Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from The Arkansas Birding List > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Thursday, September 2 at 07:59 AM ET The most recently received Mail is at the top.	Skimmers,©Julie Zickefoose

1 Sep LINK: Lind to even more hummer photos [Gail Miller ] 1 Sep Re: Yellow-crowned Night Heron [Carol Joan Patterson ] 31 Aug Mute Swan [Sally Jo Gibson ] 1 Sep Re: stars [Louise Mann ] 1 Sep Re: stars [Beth Lowrey ] 1 Sep FW: Glenn Beck's Flyover [Larry Witherspoon ] 1 Sep stars [Joe Neal ] 1 Sep Sightings: Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills - Millwood [Kelly Chitwood ] 1 Sep NWAAS field trip Lake Atalanta Sunday Sept 12 [Joe Neal ] 1 Sep Ninestone Land Trust guide [Joe Neal ] 31 Aug Re: Heat relief! [Roselie Overby ] 31 Aug Re: Heat relief! ["Russell, Judy" ] 30 Aug Hummingbird info [Janine Perlman ] 30 Aug Mississippi Kites [Gail Miller ] 30 Aug Re: Heat relief! [Jeffrey Short ] 30 Aug Martin houses over water, [Carolyn Partain ] 30 Aug Re: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill ["Graves, Gary" ] 30 Aug Really Odd Pectoral Sandpiper ["Jeff R. Wilson" ] 30 Aug martins - part 3 [Kimberly Smith ] 30 Aug martins - part 2 [Kimberly Smith ] 30 Aug Re: Help in preventing window collisions [Jeffrey Short ] 30 Aug Fwd: Arkansas Online Article [Kimberly Smith ] 30 Aug Re: House Sparrow problems [Larry Witherspoon ] 30 Aug Re: Help in preventing window collisions [Bob Sargent ] 29 Aug Bald Knob 8/28/10 and hummers in the yard [CK Franklin ] 29 Aug LINK: More hummer photos - again [Gail Miller ] 29 Aug Re: Help in preventing window collisions [J Drew ] 29 Aug Martin houses over water, [Jerry Butler ] 29 Aug House Sparrow problems [Certain Travis ] 29 Aug Help in preventing window collisions [Janine Perlman ] 29 Aug fledgling Mississippi Kite in Little Rock [Bill Shepherd ] 29 Aug Mississippi Kites [Bradley A Harris ] 28 Aug LINK: Link to more hummer photos [Gail Miller ] 28 Aug Re: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 [Michael Linz ] 28 Aug Warblers [Norman Lavers ] 28 Aug Hummers [Jacque Brown ] 28 Aug Re: Hummer thoughts [Bob Sargent ] 28 Aug Hummer thoughts [Alyson Hoge ] 27 Aug Link: Link to Hummer photos [Gail Miller ] 27 Aug Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville [Sara Caulk ] 27 Aug Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville [Carol Joan Patterson ] 27 Aug some of you will find this interesting [Kimberly Smith ] 27 Aug Re: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 [Leslie Koller ] 27 Aug Re: Neonicotinold Pesticides [Larry Witherspoon ] 27 Aug RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 [Warbling Vireo ] 27 Aug Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville ["Andrew M. Scaboo" ] 27 Aug Hummers at Cook's Lake [Don McSwain ] 26 Aug East Grand Terre Island, LA ["Steven W. Cardiff" ] 26 Aug Re: Heat and Hummers [Janine Perlman ] 26 Aug Frog Bayou WMA guide [Joe Neal ] 26 Aug INFO: Migrants arriving in Gulf. [Donna Haynes ] 26 Aug Re: Heat and Hummers and comments [Bob Sargent ] 26 Aug Sightings: Desha Co. Swallow-tailed Kite - NO [Dan Scheiman ] 26 Aug Re: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill [Leif E Anderson ] 26 Aug Heat and Hummers [Larry Witherspoon ] 26 Aug Neonicotinold Pesticides [Larry Witherspoon ] 26 Aug yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill [Joe Neal ] 25 Aug NWAAS Photo Contest [David Oakley ] 25 Aug Smithsonian Ivory-bill article [David Luneau ] 24 Aug MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville [Joe Neal ] 24 Aug Osprey on Lake Saracen [Delos McCauley ] 24 Aug Sightings: Desha Co. Kites [Dan Scheiman ] 24 Aug ASCA Field Trips Sept.-Nov. [Karen Holliday ] 24 Aug Announcement: Audubon Magazine Photo Contest [Dan Scheiman ] 23 Aug pelicans [Judy Blackwell ] 23 Aug Photos, etc. [Richard Baxter ] 23 Aug Yellow-headed Blackbird-Bald Knob [Karen Holliday ] 23 Aug Bird Island in lake Ouachita [Jerry Butler ] 23 Aug Re: ASCA Field Trip Report Bald Knob NWR [Kelly Chitwood ] 23 Aug ASCA Bald Knob Trip Addendum [Karen Holliday ] 23 Aug ASCA Field Trip Report Bald Knob NWR [Karen Holliday ] 22 Aug Bald Knob [Michael Linz ] 22 Aug Info: Swallow-tailed Kite, Desh Co. [Dan Scheiman ] 22 Aug Sightings: Crawford & Desha Counties [Dan Scheiman ] 21 Aug Bald Knob NWR [Mitchell Pruitt ] 22 Aug RARE: Swallow-tailed Kite Continues in Desha County [Arkansas Birder ] Subject: LINK: Lind to even more hummer photos From: Gail Miller <gail.miller AT CONWAYCORP.NET> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:44:55 -0500 Had no control over my desire to sit by my hummer feeders after work today. Added a few more photos :-) http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/hummingbirds_2010 Gail Miller - Conway See my photography at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/root See my favorite bird photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/favorites Subject: Re: Yellow-crowned Night Heron From: Carol Joan Patterson <joanie.patterson AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 17:21:17 -0700 I saw the Yellow-crowned Night-heron again too - today. Finally, I too, got some photos.  Saw it first a little downstream from the suspension bridge, rushed back to the car to get my camera, and it was still there, though not quite as close, when I got back.  Adult, plumage looked worn. Then I saw it again briefly just below the Horse Camp, as it flew farther downstream.  About that time it started to rain like crazy.  Happily, I did not have my camera then.  Yay!  Devil's Den really needed the rain.  Hope we get some here, too. Joanie --- On Sun, 8/29/10, Andrew M. Scaboo wrote: From: Andrew M. Scaboo Subject: Yellow-crowned Night Heron To: "Joe Neal" , "Carol Joan Patterson" , "michael mlodinow" Date: Sunday, August 29, 2010, 8:38 PM I found the YCNH at Devils Den today and thought I'd share a couple pictures.  He was in Lee Creek by the horse camp. Also, Mike and I saw Mississippi Kite and Buff-breasted Sandpiper at the U of A farm today. http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q322/middleboo/devils%20den%20august%202010/heron4.jpg http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q322/middleboo/devils%20den%20august%202010/heron1.jpg http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q322/middleboo/devils%20den%20august%202010/heron2.jpg http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q322/middleboo/devils%20den%20august%202010/heron3.jpg Andrew ******************************************** Andrew M. Scaboo Post Doctoral Research Assistant Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences University of Arkansas 115 Plant Science Building Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479)-575-2230 Fax: (479)-575-7465 Email: ascaboo AT uark.edu ******************************************** Subject: Mute Swan From: Sally Jo Gibson <sjogibson AT WINDSTREAM.NET> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:33:58 -0500 I had to go out to Ace Hardware to pick up some millet that I ordered. The owner, Brent Thompson, who has a house over at Cotter on White River told me that he saw a Mute Swan just up the river from Cotter on Sunday. SJG Sally Jo Gibson 512 Yorkshire Cove Harrison, Arkansas 72601-4655 sjogibson AT windstream.net Home: 870-741-5805 Cell: 870-688-9950 Car: 870-414-1094 Subject: Re: stars From: Louise Mann <lmann2 AT EARTHLINK.NET> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 13:57:23 -0400 I love these reports from Joe. I have had Starlings at my feeder this week. Their tails seem the length of a road runners...is that a European starling? -----Original Message----- >From: Joe Neal >Sent: Sep 1, 2010 1:27 PM >To: ARBIRD list discussion >Cc: Aubrey Shepherd , Beth Lowrey , Bill Beall , Chris Kellner , "Douglas A. James" , Jacqueline Froelich , Joe Woolbright , lisa riley , Louise Mann , Lynn Armstrong , Mary Bess Mulhollan , Nancy Harris , Paige Mulhollan , R and M Stauffacher , Susan And Liz , Susan Young , TERRY STANFILL , "VINEY, Michelle" , Warren Fields , "Wisener, Ruth Ann" >Subject: stars > >I was up this morning and out in my front yard at 4:30 A (as in apple) M. As soon as I hit the porch I heard screech-owls singing – male and female. OK, singing screech-owls is not front page news, but these birds are one-half block off College Avenue, right in the middle of busy Fayetteville, which is the buckle on the belt of northwest Arkansas. If it had been 7:30 AM, you couldn’t have heard them for the commuter traffic. But, even in our urban madness, in this bit of peace before dawn, two owls are making the most of it. How can a day be bad after such a start. > >The old part of town where I live is in Prairie Township. There were bison here, even up on the hill where the Farmer’s Market draws big crowds to the old town square, and even Passenger Pigeons, as evidence in bones dug from the cellar of a pioneer era home just off the Square. Besides noise, traffic, and trash, my neighborhood is full of old post oaks that must have been seedlings when Greater Prairie-Chickens owned the hilltop that now forms the Square. These oaks have lots of natural cavities, so I suppose that’s where the screech-owls live. > >Later in the day I took a walk across College, over toward Wilson Park. One of my big avian scores was a bald-headed Red-winged Blackbird. I don’t know how many on ARBIRD-L keep a life list of bald-headed birds, but it was a new one for me. Of course I have the usual bald-headed cardinal and the bald-headed jay, but the red-wing was a life bald-head for me. > >Also of note on the walk, European Starlings. OK, I know some of you are already holding your nose and staring in disbelief about my bald-head observations, but now…starlings? Well yes. It’s not their fault we hate them so. I doubt they volunteered to come here. But, the two I saw on my walk were both all stars – I mean in the plumage that makes them look special. > Subject: Re: stars From: Beth Lowrey <selow AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 11:54:29 -0700 me too.  we should have made him quit that other job a long time ago. S.Beth Lowrey --- On Wed, 9/1/10, Louise Mann wrote: From: Louise Mann Subject: Re: stars To: "Joe Neal" , "ARBIRD list discussion" Cc: "Aubrey Shepherd" , "Beth Lowrey" , "Bill Beall" , "Chris Kellner" , "Douglas A. James" , "Jacqueline Froelich" , "Joe Woolbright" , "lisa riley" , "Louise Mann" , "Lynn Armstrong" , "Mary Bess Mulhollan" , "Nancy Harris" , "Paige Mulhollan" , "R and M Stauffacher" , "Susan And Liz" , "Susan Young" , "TERRY STANFILL" , "VINEY,Michelle" , "Warren Fields" , "Wisener,Ruth Ann" Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 12:57 PM I love these reports from Joe. I have had Starlings at my feeder this week. Their tails seem the length of a road runners...is that a European starling? -----Original Message----- >From: Joe Neal >Sent: Sep 1, 2010 1:27 PM >To: ARBIRD list discussion >Cc: Aubrey Shepherd , Beth Lowrey , Bill Beall , Chris Kellner , "Douglas A. James" , Jacqueline Froelich , Joe Woolbright , lisa riley , Louise Mann , Lynn Armstrong , Mary Bess Mulhollan , Nancy Harris , Paige Mulhollan , R and M Stauffacher , Susan And Liz , Susan Young , TERRY STANFILL , "VINEY, Michelle" , Warren Fields , "Wisener, Ruth Ann" >Subject: stars > >I was up this morning and out in my front yard at 4:30 A (as in apple) M. As soon as I hit the porch I heard screech-owls singing – male and female. OK, singing screech-owls is not front page news, but these birds are one-half block off College Avenue, right in the middle of busy Fayetteville, which is the buckle on the belt of northwest Arkansas. If it had been 7:30 AM, you couldn’t have heard them for the commuter traffic. But, even in our urban madness, in this bit of peace before dawn, two owls are making the most of it. How can a day be bad after such a start. > >The old part of town where I live is in Prairie Township. There were bison here, even up on the hill where the Farmer’s Market draws big crowds to the old town square, and even Passenger Pigeons, as evidence in bones dug from the cellar of a pioneer era home just off the Square.  