson/ Falconry ["Rob Heflin" ] 27 Jan FW: mini-finches ["littonsphac" ] 27 Jan mini-finches ["Jerry L. Litton" ] 26 Jan Re: Ivory Gull in Ga [Wayne Patterson ] 26 Jan Ivory Gull in Ga [Wayne Patterson ] 25 Jan Birder gone mildly wild ["J. Allen Burrows" ] 25 Jan Announcing the Trumpeter Swan Winter Watch and asking for help ["Mary Bote" ] 25 Jan OLLI - Comcast update & lack of song birds ["Diane Lafferty" ] 25 Jan Loggerhead Shrike [harleyiii ] 24 Jan Northeast MS [Wayne Patterson ] 24 Jan Fw: Saturday Birding -- Amended Version ["Vicki Williams" ] 24 Jan Saturday Birding ["Vicki Williams" ] Subject: RE: Re: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds From: "littonsphac" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 05:46:06 -0600 Well I guess geese get stupid at times to, not much difference in human texting and goose looking away from the flight path. Hazards are everywhere. Flying thirty-five or forty mph into something is always dangerous. Beach ball size is right on. Nest is on the right side of 49 going toward Yazoo. It would make sense to be a pack-rat or some foreign critter escaped from NO Zoo during Katrina and still working the land following the water. So you want me to peek while hanging out over thirty-five degree water and trying to snatch a rabid rat off my nose and eye lids. I know, you will do anything for a story and a few pics of an animal. I guess it's up to me to furnish a first aid kit with enough guaze and tape to wrap something that would look like five-pounds of hog-head souse after about two-seconds of my squealing and falling into the bayou. I'm thinking about the peeking into part: would be exciting! Jerry _____ From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 11:46 PM To: Jerry L. Litton; 'missbird' Subject: [MISSBIRD] Re: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds I saw one of those stick nests last week, but I think it was on my way to Tippo. Looked to be the size of a beach ball and about head high off the ground in a small tree. It was also on a ditch bank if I remember correctly. Wondering if it was a pack rat nest like they usually build in my box deer stands? Meet me at the nest you found and I will film while you peek inside! No shortage of geese here for sure. A couple flew into a wire on a neighbor's place last week and caught the grass on fire. Rob Heflin, Isola, MS Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "Jerry L. Litton" Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2010 21:36 Subject: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds To: "'missbird'" I went to Cleveland MS this morning and returned to Jackson late this afternoon. It seems the Mississippi Delta, is about the most desolate winter-time landscape in my accounts. Today it was dim cloud filtered light with little to no-color, leafless vegetation and tree-rowed brakes and barren wet flat soil sprinkled or standing under water or at least small amounts of rain, also sharing a little wind and tempertures that seem about freezing at forty plus degrees. I saw little on the way up. The return trip was dynamic. I must return to Cleveland in the morning and I will investigate something I saw. It was a wood-ball of what seemed to be small limbs and woody material. It was in a low standing group of small trees standing along a water filled field ditch, and was near the other side two lane 49 highway between Silver City and Yazoo. It looked like something a squirrel would build but it did not look squirrly, didn't appear to be the right kind of debris and looked too round and too large for a treebuilt squirrel cozy. Maybe I'll find it again tomorrow. Returning south this afteroon on the Blues Highway 61 going south toward Shaw, there was in unidentified hawk, road-side, digging into a road-killed Eastern Cottontail. The hawk looked small and young, and almost to timid to tackle a dead rabbit. It was too late for me to move to the left lane but I think the hawk stayed on the carrion. There were two low flying hawks a distance apart, over the grassed ten acres that encircles the abandoned gin on the road leaving east from Shaw going to Indianola. One of the hawks went toward dirt as I drove past. There were numerous flurries of dark birds really zipping along the road-side, field ditch banks and a few wiring overhead. A tragic thing about filtered light, there just isn't any color illumination, I guess the rays necessary for color just can't come thorough the clouds being a dingy gray, and it's too cold to stop and look in the drizzle. The birds looked smaller than black-birds and didn't undulate when flying widely. Between Indianola and Isola, I believe near Hefflin Heaven, there was over-head an estimated thirty-five thousand snow goose and others, all flying east by north east and seemed to be taking their sweet time of it. I did stop, I did get out and loved to see the marvelous sight. They were directly over-head and I was surprised that they were quiet, almost too quiet being so many. Some years ago I was at Yazoo NWR about dawn, I believe I was on highway 1 when there was an arrival of at least 35,000 tired and hungry snows landing to droop on the ground for a while. A number of cars stopped over the next little while but the snows mainly just shoved up then back down to earth. It was also a noisy spectacle, the noise almost enough to keep thermos-coffee warm a little longer so it was a lot of noise. Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 21:46:05 -0800 (PST) I saw one of those stick nests last week, but I think it was on my way to Tippo. Looked to be the size of a beach ball and about head high off the ground in a small tree. It was also on a ditch bank if I remember correctly. Wondering if it was a pack rat nest like they usually build in my box deer stands? Meet me at the nest you found and I will film while you peek inside! No shortage of geese here for sure. A couple flew into a wire on a neighbor's place last week and caught the grass on fire. Rob Heflin, Isola, MS Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "Jerry L. Litton" Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2010 21:36 Subject: [MISSBIRD] flurry of darkbirds To: "'missbird'" I went to Cleveland MS this morning and returned to Jackson late this afternoon. It seems the Mississippi Delta, is about the most desolate winter-time landscape in my accounts. Today it was dim cloud filtered light with little to no-color, leafless vegetation and tree-rowed brakes and barren wet flat soil sprinkled or standing under water or at least small amounts of rain, also sharing a little wind and tempertures that seem about freezing at forty plus degrees. I saw little on the way up. The return trip was dynamic. I must return to Cleveland in the morning and I will investigate something I saw. It was a wood-ball of what seemed to be small limbs and woody material. It was in a low standing group of small trees standing along a water filled field ditch, and was near the other side two lane 49 highway between Silver City and Yazoo. It looked like something a squirrel would build but it did not look squirrly, didn't appear to be the right kind of debris and looked too round and too large for a treebuilt squirrel cozy. Maybe I'll find it again tomorrow. Returning south this afteroon on the Blues Highway 61 going south toward Shaw, there was in unidentified hawk, road-side, digging into a road-killed Eastern Cottontail. The hawk looked small and young, and almost to timid to tackle a dead rabbit. It was too late for me to move to the left lane but I think the hawk stayed on the carrion. There were two low flying hawks a distance apart, over the grassed ten acres that encircles the abandoned gin on the road leaving east from Shaw going to Indianola. One of the hawks went toward dirt as I drove past. There were numerous flurries of dark birds really zipping along the road-side, field ditch banks and a few wiring overhead. A tragic thing about filtered light, there just isn't any color illumination, I guess the rays necessary for color just can't come thorough the clouds being a dingy gray, and it's too cold to stop and look in the drizzle. The birds looked smaller than black-birds and didn't undulate when flying widely. Between Indianola and Isola, I believe near Hefflin Heaven, there was over-head an estimated thirty-five thousand snow goose and others, all flying east by north east and seemed to be taking their sweet time of it. I did stop, I did get out and loved to see the marvelous sight. They were directly over-head and I was surprised that they were quiet, almost too quiet being so many. Some years ago I was at Yazoo NWR about dawn, I believe I was on highway 1 when there was an arrival of at least 35,000 tired and hungry snows landing to droop on the ground for a while. A number of cars stopped over the next little while but the snows mainly just shoved up then back down to earth. It was also a noisy spectacle, the noise almost enough to keep thermos-coffee warm a little longer so it was a lot of noise. Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: flurry of darkbirds From: "Jerry L. Litton" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 21:36:33 -0600 I went to Cleveland MS this morning and returned to Jackson late this afternoon. It seems the Mississippi Delta, is about the most desolate winter-time landscape in my accounts. Today it was dim cloud filtered light with little to no-color, leafless vegetation and tree-rowed brakes and barren wet flat soil sprinkled or standing under water or at least small amounts of rain, also sharing a little wind and tempertures that seem about freezing at forty plus degrees. I saw little on the way up. The return trip was dynamic. I must return to Cleveland in the morning and I will investigate something I saw. It was a wood-ball of what seemed to be small limbs and woody material. It was in a low standing group of small trees standing along a water filled field ditch, and was near the other side two lane 49 highway between Silver City and Yazoo. It looked like something a squirrel would build but it did not look squirrly, didn't appear to be the right kind of debris and looked too round and too large for a treebuilt squirrel cozy. Maybe I'll find it again tomorrow. Returning south this afteroon on the Blues Highway 61 going south toward Shaw, there was in unidentified hawk, road-side, digging into a road-killed Eastern Cottontail. The hawk looked small and young, and almost to timid to tackle a dead rabbit. It was too late for me to move to the left lane but I think the hawk stayed on the carrion. There were two low flying hawks a distance apart, over the grassed ten acres that encircles the abandoned gin on the road leaving east from Shaw going to Indianola. One of the hawks went toward dirt as I drove past. There were numerous flurries of dark birds really zipping along the road-side, field ditch banks and a few wiring overhead. A tragic thing about filtered light, there just isn't any color illumination, I guess the rays necessary for color just can't come thorough the clouds being a dingy gray, and it's too cold to stop and look in the drizzle. The birds looked smaller than black-birds and didn't undulate when flying widely. Between Indianola and Isola, I believe near Hefflin Heaven, there was over-head an estimated thirty-five thousand snow goose and others, all flying east by north east and seemed to be taking their sweet time of it. I did stop, I did get out and loved to see the marvelous sight. They were directly over-head and I was surprised that they were quiet, almost too quiet being so many. Some years ago I was at Yazoo NWR about dawn, I believe I was on highway 1 when there was an arrival of at least 35,000 tired and hungry snows landing to droop on the ground for a while. A number of cars stopped over the next little while but the snows mainly just shoved up then back down to earth. It was also a noisy spectacle, the noise almost enough to keep thermos-coffee warm a little longer so it was a lot of noise. Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: Pine Warblers. Palm Warblers. From: "J. Allen Burrows" <rotteral AT aol.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 20:01:28 -0600 For several years I have observed a flock of 200 or so Chipping Sparrows that hang around all winter in Homes County. The population varies with the addition of Pine Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds and yes, Palm Warblers. I always thought they were made especially to look like Chipping Sparrows. Note: Professionals please close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears and go la la la la la la la I'm not listening real loud while you go to the next email. On a trip to St. Croix several years ago I noticed that Palm Warblers filled in the niche for sparrows. And they were everywhere. The Pine Warblers stay in the trees all year but for a few weeks they would browse like Sparrows. But only with the Chippies. Not with the populations of Songsters, White-throats, Dark-eyed Juncos or Savannahs. J. Allen Burrows Jackson MS On Feb 7, 2010, at 7:05 PM, Jesse Yancy wrote: > Oops. Subject: Lee County From: Wayne Patterson <wrp6 AT att.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 20:14:31 -0800 (PST) Saturday there was a mature Bald Eagle on the front levee at the Tupelo Water Treatment Pond.  He was standing within 50 yard of the four lane but the noise didn't seem to be bothering him.  There is a line of trees between the levee and the highway but I believe he would have been visible.  They are getting to be regulars here the last couple of years.  On my way home there was a Merlin near the Brewer Road Exit off Highway 45 South of Verona.  A single Snow Goose was still at the Plantersville Treatment Ponds as well. Today I did a little blitzing and found 16 Rusty Blackbirds at the Mississsippi State Extention Center in Verona, 24 in Plantersville and a nice flock of 195 at Tombigbee State Park East of Plantersville.  All three flocks were out in the open an made for a fairly easy count.  Here is a link to about 20 of the group at the State Park  http://www.pbase.com/wpatterson/image/121764452  Not quite the 600+ of a couple weeks ago but a very nice flock just the same.  Wayne Patterson Shannon, MS  Lee Co. Subject: Field Trip: Arkabutla Lake From: "Van Harris" <shelbyforester1223 AT bigriver.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 17:26:54 -0800 Subject: Pickwick Damn From: "Jesse Yancy" <jlyancy AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:05:58 -0600 Oops. Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Dendroica warblers on the ground From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 16:57:16 -0800 (PST) Pickwick what? LOL! Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "Jesse Yancy" Date: Sun, Feb 7, 2010 18:33 Subject: [MISSBIRD] Dendroica warblers on the ground To: "MISSBIRD" I've seen pine warblers on the ground many times, especially in the early spring, and one of my most memorable birding experiences was finding a very large flock of palm warblers (maybe 20-30 individuals) feeding on the ground in a roadside park near Pickwick Damn in very early April around 1998. Subject: Dendroica warblers on the ground From: "Jesse Yancy" <jlyancy AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 18:33:05 -0600 I've seen pine warblers on the ground many times, especially in the early spring, and one of my most memorable birding experiences was finding a very large flock of palm warblers (maybe 20-30 individuals) feeding on the ground in a roadside park near Pickwick Damn in very early April around 1998. Subject: Re: Pine Warblers? From: Morgan Ihlefeld <morgan.ihlefeld AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 18:15:32 -0600 I was birding the Homochitto National Forest on Saturday morning. I stopped to watch a flock of purple finches and noticced to my surprise three pine warblers. Then I saw at least 10 with some juncos further on. All were working the road edge. I have never seen pine warblers feeding on the ground or with other birds. Is this odd behavior? Morgan Gloster, MS On 2/6/10, Rob Heflin wrote: > Today while cruising the Humphreys County side of the Sunflower River, I > came upon a dozen or so yellow-rumped warblers feeding on cracked pecans in > the road. I parked and waited for a while, and later observed what I think > to be 4 pine warblers joining them with the redbirds and blackbirds. > > I read in Birds of Mississippi where migrant pine warblers may be found in > the Delta in winter, but man are they a long way from pine trees. > > Brilliant orange-yellow stood out at first. After reviewing my sub-par > photographs, I noticed the white wing bars on grayish wings, white belly and > rump, and olive streaks on the breast. > > Rob Heflin > Isola, MS Subject: Purple Martin, Vicksburg From: "David J. Ringer" <djringer AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 10:07:50 -0600 I've got a lone male Purple Martin circling the lake behind my house near Vicksburg. Woohoo! Titmice are singing too. David Vicksburg, Miss. -- David J. Ringer http://djringer.com Subject: Pine Warblers? From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 15:27:31 -0600 Today while cruising the Humphreys County side of the Sunflower River, I came upon a dozen or so yellow-rumped warblers feeding on cracked pecans in the road. I parked and waited for a while, and later observed what I think to be 4 pine warblers joining them with the redbirds and blackbirds. I read in Birds of Mississippi where migrant pine warblers may be found in the Delta in winter, but man are they a long way from pine trees. Brilliant orange-yellow stood out at first. After reviewing my sub-par photographs, I noticed the white wing bars on grayish wings, white belly and rump, and olive streaks on the breast. Rob Heflin Isola, MS Subject: Birder cards From: Lew Proudfoot <lewis_s_proudfoot AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 04:32:21 -0800 (PST) I found a nice design at the Wisconsin site: http://www.wsobirds.org/birdercard.html And here's a design I don't like as much, from the Great Florida Birding Trail: http://myfwc.com/GFBT/callingcard.html This seems more a threat than a celebration of the birds, but that's just me. More designs featuring bluebird: http://www.bluebirdnut.com/Birding_Calling_Cards.htm Could we get permission to use the Audubon logo, and MOS?   Including contact information for the local group could increase membership, too.  My favorite Waffle House has lots of cards pinned up. Lew Proudfoot The Wind in My Face Vancleave, MS Subject: re: birder cards From: "Sheri L. Glowinski" <sheri_glowinski AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:16:52 -0800 (PST) Hi folks: The North Carolina Birding Trail system uses birder calling cards as well. You can view/download their version at: http://www.ncbirdingtrail.org/Documents/NCBT_CallingCards.pdf About a year ago or so, I spoke with the gal who was then heading up the birding trail effort about the effectivity of the cards. She mentioned that although birders were indeed using them, few of them had gotten back to the originating office, but that she had hopes that once the market was more saturated with the cards that the overall impact/awareness would be greater. I am currently working with Dr. Mark LaSalle with Audubon Mississippi/Pascagoula River Audubon Center on efforts to redevelop the MS coast birding trail and eventually expand it throughout the state. One of the future components of this effort is to have an interactive MS birding trail website with some sort of birding trail tracking card as well. Perhaps when we get to that point, y'all will have an established carding card system that we can integrate into the birding trail website! Also, given that spring is right around the corner (!!!), I encourage you to get out and look for new birding sites. If you would like to nominate a site for the revised MS coastal birding trail, please complete the following document and mail or email it to me!   http://pascagoulariver.audubon.org/birds-science-education/updating-mississippi-coastal-birding-trail Good birding, sheri   ---------  Sheri L. Glowinski PhD Candidate Migratory Bird Research Group The University of Southern Mississippi Dept. of Biological Sciences 118 College Drive [5018] Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001 Lab: 601-266-4394 http://www.usm.edu/mbrg/ Subject: Re: Fw: Birder cards From: Lew Proudfoot <lewis_s_proudfoot AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 16:59:30 -0800 (PST) I wonder if playing card, or baseball trading card size might not be better.  They are very easy to make! I think this is a great idea! Skipper, you have MS Audubon designs??? Lew Proudfoot The Wind in My Face Vancleave, MS --- On Fri, 2/5/10, Dr. Lin Harper wrote: From: Dr. Lin Harper Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Fw: Birder cards To: missbird AT listserv.olemiss.edu Date: Friday, February 5, 2010, 1:42 PM I would love to see both the Jackson Audubon design and the ones you have Ruth.  Skipper, do you know who might have that in the Jackson group? Thanks, Lin Harper Pine Woods Audubon Hattiesburg On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:34 PM, ruth pullen wrote: I think its a great idea because it lets businesses know that people are at their establishment because of birds/wildlife.  I tried to get it going with Jackson Audubon and Vicksburg office but there wasn't a big response.  I have seen them used in Ohio and Kansas with enthusiasm.  Some businesses offer birders a 10% discount on rooms, etc.  Saw this at Platte River.  Naturetourism is a billion dollar industry and it would help conservation efforts tremendously to let businesses know birds=$$$$ in their pockets. For example, you can make a business card that says you're using their business because of birds and ask that they support wildlife habitats so people will continue to visit and support the area.  Then whenever you're birding, just leave a card with the manager or at the register.  Hopefully, it will get their attention.  If people did this everytime they were on an Audubon or MOS trip alone it would really add up. Jackson Audubon made up a card based on the two cardsI brought from Kansas and Ohio.  If you are interested contact someone from the group, perhaps they will let you use their design.  I still have copies if Jackson Audubon authorizes use and can send them to you.  I can probably find the two originals also which are more specific to birding than the Jackson one. Ruth Pullen --- On Tue, 2/2/10, Dick Burkepile wrote: From: Dick Burkepile Subject: [MISSBIRD] Fw: Birder cards To: "missbird" , LABIRD-L AT LISTSERV.LSU.EDU Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 9:14 AM Passing this on from the Kansas List.  Interesting idea. Dick Burkepile Oxford, Mississippi --- On Mon, 2/1/10, Thomas Shane wrote: > From: Thomas Shane > Subject: Birder cards > To: KSBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.KSU.EDU > Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 10:00 PM > Birdsters, > We have talked about the economic impacts of birding, but I > have never heard > about birder cards. Sounds interesting and it could be a > simple and > inexpensive exercise for KOS and many of the Audubon > Chapters. I read this > on the Texas list which had been transferred from the Ohio > list. Does anyone > have 2 cents worth of input or any experience? > TS in GC > > ******************************************** > From: Ohio birds [mailto:OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU] > On Behalf Of H > Thomas Bartlett > Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 9:47 AM > To: OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Birder cards > > For the last 10 years or so, various birding groups have > been giving > out cards which birders are to leave at places they visit, > shop, eat > at, etc telling the owners that birders were there and > spent money.? I > always wondered how effective they are.? Well Paula and I > found out. > Since the early 1990, when I go to the UP of Michigan, I > eat at > Ang-Gio's restaurant at least once over the weekend.? It is > a good > Italian resturant.? While eating there Saturday night, we > got to > talking with the owner.? When I mentioned we were up there > birding, he > got very excited and ran over to the checkout counter.? He > came back > with six of these cards which were taped together.? They > are cards > from one of Michigan's birding groups and a little > different than ones > I have seen.? They had a place for how much was spent.? The > owner > proudly showed us that these six cards represented over > $1000 in meals > from just the last couple of weeks.? He wanted to know if I > had a > card.? I had cards from the Kirtland Bird Club in Cleveland > but had > left them home.? Never again!? He made sure to tell me that > birders > are always welcome at his place and make sure I tell other > birders.? I > doubt if he donates to birder causes but I'll bet he brings > up birders > at chamber of commerce/business meetings.? So some progress > is being > made to show the business community that birders are an > economic > force. > > H. Thomas Bartlett > Tiffin, Ohio > > For KSBIRD-L archives or to change your subscription > options, go to > http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/ksbird-l.html > For KSBIRD-L guidelines go to > http://www.ksbirds.org/KSBIRD-LGuidelines.htm > To contact a listowner, send a message to > mailto:ksbird-l-request AT listserv.ksu.edu >       -- Lin Harper, Ph.D. Proposal Development Specialist The College of Arts & Letters The University of Southern Mississippi 118 College Drive, #5004 Hattiesburg, MS    39406-5004 (601) 266-4174 - Voice (601) 266-6541 - Fax Lin.Harper AT USM.edu Subject: Re: Fw: Birder cards From: "Dr. Lin Harper" <lin.harper AT usm.edu> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 15:42:18 -0600 I would love to see both the Jackson Audubon design and the ones you have Ruth. Skipper, do you know who might have that in the Jackson group? Thanks, Lin Harper Pine Woods Audubon Hattiesburg On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:34 PM, ruth pullen wrote: > I think its a great idea because it lets businesses know that people are at > their establishment because of birds/wildlife. I tried to get it going with > Jackson Audubon and Vicksburg office but there wasn't a big response. I > have seen them used in Ohio and Kansas with enthusiasm. Some businesses > offer birders a 10% discount on rooms, etc. Saw this at Platte River. > Naturetourism is a billion dollar industry and it would help conservation > efforts tremendously to let businesses know birds=$$$$ in their pockets. > > For example, you can make a business card that says you're using their > business because of birds and ask that they support wildlife habitats so > people will continue to visit and support the area. Then whenever you're > birding, just leave a card with the manager or at the register. Hopefully, > it will get their attention. If people did this everytime they were on an > Audubon or MOS trip alone it would really add up. > > Jackson Audubon made up a card based on the two cardsI brought from Kansasand Ohio. If you are interested contact someone from the group, perhaps > they will let you use their design. I still have copies if Jackson Audubon > authorizes use and can send them to you. I can probably find the two > originals also which are more specific to birding than the Jackson one. > > Ruth Pullen > --- On *Tue, 2/2/10, Dick Burkepile * wrote: > > > From: Dick Burkepile > Subject: [MISSBIRD] Fw: Birder cards > To: "missbird" , LABIRD-L AT LISTSERV.LSU.EDU > Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 9:14 AM > > Passing this on from the Kansas List. Interesting idea. > > Dick Burkepile > Oxford, Mississippi > > --- On Mon, 2/1/10, Thomas Shane wrote: > > > From: Thomas Shane > > Subject: Birder cards > > To: KSBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.KSU.EDU > > Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 10:00 PM > > Birdsters, > > We have talked about the economic impacts of birding, but I > > have never heard > > about birder cards. Sounds interesting and it could be a > > simple and > > inexpensive exercise for KOS and many of the Audubon > > Chapters. I read this > > on the Texas list which had been transferred from the Ohio > > list. Does anyone > > have 2 cents worth of input or any experience? > > TS in GC > > > > ******************************************** > > From: Ohio birds [mailto:OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU] > > On Behalf Of H > > Thomas Bartlett > > Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 9:47 AM > > To: OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU > > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Birder cards > > > > For the last 10 years or so, various birding groups have > > been giving > > out cards which birders are to leave at places they visit, > > shop, eat > > at, etc telling the owners that birders were there and > > spent money.? I > > always wondered how effective they are.? Well Paula and I > > found out. > > Since the early 1990, when I go to the UP of Michigan, I > > eat at > > Ang-Gio's restaurant at least once over the weekend.? It is > > a good > > Italian resturant.? While eating there Saturday night, we > > got to > > talking with the owner.? When I mentioned we were up there > > birding, he > > got very excited and ran over to the checkout counter.? He > > came back > > with six of these cards which were taped together.? They > > are cards > > from one of Michigan's birding groups and a little > > different than ones > > I have seen.? They had a place for how much was spent.? The > > owner > > proudly showed us that these six cards represented over > > $1000 in meals > > from just the last couple of weeks.? He wanted to know if I > > had a > > card.? I had cards from the Kirtland Bird Club in Cleveland > > but had > > left them home.? Never again!? He made sure to tell me that > > birders > > are always welcome at his place and make sure I tell other > > birders.? I > > doubt if he donates to birder causes but I'll bet he brings > > up birders > > at chamber of commerce/business meetings.? So some progress > > is being > > made to show the business community that birders are an > > economic > > force. > > > > H. Thomas Bartlett > > Tiffin, Ohio > > > > For KSBIRD-L archives or to change your subscription > > options, go to > > http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/ksbird-l.html > > For KSBIRD-L guidelines go to > > http://www.ksbirds.org/KSBIRD-LGuidelines.htm > > To contact a listowner, send a message to > > mailto:ksbird-l-request AT listserv.ksu.edu > > > > > > > > -- Lin Harper, Ph.D. Proposal Development Specialist The College of Arts & Letters The University of Southern Mississippi 118 College Drive, #5004 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5004 (601) 266-4174 - Voice (601) 266-6541 - Fax Lin.Harper AT USM.edu Subject: Re: Fw: Birder cards From: ruth pullen <rbirdlists AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 13:34:48 -0800 (PST) I think its a great idea because it lets businesses know that people are at their establishment because of birds/wildlife.  I tried to get it going with Jackson Audubon and Vicksburg office but there wasn't a big response.  I have seen them used in Ohio and Kansas with enthusiasm.  Some businesses offer birders a 10% discount on rooms, etc.  Saw this at Platte River.  Naturetourism is a billion dollar industry and it would help conservation efforts tremendously to let businesses know birds=$$$$ in their pockets. For example, you can make a business card that says you're using their business because of birds and ask that they support wildlife habitats so people will continue to visit and support the area.  Then whenever you're birding, just leave a card with the manager or at the register.  Hopefully, it will get their attention.  If people did this everytime they were on an Audubon or MOS trip alone it would really add up. Jackson Audubon made up a card based on the two cardsI brought from Kansas and Ohio.  If you are interested contact someone from the group, perhaps they will let you use their design.  I still have copies if Jackson Audubon authorizes use and can send them to you.  I can probably find the two originals also which are more specific to birding than the Jackson one. Ruth Pullen --- On Tue, 2/2/10, Dick Burkepile wrote: From: Dick Burkepile Subject: [MISSBIRD] Fw: Birder cards To: "missbird" , LABIRD-L AT LISTSERV.LSU.EDU Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 9:14 AM Passing this on from the Kansas List.  