Ohio Bird Conservation Symposium

Nov. 30th-Dec 2nd

The day didn’t start off on a good note. About one hour into our trip to Deer Creek State Park in Mt. Sterling, OH, for the 1st ever Ohio Bird Conservation Symposium (sponsored jointly by the Ohio Ornithological Society and The Nature Conservancy) the car I was riding in blew its engine. After about a five hour delay and a bit of money later, we were off again. We arrived at the lodge a little late and the evening festivities have already begun. Running on no sleep from a previous night’s work, I was exhausted. Luckily, others were still arriving after us.
Friday night, Jaime and I met with Scott Weidensaul and got our copy of Return to Wild America signed. That night, we took a trip to near Chillicothe, OH to see the Saw-whet Owl banding setup of Kelly Williams-Sieg.

Saturday consisted of speakers speaking on various topics relating to bird conservation. The speakers were all wonderfully knowledgeable and interesting. Many topics were covered and not just birds were discussed, as everyone knows that everything is connected in the web of life. It just goes to show what can be done when everyone works together to accomplish goals in bird conservation. It also shows what work still needs to be done in Ohio. I especially enjoyed the keynote speaker Scott Weidensaul who discussed his book Return to Wild America. It almost brought me to tears. I forgot my camera in the room that day, and didn’t want to miss any presentations to go back and get it. Also that night, Jaime put in money to a raffle to win me a carved wood decoy of a Blue-winged teal made by Tim and Laura Dornan, and by golly she won it. It really is very nice!



I had a very wonderful time; it was a very nice & needed break from the wheels. For a more detailed account, please see the President of the Ohio Ornithological Society - Jim McCormac’s blog and The Cerulean, the newsletter of the OOS.

Tougher penalties for Raptor Killers

I have not heard much about this elsewhere, but it is long overdue. This bill in the U.S. House could make it a felony (at the discretion of the Judge in the case) for killing them.

The Oregonian:

DeFazio pushes tougher penalties for raptor killers

What happened?

President Bush Discusses Migratory Bird Conservation

What happened? Doesn't anybody remember that W is the "Killdee Killer"? I am glad to see that he has finally realized the economic benefit of birding.

Odd hummer IDed!

Thursday, Oct. 25th - Bird was last seen at feeder.

Thursday, Oct. 18th

LATE BREAKING - Bird has been caught and banded by Tim Tolford. The bird is a juvenal male Ruby-throated - late pre-basic molt. It has some odd molt going on that threw me off.

More photos can be found on the bander's - Tim Tolford's website : http://www.tolford.com/birdband/Hummer%20Photos.htm

I could not see the color of this spot with the poor light and my poor optics. (again, I will readily accept any grants for new optics/camera).

This is what threw me off. Look at that molt. They are supposed to molt on their wintering grounds I thought? The short tail appeared to point up in flight, but it may have been an illusion created by the shortness and stiffness of the feather sheaths.

It had a lot of energy and was very feisty and vocal.

This is how tiny a hummingbird band is.

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This bird has been coming to my feeders for about 2 weeks now. It has some very odd plumage and behavior.

The hummer's tail is very short. The bird flew up to me before this picture was taken and I could see a little tail that was in a 90° right angle pointed up in the air while hovering. See what you can do with editing - I will do what I can with my very limited software.

I currently have a digiscoping setup pointed out the back door on its favorite perch.

Testing

Painted Lady

Comma

Birders, Birds, and Dogs

I think we must use caution as birders on the situation. The park boards are going to side with what their taxpayers want. If asked what they (non-birders) would like to see in their parks, I will bet that many would say more area to walk my dog, play sports, etc. Very few people would mention other uses. The reasons for this is deep intrenced in our American lifestyle.

Offering citations may backfire in that park visitors may feel that they are being cheated in the parks that their tax money has bought or pays for. They may go to the park boards with their concern. Many people feel that it is their right to walk their dog anywhere in the park that they want, they feel - "I pay for the land, therefore I do as I please." This mindset is going to be impossible to change for many, as it would take a whole overhaul of our society to change.

A situation that I could envision is that someone would actually get bit, calls police, files suit against the owner of the dog and the park district for not providing adequate law enforement. This could cause a situation were, out of fear of lossing funding/money from a situation like this, they close the park where the incident occured. It is a sticky situtation.

One example of what to expect is to look at East Fork State Park. Things are changing there, and will continue at an alarming pace. Special interests groups (and money) are currently running the park. There is little if any oversight by ODNR, no law enforement, etc. People pretty much do as they please here with no consequences. Much of this is caused by a lack of funding (which was discussed here before), which all plays a part in this whole situation.

Dog walks 'prompting bird flight'

Dog-walking can adversely affect wildlife