Besides noise, traffic, and trash, my neighborhood is full of old post oaks that must have been seedlings when Greater Prairie-Chickens owned the hilltop that now forms the Square. These oaks have lots of natural cavities, so I suppose that’s where the screech-owls live. > >Later in the day I took a walk across College, over toward Wilson Park. One of my big avian scores was a bald-headed Red-winged Blackbird. I don’t know how many on ARBIRD-L keep a life list of bald-headed birds, but it was a new one for me. Of course I have the usual bald-headed cardinal and the bald-headed jay, but the red-wing was a life bald-head for me. > >Also of note on the walk, European Starlings. OK, I know some of you are already holding your nose and staring in disbelief about my bald-head observations, but now…starlings? Well yes. It’s not their fault we hate them so. I doubt they volunteered to come here. But, the two I saw on my walk were both all stars – I mean in the plumage that makes them look special. > Subject: FW: Glenn Beck's Flyover From: Larry Witherspoon <ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 08:44:21 -0500 Good morning! I have come to the end of one of my most favorite chapters in my life, Banding Hummingbirds. From the sadness that started this ending, to the redemption at Cooks Lake, I have had a good time. Bob and Martha Sargent were very very pleased with Desiree's and my banding, handling, band making, and loving care, of the Hummingbirds. It was a great honor to have met and worked with them. To hear Bob tell me that I am one of the best banders he has ever worked with was big. Desiree and I will never forget the experience, and have found new friends with Bob and Martha Gail. I know that Don McSwain and Tana Beasley will enjoy banding and doing the programs as much as I did. Try to find the time to get to Cook's Lake, they are great, and the area is beautiful. I leave you with this most awesome flyover I have ever seen.it takes a minute or so but it will happen. (Is he crazy? It is at Glen Beck's 8/28 event.) Dare to watch his speech! The airspace was shut down for this event, but there was a flyover nonetheless. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/videos/?uri=channels/390088/1013204 My next email will be for Mr. Kimberly Smith to remove me from the list. I enjoyed meeting you. Maybe we will run into each other on the trail someday, because, you see, I AM A BIRDER! I am not a great birder, but none the less.and no one can take that away from me. God bless you all!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Larry Witherspoon The sounds of the earth are like music. Subject: stars From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 12:27:10 -0500 I was up this morning and out in my front yard at 4:30 A (as in apple) M. As soon as I hit the porch I heard screech-owls singing – male and female. OK, singing screech-owls is not front page news, but these birds are one-half block off College Avenue, right in the middle of busy Fayetteville, which is the buckle on the belt of northwest Arkansas. If it had been 7:30 AM, you couldn’t have heard them for the commuter traffic. But, even in our urban madness, in this bit of peace before dawn, two owls are making the most of it. How can a day be bad after such a start. The old part of town where I live is in Prairie Township. There were bison here, even up on the hill where the Farmer’s Market draws big crowds to the old town square, and even Passenger Pigeons, as evidence in bones dug from the cellar of a pioneer era home just off the Square. Besides noise, traffic, and trash, my neighborhood is full of old post oaks that must have been seedlings when Greater Prairie-Chickens owned the hilltop that now forms the Square. These oaks have lots of natural cavities, so I suppose that’s where the screech-owls live. Later in the day I took a walk across College, over toward Wilson Park. One of my big avian scores was a bald-headed Red-winged Blackbird. I don’t know how many on ARBIRD-L keep a life list of bald-headed birds, but it was a new one for me. Of course I have the usual bald-headed cardinal and the bald-headed jay, but the red-wing was a life bald-head for me. Also of note on the walk, European Starlings. OK, I know some of you are already holding your nose and staring in disbelief about my bald-head observations, but now…starlings? Well yes. It’s not their fault we hate them so. I doubt they volunteered to come here. But, the two I saw on my walk were both all stars – I mean in the plumage that makes them look special. Subject: Sightings: Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills - Millwood From: Kelly Chitwood <kchitwood AT CABLELYNX.COM> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 08:36:14 -0500 Greetings Birders, I received the following bird news from Charles Mills at 8:30 am, Wednesday, September 1, 2010. >> In the past few minutes, I've found 6 Wood Storks and 2 Roseate >> Spoonbills at the Okay Levee. >> > Subject: NWAAS field trip Lake Atalanta Sunday Sept 12 From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 06:18:44 -0500 Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society will host a field trip to Lake Atalanta in Rogers on Sunday September 12. Meet at 9 AM at the parking lot adjacent the restrooms. There is a lot more information about Lake Atalanta at nwarkaudubon.org Look on the left hand side of the page for "Places to bird.." Go there and then locate the PDF for Lake Atalanta. This is a good place to look for fall transients, as well as resident birds. There are a couple of good, short trails to explore, including the Frisco Spring run. Also, resident waterfowl include Ross's Goose, White-fronted Goose, and Snow Goose, at least. You'll never get better looks at these birds! Subject: Ninestone Land Trust guide From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 06:10:57 -0500 Ninestone is a unique piece of the Ozark landscape in Carroll County. Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society has been making field trips there for the past few years. There is now a guide and information about Ninestone on the NWAAS web site. Go to nwarkaudubon.org When you get there, look on the left hand of the page where it says Places to bird in northwest Arkansas. Tap that and this leads to a series of PDF files for northwest Arkansas birding spots including Ninestone. Subject: Re: Heat relief! From: Roselie Overby <birdergirl_2000 AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:02:41 -0700 The oddest way I ever had a ruby-throated hummingbird take a bath was in the water that was puddling around my garden plants as I held the hose.  The little guy just sat on the ground in the water a couple of feet away from me.  Just amazed me. Roselie Overby Oak Grove, LA --- On Mon, 8/30/10, Jeffrey Short wrote: From: Jeffrey Short Subject: Re: [ARBIRD-L] Heat relief! To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Date: Monday, August 30, 2010, 5:47 PM A few days ago, when it was still very hot and dry, I was spraying the okra with a fine shower when a RTHU appeared.  It started playing in the water shower, visibly erecting its belly feathers either directly in contact with the stream of water.  It also “skooched” down on top of the wet okra leaves rubbing the belly feathers in little puddles that had formed.  The hummer also fanned-out its tail and was gently slapping the top of the wet leaves, I assume wetting its rump feathers.  This went on for nearly 5 minutes.  No other RTHU cooled off although there were others around.   Jeff Short     Subject: Re: Heat relief! From: "Russell, Judy" <RUSSELL AT ADEQ.STATE.AR.US> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:06:59 -0500 Jeff, I had the same experience. I was watering our woodland bed which has a Turk's Cap and a little female hummer came over and rubbed her stomach and neck on one of the leaves. She left for a few moments, then came back for more water. I've also seen them light on hosta leaves, which can sometimes hold a tiny puddle, where the hummer has it's very own bath. -----Original Message----- From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List [mailto:ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Short Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 5:47 PM To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: Heat relief! A few days ago, when it was still very hot and dry, I was spraying the okra with a fine shower when a RTHU appeared. It started playing in the water shower, visibly erecting its belly feathers either directly in contact with the stream of water. It also "skooched" down on top of the wet okra leaves rubbing the belly feathers in little puddles that had formed. The hummer also fanned-out its tail and was gently slapping the top of the wet leaves, I assume wetting its rump feathers. This went on for nearly 5 minutes. No other RTHU cooled off although there were others around. Jeff Short From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List [mailto:ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Larry Jernigan Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 11:04 AM To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Heat relief! While siting in my air-conditioned living room and watching some 50+ hummingbirds fight over or feed at the buffet that I have for them on the patio I noticed how they were struggling with the extreme heat we have been having. I decided to see if I couldn't give them some relief. I went to WM to the lawn care department and purchased: 20 ft. of 1/4 inch vinyl tubing some micro irrigation circular spinners a 1/4 inch faucet adapter (all of which cost me about $12.00) I took a cloths hanger from the closet and holding it by the hook pulled the center of it with my other hand to make the whole thing elongated. I then took one of the micro irrigation spinners and inserted it in one end of the 1/4 tubing. This was then taped to the elongated clothes hanger being careful not to obstruct the spinner with the tape. This "contraption" was then taken outside where I pulled a garden hose to the base of a small tree that is next to my humming bird feeders. The faucet adapter was then screwed on the hose --- to this the other end of the 1/4 inch vinyl tubing was attached. I then took a fishing pole and used it to raise the cloths hanger, with micro irrigation spinner attached, up into the small tree to an open area where the clothes hanger was "hooked" over a limb. I then turned the water hose on ---- instantly the tree was turned into a refreshing misting area that covers an area of about 15 feet in diameter (the whole tree). Each day about mid-afternoon I turn this on and watch not only my hummers but also chickadees, titmice, summer tanagers, downeys, goldfinches, blue jays, cardinals, wrens, chipping sparrows, house sparrows, doves, rw blackbirds, bluebirds, nuthatches, and any other bird that happens to be in the area. It's fun to watch them come and flit among the leaves and take a bath, cool off and escape some of the grueling heat. You came see that they thoroughly enjoy it ----- almost as much as the tree and I do. The sprinkler only uses about 10 gallons of water and hour ---- a small price for so much enjoyment. Have a great day. Dr.J Heber Springs Subject: Hummingbird info From: Janine Perlman <jpandjf AT SWBELL.NET> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:15:08 -0500 To anyone interested in hummingbirds and learning more amazing facts about them (and other birds), in addition to Don McSwain and Tana Beasley's (and Bob Sargent's) relatively new and welcome posts and programs, I strongly recommend joining the Hummer/Bird Study Group founded by Bob Sargent. For a very low tax-deductible donation, you get a hefty, colorful, jam-packed quarterly newsletter called Netlines. It is chock-full of entertaining and astonishing stories, facts and discoveries, written by Bob and others---the people who have actually experienced and discovered what they write about. In the Netlines that arrived in my mailbox today, there's a gripping and educational tale contributed by Arbird's very own Carolyn Birdsong. Bob and his wife Martha devote the fierce energy, time and intellect to field ornithology that I've only seen in assistant professors working desperately for tenure, or graduate students too young to know better. But while professors tend to become less productive with tenure, time and age, Bob and Martha have turned that rule on its head. They are the map-makers at the frontier of knowledge about Ruby-throats. Bob's expertise is not well concealed