Interesting idea. Dick Burkepile Oxford, Mississippi --- On Mon, 2/1/10, Thomas Shane wrote: > From: Thomas Shane > Subject: Birder cards > To: KSBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.KSU.EDU > Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 10:00 PM > Birdsters, > We have talked about the economic impacts of birding, but I > have never heard > about birder cards. Sounds interesting and it could be a > simple and > inexpensive exercise for KOS and many of the Audubon > Chapters. I read this > on the Texas list which had been transferred from the Ohio > list. Does anyone > have 2 cents worth of input or any experience? > TS in GC > > ******************************************** > From: Ohio birds [mailto:OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU] > On Behalf Of H > Thomas Bartlett > Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 9:47 AM > To: OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Birder cards > > For the last 10 years or so, various birding groups have > been giving > out cards which birders are to leave at places they visit, > shop, eat > at, etc telling the owners that birders were there and > spent money.? I > always wondered how effective they are.? Well Paula and I > found out. > Since the early 1990, when I go to the UP of Michigan, I > eat at > Ang-Gio's restaurant at least once over the weekend.? It is > a good > Italian resturant.? While eating there Saturday night, we > got to > talking with the owner.? When I mentioned we were up there > birding, he > got very excited and ran over to the checkout counter.? He > came back > with six of these cards which were taped together.? They > are cards > from one of Michigan's birding groups and a little > different than ones > I have seen.? They had a place for how much was spent.? The > owner > proudly showed us that these six cards represented over > $1000 in meals > from just the last couple of weeks.? He wanted to know if I > had a > card.? I had cards from the Kirtland Bird Club in Cleveland > but had > left them home.? Never again!? He made sure to tell me that > birders > are always welcome at his place and make sure I tell other > birders.? I > doubt if he donates to birder causes but I'll bet he brings > up birders > at chamber of commerce/business meetings.? So some progress > is being > made to show the business community that birders are an > economic > force. > > H. Thomas Bartlett > Tiffin, Ohio > > For KSBIRD-L archives or to change your subscription > options, go to > http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/ksbird-l.html > For KSBIRD-L guidelines go to > http://www.ksbirds.org/KSBIRD-LGuidelines.htm > To contact a listowner, send a message to > mailto:ksbird-l-request AT listserv.ksu.edu >       Subject: song sparrow From: ruth pullen <rbirdlists AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 13:18:48 -0800 (PST) We've had a beautiful song sparrow feeding on our slab feeder by our brush pile for several weeks.  At first it was very aggressive, chasing White Throats(WTSP) and Chipping Sparrows (CHSP) away (never saw an encounter with a Mourning Dove!).  The slab is about 2'x2' and it would tolerate no other bird on the entire slab.  Today I saw it feeding peacefully (relatively that is -it only chased away those birds close to it) with other birds- guess it learned that the food supply is plentiful- who says birds aren't smart?. We keep a brush pile by the feeder and a chipmunk, WTSP, and CHSP live there; don't know if the SOSP lives or visits- we don't see it every day. This is the second time in the past few years that we have had a SOSP- the first one lived in the brush pile and stayed all winter Ruth Pullen. Subject: Bird in garage From: "J. K. Cliburn" <jcliburn AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 14:22:07 -0600 I've had cardinals, finches, wrens, sparrows, hummingbirds, and other assorted creatures trapped in my garage over the years, but today was a first: a Sharp-shinned hawk. The thing almost gave me a heart attack when I walked out the door. After donning a sturdy pair of leather gloves, I gently subdued him by hand and released him without any apparent harm. To my relief, he flapped away and over the trees perfectly normally. Surprisingly, he was significantly easier to capture than any of the smaller guys, and didn't try to rip my hands off in the process. :) Jay Cliburn Lawrence County Subject: From the Knight's Yard- Pine Siskin From: "knights" <gsknight AT dixie-net.com> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 14:13:20 -0600 MISSBIRDERS, This morning we spotted our first Pine Siskin (1 bird) of the winter amidst 150+ Goldfinches. Gene & Shannon Knight Oxford, MS gsknight AT dixie-net.com Subject: Fw: Purple Martins From: "Charley" <delmas AT ametro.net> Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 13:27:04 -0600 ----- Original Message ----- From: Charley To: missbirds AT listserv.olemiss.edu Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 1:19 PM Subject: Purple Martins This morning, after the weather front passage last night, we had our all-time earliest arrival for Purple Martins at my house. And not just a few scouts, but 26. At noon, I couldn't locate any. I guess they migrated on. Charley Delmas, Gautier Subject: Birder of the Year! From: Dick Burkepile <dick_burkepile AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 22:12:01 -0800 (PST) Missbirders, The following is taken from the WildBird site on Facebook. Congratulations to Dianne! WildBird is delighted to announce Dianne Patterson of Columbus, Miss., as the 2009 Birder of the Year! She will receive a Swarovski 8x32 EL binocular and a five-day hosted birding trip in Costa Rica. Now we get to pick our travel dates. Dick Burkepile Oxford, Mississippi Subject: Great Backyard Bird Count From: Nick Winstead <Nick.Winstead AT mmns.state.ms.us> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 14:10:25 -0600 FYI - another citizen science project you can help out with from your own backyard: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1559&srctid=1&erid=2002522 The Great Backyard Bird Count will be from February 12-15 this year. Nick Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ ________________________________ Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] First day of spring? From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 08:35:12 -0800 (PST) I have had about 8 goldfinches since putting my feeders up the first of the year but that number drastically increased last weekend with the cold snap. Nothing else but red birds in my delta yard of four trees. Rob Heflin Isola, MS Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "knights" Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2010 09:27 Subject: [MISSBIRD] First day of spring? To: "David J. Ringer" , "MISSBIRD" MISSBIRDERS, Here in the north part of the state we have had some exceptional cold spells in January. Since then the Goldfinches and Purple Finches have finally found the feeders. Goldfinch-150+ and Purples-12+. The juvenile Sapsucker is regular at our P-Nut Butter log as well as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 4-6 Pine Warblers, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Creeper and a whole compliment of residents. We have made over 5 pounds of the mixture of Grits and P-nut Butter. Mourning Dove have been singing (cooing) off and on for 2 weeks which is the earliest I have ever heard them this far north. Usually its mid to late Feb. I saw a pair of Blue Jays courting yesterday--one was feeding the other a sunflower seed. I noticed a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches chattering with one another and flicking their wings. And the Maple trees have pre-buds turning reddish. After the mini ice storm last Friday I saw some of the buds on the ground!!! Of course there has been a full moon recently so go figure. Gene and Shannon Knight Oxford, MS ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Ringer" To: "MISSBIRD" Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:01 PM Subject: [MISSBIRD] First day of spring? > Today, February 3, is halfway between our winter solstice and vernal > equinox. Some cultures celebrate this 'cross-quarter day' as the first > day of spring, and I think that here in Mississippi, it makes sense. > Birds start moving; plants begin to bloom. > > I went looking for signs of spring this morning: > http://djringer.com/birding/2010/02/03/first-day-of-spring-2010/ > > How about you? > > David > Vicksburg, Miss. Subject: JACKSON AUDUBON FIELD TRIP From: Mary Stevens <Library AT mmns.state.ms.us> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 10:07:00 -0600 Jackson Audubon Monthly Bird Walk Wear boots as there may be some standing water on parts of the trail due to heavy rains in the area. Jackson Audubon Society First Saturday Monthly Bird Walk Saturday, February 6, 2010 8:00 - 10 AM LeFleurs Bluff State Park, Mayes Lake Entrance 115 Lakeland Terrace, Jackson MS Led by Experienced JAS member (Pullen Watkins) Contact: 601-956-7444 or visit www.jacksonaudubonsociety.org No charge for birdwalk; $3 per car entrance fee to state Park. ________________________________ Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: Rusty Blackbirds From: Nick Winstead <Nick.Winstead AT mmns.state.ms.us> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 10:00:55 -0600 Speaking of Rusty Blackbirds and the concern surrounding their populations...as Jake Walker mentioned several days ago, we're in the middle of the second Rusty Blackbird Blitz (running through February 15). This is a very important effort that relies on birders throughout the wintering range to go out and find and report concentrations of Rusty Blackbirds. These reports will help researchers find important areas to focus research, monitoring and conservation efforts. Mississippi is a hot spot for Rusty Blackbirds! We did not have heavy participation last year...so if at all possible please go out this year and look for Rusties! See the link below for more details. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Research/Rusty_Blackbird/blitz_results.cfm Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ ________________________________ Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: Re: First day of spring? From: "knights" <gsknight AT dixie-net.com> Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 09:27:03 -0600 MISSBIRDERS, Here in the north part of the state we have had some exceptional cold spells in January. Since then the Goldfinches and Purple Finches have finally found the feeders. Goldfinch-150+ and Purples-12+. The juvenile Sapsucker is regular at our P-Nut Butter log as well as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 4-6 Pine Warblers, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Creeper and a whole compliment of residents. We have made over 5 pounds of the mixture of Grits and P-nut Butter. Mourning Dove have been singing (cooing) off and on for 2 weeks which is the earliest I have ever heard them this far north. Usually its mid to late Feb. I saw a pair of Blue Jays courting yesterday--one was feeding the other a sunflower seed. I noticed a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches chattering with one another and flicking their wings. And the Maple trees have pre-buds turning reddish. After the mini ice storm last Friday I saw some of the buds on the ground!!! Of course there has been a full moon recently so go figure. Gene and Shannon Knight Oxford, MS ----- Original Message ----- From: "David J. Ringer" To: "MISSBIRD" Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:01 PM Subject: [MISSBIRD] First day of spring? > Today, February 3, is halfway between our winter solstice and vernal > equinox. Some cultures celebrate this 'cross-quarter day' as the first > day of spring, and I think that here in Mississippi, it makes sense. > Birds start moving; plants begin to bloom. > > I went looking for signs of spring this morning: > http://djringer.com/birding/2010/02/03/first-day-of-spring-2010/ > > How about you? > > David > Vicksburg, Miss. Subject: Yellowlegs and sandpipers From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 22:45:12 -0800 (PST) Seeing a few greater yellowlegs and least sandpipers on the newly exposed mudflats of ponds here at Isola in the last week. I've noticed an evolution of opportunists that takes place as a fishpond goes from deep water to shallow grass habitat. As the ponds drain, the scaup, cans, bufflehead, ruddies and hooded mergansers give way to pelicans, cormorants, Forster's terns and ring-billed gulls that arrive in hordes to gather the fish. Then the herons and egrets take over and share the knee deep water with the shovelers who filter-feed for invertebrates. Finally the killdeer and other shorebirds move in, while the raccoons pick off the remaining fish trapped in isolated pools. The shorebirds move in through the spring and early summer on the drying mudflats and northbound teal give way to resident mallards and Canadas who raise their summer broods. Black-crowned night herons occupy the ponds after dark while little blues feed alongside snowy egrets and great blues by day. As the grasses grow, the songbirds flourish and redwings weave their basket nests. Spoonbills and storks arrive with returning bluewings in late summer. Soras can be seen and heard on occasion in the ripening vegetation and shovelers arrive once again. Young white-faced ibis and occasional plegadis stalk through the shallows. Mallards, gadwall, pintail, green-winged teal and snow and white-fronted geese replace the diving ducks and fish eaters which had been the dominant fowl on the pond only a year earlier. Rob Heflin Isola, MS Sent from my HTC Subject: First day of spring? From: "David J. Ringer" <djringer AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 22:01:40 -0600 Today, February 3, is halfway between our winter solstice and vernal equinox. Some cultures celebrate this 'cross-quarter day' as the first day of spring, and I think that here in Mississippi, it makes sense. Birds start moving; plants begin to bloom. I went looking for signs of spring this morning: http://djringer.com/birding/2010/02/03/first-day-of-spring-2010/ How about you? David Vicksburg, Miss. -- David J. Ringer http://djringer.com Subject: the humanity! From: "J. Allen Burrows" <rotteral AT aol.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 21:14:52 -0600 Thanks to everyone for the information on House Sparrow trapping. I'm thinking of developing a trap that will catch House Sparrows that will in turn attract feral cats. A Shrodinger trap. I feel unworthy of adding to the philosophical musings. And I feel that had best not reveal my intentions except to say that any Blackbirds that show signs of oxidation will be spared. J. Allen Burrows Subject: RE: Bluebirds From: "Jerry L. Litton" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 19:00:28 -0600 I just had this wonderful insight! I was thinking about all this conservation that began around Eastern Bluebirds and House Sparrows, and the occupancy rights to a house built for blue birds, and how to discourage or make-known that the blue birds have preference at least in the eyes of someone who placed or made available this location. I though about the blue bird house I have and I have seen that house inspected by a pair of blue birds and so wished for them to take residence. The box was given oversight, was landed on and looked into, only to be flown way from never returned to again by that pair. They left that perfectly placed and erected house; they did not select it for their nest nest. My hopes got dashed by a choice made by a finicky eager and blissful pair of birds who already had chosen each other to mate and rear broods of young. That summer I ended up with a successful nesting pair of titmouse, and later on that summer I was about my yard doing stuff and saw out of the side of my left eye a flash, a dark sizable critter, dash out of that bird box house faster than I could turn, either because I was within ten feet of it minding my own business or the critter bee from hell just didn't like me so he nailed me on the side of the head with his sharpest and nastiness stinger. I was pissed let me tell you so I planned my own vengeance. Went out after dark in the cooler night and snuck-up to the box, inched out the nail closer and looked inside expecting to see a swam of buzzers. I found one, only one bumble bee hanging from the upper-side-wall and a little bird nest material in the bottom. I closed the door and left him alone thinking what in the H.. d.d.did I do to irritate this bee.w.w.went back inside my house and got a great night of sleep after I scratched the sting spot a couple of times, and by that time the swelling had gone down, but my curiosity was estatic. Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com _____ From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 3:06 PM To: Barbara Qualls; 'MISSBIRD' Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Bluebirds Excellent point, Mrs. Barbara. And in places like the Delta with virtually no remaining old growth timber for nest cavities, I think man-made housing has helped them tremendously. I have seen what house sparrows can do to martins and bluebirds, and if left unchecked, the sparrows overcome every time. Rob Heflin Isola, MS ----- Original Message ----- From: Barbara Qualls To: 'MISSBIRD' Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 1:35 PM Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Bluebirds When Jackson Audubon Society was in it's infancy, there was a real problem with declines in bluebird numbers. The JAS made a very successful local effort to publicize the plight of these birds. Area schools built hundreds of nest boxes, poles were available and these were sold all across the state. The demand exceeded the supply! It was a great moment in JAS history (before I became a member). I believe that the education of the public-with great media coverage- made a difference in bluebird numbers in Mississippi. Barbara Qualls Jackson, MS >>> Diane Lafferty 2/3/2010 11:52 AM >>> Jerry I think Bluebirds are doing MUCH better because of us. Putting up birdhouses and keeping them clean between broods. Otherwise pests get in the old nest and kill the whole family. I did not clean out a nest and I watched mother and children die of pests in the nest. Then I had to watch the father mourn for a month. Putting a small amount of Seven Dust in the box helps some. Diane Hattiesburg No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 - Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 Individuals who have received this information in error or are not authorized to receive it must promptly return or dispose of the information and notify the sender. Those individuals are hereby notified that they are strictly prohibited from reviewing, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing or using this information in any way. Subject: Re: Bluebirds From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 15:06:24 -0600 Excellent point, Mrs. Barbara. And in places like the Delta with virtually no remaining old growth timber for nest cavities, I think man-made housing has helped them tremendously. I have seen what house sparrows can do to martins and bluebirds, and if left unchecked, the sparrows overcome every time. Rob Heflin Isola, MS ----- Original Message ----- From: Barbara Qualls To: 'MISSBIRD' Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 1:35 PM Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Bluebirds When Jackson Audubon Society was in it's infancy, there was a real problem with declines in bluebird numbers. The JAS made a very successful local effort to publicize the plight of these birds. Area schools built hundreds of nest boxes, poles were available and these were sold all across the state. The demand exceeded the supply! It was a great moment in JAS history (before I became a member). I believe that the education of the public-with great media coverage- made a difference in bluebird numbers in Mississippi. Barbara Qualls Jackson, MS >>> Diane Lafferty 2/3/2010 11:52 AM >>> Jerry I think Bluebirds are doing MUCH better because of us. Putting up birdhouses and keeping them clean between broods. Otherwise pests get in the old nest and kill the whole family. I did not clean out a nest and I watched mother and children die of pests in the nest. Then I had to watch the father mourn for a month. Putting a small amount of Seven Dust in the box helps some. Diane Hattiesburg No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 - Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 Individuals who have received this information in error or are not authorized to receive it must promptly return or dispose of the information and notify the sender. Those individuals are hereby notified that they are strictly prohibited from reviewing, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing or using this information in any way. Subject: Re: Bluebirds From: Barbara Qualls <bqualls AT pharmacy.umsmed.edu> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 13:35:04 -0600 When Jackson Audubon Society was in it's infancy, there was a real problem with declines in bluebird numbers. The JAS made a very successful local effort to publicize the plight of these birds. Area schools built hundreds of nest boxes, poles were available and these were sold all across the state. The demand exceeded the supply! It was a great moment in JAS history (before I became a member). I believe that the education of the public-with great media coverage- made a difference in bluebird numbers in Mississippi. Barbara Qualls Jackson, MS >>> Diane Lafferty 2/3/2010 11:52 AM >>> Jerry I think Bluebirds are doing MUCH better because of us. Putting up birdhouses and keeping them clean between broods. Otherwise pests get in the old nest and kill the whole family. I did not clean out a nest and I watched mother and children die of pests in the nest. Then I had to watch the father mourn for a month. Putting a small amount of Seven Dust in the box helps some. Diane Hattiesburg No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 - Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 Individuals who have received this information in error or are not authorized to receive it must promptly return or dispose of the information and notify the sender. Those individuals are hereby notified that they are strictly prohibited from reviewing, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing or using this information in any way. Subject: Re: Horrors From: Kathy Shelton <krshelton64 AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 12:10:04 -0600 This was posted on Facebook today. I guess it's house sparrow day or something. http://bird-bs.blogspot.com/2010/01/keeping-house-sparrows-away-from-bird.html On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 11:30 AM, littonsphac wrote: > This is one of the best exchanges of information I've seen on missbird in > some time. I agree that birds should be left to their own device, however we > feed them, give them places to drink, wash and dust and build houses for > them to nest, build debris piles, put up dead tree trunks and give them > worms so we can see them better, so we may possible contaminate their > behavior, food source, roosting and reproduction patterns. They will do all > of this for and by themselves and will likely be the better for it when they > do it for themselves, and they will become stronger, more fit, and faster, > as fledglings and during the process of maturing and aging, better hunters, > better reproducers of more resistant eggs and stronger babies and they will > die off due to disease, competition for food, for reproduction and rest site > like all living things. Don’t think you are ever again seeing natural > behavior of any-thing, we are here in the patterns of natural behavior > interruptions, in all things and all ways. Animals will take the easy way > out: they have memory and intelligence and much better adaptability toward > changing weather and climate than us humans, and they will go lazy when > pickings are plentiful, whether natural or artificual supply abundance, or > they will work their butts of to get a morsel of grain under a grass heap or > decaying log. Our chldren should be so equipped. > > The legal descriptions are very informative and really slanted toward human > advantage and ability to observe and curb behavior, what a person thinks > about “how it should be.” Somewhere along the way dominance has slid its sly > head into the network and we use it when we see fit, not necessarily when > the wisdon is most interred in the scheme of things, nature, on it’s own at > it’s best and sometimes it sometimes slides toward failure and success. > > A blue bird nest in a nest box is a target for a preditor, a blue bird nest > in a tree cavity means a resourceful pair of breeders and their off spring > will learn something from the opportunity. There ain’t just-one learning or > living experience going on here. > > Jerry L. litton > > Jackson MS > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto: > owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Nick Winstead > Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:20 AM > To: MISSBIRD > Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > > > Brewer's Blackbirds are not being considered for removal from the > depredation order. It is my understanding - and I could be wrong - that > most of the take under the depredation order is by Wildlife Services which > is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. > > > > This is because unlike cultural methods (e.g., planting non-attractive > crops near roosts, modifying planting/harvesting dates, modifying roosting > habitat) and frightening techniques (e.g., propane exploders, reflecting > mylar tapes), most methods that kill birds aren't that effective at reducing > crop damage. Just going out and shooting at a flock of blackbirds tends to > kill only a few and scare the rest off (even if just temporarily). Most > control measures that kill birds effectively are toxicants and wetting > agents - and Wildlife Services usually has the most expertise with these > applications. > > > > It's important to note that Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most > numerous bird species around and they can cause significant economic damage > to crops...the proper application of control techniques by Wildlife Services > usually has no noticeable effect on their population size while alleviating > local economic damage to crops. > > > > However with the exclusion of Rusty Blackbirds from the depredation order, > it will become more difficult for Wildlife Services to apply these > techniques properly. Toxicants and wetting agents are not highly > selective. Mixed foraging and roosting flocks are common and it will > require more restraint on the part of Wildlife Services if Rusty Blackbirds > are found to be foraging and or roosting in flocks targeted for control. > This is not a slant against Wildlife Services - they provide a very > important service that is hard to do effectively, and the removal of Rusty > Blackbirds from the depredation order will actually make it harder. > > > > Nick Winstead > > Ornithologist > > Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks > > Museum of Natural Science > > 2148 Riverside Drive > > Jackson, Mississippi 39202 > > Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 > > Fax: 601-354-7227 > > http://museum.mdwfp.com/ > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Mark Bonta [mailto:mbonta AT deltastate.edu] > > Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:32 AM > > To: Nick Winstead; MISSBIRD > > Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > > > What about Brewer's? We are seeing less and less of these. > > > > The question is, is there or will there be some sort of education campaign > to help landowners distinguish Rusties and Brewer's from the others?? > > > > mb > > > > Dr. Mark Bonta > > Associate Professor of Geography > > Division of Social Sciences > > Delta State University > > Cleveland MS 38733 > > 662.846.4096 (office) > > webpage: http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Nick Winstead > > Sent: Wed 2/3/2010 9:24 AM > > To: MISSBIRD > > Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > > > Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and > Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to > wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main > federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. > > > > This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state > wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, > capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, > deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, > transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any > means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, > at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of > this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, > egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). > > > > The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it > considers "migratory birds" ( > http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). > Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. > species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House > Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are > not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. > Mississippi does not. > > > > Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" > are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a > "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found > committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, > agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such > numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with > a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive > supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have > any laws that negate this depredation order. > > > > The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However > because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service > has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the > depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. > > > > Nick Winstead > > Ornithologist > > Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks > > Museum of Natural Science > > 2148 Riverside Drive > > Jackson, Mississippi 39202 > > Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 > > Fax: 601-354-7227 > > http://museum.mdwfp.com/ > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto: > owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin > > Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM > > To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List > > Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > > > Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to > > ask (especially on list serve). ;) > > > > http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm > > > > > > > > Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or > document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above > and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. > If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are > strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise > using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this > transmission in error, please notify me immediately. > > > > > > > > Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or > document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above > and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. > If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are > strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise > using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this > transmission in error, please notify me immediately. > -- Kathy Shelton South Mississippi Conservation Program Museum of Natural Science MS Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks 211 Critz St N Wiggins MS 39577 228-860-0573 (cell) 601-528-5705 (office) 601-528-9161 (fax) Subject: Bluebirds From: "Diane Lafferty" <dlaffert AT netdoor.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 11:52:55 -0600 Jerry I think Bluebirds are doing MUCH better because of us. Putting up birdhouses and keeping them clean between broods. Otherwise pests get in the old nest and kill the whole family. I did not clean out a nest and I watched mother and children die of pests in the nest. Then I had to watch the father mourn for a month. Putting a small amount of Seven Dust in the box helps some. Diane Hattiesburg No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 - Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 Subject: RE: Horrors From: "littonsphac" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 11:30:54 -0600 This is one of the best exchanges of information I've seen on missbird in some time. I agree that birds should be left to their own device, however we feed them, give them places to drink, wash and dust and build houses for them to nest, build debris piles, put up dead tree trunks and give them worms so we can see them better, so we may possible contaminate their behavior, food source, roosting and reproduction patterns. They will do all of this for and by themselves and will likely be the better for it when they do it for themselves, and they will become stronger, more fit, and faster, as fledglings and during the process of maturing and aging, better hunters, better reproducers of more resistant eggs and stronger babies and they will die off due to disease, competition for food, for reproduction and rest site like all living things. Don't think you are ever again seeing natural behavior of any-thing, we are here in the patterns of natural behavior interruptions, in all things and all ways. Animals will take the easy way out: they have memory and intelligence and much better adaptability toward changing weather and climate than us humans, and they will go lazy when pickings are plentiful, whether natural or artificual supply abundance, or they will work their butts of to get a morsel of grain under a grass heap or decaying log. Our chldren should be so equipped. The legal descriptions are very informative and really slanted toward human advantage and ability to observe and curb behavior, what a person thinks about "how it should be." Somewhere along the way dominance has slid its sly head into the network and we use it when we see fit, not necessarily when the wisdon is most interred in the scheme of things, nature, on it's own at it's best and sometimes it sometimes slides toward failure and success. A blue bird nest in a nest box is a target for a preditor, a blue bird nest in a tree cavity means a resourceful pair of breeders and their off spring will learn something from the opportunity. There ain't just-one learning or living experience going on here. Jerry L. litton Jackson MS -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Nick Winstead Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:20 AM To: MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Brewer's Blackbirds are not being considered for removal from the depredation order. It is my understanding - and I could be wrong - that most of the take under the depredation order is by Wildlife Services which is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is because unlike cultural methods (e.g., planting non-attractive crops near roosts, modifying planting/harvesting dates, modifying roosting habitat) and frightening techniques (e.g., propane exploders, reflecting mylar tapes), most methods that kill birds aren't that effective at reducing crop damage. Just going out and shooting at a flock of blackbirds tends to kill only a few and scare the rest off (even if just temporarily). Most control measures that kill birds effectively are toxicants and wetting agents - and Wildlife Services usually has the most expertise with these applications. It's important to note that Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most numerous bird species around and they can cause significant economic damage to crops...the proper application of control techniques by Wildlife Services usually has no noticeable effect on their population size while alleviating local economic damage to crops. However with the exclusion of Rusty Blackbirds from the depredation order, it will become more difficult for Wildlife Services to apply these techniques properly. Toxicants and wetting agents are not highly selective. Mixed foraging and roosting flocks are common and it will require more restraint on the part of Wildlife Services if Rusty Blackbirds are found to be foraging and or roosting in flocks targeted for control. This is not a slant against Wildlife Services - they provide a very important service that is hard to do effectively, and the removal of Rusty Blackbirds from the depredation order will actually make it harder. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: Mark Bonta [mailto:mbonta AT deltastate.edu] Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:32 AM To: Nick Winstead; MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors What about Brewer's? We are seeing less and less of these. The question is, is there or will there be some sort of education campaign to help landowners distinguish Rusties and Brewer's from the others?? mb Dr. Mark Bonta Associate Professor of Geography Division of Social Sciences Delta State University Cleveland MS 38733 662.846.4096 (office) webpage: http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Nick Winstead Sent: Wed 2/3/2010 9:24 AM To: MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it considers "migratory birds" (http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. Mississippi does not. Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have any laws that negate this depredation order. The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to ask (especially on list serve). ;) http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: RE: Horrors From: Nick Winstead <Nick.Winstead AT mmns.state.ms.us> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 10:19:41 -0600 Brewer's Blackbirds are not being considered for removal from the depredation order. It is my understanding - and I could be wrong - that most of the take under the depredation order is by Wildlife Services which is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is because unlike cultural methods (e.g., planting non-attractive crops near roosts, modifying planting/harvesting dates, modifying roosting habitat) and frightening techniques (e.g., propane exploders, reflecting mylar tapes), most methods that kill birds aren't that effective at reducing crop damage. Just going out and shooting at a flock of blackbirds tends to kill only a few and scare the rest off (even if just temporarily). Most control measures that kill birds effectively are toxicants and wetting agents - and Wildlife Services usually has the most expertise with these applications. It's important to note that Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most numerous bird species around and they can cause significant economic damage to crops...the proper application of control techniques by Wildlife Services usually has no noticeable effect on their population size while alleviating local economic damage to crops. However with the exclusion of Rusty Blackbirds from the depredation order, it will become more difficult for Wildlife Services to apply these techniques properly. Toxicants and wetting agents are not highly selective. Mixed foraging and roosting flocks are common and it will require more restraint on the part of Wildlife Services if Rusty Blackbirds are found to be foraging and or roosting in flocks targeted for control. This is not a slant against Wildlife Services - they provide a very important service that is hard to do effectively, and the removal of Rusty Blackbirds from the depredation order will actually make it harder. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: Mark Bonta [mailto:mbonta AT deltastate.edu] Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:32 AM To: Nick Winstead; MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors What about Brewer's? We are seeing less and less of these. The question is, is there or will there be some sort of education campaign to help landowners distinguish Rusties and Brewer's from the others?? mb Dr. Mark Bonta Associate Professor of Geography Division of Social Sciences Delta State University Cleveland MS 38733 662.846.4096 (office) webpage: http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Nick Winstead Sent: Wed 2/3/2010 9:24 AM To: MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it considers "migratory birds" (http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. Mississippi does not. Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have any laws that negate this depredation order. The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to ask (especially on list serve). ;) http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: Re: Horrors From: Hal Mitchell <halmitchell AT gmail.com> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 10:07:39 -0600 I think not. It is my personal belief that there are few cases that depredation could not be stopped by the use of non-lethal methods. Granted, these methods could be time consuming and expensive, but I think it should be an obligation made for these "bad" native birds (i.e. blackbirds). Wildlife damage management is a growing field that is constantly developing new and better techniques that are being underutilized is some situations like the "blackbird problem". "Scary man", propane exploders, bangers, whistlers, and falcons are just a few methods shown to be effective at deterring bird depredation, and it is a shame that most of the time killing is often the preferred choice of control for native species in decline. If it is cheaper and effective, what incentive is it for a landowner to differentiate the species? None at all at this time. I beleive the permits allow for incidental takes which is what these species would fall under (even if they are removed from the "kill" list) so it may not even be illegal to do in the future. This is a juicy subject ripe for picking Hal Mitchell On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 9:32 AM, Mark Bonta wrote: > What about Brewer's? We are seeing less and less of these. > > The question is, is there or will there be some sort of education campaign > to help landowners distinguish Rusties and Brewer's from the others?? > > mb > > Dr. Mark Bonta > Associate Professor of Geography > Division of Social Sciences > Delta State University > Cleveland MS 38733 > 662.846.4096 (office) > webpage: http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Nick Winstead > Sent: Wed 2/3/2010 9:24 AM > To: MISSBIRD > Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and > Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to > wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main > federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. > > This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state > wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, > capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, > deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, > transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any > means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, > at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of > this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, > egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). > > The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it > considers "migratory birds" ( > http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). > Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. > species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House > Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are > not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. > Mississippi does not. > > Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" > are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a > "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found > committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, > agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such > numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with > a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive > supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have > any laws that negate this depredation order. > > The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However > because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service > has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the > depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. > > Nick Winstead > Ornithologist > Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks > Museum of Natural Science > 2148 Riverside Drive > Jackson, Mississippi 39202 > Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 > Fax: 601-354-7227 > http://museum.mdwfp.com/ > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [ > mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] > On Behalf Of Rob Heflin > Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM > To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List > Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > > Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to > ask (especially on list serve). ;) > > http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm > > > > Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or > document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above > and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. > If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are > strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise > using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this > transmission in error, please notify me immediately. > > > Subject: RE: Horrors From: "Mark Bonta" <mbonta AT deltastate.edu> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:32:12 -0600 What about Brewer's? We are seeing less and less of these. The question is, is there or will there be some sort of education campaign to help landowners distinguish Rusties and Brewer's from the others?? mb Dr. Mark Bonta Associate Professor of Geography Division of Social Sciences Delta State University Cleveland MS 38733 662.846.4096 (office) webpage: http://ntweb.deltastate.edu/mbonta -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Nick Winstead Sent: Wed 2/3/2010 9:24 AM To: MISSBIRD Subject: RE: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it considers "migratory birds" (http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. Mississippi does not. Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have any laws that negate this depredation order. The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to ask (especially on list serve). ;) http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: RE: Horrors From: Nick Winstead <Nick.Winstead AT mmns.state.ms.us> Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:24:17 -0600 Just so everyone is clear on this issue (control of House Sparrows and Rusty Blackbirds)...federal law supersede any state law in regards to wildlife take. State laws can be more restrictive but not less. The main federal law governing take of birds is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This law makes it illegal (without permits - from federal and state wildlife agencies) to "pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture or kill, possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, purchase, deliver for shipment, ship, cause to be shipped, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, carry, or cause to be carried by any means whatever, receive for shipment, transportation or carriage, or export, at any time, or in any manner, any migratory bird, included in the terms of this Convention...for the protection of migratory birds...or any part, nest, egg or any such bird." (16 U.S.C. 703). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a list of birds that it considers "migratory birds" (http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/mbta/mbtandx.html). Since this law resulted from a treaty with several other nations, non-U.S. species are listed as well. However, introduced species such as House Sparrows and European Starlings are not protected and special permits are not needed for their control, unless the states decide they are needed. Mississippi does not. Some species such as "blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, crows and magpies" are included on this list, but the federal government has issued a "depredation order" for them meaning they can be controlled "when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance" with a few conditions - one being that state laws that are more restrictive supersede the depredation order and negate it. Mississippi does not have any laws that negate this depredation order. The Rusty Blackbird is included under this depredation order. However because of special conservation concern, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing the Rusty Blackbird and Tamaulipas Crow from the depredation order. This will likely take effect in the coming months. Nick Winstead Ornithologist Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Drive Jackson, Mississippi 39202 Phone: 601-354-7303, ext. 108 Fax: 601-354-7227 http://museum.mdwfp.com/ -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Heflin Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 10:47 PM To: J. Allen Burrows; Mississippi Birding List Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to ask (especially on list serve). ;) http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this email and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use of the individual named above and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. Subject: Re: Horrors From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 22:46:46 -0600 Everything you wanted to know about controlling HOSP's but were afraid to ask (especially on list serve). ;) http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm Subject: RE: Horrors From: "Mark Bonta" <mbonta AT deltastate.edu> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 22:27:43 -0600 Rusty Blackbird?! -----Original Message----- From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu on behalf of Rob Heflin Sent: Tue 2/2/2010 9:41 PM To: REID, Bruce; missBIRD Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors It is good to be informed and err on the side of caution, but I've double checked on this in the past, before I began my sparrow control program. Sorry for the huge spaces and bold type in this email, but I copied the text of MS Code 49-5-7 into this email for all to see. Rob Heflin Isola, MS § 49-5-7. What birds protected. (1) No wild bird other than a game bird or introduced pheasants which are hereby classified as domestic fowl shall be pursued, taken, wounded, killed, captured, possessed or exported at any time, dead or alive. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any bird protected by this section or of any birds coming from without the state, the importation of which is prohibited into the United States, shall be sold or had in possession for sale in this state. No person shall molest, take or destroy or attempt to molest, take or destroy the nests or eggs of any wild bird, or have such nests or eggs in his possession, except under the authority of a permit duly issued for scientific purposes. (2) This section shall not apply to game birds for which there is an open season under state law or introduced pheasants; birds, or parts thereof collected or possessed under the authority of a certificate duly issued for scientific purposes; or to the English sparrow (Passer domesticus), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), grackles (Quiscalus sp.), brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or crows (Corvus sp.) or to the nests or eggs of such unprotected birds. Nor shall anything contained in this section prohibit any person on his own land or land under his control from killing or controlling any English sparrow (Passer domesticus), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), grackles (Quiscalus sp.), brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or crows (Corvus sp.) or any bird by nature destructive of gardens, crops or property of any kind when such birds are committing or about to commit depredation upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance. This section does not authorize and shall not be construed to authorize the killing of any migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Sources: Codes, 1930, § 3882; 1942, §§ 5838, 5868, 5869; Laws, 1924, ch. 323; Laws, 1932, ch. 123; Laws, 1948, ch. 252, § 1; Laws, 1970, ch. 284, § 1; Laws, 1971, ch. 315, § 1; Laws, 2000, ch. 368, § 2; Laws, 2001, ch. 553, § 1, eff from and after passage (approved Apr. 7, 2001.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "REID, Bruce" To: "J. Allen Burrows" Cc: "Mississippi Birding List" Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > Just to be clear, trapping house sparrows may still be illegal under > federal law. You may want to consult someone with the state or the > Fish and Wildlife Service. > > Bruce Reid > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:01 PM, "J. Allen Burrows" wrote: > >> I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into >> nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be >> interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. >> I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want >> to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. >> >> J. Allen Burrows >> Jackson MS > > Subject: Re: Horrors From: "REID, Bruce" <breid AT audubon.org> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 23:06:43 -0500 May require a permit. Just a word to the wise so folks on the public list don't get the idea that there is a blanket authority. Sent from my iPhone On Feb 2, 2010, at 9:26 PM, "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" wrote: > It is legal to control English house sparrows, European starlings > and several other "blackbird" species under federal law when they > are depredating crops, threatening native bird species or > congregated so that they are a nuisance or health hazard. > > I don't have the exact wording of the law but will send it shortly. > > Rob Heflin > > Sent from my HTC > > ----- Reply message ----- > From: "REID, Bruce" > Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 19:59 > Subject: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > To: "J. Allen Burrows" > Cc: "Mississippi Birding List" > > > Just to be clear, trapping house sparrows may still be illegal under > federal law. You may want to consult someone with the state or the > Fish and Wildlife Service. > > Bruce Reid > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:01 PM, "J. Allen Burrows" > wrote: > > > I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into > > nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I > would be > > interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best > methods. > > I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just > want > > to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. > > > > J. Allen Burrows > > Jackson MS > > > Subject: Re: Horrors From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 21:41:59 -0600 It is good to be informed and err on the side of caution, but I've double checked on this in the past, before I began my sparrow control program. Sorry for the huge spaces and bold type in this email, but I copied the text of MS Code 49-5-7 into this email for all to see. Rob Heflin Isola, MS § 49-5-7. What birds protected. (1) No wild bird other than a game bird or introduced pheasants which are hereby classified as domestic fowl shall be pursued, taken, wounded, killed, captured, possessed or exported at any time, dead or alive. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any bird protected by this section or of any birds coming from without the state, the importation of which is prohibited into the United States, shall be sold or had in possession for sale in this state. No person shall molest, take or destroy or attempt to molest, take or destroy the nests or eggs of any wild bird, or have such nests or eggs in his possession, except under the authority of a permit duly issued for scientific purposes. (2) This section shall not apply to game birds for which there is an open season under state law or introduced pheasants; birds, or parts thereof collected or possessed under the authority of a certificate duly issued for scientific purposes; or to the English sparrow (Passer domesticus), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), grackles (Quiscalus sp.), brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or crows (Corvus sp.) or to the nests or eggs of such unprotected birds. Nor shall anything contained in this section prohibit any person on his own land or land under his control from killing or controlling any English sparrow (Passer domesticus), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), grackles (Quiscalus sp.), brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or crows (Corvus sp.) or any bird by nature destructive of gardens, crops or property of any kind when such birds are committing or about to commit depredation upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance. This section does not authorize and shall not be construed to authorize the killing of any migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Sources: Codes, 1930, § 3882; 1942, §§ 5838, 5868, 5869; Laws, 1924, ch. 323; Laws, 1932, ch. 123; Laws, 1948, ch. 252, § 1; Laws, 1970, ch. 284, § 1; Laws, 1971, ch. 315, § 1; Laws, 2000, ch. 368, § 2; Laws, 2001, ch. 553, § 1, eff from and after passage (approved Apr. 7, 2001.) ----- Original Message ----- From: "REID, Bruce" To: "J. Allen Burrows" Cc: "Mississippi Birding List" Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors > Just to be clear, trapping house sparrows may still be illegal under > federal law. You may want to consult someone with the state or the > Fish and Wildlife Service. > > Bruce Reid > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:01 PM, "J. Allen Burrows" wrote: > >> I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into >> nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be >> interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. >> I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want >> to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. >> >> J. Allen Burrows >> Jackson MS > > Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 19:25:56 -0800 (PST) It is legal to control English house sparrows, European starlings and several other "blackbird" species under federal law when they are depredating crops, threatening native bird species or congregated so that they are a nuisance or health hazard. I don't have the exact wording of the law but will send it shortly. Rob Heflin Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "REID, Bruce" Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 19:59 Subject: [MISSBIRD] Horrors To: "J. Allen Burrows" Cc: "Mississippi Birding List" Just to be clear, trapping house sparrows may still be illegal under federal law. You may want to consult someone with the state or the Fish and Wildlife Service. Bruce Reid Sent from my iPhone On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:01 PM, "J. Allen Burrows" wrote: > I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into > nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be > interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. > I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want > to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. > > J. Allen Burrows > Jackson MS Subject: Horrors From: "Valery Smith" <wlrehab AT earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 20:04:06 -0600 Hey, If you guys want to euthanize and freeze those sparrows (and starlings), I can sure recycle them back by using them as food for my baby cooper's and sharpies this spring! Just an idea. Val Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. www.mswildliferehab.org Repeating sparrow trap (I have 2) and catch 40-60 sparrows each year. My cat does the rest. Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "J. Allen Burrows" Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 19:00 Subject: [MISSBIRD] Horrors To: "Mississippi Birding List" I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. J. Allen Burrows Jackson MS Subject: Re: Horrors From: "REID, Bruce" <breid AT audubon.org> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 20:59:07 -0500 Just to be clear, trapping house sparrows may still be illegal under federal law. You may want to consult someone with the state or the Fish and Wildlife Service. Bruce Reid Sent from my iPhone On Feb 2, 2010, at 7:01 PM, "J. Allen Burrows" wrote: > I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into > nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be > interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. > I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want > to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. > > J. Allen Burrows > Jackson MS Subject: Re: How do you photograph? From: J K Cliburn <jcliburn AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 19:54:24 -0600 Four replies, four Canon users. I ordered a Nikon. :) A D90 with these lenses: Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Autofocus Lens Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED Autofocus Lens Although a bit slow, hopefully the 70-300 with image stabilization will suit my needs for birding until I outgrow it. My recent reading suggests that most wildlife photographers incline toward a long, prime lens with a teleconverter, but I've found them to be prohibitively expensive -- over $8,000. I'm not quite ready to go there yet! The price on the D90 has come down in recent months, probably because it's about to be supplanted by the Next Big Thing from Nikon. Oh well, like one of the respondents affirmed, the photographer is more important than the camera. The D90 should be fine. Thanks for the great advice Gerhard, Gail, Wayne, and Denise. I really appreciate it. Jay Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Horrors From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 17:46:24 -0800 (PST) Repeating sparrow trap (I have 2) and catch 40-60 sparrows each year. My cat does the rest. Sent from my HTC ----- Reply message ----- From: "J. Allen Burrows" Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 19:00 Subject: [MISSBIRD] Horrors To: "Mississippi Birding List" I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. J. Allen Burrows Jackson MS Subject: Horrors From: "J. Allen Burrows" <rotteral AT aol.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 19:00:05 -0600 I have tired of watching House Sparrows attack Bluebirds going into nesting boxes and finally think that I will start trapping. I would be interested in hearing views on this and opinions of the best methods. I am certain that I am jeopardizing my essential humanity. I just want to know the best way to capture and dispatch them. J. Allen Burrows Jackson MS Subject: How do you photograph? From: "J. K. Cliburn" <jcliburn AT gmail.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 14:55:11 -0600 Hi Missbirders, A number of you occasionally post links to some darn fine pictures of birds that you've taken. Some of them are really, _really_ good. I'm curious what your camera and lens of choice is for most of your bird photos. Do you typically shoot photos through a spotting scope, or do you mostly use camera lenses? I just ordered a DSLR -- probably the wrong one, given my luck -- and I'd like to know what you use to get some of these fine shots. (Yes, I know... It's the photographer, not the equipment. :) Thanks, Jay Cliburn Lawrence County MS Subject: Fw: Birder cards From: Dick Burkepile <dick_burkepile AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 07:14:05 -0800 (PST) Passing this on from the Kansas List. Interesting idea. Dick Burkepile Oxford, Mississippi --- On Mon, 2/1/10, Thomas Shane wrote: > From: Thomas Shane > Subject: Birder cards > To: KSBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.KSU.EDU > Date: Monday, February 1, 2010, 10:00 PM > Birdsters, > We have talked about the economic impacts of birding, but I > have never heard > about birder cards. Sounds interesting and it could be a > simple and > inexpensive exercise for KOS and many of the Audubon > Chapters. I read this > on the Texas list which had been transferred from the Ohio > list. Does anyone > have 2 cents worth of input or any experience? > TS in GC > > ******************************************** > From: Ohio birds [mailto:OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU] > On Behalf Of H > Thomas Bartlett > Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 9:47 AM > To: OHIO-BIRDS AT LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU > Subject: [Ohio-birds] Birder cards > > For the last 10 years or so, various birding groups have > been giving > out cards which birders are to leave at places they visit, > shop, eat > at, etc telling the owners that birders were there and > spent money.? I > always wondered how effective they are.? Well Paula and I > found out. > Since the early 1990, when I go to the UP of Michigan, I > eat at > Ang-Gio's restaurant at least once over the weekend.? It is > a good > Italian resturant.? While eating there Saturday night, we > got to > talking with the owner.? When I mentioned we were up there > birding, he > got very excited and ran over to the checkout counter.? He > came back > with six of these cards which were taped together.? They > are cards > from one of Michigan's birding groups and a little > different than ones > I have seen.? They had a place for how much was spent.? The > owner > proudly showed us that these six cards represented over > $1000 in meals > from just the last couple of weeks.? He wanted to know if I > had a > card.? I had cards from the Kirtland Bird Club in Cleveland > but had > left them home.? Never again!? He made sure to tell me that > birders > are always welcome at his place and make sure I tell other > birders.? I > doubt if he donates to birder causes but I'll bet he brings > up birders > at chamber of commerce/business meetings.? So some progress > is being > made to show the business community that birders are an > economic > force. > > H. Thomas Bartlett > Tiffin, Ohio > > For KSBIRD-L archives or to change your subscription > options, go to > http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/ksbird-l.html > For KSBIRD-L guidelines go to > http://www.ksbirds.org/KSBIRD-LGuidelines.htm > To contact a listowner, send a message to > mailto:ksbird-l-request AT listserv.ksu.edu > Subject: Monroe Co. and Bay Springs Lake From: Wayne Patterson <wrp6 AT att.net> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:33:24 -0800 (PST) Yesterday I made a trip thru Monroe Co. farm country.  