even under his aw-shucks, highly accessible style. If you're interested, here's the HBSG website http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/index.html and here's the membership form http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/memform.html In the spirit of full disclosure, I have known Bob for 15 years and consider him a very good friend. In the spirit of fairness, though, pretty much everyone who meets Bob soon considers him a very good friend. Janine Perlman Alexander Mt., Saline Co. Subject: Mississippi Kites From: Gail Miller <gail.miller AT CONWAYCORP.NET> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:52:15 -0500 At pretty much any given time I can view Mississippi Kites soaring from my office window at work. Sometimes one of my co-workers will walk in and just say: "Do you need to go home?" They know the outside calls me once it starts to cool off a tad bit!!! Folks really don't like to walk to the cafeteria with me since I slow down, walk backwards, or in general just listen to the birds. I usually just say; "go on and I'll catch up". :-) Gail Miller - Conway See my photography at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/root See my favorite bird photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/favorites Subject: Re: Heat relief! From: Jeffrey Short <bashman AT EARTHLINK.NET> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:47:11 -0500 A few days ago, when it was still very hot and dry, I was spraying the okra with a fine shower when a RTHU appeared. It started playing in the water shower, visibly erecting its belly feathers either directly in contact with the stream of water. It also "skooched" down on top of the wet okra leaves rubbing the belly feathers in little puddles that had formed. The hummer also fanned-out its tail and was gently slapping the top of the wet leaves, I assume wetting its rump feathers. This went on for nearly 5 minutes. No other RTHU cooled off although there were others around. Jeff Short From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List [mailto:ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Larry Jernigan Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 11:04 AM To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Heat relief! While siting in my air-conditioned living room and watching some 50+ hummingbirds fight over or feed at the buffet that I have for them on the patio I noticed how they were struggling with the extreme heat we have been having. I decided to see if I couldn't give them some relief. I went to WM to the lawn care department and purchased: 20 ft. of 1/4 inch vinyl tubing some micro irrigation circular spinners a 1/4 inch faucet adapter (all of which cost me about $12.00) I took a cloths hanger from the closet and holding it by the hook pulled the center of it with my other hand to make the whole thing elongated. I then took one of the micro irrigation spinners and inserted it in one end of the 1/4 tubing. This was then taped to the elongated clothes hanger being careful not to obstruct the spinner with the tape. This "contraption" was then taken outside where I pulled a garden hose to the base of a small tree that is next to my humming bird feeders. The faucet adapter was then screwed on the hose --- to this the other end of the 1/4 inch vinyl tubing was attached. I then took a fishing pole and used it to raise the cloths hanger, with micro irrigation spinner attached, up into the small tree to an open area where the clothes hanger was "hooked" over a limb. I then turned the water hose on ---- instantly the tree was turned into a refreshing misting area that covers an area of about 15 feet in diameter (the whole tree). Each day about mid-afternoon I turn this on and watch not only my hummers but also chickadees, titmice, summer tanagers, downeys, goldfinches, blue jays, cardinals, wrens, chipping sparrows, house sparrows, doves, rw blackbirds, bluebirds, nuthatches, and any other bird that happens to be in the area. It's fun to watch them come and flit among the leaves and take a bath, cool off and escape some of the grueling heat. You came see that they thoroughly enjoy it ----- almost as much as the tree and I do. The sprinkler only uses about 10 gallons of water and hour ---- a small price for so much enjoyment. Have a great day. Dr.J Heber Springs Subject: Martin houses over water, From: Carolyn Partain <cthedove AT CABLELYNX.COM> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:21:56 -0500 I did a little research and found a website (when I copied from it, it automatically included a couple of links that I left as is) that has instructions on constructing martin houses and mentions at the end of the first paragraph of instructions, "Martins don't mind nesting over water and in fact bird houses located over ponds or out on the ends of piers can be some of the most used ones due to their safety from predators." I also recall that at the small park in my hometown, Poteau, OK, there were martin houses built over the water in the little lake there where they were always swooping about in the breeding season. These houses may be gone now as I've not been at that spot in recent years to observe the lake. Read more: How to have Martin Bird Houses that Attract Purple Martins | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5917871_martin-houses-attract-purple-martins.html#ix zz0y7NQ5aYk carolyn, just outside the borders of Hot Springs Subject: Re: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill From: "Graves, Gary" <GRAVESG AT SI.EDU> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:52:34 -0400 It is not unusual for bird record committees at the state and national level (e.g., AOU checklist committee) to reevaluate records when new information or additional peer-review becomes available. Joe supposed that Arkansas bird records committee would reach the same conclusion in 2010 as they did in 2005 on recent Ivory-bill reports in Arkansas. However, much has been learned since the heady days and weeks following the announcement of the supposed rediscovery. Despite intensive and well-organized multi-year searches of the Bayou de View area (and large parts of the Cache and White River NWR), an army of researchers was unable to obtain any physical evidence that stands up to independent scientific peer-review, including the oft mentioned audio recordings and the Luneau video. Cornell researchers have now concluded that none of the recent audio recordings made in Arkansas (and other states) can be unequivocally assigned to Ivory-bills. We have discovered that other common species can produce sounds that resemble "kent" calls of Ivory-bills and double knocks characteristic of Campephilus woodpeckers. For instance, Blue Jays have been observed giving "kent" calls in the Prairie Lakes region of White River NWR...in exactly the same location that yielded the most compelling audio recordings reported in 2005. I would not place too much credence in the USFWS position on the Luneau video (see below). The official position provides the necessary political cover to justify the agency's expenditure of public funds. It conveniently ignores the growing body of external peer-review from dozens of professional ornithologists (including members of the Ivory-bill recovery team) and bird identification experts who have examined every scrap of evidence generated since the 1940s. The consensus is overwhelming...there is no unequivocal data (e.g., photo, video, audio recordings) to document the presence of living Ivory-bills in the USA during the past 60 years. Ever wonder why the USFWS and Cornell University have suspended the searches? The answer is plain and simple. None of the thousands of leads resulted in a documented record. Now that the recovery plan has been completed, you can expect the USFWS to quietly turn its attention toward more pressing problems. To be sure, Ivory-bill reports will continue to trickle in. But so will reports of UFOs, Big Foot, and the Lochness Monster. That is human nature. Independent peer-review and high standards of evidence are what separates ornithology from occult science. The AAS checklist (2009 version) made a step in the right direction when it listed the Ivory-billed Woodpecker as "recent status unclear" in the "extinct or extirpated" section of the checklist. The AAS bird records committee should take the next step and list the species as "extinct, no documented records during the past century." GRG ________________________________________ From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List [ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Joe Neal [joeneal AT uark.edu] Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:51 AM To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill When I’m out doing a bird program in public, I am regularly ask if the report of an Ivory-billed in Arkansas is “real”-- or what. I get asked this in the aisles at Walmart. I run into an old friend when I’m out bicycling and the question comes up. I’ll bet a lot of you get asked that, too. For the record: I’m glad the Ivory-bill deniers are out there pushing their views that Ivory-bills have been gone a long, long time. Debate is healthy. I tell folks that a dramatic film like the Zapruder footage that clearly shows John Kennedy being assassinated in Dallas in 1963 has not been collected for an Ivory-bill (I call it, “the moment the bullet hit Kennedy film”). David Luneau’s famous video lacks the unambiguous clarity of the Zapruder film, but then David was in a boat in a swamp, and he wasn’t filming a parade. But there’s other information to support the presence of Ivory-bills, unless you think a fair-sized group of qualified, professional observers are actually unqualified to properly identify birds they see in the field, and unless you completely discount numerous sound recordings. Yes, some sound recordings may be nuthatches, jays, distant shotguns, or duck wings, going yank yank and too-too-too, but ALL? Accepting evidence of the existence of Ivory-bills strains the credibility of many professional ornithologists. It strains my credibility to reject the sightings of every single person who has ever claimed to see Ivory-bills. The Arkansas Birds Record committee reviewed the available evidence and concluded the record was valid. The vote was 4 to accept, 1 to reject. I doubt the vote would be any different now, even though the dramatic searches of 2005 and 2006 did not turn up anything like the Kennedy assassination film. The fact that it was 4 to 1 doesn’t prove Ivory-bills are out there, but it did – and still does – meet standards applied to reviews of other records of rare birds in Arkansas. OK, before everyone starts jumping on me about dragging in the Zapruder film, I apologize if it offends. I’m always a fan of a documentary film. However, I’ve always thought the best evidence to support the existence of Ivory-bills was not the Luneau video, but rather what a handful of very qualified observers have seen themselves in both Arkansas and the Florida panhandle. So now the US Fish & Wildlife Service has weighed in. Appendix B (pages 43-45) in the Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (signed 16 April 2010) includes statements like this: "Our review of the presented arguments leads us to conclude that the alternative interpretations of Sibley et al. (2006) and Collinson (2007) fail to credibly support their assertion that the woodpecker in the Luneau video could reasonably be a Pileated Woodpecker." And, "In conclusion, the FWS accepts the original Fitzpatrick et al. (2005) interpretation of the Luneau video and other evidence gathered during the last five years as the best information available to support the hypothesis that Ivory-billed Woodpecker has persisted into the 21st Century." If you take a look at this for yourself, read carefully. It is no specific endorsement for the existence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. They are NOT saying they have evidence of an Ivory-bill population out there in 2010. They ARE saying their review supports the hypothesis that the bird in David Luneau’s video was not a Pileated Woodpecker and that the alternate explanation is more convincing. They are saying the Luneau video, and sight records, provide the best evidence for Ivory-bills. Of course, what's evidence for some is not evidence for others. This happens in juries every day somewhere in America. The appendix is only three pages, part of a longer document. It’s worthwhile to take a look IF this is an issue for you. Subject: Really Odd Pectoral Sandpiper From: "Jeff R. Wilson" <OLCOOT1 AT aol.com> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:54:42 EDT Aug. 28-29, 2010 Little Texas, Tunica Co. Mississippi For those that like shorebirds, here are a few Photos of a mixed up Pectoral Sandpiper seen over the weekend. _http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/odd_pectoral_ (http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/odd_pectoral) Good Birding !!! Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA 6300 Memphis-Arlington Road Bartlett, TN 38135 http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/ What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens. Subject: martins - part 3 From: Kimberly Smith <kgsmith AT uark.edu> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:41:05 -0300 here is how to see the martins ********************************************************* Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-6359 fax: 479-575-4010 email: kgsmith AT uark.edu *Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified. You have received the following link from kgsmith AT uark.edu ******************** If you are having trouble with any of the links in this message, or if the URL's are not appearing as links, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email. Title: Arkansas Online Article Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to access the sent link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=560667372&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to SAVE THIS link: http://www.savethis.clickability.com/st/saveThisPopupApp?clickMap=saveFromET&partnerID=1&etMailToID=560667372&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to forward this link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=forward&etMailToID=560667372&partnerID=1&pt=Y ******************** Email pages from any Web site you visit - add the EMAIL THIS button to your browser, copy and paste the following into your Web browser: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=browserButtons&pt=Y" ********************* Instructions: ----------------------------------------- If your e-mail program doesn't recognize Web addresses: 1. With your mouse, highlight the Web Address above. Be sure to highlight the entire Web address, even if it spans more than one line in your email. 2. Select Copy from the Edit menu at the top of your screen. 3. Launch your Web browser. 4. Paste the address into your Web browser by selecting Paste from the Edit menu. 5. Click Go or press Enter or Return on your keyboard. ******************** Subject: martins - part 2 From: Kimberly Smith <kgsmith AT uark.edu> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:40:03 -0300 Here is the second part of the martin article ********************************************************* Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-6359 fax: 479-575-4010 email: kgsmith AT uark.edu *Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified. You have received the following link from kgsmith AT uark.edu ******************** If you are having trouble with any of the links in this message, or if the URL's are not appearing as links, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email. Title: Arkansas Online Article Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to access the sent link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1643192259&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to SAVE THIS link: http://www.savethis.clickability.com/st/saveThisPopupApp?clickMap=saveFromET&partnerID=1&etMailToID=1643192259&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to forward this link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=forward&etMailToID=1643192259&partnerID=1&pt=Y ******************** Email pages from any Web site you visit - add the EMAIL THIS button to your browser, copy and paste the following into your Web browser: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=browserButtons&pt=Y" ********************* Instructions: ----------------------------------------- If your e-mail program doesn't recognize Web addresses: 1. With your mouse, highlight the Web Address above. Be sure to highlight the entire Web address, even if it spans more than one line in your email. 2. Select Copy from the Edit menu at the top of your screen. 3. Launch your Web browser. 4. Paste the address into your Web browser by selecting Paste from the Edit menu. 5. Click Go or press Enter or Return on your keyboard. ******************** Subject: Re: Help in preventing window collisions From: Jeffrey Short <bashman AT EARTHLINK.NET> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:29:23 -0500 I use Woolite, straight, rolled-on vertically to our (many) large windows. I attribute it to the collision reduction of 75% from pre-Woolite days. Downside: blowing rain washes it off; upside: it helps clean the windows for the next application. I am hoping to get some data on the UV-reflectance of the various formulations of Woolite. Jeff Short Subject: Fwd: Arkansas Online Article From: Kimberly Smith <kgsmith AT uark.edu> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:25:38 -0300 Here is the start of an article in today's Demo-Gazette.... ********************************************************* Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-6359 fax: 479-575-4010 email: kgsmith AT uark.edu *Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified. You have received the following link from kgsmith AT uark.edu ******************** If you are having trouble with any of the links in this message, or if the URL's are not appearing as links, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email. Title: Arkansas Online Article Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to access the sent link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1654001314&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to SAVE THIS link: http://www.savethis.clickability.com/st/saveThisPopupApp?clickMap=saveFromET&partnerID=1&etMailToID=1654001314&pt=Y Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to forward this link: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=forward&etMailToID=1654001314&partnerID=1&pt=Y ******************** Email pages from any Web site you visit - add the EMAIL THIS button to your browser, copy and paste the following into your Web browser: http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=browserButtons&pt=Y" ********************* Instructions: ----------------------------------------- If your e-mail program doesn't recognize Web addresses: 1. With your mouse, highlight the Web Address above. Be sure to highlight the entire Web address, even if it spans more than one line in your email. 2. Select Copy from the Edit menu at the top of your screen. 3. Launch your Web browser. 4. Paste the address into your Web browser by selecting Paste from the Edit menu. 5. Click Go or press Enter or Return on your keyboard. ******************** Subject: Re: House Sparrow problems From: Larry Witherspoon <ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:21:16 -0500 Travis, Man have we had the House Sparrow problems too. I call it "Battle Sparrow", a take off from Iron Chef show where they have Battle Squash, Battle Catfish, etc...This past spring, I found a small wind chime. For the heck of it I hung it to the bottom of the Martin house. I had to clean the one sparrow out twice. He located in the hole farthest from the wind chime. The chime is still there. We have only had a few Martins do fly bys twice in one year and that was three years ago. I do not know if the chime will bother the Martins, but the Sparrows seem NOT to like it. We will hopefully find out next February/March if the Martins will visit. Thanks, Larry Witherspoon -----Original Message----- From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List [mailto:ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Certain Travis Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 5:00 PM To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: House Sparrow problems This spring one of my neighbors put up a martin house. Pretty house on a tall pole(not telescoping). It was clear to me from the beginning that he was not going to be able to raise the house up and down to keep the sparrows out. I bought some caps for the holes and urged him to put them on all the cavities except one so that he would only have one place to clean out. Well you know the story. The sparrow nest has been hanging out of the martin house all summer. He never put the caps on and now I have at least ten sparrows hanging out in my back yard. Short of taking down the feeders does anyone have any suggestions. My biggest concern is the bluebirds next spring. Travis= Subject: Re: Help in preventing window collisions From: Bob Sargent <RubyThroat AT AOL.COM> Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:32:12 EDT Janine and ARBirders This is great news indeed. Perhaps the cost will come down a bit as consumers start requesting this when they build homes. Window strikes are a major hazard for structures in my home state of Alabama along the Gulf Coast. Documenting the effects is difficult since many of the window strikes occur during the night time arrivals of transgulf migrants. These flocks of birds coming ashore can number in the many thousands. The abundance of raccoons, coyotes, foxes, Great Blue Herons, crabs and others make short work of anything dead near the beach. Perhaps developers there will discover the PR advantage of installing these windows. Thanks for sharing this info. Bob Sargent Clay, Alabama In a message dated 8/29/2010 7:48:02 P.M. Central Daylight Time, jpandjf AT SWBELL.NET writes: Encouraging developments, well worth investigating for every possible application! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/business/29novel.html?_r=1&ref=global-home Janine Perlman Alexander, Mt., Saline Co. Subject: Bald Knob 8/28/10 and hummers in the yard From: CK Franklin <meshoppen AT HOTMAIL.COM> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:05:27 -0500 Bill and I went on up to Bald Knob early yesterday. We were not the first birders on-site nor were we the last. Alas, there were no life birds on the mud flat promenade. A man from Chattanoga saw a buff-breasted sandpiper a few minutes before we got there-isn't that always the case?