Best birds were two mixed flocks of Vesper and Savannah Sparrows.  Savannah's are rather common around here but not so for Vesper. This afternoon was so pretty I just had to go up to Bay Springs.  With everything frozen up North of here I felt my chances were good to see some birds.  Seagulls were flying everywhere over the lake.  Anywhere you looked were Ring-bills and Bonaparte's Gulls.  Nothing else that I could detect.  Loon numbers were a little better as I counted about 30 Common Loons.  The birds of the day were six male Common Mergansers.  Quite stunning birds in the bright sunshine but too far distant for photos. Wayne Patterson Shannon, MS  Lee Co. Subject: Questions on Gulls From: "Wade Grant" <WGrant AT mde.k12.ms.us> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:56:12 -0600 Just wondering about the behavior of Gulls that are so far in land. I have noticed an over abundance of Gulls in parking lots in the Clinton area. Why do they seem to favor parking lots? Is it an opportunistic shot at scavenging trash or is there some type of air currents that they are attracted to? .etc Any information on this would be appreciated. regards, wade G. Subject: Another eagle nest in Humphreys Co. From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 01:23:20 -0600 Got a call yesterday from a landowner claiming an eagle nest behind his duck camp near Sky Lake wma. He called back today to report two eagles taking turns sitting in the nest. This brings the count to 4 active nests that I know of in the county! Rob Heflin Isola, MS Subject: Another eagle nest in Humphreys From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" <delta_gamekeeper@yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:31:44 -0800 (PST) Sent from my HTC ----- Forwarded message ----- From: "delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com" Date: Sun, Jan 31, 2010 21:21 Subject: Another eagle nest in Humphreys To: Got a call yesterday from a landowner claiming an eagle nest behind his duck camp near Sky Lake wma. He called back today to report two eagles taking turns sitting in the nest. This brings the count to 4 active nests that I know of in the county! Rob Heflin Isola, MS Sent from my HTC Subject: rock dove From: "Jerry L. Litton" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:41:07 -0600 I was driving the cross-over bridge of highway 49 to interstate 20 when I saw a cloud, lying almost flat with a slight slope downward on both ends, that now was a line of birds as I got closer and in a better location to see. I suspect they were rock dove, those pigeons, that seen too many and everywhere there is a city high-structure or cavity where they can roost. I thought about photographing them a few years ago when I had to go up to the top level of a parking garage, where I suspected they would come. They day was overcast and not good light I thought but the pigeons proved me wrong. Their colors were brilliant and luminous, seemed to be every-color, not the shadow of a bird I see when they fly from wire to overhang to billboard, not that I see them on billboards very often. Then I think about House Sparrows: social, active and thriving species. Then I think about crows: active, thriving and social species. Then I think about humans: active, thriving and social species. And get this question. Why do we focus on Henslows Sparrows where we must assemble and line up several across to flush the critters toward a net to get a good look at them? I've seen Henslows and they are exciting but they extract an unadoptable presence, their habitat is shrinking and they seem to be failing as reproductive members of nature. The other critters seem to flourish in urban and nature systems, with man or with-out man. The other critters are victims of road collisions and are also targets for small arms weapons of mostly little boys who are out target practicing and I suspect house sparrows are easier targets for BBs, and Rock Dove are easier targets for head-lights, because of where they perch, and crows are last minute evacuees from road sites where there are toss-outs and other victims of vehicle collisions that they seem to at least investigate and pick out the best that is left over. Birding isn't easy. You have to study. You have to look everywhere. And you have to go. Do you ever think how lucky you are to have this ambition? It's also the same for a hunter. It's also the same for a runner, or bicycler or hiker or any kid whose Momma or Dad forced them out of the house when they were toddlers. Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: American Woodcock displays, Jackson Co From: Adam Stuckert <stuckerta AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:43:35 -0600 Missbirders, Yesterday morning (28 January) I heard 5 American Woodcocks during their display flights in the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. It was a real pleasure. Good birding, Adam Stuckert Gautier, MS Subject: No Subject From: "JoRee Pease" <wpjp AT earthlink.net> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:46:39 -0600 I was surprised this morning (Friday, January 29) to see a black- and- white warbler in my backyard. JoRee PEASE Ocean Springs, Ms Subject: Rusty Blackbird Blitz From: Jake Walker <jakenwalker AT yahoo.ca> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:20:10 -0800 (PST) Birders- Tomorrow kicks off the 2nd annual Rusty Blackbird Blitz, which will last from Jan 30 to Feb 15. Rusty Blackbirds have declined at an alarming rate over the past 40 years for reasons that are not entirely clear.  The blitz is an effort created by the Rusty Blackbird Working Group to help researchers find where large flocks of Rusty Blackbirds are spending the winter. Please see the following link, and go out and find some Rusty Blackbirds sometime in the next two weeks, then submit your observations using eBird. http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/rubl-survey-2010 I saw Wayne Patterson's post about 600+ Rusties in Verona. Hopefully these birds and many more will be found and recorded for this effort. I plan on birding the Pascagoula Swamps in search of Rusties, and will check some Pecan Orchards in SE MS and just over the line in AL. Good Birding, and good luck finding Rusty Blackbirds. Jake Walker Grand Bay NERR Moss Point, MS __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. Subject: Grand Bay NERR shorebirds From: Jake Walker <jakenwalker AT yahoo.ca> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:43:10 -0800 (PST) Birders- Yesterday, Jan 28, 2010, I took a surveyor from Audubon's Coastal Bird Conservation Program out at Grand Bay to look for wintering shorebirds of interest.  They are counting Piping, Snowy, and Wilson's Plovers, Red Knots, Oystercatchers, and Reddish Egrets. The tide was particularly low yesterday, with plenty of exposed mud flats across the reserve. We found: 3 Piping Plovers, including one that was color-banded. 7 Wilson's Plovers that apparently spent all winter at Grand Bay 4 Red Knots 16 Oystercatchers 3 Whimbrel 1 Long-billed Curlew ~600 Western Sandpipers ~2000 Dunlin ~50 Black-bellied Plovers ~20 Sanderling ~30 Long-billed Dowitchers ~50 Short-billed 1 Wilson's Snipe ~100 Semi-palmated Plovers ~10 Least Sandpipers ~30 Willets ~60 Greater Yellowlegs ~10 Ruddy Turnstones Several thousand ducks were out in the bays, primarily Greater and Lesser Scaup, Redheads, and Buffleheads. Gannets were putting on a good show, but were quite far out. Bonaparte's Gulls finally showed up in good numbers. The fish kill caused by cold weather a few weeks ago has doubled our number of White Pelicans from ~300 to over 600. Jake Walker Grand bay NERR Moss Point, MS __________________________________________________________________ The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/ Subject: Re: Birder gone mildly wild From: Jake Walker <jakenwalker AT yahoo.ca> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:22:24 -0800 (PST) Two of us birders went completely wild at the MS Sandhill Crane NWR on Wednesday Jan 27, where we joined refuge staff and interns to tromp savannas all day surveying grassland birds at the refuge.  Our method was to form a line with 6 people spaced ~30 feet apart, and walk back and forth over acres and acres of savannas. By the end of the day, we had kicked up (J. Allen don't read this), 118 Henslow's Sparrows, 120 Swamp Sparrows, 12 Savannah Sparrows, 4 Field Sparrows, 37 Sedge Wrens, 1 Woodcock, 3 MS Sandhill Cranes, and 16 Meadowlarks.  Several dozen other species were recorded, but did not flush out of the grasses. The MS Coast Audubon Society has a trip scheduled to the MS Sandhill Crane Refuge on Feb 20, at 7:30AM to go after Henslow's.  Because they don't always provide good looks, we will catch several for all to enjoy up close. Hope you can join us for the trip. Good Birding Jake Walker Grand Bay NERR Moss Point, MS __________________________________________________________________ Make your browsing faster, safer, and easier with the new Internet Explorer® 8. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/ Subject: Reducing aircraft-wildlife strikes at airports From: Matt Kennedy <kennedym2009 AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:10:03 -0800 (PST) Dear fellow birding enthusiasts,     As a lifelong birder and professional aviator for over 16 years, I am conducting a nation-wide study on the level of community support for the mitigation measures used at airports to reduce the wildlife strike hazard to commercial aircraft.  Getting input from different regions of the country is necessary to gauge whether there are regional differences due to varying bird populations or possible high profile incidents involving wildlife strikes on aircraft.      Responses are submitted electronically to a database that does not identify users, so your answers will be completely confidential.  Findings will be released only as analyzed data or summaries in which no individual’s answers can be identified.  Please take a few moments to share your opinions and experiences.  I appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to contribute toward this important research about community views on wildlife mitigation measures at airports.   The survey can be accessed at:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XTVS225   If you would like a summary of my findings, please send me your e-mail address at kennedym2009 AT yahoo.com.  Once the study is complete, I will e-mail the summary to you. Best Regards, Matt Kennedy Graduate student in Aeronautical Science Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Subject: Yellow Rail Captured From: khackman AT comcast.net Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:20:39 +0000 (UTC) Hello All: As most of you know, I spend most of my time birding with young people these days.  I really miss the interactions with those of you that could help me improve my skills, but feel it important to work on the next generation. That said, we were in South Louisiana this last weekend to band Henslow's Sparrows as part of our ongoing research work, (I now have my banding permit!), when something wonderful happened.  One of the girls, in walking through one of the transects, flushed a Yellow Rail that she almost stepped on.  It went about a foot in the air and immediately back down.  This has been a jinx bird for many years for me, but recognizxing the field marks I studied so much, I screamed Yellow Rail immediately.  We circled and got the mist net up in hopes of capturing it to record a little data, even though we had no bands that size with us.  We were so pumped about the opportunity to see one in hand.  Our first rush of the net came up empty and it ran between us to escape out of the back of the semicircle. Though we never saw it do so, that was our assumption.  We started walking around to see if we could relocate it, and did so.  The net was reset, and during our second try, it came right at me.  I sat right down in the water, mud and grasses, and it ran right into my hands between my knees. The LSU grad students and I took quite a few photos to try to document its presence, and I thought that even though this was LA and not MS, that some of you would appreciate seeing the bird.  I have about 20 - 25 pics taken by one of my students with marginal camera skills and a point and shoot, but you can see detail to a degree.  If anyone wants to see more, I will oblige. Ken Hackman Subject: Jennifer Coulson/ Falconry From: "Rob Heflin" <delta_gamekeeper AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:40:31 -0600 I don't know how many of you subscribe or may come in contact with the MS Sportsman magazine, but I completed a story a while back on falconry that was published in the February 2010 issue. This is not an effort to brag on myself, but to the birders/falconers that made the article possible. One of our very own missbirders, Jennifer Coulson, gave some great advice and photos. She sent a photo taken by John Owens that is featured on a 2-page spread; a beautiful Harris' hawk flaring to land on Jennifer's gloved hand. Also in the article is another of Jennifer's photos of a Harris' chasing a black-tailed jackrabbit. I was very interested in becoming a falconer...that is until I researched falconry and interviewed several falconers for this story, including the Coulson's. It was only then that I realized that taking care of a raptor is a full-time job, and not just a side hobby. I came to the conclusion that I didn't have enough time to be a responsible falconer, because these birds require constant care and attention. Anyway, I learned a great deal about falconry and got to meet some great folks along the way. I also learned that I cannot follow a diving Peregrine with my camera!! I came up with either blurred photos or photos that just flat out didn't have a bird in them at all. Thanks, Jennifer, and the rest of the falconers out there that let me interview them. Falconry is indeed bird watching to the extreme! Rob Heflin Isola, MS Subject: FW: mini-finches From: "littonsphac" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:05:05 -0600 _____ From: owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu [mailto:owner-missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu] On Behalf Of Jerry L. Litton Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 8:01 AM To: 'missbird' Subject: [MISSBIRD] mini-finches I was walking a fence row to look for a water leak along the ground side of the north side of the building that was green with hysop and moss envy and a sheet of icy frost where the sun does not shine directly when I looked up because of the movement to see about 33- gold finch in winter plumage coming to the snag of a tree that had no berries so the finches decided to not-stay-long so for the moment my heart leaped with happiness flying along with the mob of feathers I saw.and saw..and I had seen and felt the chill and hunger of nature, and my nature to? Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: mini-finches From: "Jerry L. Litton" <littonsphac AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:01:00 -0600 I was walking a fence row to look for a water leak along the ground side of the north side of the building that was green with hysop and moss envy and a sheet of icy frost where the sun does not shine directly when I looked up because of the movement to see about 33- gold finch in winter plumage coming to the snag of a tree that had no berries so the finches decided to not-stay-long so for the moment my heart leaped with happiness flying along with the mob of feathers I saw.and saw..and I had seen and felt the chill and hunger of nature, and my nature to? Jerry L. Litton Jerry L. Litton Litton's Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Lightscribe Photography and Publishing, Inc. Narrative of Nature Calendars RepAmerica/ MS 3987 Terry Road Jackson, MS 39212 601 372 1580 601 346 0430 fax. 4jll AT bellsouth.net www.lightscribesource.com www.lightscribephotography.com Subject: Re: Ivory Gull in Ga From: Wayne Patterson <wrp6 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:32:15 -0800 (PST) I suppose it would be nice of me to link those that want to follow the story and don't know how  to the Georgia birds site below :o)  http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/GABO.html ________________________________ From: Wayne Patterson To: missbird AT willow.olemiss.edu Sent: Tue, January 26, 2010 8:18:31 PM Subject: [MISSBIRD] Ivory Gull in Ga Just to let everyone know in case, unlike me, they can make the trip. Subject: Ivory Gull photos - West Point Dam 1/26/10 From: David Hollie Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:13:34 -0500 Had a fantastic day birding with Joshua Spence! We spend about 7 hours at West Point and were not disappointed with the great looks at the Ivory Gull and the Thayer's Gull. I have uploaded my shots to flickr, the Thayer's was digiscoped so they are pretty poor quality. http://www.flickr.com/photos/featherbrain1223/ I hear several GA birders are on the way.  I don't know if the bird was > seen above or below the dam.   West Point Dam itself is just over the line > in GA but a couple narrow fingers of the lake's west side are in Chambers > County, Alabama.  http://westpt.sam.usace.army.mil/WP/images/WPL.gif > When it comes to this species, the exact state involved is of little > consequence Subject: Ivory Gull in Ga From: Wayne Patterson <wrp6 AT att.net> Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:18:31 -0800 (PST) Just to let everyone know in case, unlike me, they can make the trip. Subject: Ivory Gull photos - West Point Dam 1/26/10 From: David Hollie Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:13:34 -0500 Had a fantastic day birding with Joshua Spence! We spend about 7 hours at West Point and were not disappointed with the great looks at the Ivory Gull and the Thayer's Gull. I have uploaded my shots to flickr, the Thayer's was digiscoped so they are pretty poor quality. http://www.flickr.com/photos/featherbrain1223/ I hear several GA birders are on the way.  I don't know if the bird was > seen above or below the dam.   West Point Dam itself is just over the line > in GA but a couple narrow fingers of the lake's west side are in Chambers > County, Alabama.  http://westpt.sam.usace.army.mil/WP/images/WPL.gif > When it comes to this species, the exact state involved is of little > consequence Subject: Birder gone mildly wild From: "J. Allen Burrows" <rotteral AT aol.com> Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:32:11 -0600 Another escape from the real world on my way to Mobile last Friday morning. Location: Larue-Dantzler Road Suggested by e-Bird sightings posted by the inimitable Jake Walker. I went to the tree right under his dropped pin on the eBird map for Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Observation date: 1/22/10 Number of species: 20 Wood Duck 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 American Kestrel 3 Mourning Dove 7 Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 Red-cockaded Woodpecker 6 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Blue-headed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 3 American Crow 1 Carolina Chickadee 4 Brown-headed Nuthatch 5 Eastern Bluebird 6 American Robin 31 Pine Warbler 6 Bachman's Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 3 Northern Cardinal 3 Location: Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR Observation date: 1/22/10 Number of species: 20 Bald Eagle 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Blue Jay 3 Carolina Chickadee 2 Tufted Titmouse 1 Brown-headed Nuthatch 3 Carolina Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Eastern Bluebird 5 Northern Mockingbird 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 3 Chipping Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 1 White-crowned Sparrow 10 Northern Cardinal 1 Red-winged Blackbird 3 American Goldfinch 8 Actually saw the Sandhill Cranes just before the interstate exit. I heard maybe eight Common Yellowthroats chipping along the trail at the visitor's center but never saw one. Location: Grand Bay NWR/NERR--Coastal Resources Center Observation date: 1/22/10 Number of species: 14 Tricolored Heron 2 Osprey 2 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 2 American Crow 1 Tree Swallow 3 Eastern Bluebird 2 Northern Mockingbird 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 7 Pine Warbler 1 Red-winged Blackbird 2 A few observations. It may be foolish to go to Grand Bay without a boat. Henslow's Sparrow has eluded me yet again. I am open to suggestions. Subject: Announcing the Trumpeter Swan Winter Watch and asking for help From: "Mary Bote" <mary.bote AT rgv.rr.com> Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:34:41 -0600 Dear Mississippi Birders, The Trumpeter Swan Society would like your help this winter. We are in the midst of our first Trumpeter Swan Winter Watch, a Citizen Science Project to monitor the winter distribution of Trumpeter Swan and to look for potential winter habitat. In Mississippi, Kentucky, andTennessee in addition to reports on Trumpeter Swan, we would also like reports on Tundra Swan and on Trumpeter/Tundra Swans (where indistinguishable) because these would tell them something about potential Trumpeter Swan habitat. Please read the full information at http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/csp-trumpeter-watch.html . We note that Trumpeter Swan have been seen in both Kentucky (this winter) and Tennessee (last winter) and Louisiana (last year). With the recent long cold spell in the Midwest, we anticipate Trumpeter Swan exploring farther south. In Oklahoma, 6 or more Trumpeter Swans are in the southern most of 9 Trumpeter Swan sighting locations at Hackberry Flats WMA (34.278142,-98.924239). An excerpt from The Trumpeter Swan ENEWS says: "TTSS is looking for additional observers in all states near or below the 40th parallel to track their pioneering movements. To date, we have fifteen registered observers and an equal number of persons contribute records on a more casual basis. We have tallied reports from 14 states. Several observers have reported marked birds, and those with collars we have been able to trace to their states of origin. Iowa's red-collared birds so far have been sighted as far away as Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky! Yellow-collared birds from Wisconsin have been reported from several locations including Indiana. "Some areas known as winter havens are reporting record numbers. For instance, David Rogles of Missouri reported 514 Trumpeters with 23 Tundra Swans at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary near St. Louis in mid-December! . "Many valuable sightings are also reported through state Bird Chat and Listserv postings, and we find that photographers often post photos that have good potential data for us from interesting locations on the website Flickr. These sources are time consuming for us to check up on, so if anyone reading the ENEWS has time to research and report sightings from these sources to us from various states please contact Peg Abbott, Outreach Coordinator at peg AT trumpeterswansociety.org. An ideal scenario is to have a records coordinator for each state that can tally the present year's records, and then work back in time to tally past years data. " Of course, if the Trumpeter Swan and Tundra Swan have wing tags, collars or metal bands, the Bird Banding Laboratory needs you to report these also to them. BBL has a web form for reporting bird bands and it has an email address for sending corrections, additional information, photos, or if you have difficulties with the web form. The web form http://www.reportband.gov/ can be reached from this link: "How to Report a Bird Band" http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/homepage/call800.htm. "If you cannot submit your report via this website, you may call toll-free to 1-800-327-BAND (2263) from anywhere in Canada, the United States and most parts of the Caribbean. If you need to make a correction to your report, please email bandreports AT patuxent.usgs.gov ... " As an internet research volunteer with The Trumpeter Swan Society, I have been following the bird list serves in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to report observations and I have been following list serves in Missouri and Arkansas for my own personal curiosity. I am working closely with Peg Abbott and she asked me to monitor bird list serves in MIssissippi temporarily until we can get a records coordinator for your state. Please volunteer. I am a member and volunteer with The Trumpeter Swan Society and daughter of Harold H Burgess, former refuge manager of Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge, a Trumpeter Swan restoration site. Mary Bote Weslaco, TX 78596 Subject: OLLI - Comcast update & lack of song birds From: "Diane Lafferty" <dlaffert AT netdoor.com> Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:27:23 -0600 I am so glad that the Double Secret Probation blockage of USM by Comcast is over!!! When counting birds Jan 2 for the CBC I noticed no birds in the bushes. Count was extremely low. At that time I did not take much time to look at the problem. Last Sat we were on a field trip at the Hattiesburg lagoon and a pond in the area. Still no birds in the bushes anywhere, So I did some looking around. The Privet Hedge had NO berries. I don't remember seeing Yaupon Holly berries either. It looks like the hot dry moisture sucking drought in June had a long lasting effect on this area. Has anyone noticed other plants that provide berries, etc effected? Then on top of that the 10 day hard freeze wiped out the insect population. I wonder how much this is going to affect the birds this year in our area. There were so few ducks at the lagoon I am afraid that our 2 eagles are going to starve if they try to raise young. We usually have LOTS of ducks in the lagoon. The pond we have been seeing a female Vermillion Flycatcher, ducks and song birds was devoid of birds this Sat. Diane Hattiesburg Internal Virus Database is out of date. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.430 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2593 - Release Date: 12/29/09 19:14:00 Subject: Loggerhead Shrike From: harleyiii <harleyiii AT earthlink.net> Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:52:38 -0500 (EST) Yesterday while driving East from Portland Arkansas toward Chicot Junction I noticed more Loggerhead Shrikes than I am used to seeing. They were sitting on the light wires as they always do. I did not count them, but I would estimate there were 40+, most being closer to Portland. For a while there was one every two or three light poles apart. I've never seen such a concentration. Also, while duck hunting, there were more blue wing teal than I've seen this time of year. Along with the teal there were also approximately 100+ white ibis in the area, most being immatures . In speculating a cause for the teal and ibis sticking around we guessed it may be because of the wet conditions that have been ever present since September. Harley Metcalfe III Subject: Northeast MS From: Wayne Patterson <wrp6 AT att.net> Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:44:43 -0800 (PST) Yesterday I made a trip to Bay Springs Lake in Tishomingo Co. in seach of Loons.  Wind was up about 20 miles an hour and made for some tough walking..  Loon numbers were low as I only counted about a dozen Common Loons.  Since my usual location has been closed to vehicle traffic I've been forced to walk over the Jamie Whitten Dam for a view over the open lake.  Beautiful view and pleasant walk but very far viewing even for a scope.  So far few of the loons I've seen are up near the dam.  Lots of Ring-bills and a few Bonaparte Gulls but not much else.  I did locate one LaConte's Sparrow in open fields near the dam. This morning at the Mississippi State Extention Center in Verona there were in excess of 1,000 blackbirds 60% of which were Rusty the rest Common Grackle.  Quite a lot of them.  As I've mentioned in an earlier post there is a small group, 3/4 acre tops, of Oak trees on the property.  The area is low and holds water after rains.  The blackbirds like it and after last night's rain were mobbing the area.  I'm sure my count is conservative, if not for the Rusties for sure the total number of blackbirds. Wayne Patterson Shannon, MS  Lee Co. Subject: Fw: Saturday Birding -- Amended Version From: "Vicki Williams" <vlw AT netdoor.com> Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:10:13 -0600 Subject: Re: [MISSBIRD] Saturday Birding -- Amended Version Saturday, we birded the section of Hwy. 12 between Tchula and Belzoni and some areas off of the highway as well as the levee drives of flooded Snake Creek. One section of off-road birding included a lane surrounded by fields of unharvested soybeans in which a group of Eastern Meadowlarks skipped ahead of our vehicle, landed on tops of the soybean stalks and dared us to come any closer. Of course, we didn't let them intimidate us. We witnessed thousands of Snow geese lining the skyline as they traveled from their roosting places. Breathtaking! And there were coots galore. Our bird sightings included: E. Bluebirds Mourning doves Am. crows Bluejays Pigeons N. Mockingbirds N. Cardinals Chipping Sparrows Am. Goldfinches Grackles (Upon a conference call, we decided we only saw the Common Grackle) Red Wing Blackbirds Red Shoulder Hawk Vultures (Turkey and Black) E. Starlings Am. Kestrels Great Blue Herons Great Egrets Snowy Egrets Ruby Crowned Kinglet Golden Crowned Kinglet Loggerhead Shrikes Pied-billed Grebes Snow Geese Common Flickers Osprey Am. Coots Savannah Sparrow N. Shovelers Mallards Blue-winged Teals Double Crested Cormorants E. Meadowlarks Vesper Sparrow Song Sparrow Downy Woodpeckers Red-Bellied Woodpeckers E. Phoebe Hooded Mergansers White-throated Sparrows Yellow-rumped Warbler Carolina Wrens Carolina Chickadees Blue Jays Killdeer Am. Robins Tuffed Titmouse Field Sparrow Undetermined hawk -- possible immature something A lot of LBJs (little brown jobs) Leaf birds -- in several different sizes Additional birds that did not get on the first list for one reason or the other, but were spotted: Rusty Blackbird Ruddy Duck Lesser Scalp N. Pintail Gadwall Thankful that the rain didn't catch us while birding, Vicki Williams Frances Henne (Attala Co., MS) Subject: Saturday Birding From: "Vicki Williams" <vlw AT netdoor.com> Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:50:05 -0600 Saturday, we birded the section of Hwy. 12 between Tchula and Belzoni and some areas off of the highway as well as the levee drives of flooded Snake Creek. One section of off-road birding included a lane surrounded by fields of unharvested soybeans in which a group of Eastern Meadowlarks skipped ahead of our vehicle, landed on tops of the soybean stalks and dared us to come any closer. Of course, we didn't let them intimidate us. We witnessed thousands of Snow geese lining the skyline as they traveled from their roosting places. Breathtaking! And there were coots galore. Our bird sightings included: E. Bluebirds Mourning doves Am. crows Bluejays Pigeons N. Mockingbirds N. Cardinals Chipping Sparrows Am. Goldfinches Grackles (Common and Great Tailed) Red Wing Blackbirds Red Shoulder Hawk Vultures (Turkey and Black) E. Starlings Am. Kestrels Great Blue Herons Great Egrets Snowy Egrets Ruby Crowned Kinglet Golden Crowned Kinglet Loggerhead Shrikes Pied-billed Grebes Snow Geese Common Flickers Osprey Am. Coots Savannah Sparrow N. Shovelers Mallards Blue-winged Teals Double Crested Cormorants E. Meadowlarks Vesper Sparrow Song Sparrow Downy Woodpeckers Red-Bellied Woodpeckers E. Phoebe Hooded Mergansers White-throated Sparrows Yellow-rumped Warbler Carolina Wrens Carolina Chickadees Blue Jays Killdeer Am. Robins Tuffed Titmouse Field Sparrow Undetermined hawk -- possible immature something A lot of LBJs (little brown jobs) Leaf birds -- in several different sizes Thankful that the rain didn't catch us while birding, Vicki Williams Frances Henne (Attala Co., MS)