--and a couple of upland sandpipers. Neither could be relocated although I thought I spied an upland sneaking off into the vegetation. By the time we got the scope repositioned, the bird had reclined on the veranda, so to speak, and was no longer in view. The roads are dusty this time of year at Bald Knob and the fields can be as hot as an oven under the open blue sky. It was pleasant yesterday compared to two weeks ago when I sweated buckets, drank buckets, and still came home dry and worn out from the heat. Despite driving up and down the roads, stopping every few feet to inspect every head poking out of the rice, the only yellow we saw was the rice swaying in the light breeze. No yellow-headed blackbird for us. Likewise no ibis. Entertainment was to be had, nonetheless. A northern harrier churned through the fields and clouds of egrets and herons and shorebirds swung this way and that throughout the morning, herded almost as efficiently as a border collie drives a flock of terrified sheep before it. At times the multitude of egrets resembled a cloud of snow geese rising, but that's another season yet to come. We found a pair of leftover dickcissels looking worn and shabby, one with a limp grasshopper or dragonfly half-crushed in its beak. A cluster of cowbirds picked grit from the road. Raised among strangers, how do they find their own kind? Do they plan who they will foist their young on next year? The only flycatchers out in the open had harsh sunlight behind them. Their silhouette said empidonax of some species. They kept mum and we moved on. We ended the day with four raptors: red-tail, Coopers, northern harrier, and kestrel. It is quite possible there were treasures to be had among the shorebirds, but shaken and stirred as they were, it was beyond us to sort through them before they were off again. Back home a different cluster of birds have finally gotten their nerve back after our neighbor laid waste to his yard few weeks ago, clear cutting all of his mature oaks, none less than 25 inches in diameter, to make way for another mini-palacio, the kind favored in the Heights. The only birds that haven't returned are the pair of brown thrashers. Perhaps they are sulking nearby, waiting for me to put out a reliable supply of suet as the weather turns cooler. They were good neighbors. This year, inspired by the Sargents, I have become a more diligent hummingbird landlord, keeping a steady supply of feeders and flowers available for their amusement. This weekend I managed to count 6 or 7 birds contesting the feeders at one time. Given that they were whipping back and forth across the front patio at the time, I'm convinced there's more of them up in the trees, taking a breather before jumping back into the fray. Today a couple of them have taken on the appearance of little green butterballs. I suspect these little piggies will be on the road before long. This is our best hummingbird year here in the middle of the city. Good birding. Cindy and Bill Little Rock Subject: LINK: More hummer photos - again From: Gail Miller <gail.miller AT CONWAYCORP.NET> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:16:24 -0500 I really do have to go back to work tomorrow :-) Hummer photos from today start here: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/hummingbirds_2010 Enjoy! Gail in Conway See my photography at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/root See my favorite bird photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/favorites Subject: Re: Help in preventing window collisions From: J Drew <JDrew66704 AT AOL.COM> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:02:32 EDT Someone on ARBIRD suggested using a yellow highlighter to make an almost invisible grid on windows. I've marked my windows and it has cut down on strikes. JoAnn Drew Little Rock In a message dated 8/29/2010 7:48:01 P.M. Central Daylight Time, jpandjf AT SWBELL.NET writes: Encouraging developments, well worth investigating for every possible application! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/business/29novel.html?_r=1&ref=global-home Janine Perlman Alexander, Mt., Saline Co. Subject: Martin houses over water, From: Jerry Butler <grandoc AT ATT.NET> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:50:09 -0700 Would it be a good idea to place a martin house over water?  As on a boat dock perhaps? I understand you might need to take additional precautions for snake predation  but beyond that what other problems might be encountered?  Would fledgling drownings be a problem?  I always see them near water of course, but I don't think I've seen one directly above water? Peace and Birds   Jerry Butler Subject: House Sparrow problems From: Certain Travis <tcertain AT ARISTOTLE.NET> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:59:49 -0500 This spring one of my neighbors put up a martin house. Pretty house on a tall pole(not telescoping). It was clear to me from the beginning that he was not going to be able to raise the house up and down to keep the sparrows out. I bought some caps for the holes and urged him to put them on all the cavities except one so that he would only have one place to clean out. Well you know the story. The sparrow nest has been hanging out of the martin house all summer. He never put the caps on and now I have at least ten sparrows hanging out in my back yard. Short of taking down the feeders does anyone have any suggestions. My biggest concern is the bluebirds next spring. Travis Subject: Help in preventing window collisions From: Janine Perlman <jpandjf AT SWBELL.NET> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 13:59:25 -0500 Encouraging developments, well worth investigating for every possible application! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/business/29novel.html?_r=1&ref=global-home Janine Perlman Alexander, Mt., Saline Co. Subject: fledgling Mississippi Kite in Little Rock From: Bill Shepherd <stoneax63 AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:00:24 -0500 The following report may be of some interest because I gather that some of our summering Mississippi Kites have already departed for South America. At 1:10 yesterday afternoon in the parking lot of Little Rock's Fletcher Branch Library I heard the by now familiar call of a begging young Mississippi Kite. But this one sounded very close, so I decided to search for him. Sure enough, in only a few seconds I was able to spot the bird perched near the top of a big post oak just past the fence. Like an oversized Olive-sided Flycatcher, he squealed, over and over, "Free beer! Free beer! Free beer!" Bill Shepherd Bill Shepherd 2805 Linden, Apt. 3 Little Rock, Arkansas 72205-5964 Stoneax63 AT hotmail.com (501) 375-3918 Subject: Mississippi Kites From: Bradley A Harris <grthornedowl AT GMAIL.COM> Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 13:22:15 -0500 Hi Gang, Can not wait for cooler temps and fall birds. My sister in law who lives in Frenchport AR in Ouachita county. She took a immature Mississippi Kite to the vet, he had a damaged wing. The vet is nursing him back to health, will be releasing him soon. She mentioned that there are numerous Mississippi Kites in her area, also their are numerous Black Vultures too. Subject: LINK: Link to more hummer photos From: Gail Miller <gail.miller AT CONWAYCORP.NET> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:44:04 -0500 I added more hummer photos from today. Enjoy at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/hummingbirds_2010 Gail having fun in Conway See my photography at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/root See my favorite bird photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/favorites Subject: Re: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 From: Michael Linz <mplinz AT GMAIL.COM> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:30:14 -0500 I went to BKNWR yesterday late afternoon. I had hoped to see spoonbills and storks but I didn't. I did have a great time...saw lots of birds and took lots of pictures. That usually makes for a good day for me... Sharing a little of the fun I had by way of pictures...hope you can enjoy a little of the fun I had taking them. http://picasaweb.google.com/OtaLinz/BKNWRAug272010 On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 2:31 PM, Leslie Koller wrote: > Black-necked Stilts are still there this morning (BKNWR), by the dozens! > Didn't see any of the other species mentioned though, darn it! > > Also, I drove by Treadway's Fish Farm today and saw NO TRESSPASSING signs > everywhere I used to go...Is this place off-limits to birders now? Also, > couldn't find any drained ponds at Hogan Fish Hatchery in Lonoke. > > Leslie Koller > Benton, Saline Co, Arkansas > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Warbling Vireo > *To:* ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU > *Sent:* Fri, August 27, 2010 10:58:22 AM > *Subject:* RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 > > -RBA > > * Arkansas > > *Statewide > > *August 27, 2010 > > *ARST10.08.27 > > > > -Species Mentioned > > > > Rufous Hummingbird > > Swallow-tailed Kite > > YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD > > White Ibis > > Upland Sandpiper > > Black-necked Stilt > > Black-bellied Plover > > > > -Transcript > > > > Welcome to the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert for August 27, 2010, sponsored by > the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (ASCA). ASCA meets at 7:00pm the > second Thursday of each month. The next field trip is Saturday, September > 18, 2010, to Bell Slough WMA, south of Mayflower. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at > the main entrance. Check the www.ascabird.org website for details on > upcoming meetings and field trips. > > > > From around the state recent sightings are: > > > > At Bald Knob NWR in White County , YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, White Ibis, > Upland Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilts, and Black-bellied Plovers were > spotted, along with the expected migrating shorebirds. > > A small group of birders were fortunate to see a. > > > > > > An apparent adult male Rufous Hummingbird arrived at a feeder in Little > Rock on August 4. This household hosted an adult male Rufous this past > winter, which was a bird that had already been banded the previous winter in > Louisiana . Confirmation is pending. > > > > A Swallow-tailed Kite reported at the Potlatch Cypress Bend Mill in Desha > County has not been seen since early in the week. > > > > Thanks for calling the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert. Your contributions make > the Rare Bird Alert possible. If you would like to leave a message, > please wait for the chirp. Good Birding! > > > > Hotline: Arkansas > > Date: August 27, 2010 > > Phone number: (501)753-5853 > > To Report: (501)753-5853, ARBird email discussion list, BRC forms available > at ARBirds.org > > Compiler/Transcriber: DeLynn Hearn > > Coverage: Statewide > > > > -End transcript > > > > > > > DeLynn Hearn, M.S. > 317 West K St. > N. Little Rock, AR 72116 > 501-771-4686(h) > 501-472-8769 (c) > www.marykay.com/dhearn1 > > > > > Subject: Warblers From: Norman Lavers <asilidman AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:02:31 -0700 Sat. August 28th, this afternoon two Tennessee Warblers appeared in the plum tree in our garden and fed on caterpillars that they pulled out of rolled up leaves. These are the first out-of-state migrants we have seen so far. Norman and Cheryl Lavers Jonesborol Subject: Hummers From: Jacque Brown <bluebird2 AT cox.net> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:03:53 -0500 Like may others I have had quite a few hummers lately. I had a dog fight going on in my dog pen and it didn't involve dogs there were two hummers going at it. One repeatedly took the other to the ground a third hummer came in for a while but didn't stay long. This hummer war went on for a good 30 to 40 minutes and then they both took off. -- Jacque Brown Centerton Benton, Co AR, bluebird2 AT cox.net Subject: Re: Hummer thoughts From: Bob Sargent <RubyThroat AT AOL.COM> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:14:24 EDT Madam Alycat You seem to have pretty well summed it up Alyson! The big deal is to do what you can to maintain lots of feeders. If that is possible, one can premix a couple of gallons of hummer juice (four to one with no color and no additives please) ahead of time and store it in the fridge just in case you get rushed or can't get to the store to buy sugar. Rumor has it here in Clay, Alabama that we are making whiskey again. That is not longer true of course. As for being on a migration route, it is my strongly held opinion that we all live on a Ruby-throated migration route. Anywhere south of north means hummers are passing through your area now! I agree with Alyson's idea of clustering many feeders close together to deter one bully from dominating random feeders. We are currently running about 45-50 feeders in three clusters. As hard at it is to believe, I have some old folks at the highrise "old folks home" (I should be there already) that successfully disobey the rules and attract migrant hummers to their 8th floor apartments. They tie red and white and blue ribbons on their tiny balconies. Patriotic? Yes...but the idea is really more to attract hummers to their top floor feeder assemblages. Approaching the age of dirt, Martha Sargent and I steal great ideas from our same age friends that give up housekeeping for the small home easy living habit. Expect hummers at your feeders now in good numbers. It can be more of a challenge in the tightly spaced garden home developments, but give it a shot anyway. Wide open areas will easily attract hummers, but if the feeders are in the sun, some brands will leak a bit more and the quality of your sugar water mix may suffer quicker in the hot sun. As for managing a lot of feeders, I usually start my day at about 4:00 AM refilling and cleaning feeders. This 4:00 AM stuff started back when we had cows to milk before my Dad went to work in the mine and before I had to catch the school bus. I love the predawn hours, so why not use that time to be outdoors working on feeders. Perhaps this method will not go over very well in this more modern time. Calliope hummingbirds are now at several location in Louisiana. Why not in Arkansas right? Bob Sargent Clay, Alabama In a message dated 8/28/2010 12:26:29 P.M. Central Daylight Time, alycat14 AT ME.COM writes: A few observations (unscientific) and suggestions about hummers: -- There are a lot more hummers passing by our little clearing in the deer woods of south Pulaski County than I've ever seen in the city. My mother lives in NLR. She has two small feeders. She said the most common visitor in August was not a hummer. From her description, it might be a nuthatch. One of my sisters did report seeing a hummer recently at my mother's feeder. I brought mom to my house, where one can see a dozen or two hummers around a cluster of four feeders. That raises several questions: Is my house on some hummer migratory path? Are there really fewer hummers in town, even with its abundant flowers? The city does have far fewer insects. Does putting feeders in an open area make a difference? -- Second observation : Hot, dry weather equals more hummers. The summers of 2007-08 were dry, and 2009 was cool and wet. This summer's really been dry at my house, and the hummer numbers are the highest ever. The second highest was 2008. -- A suggestion: Troubled by ants, wasps, bees and yellowjackets at your feeders? Don't fight them, feed them. Pour sugar on the ground at the base of whatever holds your feeder. Also try putting sugar or leftover nectar in a plastic container away from the feeders. -- Second suggestion: An easy, water-conserving way to clean feeders is to rinse and brush off any residue and then spray a bleach solution over the parts. Put a quarter cup to half cup of bleach in a quart spray bottle, then fill with water. You can coat the inside of the bottles and bases with a fine mist. Let sit for 10-20 minutes or longer and rinse. This is just as effective as my previous method of filling a sink with gallons of water and adding a couple of cups of bleach, then using gallons to rinse. -- Keep track of your feeders by numbering them and writing on a calendar when they are put out and brought in. By doing this, I know that a 1-quart feeder lasts two days in the four-feeder cluster but the partially filled ones on the other side of the house rarely are emptied by the single birds guarding them. I'd like to hear suggestions from the pros on how they manage their massive numbers of feeders. Whew! Sorry for the long email. Alyson Hoge South Pulaski County Subject: Hummer thoughts From: Alyson Hoge <alycat14 AT ME.COM> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:22:23 -0500 A few observations (unscientific) and suggestions about hummers: -- There are a lot more hummers passing by our little clearing in the deer woods of south Pulaski County than I've ever seen in the city. My mother lives in NLR. She has two small feeders. She said the most common visitor in August was not a hummer. From her description, it might be a nuthatch. One of my sisters did report seeing a hummer recently at my mother's feeder. I brought mom to my house, where one can see a dozen or two hummers around a cluster of four feeders. That raises several questions: Is my house on some hummer migratory path? Are there really fewer hummers in town, even with its abundant flowers? The city does have far fewer insects. Does putting feeders in an open area make a difference? -- Second observation : Hot, dry weather equals more hummers. The summers of 2007-08 were dry, and 2009 was cool and wet. This summer's really been dry at my house, and the hummer numbers are the highest ever. The second highest was 2008. -- A suggestion: Troubled by ants, wasps, bees and yellowjackets at your feeders? Don't fight them, feed them. Pour sugar on the ground at the base of whatever holds your feeder. Also try putting sugar or leftover nectar in a plastic container away from the feeders. -- Second suggestion: An easy, water-conserving way to clean feeders is to rinse and brush off any residue and then spray a bleach solution over the parts. Put a quarter cup to half cup of bleach in a quart spray bottle, then fill with water. You can coat the inside of the bottles and bases with a fine mist. Let sit for 10-20 minutes or longer and rinse. This is just as effective as my previous method of filling a sink with gallons of water and adding a couple of cups of bleach, then using gallons to rinse. -- Keep track of your feeders by numbering them and writing on a calendar when they are put out and brought in. By doing this, I know that a 1-quart feeder lasts two days in the four-feeder cluster but the partially filled ones on the other side of the house rarely are emptied by the single birds guarding them. I'd like to hear suggestions from the pros on how they manage their massive numbers of feeders. Whew! Sorry for the long email. Alyson Hoge South Pulaski County Subject: Link: Link to Hummer photos From: Gail Miller <gail.miller AT CONWAYCORP.NET> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:53:30 -0500 I added some hummer photos to my pbase gallery. Migration numbers have picked up here and I would guess I have 40+, always hard to count. I begged off work yesterday and hope to get more photos this weekend. I am so glad for the break in the weather :-) Enjoy! http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/hummingbirds_2010 Gail in Conway See my photography at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/root See my favorite bird photos at: http://www.pbase.com/gnmimiller/favorites Subject: Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville From: Sara Caulk <sara_caulk AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:21:21 -0700 Bob and I saw 2 Missisippo Kites several times throughout the day yesterday soaring over our house on Mt. Sequoyah...presumably 2 of the 3 that Joanie and Mike saw.   Nifty birds!   Sara Fayetteville   --- On Fri, 8/27/10, Carol Joan Patterson wrote: From: Carol Joan Patterson Subject: Re: [ARBIRD-L] MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Date: Friday, August 27, 2010, 6:49 PM Mike Mlodinhow saw and adult and 2 or 3 juveniles at Mount Sequoyah.  I guess they are the Skillern kites.  I'd love to see the family! Joanie --- On Fri, 8/27/10, Andrew M. Scaboo wrote: From: Andrew M. Scaboo Subject: Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Date: Friday, August 27, 2010, 1:11 PM I found two Mississippi Kites this morning (8:30 am) at the University of Arkansas research farm on Garland Ave in Fayetteville.  We were in one of our larger soybean fields setting up our furrow and overhead irrigation systems.  About five minutes after we turned the water on I saw the two kites overhead, with their gray/white heads gleaming in the sun.  They started off a couple hundred feet in the air, but they eventually circled down above our field and proceed to hunt for dragonflies for about 5 minutes.  A few fly-byes had to be within 20 - 30 feet in front of us.  No need for binoculars.  They remained in eye sight for about twenty minutes as they glided around in an easterly direction.  During the five or so minutes they were in front of us, I saw the two birds attempt to catch dragonflies three times between them.  They never stopped flying, so I assume they caught and consumed their prey on the fly, but I couldn't quite tell.  Their agility and hunting style reminded me of a cross between a Tern and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  They would break out of their glide with the wing-folding motion of a Tern, but also had the maneuverability in the air of a Flycatcher.  It was quite amazing, although my co-workers were not as thrilled as I.  Maybe they were used to seeing foraging Mississippi Kites in Northwest Arkansas  ;) , but it was a first for me.  And well worth the wait. I'd presume these were the same two seen by Joe, considering the proximity of these sightings.  Andrew ******************************************** Andrew M. Scaboo Post Doctoral Research Assistant Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences University of Arkansas 115 Plant Science Building Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479)-575-2230 Fax: (479)-575-7465 Email: ascaboo AT uark.edu ******************************************** On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 8:38 PM, Joe Neal wrote: I took off on a bike ride this morning during our “cool” weather. Got one block from my house and had 2 Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow right over me. OK, so MIKIs aren’t a big deal in places where they are common, but northwest Arkansas hasn’t been one of those places. MIKIs have been quite a rarity here, always a big prize find on a local field trip. These 2 birds maybe are part of the nesting birds Ricky Corder found in northeast Fayetteville this summer? Or just migrating birds? Whatever, it’s neat to see them in the neighborhood, though I doubt the dragonflies, much sought after by foraging kites, appreciate the change in the local avian line-up. The presence of more MIKIs here reminds me of a time 25 years ago when we started noticing more Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in town. These gorgeous hawks had suffered population losses due to widespread reductions in bottomland hardwood forests throughout their range. But here they were in town and one year in the 1980s they nested in Evergreen Cemetery by campus. Then within a few years we found them in more places. They built a nest right next to the city pool at Wilson Park. These birds became big celebrities because everybody and their child in the pool saw them carrying snakes to the nest. Film maker Carl Hitte made a fine DVD program based upon his study of these birds. See this DVD if you’ve not yet. Today’s MIKIs also reminds me that once upon a time, not so many years ago, the discovery of a nesting season Cooper’s Hawk here was a VERY BIG DEAL. Skeptically, we dashed across town to see a reported nest and returned believers. Now they are nesting basically all over where there are good-sized blocks of forest. They regularly terrorize birds that lounge around feeders. Woo to any American Robins on the lawn, not keeping a sharp look-out in Fayetteville! Cooper’s are back. Note to owners of small dogs: better watch out! Powerful Cooper’s will take you & the dog for a ride! Just kidding… I was with Doug James more than 30 years ago on a Fayetteville Christmas Bird Count. We were thrilled to pieces to see a Bald Eagle soar over the K-Mart on College Avenue. No, I didn’t exactly wet my pants, but came close. Thirty years & MANY Bald Eagles later, we now kinda take them for granted. But I still look up in wonder & my brain often flashes to that bird over K-Mart. Today Bald Eagles winter around northwest Arkansas in the hundreds. PS: K-Mart is gone. So maybe this year’s MIKIs around Fayetteville are part of a range expansion? Or maybe we just got lucky? Whatever the ultimate explanation, it’s very cool to be out on a bike, in the middle of town, and have Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow (and not be a dragonfly). Subject: Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville From: Carol Joan Patterson <joanie.patterson AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:49:20 -0700 Mike Mlodinhow saw and adult and 2 or 3 juveniles at Mount Sequoyah.  I guess they are the Skillern kites.  I'd love to see the family! Joanie --- On Fri, 8/27/10, Andrew M. Scaboo wrote: From: Andrew M. Scaboo Subject: Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Date: Friday, August 27, 2010, 1:11 PM I found two Mississippi Kites this morning (8:30 am) at the University of Arkansas research farm on Garland Ave in Fayetteville.  We were in one of our larger soybean fields setting up our furrow and overhead irrigation systems.  About five minutes after we turned the water on I saw the two kites overhead, with their gray/white heads gleaming in the sun.  They started off a couple hundred feet in the air, but they eventually circled down above our field and proceed to hunt for dragonflies for about 5 minutes.  A few fly-byes had to be within 20 - 30 feet in front of us.  No need for binoculars.  They remained in eye sight for about twenty minutes as they glided around in an easterly direction.  During the five or so minutes they were in front of us, I saw the two birds attempt to catch dragonflies three times between them.  They never stopped flying, so I assume they caught and consumed their prey on the fly, but I couldn't quite tell.  Their agility and hunting style reminded me of a cross between a Tern and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  They would break out of their glide with the wing-folding motion of a Tern, but also had the maneuverability in the air of a Flycatcher.  It was quite amazing, although my co-workers were not as thrilled as I.  Maybe they were used to seeing foraging Mississippi Kites in Northwest Arkansas  ;) , but it was a first for me.  And well worth the wait. I'd presume these were the same two seen by Joe, considering the proximity of these sightings.  Andrew ******************************************** Andrew M. Scaboo Post Doctoral Research Assistant Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences University of Arkansas 115 Plant Science Building Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479)-575-2230 Fax: (479)-575-7465 Email: ascaboo AT uark.edu ******************************************** On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 8:38 PM, Joe Neal wrote: I took off on a bike ride this morning during our “cool” weather. Got one block from my house and had 2 Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow right over me. OK, so MIKIs aren’t a big deal in places where they are common, but northwest Arkansas hasn’t been one of those places. MIKIs have been quite a rarity here, always a big prize find on a local field trip. These 2 birds maybe are part of the nesting birds Ricky Corder found in northeast Fayetteville this summer? Or just migrating birds? Whatever, it’s neat to see them in the neighborhood, though I doubt the dragonflies, much sought after by foraging kites, appreciate the change in the local avian line-up. The presence of more MIKIs here reminds me of a time 25 years ago when we started noticing more Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in town. These gorgeous hawks had suffered population losses due to widespread reductions in bottomland hardwood forests throughout their range. But here they were in town and one year in the 1980s they nested in Evergreen Cemetery by campus. Then within a few years we found them in more places. They built a nest right next to the city pool at Wilson Park. These birds became big celebrities because everybody and their child in the pool saw them carrying snakes to the nest. Film maker Carl Hitte made a fine DVD program based upon his study of these birds. See this DVD if you’ve not yet. Today’s MIKIs also reminds me that once upon a time, not so many years ago, the discovery of a nesting season Cooper’s Hawk here was a VERY BIG DEAL. Skeptically, we dashed across town to see a reported nest and returned believers. Now they are nesting basically all over where there are good-sized blocks of forest. They regularly terrorize birds that lounge around feeders. Woo to any American Robins on the lawn, not keeping a sharp look-out in Fayetteville! Cooper’s are back. Note to owners of small dogs: better watch out! Powerful Cooper’s will take you & the dog for a ride! Just kidding… I was with Doug James more than 30 years ago on a Fayetteville Christmas Bird Count. We were thrilled to pieces to see a Bald Eagle soar over the K-Mart on College Avenue. No, I didn’t exactly wet my pants, but came close. Thirty years & MANY Bald Eagles later, we now kinda take them for granted. But I still look up in wonder & my brain often flashes to that bird over K-Mart. Today Bald Eagles winter around northwest Arkansas in the hundreds. PS: K-Mart is gone. So maybe this year’s MIKIs around Fayetteville are part of a range expansion? Or maybe we just got lucky? Whatever the ultimate explanation, it’s very cool to be out on a bike, in the middle of town, and have Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow (and not be a dragonfly). Subject: some of you will find this interesting From: Kimberly Smith <kgsmith AT uark.edu> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:03:07 -0300 http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000459 ********************************************************* Kimberly G. Smith University Professor of Biological Sciences Department of Biological Sciences University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-6359 fax: 479-575-4010 email: kgsmith AT uark.edu Subject: Re: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 From: Leslie Koller <leslie.koller AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:31:28 -0700 Black-necked Stilts are still there this morning (BKNWR), by the dozens! Didn't see any of the other species mentioned though, darn it! Also, I drove by Treadway's Fish Farm today and saw NO TRESSPASSING signs everywhere I used to go...Is this place off-limits to birders now? Also, couldn't find any drained ponds at Hogan Fish Hatchery in Lonoke. Leslie Koller Benton, Saline Co, Arkansas ________________________________ From: Warbling Vireo To: ARBIRD-L AT LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Sent: Fri, August 27, 2010 10:58:22 AM Subject: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 -RBA * Arkansas *Statewide *August 27, 2010 *ARST10.08.27 -Species Mentioned Rufous Hummingbird Swallow-tailed Kite YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD White Ibis Upland Sandpiper Black-necked Stilt Black-bellied Plover -Transcript Welcome to the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert for August 27, 2010, sponsored by the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (ASCA). ASCA meets at 7:00pm the second Thursday of each month. The next field trip is Saturday, September 18, 2010, to Bell Slough WMA, south of Mayflower. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the main entrance. Check the www.ascabird.org website for details on upcoming meetings and field trips. From around the state recent sightings are: At Bald Knob NWR in White County , YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, White Ibis, Upland Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilts, and Black-bellied Plovers were spotted, along with the expected migrating shorebirds. A small group of birders were fortunate to see a. An apparent adult male Rufous Hummingbird arrived at a feeder in Little Rock on August 4. This household hosted an adult male Rufous this past winter, which was a bird that had already been banded the previous winter in Louisiana . Confirmation is pending. A Swallow-tailed Kite reported at the Potlatch Cypress Bend Mill in Desha County has not been seen since early in the week. Thanks for calling the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert. Your contributions make the Rare Bird Alert possible. If you would like to leave a message, please wait for the chirp. Good Birding! Hotline: Arkansas Date: August 27, 2010 Phone number: (501)753-5853 To Report: (501)753-5853, ARBird email discussion list, BRC forms available at ARBirds.org Compiler/Transcriber: DeLynn Hearn Coverage: Statewide -End transcript DeLynn Hearn, M.S. 317 West K St. N. Little Rock, AR 72116 501-771-4686(h) 501-472-8769 (c) www.marykay.com/dhearn1 Subject: Re: Neonicotinold Pesticides From: Larry Witherspoon <ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:24:32 -0500 I want to thank Steve for forwarding my concerns on the Bees/Hummingbirds, and thank you Jeff Harris for your response. Here is the response from Jeff Harris. It makes me feel better about my and many others worries. I hope that the situation will continue to be studied. _____ From: Steven W. Cardiff [mailto:scardif AT gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 5:34 PM To: Larry Witherspoon Subject: Fwd: Neonicotinold Pesticides Hi Larry- I forwarded your message to our local LSU/USDA bee expert and got the below response. Please feel free to post to ARBIRD if you'd like. Best, Steve ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Harris, Jeffrey Date: Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 4:13 PM Subject: RE: Neonicotinold Pesticides To: "Steven W. Cardiff" Hello Steve (and Larry), Without going into a lot of details, the story with honey bees has improved. The Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) episodes of 2006, 2007 and 2008 have subsided. In terms of cause-and-effect, no NEW culprit was indicated. However, it has become increasing clear that those colony losses are the result of multiple factors that include ectoparasites, chemicals in hives and hive materials (e.g. comb), synergism among chemicals and pathogens, viruses and microsporidians, and poor nutrition. A major contribution to the problem has also been the severe stress placed on bees during transportation to pollination of crops. As you can see, just about any combination of these factors can mean trouble for a commercial beekeeper. Now the issue of Neonicitinoids and honey bees is a real mess. Basically, a lot of people (including beekeepers) jumped onto the back of these chemicals (e.g. imidicloprid) - without any data - and accused Bayer and other companies of irresponsibly killing bees by hiding data that would prevent the use of these chemicals in agro-ecosystems. I cannot comment on the truth to any of that scenario; however, a thorough research effort in France has cleared neonictinoids as being the cause of significant losses of bee colonies. People are still figuring out the issues. All of that said, it is also clear that more than 70 agricultural chemicals (fungicides, herbicides and insecticides) have been found as residues in bee colonies. These chemicals have been found in the pollen, beeswax and the bees. So, there is no doubt that flower-visiting bees can accumulate toxins from flowers. However, the top 3 most abundant chemicals found in bee colonies are the 3 chemicals that beekeepers are putting in colonies to kill ectoparasitic mites. To date, it has been difficult to determine what levels of any foreign chemical would be safe for bees (e.g. what are the sub-lethal effects of chronic exposure to these residues?). I say all of this to make the point that it probably will be very difficult to point the finger at just one source of agricultural chemicals on hummingbirds. First, are there any real trends in declines of hummers (if so, which species, etc.), AND can these trends be attributed to agricultural chemical residues on flowers that are visited by hummers. A tall order and many years of research may confirm such a hypothesis, but I don't believe the data is yet available. Until real data are available, everyone should be careful about pointing a finger. Certainly, chemicals in the environment are likely sources of trouble, but it is also irresponsible to say things that cannot be supported (yet). Jeff Harris Subject: RBA--Arkansas-August 27, 2010 From: Warbling Vireo <warblingvireo AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:58:22 -0700 -RBA *Arkansas *Statewide *August 27, 2010 *ARST10.08.27   -Species Mentioned   Rufous Hummingbird Swallow-tailed Kite YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD White Ibis Upland Sandpiper Black-necked Stilt Black-bellied Plover   -Transcript   Welcome to the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert for August 27, 2010, sponsored by the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (ASCA).  ASCA meets at 7:00pm the second Thursday of each month. The next field trip is Saturday, September 18, 2010, to Bell Slough WMA, south of Mayflower.  Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the main entrance.  Check the www.ascabird.org website for details on upcoming meetings and field trips.     From around the state recent sightings are:   At Bald Knob NWR in White County, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, White Ibis, Upland Sandpiper,  Black-necked Stilts, and Black-bellied Plovers were spotted, along with the expected migrating shorebirds. A small group of birders were fortunate to see a.     An apparent adult male Rufous Hummingbird arrived at a feeder in Little Rock on August 4. This household hosted an adult male Rufous this past winter, which was a bird that had already been banded the previous winter in Louisiana.  Confirmation is pending.   A Swallow-tailed Kite reported at the Potlatch Cypress Bend Mill in Desha County has not been seen since early in the week.   Thanks for calling the Arkansas Rare Bird Alert.  Your contributions make the Rare Bird Alert possible.  If you would like to leave a message, please wait for the chirp.  Good Birding!   Hotline:  Arkansas Date:  August 27, 2010 Phone number:  (501)753-5853 To Report: (501)753-5853, ARBird email discussion list, BRC forms available at ARBirds.org Compiler/Transcriber:  DeLynn Hearn Coverage: Statewide   -End transcript      DeLynn Hearn, M.S. 317 West K St. N. Little Rock, AR 72116 501-771-4686(h) 501-472-8769 (c) www.marykay.com/dhearn1 Subject: Re: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville From: "Andrew M. Scaboo" <ascaboo AT UARK.EDU> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:11:51 -0500 I found two Mississippi Kites this morning (8:30 am) at the University of Arkansas research farm on Garland Ave in Fayetteville. We were in one of our larger soybean fields setting up our furrow and overhead irrigation systems. About five minutes after we turned the water on I saw the two kites overhead, with their gray/white heads gleaming in the sun. They started off a couple hundred feet in the air, but they eventually circled down above our field and proceed to hunt for dragonflies for about 5 minutes. A few fly-byes had to be within 20 - 30 feet in front of us. No need for binoculars. They remained in eye sight for about twenty minutes as they glided around in an easterly direction. During the five or so minutes they were in front of us, I saw the two birds attempt to catch dragonflies three times between them. They never stopped flying, so I assume they caught and consumed their prey on the fly, but I couldn't quite tell. Their agility and hunting style reminded me of a cross between a Tern and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. They would break out of their glide with the wing-folding motion of a Tern, but also had the maneuverability in the air of a Flycatcher. It was quite amazing, although my co-workers were not as thrilled as I. Maybe they were used to seeing foraging Mississippi Kites in Northwest Arkansas ;) , but it was a first for me. And well worth the wait. I'd presume these were the same two seen by Joe, considering the proximity of these sightings. Andrew ******************************************** Andrew M. Scaboo Post Doctoral Research Assistant Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences University of Arkansas 115 Plant Science Building Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: (479)-575-2230 Fax: (479)-575-7465 Email: ascaboo AT uark.edu ******************************************** On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 8:38 PM, Joe Neal wrote: > I took off on a bike ride this morning during our “cool” weather. Got one > block from my house and had 2 Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow right > over me. OK, so MIKIs aren’t a big deal in places where they are common, but > northwest Arkansas hasn’t been one of those places. MIKIs have been quite a > rarity here, always a big prize find on a local field trip. These 2 birds > maybe are part of the nesting birds Ricky Corder found in northeast > Fayetteville this summer? Or just migrating birds? Whatever, it’s neat to > see them in the neighborhood, though I doubt the dragonflies, much sought > after by foraging kites, appreciate the change in the local avian line-up. > > The presence of more MIKIs here reminds me of a time 25 years ago when we > started noticing more Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in town. These gorgeous > hawks had suffered population losses due to widespread reductions in > bottomland hardwood forests throughout their range. But here they were in > town and one year in the 1980s they nested in Evergreen Cemetery by campus. > Then within a few years we found them in more places. They built a nest > right next to the city pool at Wilson Park. These birds became big > celebrities because everybody and their child in the pool saw them carrying > snakes to the nest. Film maker Carl Hitte made a fine DVD program based upon > his study of these birds. See this DVD if you’ve not yet. > > Today’s MIKIs also reminds me that once upon a time, not so many years ago, > the discovery of a nesting season Cooper’s Hawk here was a VERY BIG DEAL. > Skeptically, we dashed across town to see a reported nest and returned > believers. Now they are nesting basically all over where there are > good-sized blocks of forest. They regularly terrorize birds that lounge > around feeders. Woo to any American Robins on the lawn, not keeping a sharp > look-out in Fayetteville! Cooper’s are back. > > Note to owners of small dogs: better watch out! Powerful Cooper’s will take > you & the dog for a ride! Just kidding… > > I was with Doug James more than 30 years ago on a Fayetteville Christmas > Bird Count. We were thrilled to pieces to see a Bald Eagle soar over the > K-Mart on College Avenue. No, I didn’t exactly wet my pants, but came close. > Thirty years & MANY Bald Eagles later, we now kinda take them for granted. > But I still look up in wonder & my brain often flashes to that bird over > K-Mart. Today Bald Eagles winter around northwest Arkansas in the hundreds. > PS: K-Mart is gone. > > So maybe this year’s MIKIs around Fayetteville are part of a range > expansion? Or maybe we just got lucky? Whatever the ultimate explanation, > it’s very cool to be out on a bike, in the middle of town, and have > Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow (and not be a dragonfly). Subject: Hummers at Cook's Lake From: Don McSwain <dmmcswain AT CENTURYTEL.NET> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:32:02 -0500 Just a note to anyone interested...we still have hundreds of hummers at Cook's Lake. Still have several adult males and females. About 95% of the birds we are banding are this year's hatch. We are doing our Hummingbird Programs every Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9-12 from the first of September through the second week of October with two Saturday mornings for those who work through the week. These are the dates we will be doing programs: September 2,7,9,14,16,21,23,25 (Sat.), 28, 30, October 2 (Sat.), 5, 7, 12, 14. Call us at 870-241-3373 or email us at dmmcswain AT agfc.state.ar.us for reservations. Subject: East Grand Terre Island, LA From: "Steven W. Cardiff" <scardif AT GMAIL.COM> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:30:44 -0500 LABIRD/ARBIRD- Donna Dittmann and I surveyed East Grand Terre Island yesterday (8/25) searching for oiled birds. Results below. Today we were going to cover East Timbalier Island but canceled due to unexpectedly stormy/windy conditions that would have made boat travel hazardous. East Grand Terre Island spans two 7.5 minute bird atlas quadrangles (our basic survey unit), hence the two intro sections; I combined the numbers into one list. The 3 Great Black-backed Gulls were unexpected (only a couple of other August records for LA, and those are from earlier this month and from last year). Birds listed are considered "unoiled" unless noted otherwise. A very high percentage of clean birds, but we are still detecting small numbers of birds with small amounts of oil. This particular island is an active restoration site and also has lots of oil cleanup activity, so high disturbance and landscape change makes "between trip" comparisons difficult. Location: Bay Ronquille Quad Observation date: 8/25/10 Notes: East Grand Terre Island. Observers SWC, D. L. Dittmann. Coverage 08:58-10:15 from east end of island west to quad edge; 2 parties, 2.5 party-hours and 2 party-miles on foot. Clear, 80-85 F, wind E 10. Searching all accessible, viewable areas of beach, dune, interior flats and bay side flats and mangroves. This is an active restoration site with ongoing heavy disturbance the length of the island along beach and dunes. Dramatic changes since last visit as interior/bay side is prepared for pumping dredge spoil. Area largely flooded with many new baffle levees and assorted heavy equipment/personnel. Fewer shade canopies and port-o-lets deployed along beach, mostly concentrated west of this part of island; assorted restoration workers and a few oil cleanup workers. Various 4-wheelers moving up and down island, lots of dredge pipe being assembled. Scattered soft tar balls along beach, weathered oil on beach flotsam. Booms at east end now removed. Location: Barataria Pass Quad Observation date: 8/25/10 Notes: western 2/3 of East Grand Terre Island. Observers SWC, D. L. Dittmann. Coverage 10:15-13:35 from east quad edge to west end of island; 2 parties, 5.5 party-hours and 4 party-miles on foot. Clear, 85-90 F, wind E 10. Searching all accessible, viewable areas of beach, dune, interior flats and bay side flats and mangroves. This is an active restoration site with ongoing heavy disturbance the length of the island along beach, dunes, and bayside. Many shade canopies and port-o-lets deployed along beach, dozens of oil cleanup workers mainly concentrated along western half of island. Restoration project dredge spoil ops have resumed along eastern 2/3 of island on middle and bayside with numerous new levees and extensive flooding- dramatic differences since last visit, dredge spoil pipes being positioned but apparently no active pumping yet. Interior flats also extensively flooded due to new levees holding water. Scattered soft tar balls plus drift lines of loose disintegrated "boom fabric" along beach, as well as weathered oil on many flotsam objects. Dispersed oil on beach at extreme west end. New heavy duty, piling-supported boom positioned well-offshore. Lots of 4 wheelers, oil cleanup personnel, heavy equipment at west end of island. Number of species: 50 Mallard 1 female plumage, could fly; photos Brown Pelican 112 Double-crested Cormorant 30 (early arrivals on coast) Magnificent Frigatebird 101 several large loose flocks (e.g., 57, 27) moving N off gulf across island. Many adults. Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 17 Snowy Egret 27 Tricolored Heron 16 Reddish Egret 6 adult dark morphs Green Heron 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 14 immatures White Ibis 103 majority adults Roseate Spoonbill 5 Clapper Rail 13 mostly heard-only, except for one half grown black downy chick Black-bellied Plover 23 Many alternate or partial alternate plumaged birds now present Wilson's Plover 16 none territorial, mostly juvs; one with light oil on side Semipalmated Plover 28 American Oystercatcher 6 one pair with imm. (probable family group- 1 ad + imm had trace/light oiling), another pair, one lone adult. Black-necked Stilt 6 Spotted Sandpiper 10 Greater Yellowlegs 6 Willet 84 two oiled birds with trace oil on underparts Lesser Yellowlegs 59 Ruddy Turnstone 7 Red Knot 1 probable SY/ASY in transitional plumage Sanderling 45 adults mostly in basic plumage Semipalmated Sandpiper 10 mostly juvs Western Sandpiper 220 mostly adults, 5 juvs Least Sandpiper 56 mostly adults, but 7 juvs observed; one oiled bird with light oil on side/vent Pectoral Sandpiper 2 singles flying west Short-billed Dowitcher 77 15 juvs, rest adults Laughing Gull 2150 mostly adults, small numbers of juvs; 8 oiled individuals with trace-moderate oil on underparts, another oiled individual dead on beach. Ring-billed Gull 4 adults/subadults Herring Gull 6 one first year bird with trace oil on flanks; 2 other first year birds, 2 second year, 1 2nd or 3rd year Great Black-backed Gull 3 all first year birds; photos Least Tern 315 Gull-billed Tern 2 Caspian Tern 86 mostly adults, a few juvs Black Tern 244 Common Tern 10 1-2 adults, rest first year birds Forster's Tern 3 basic plumage Royal Tern 632 mostly adults, but good numbers of juvs; one adult still with full black cap (late-photos) Sandwich Tern 67 Black Skimmer 440 mostly adults, but one flock of 245 had 44 juvs- probably similar ratio for total; 3 oiled individuals were all juvs with light-moderate oil on underparts Common Nighthawk 11 mix of adults and juvs; none territorial but most assumed to be local breeders Northern Mockingbird 1 juv moving east along edge of mangroves near west end Yellow Warbler 11 7 flying N off gulf, 4 in weedy vegetation/mangroves Seaside Sparrow 7 mostly molting adults (tail molt) Red-winged Blackbird 24 mostly molting juvs Orchard Oriole 4 all female-plumaged immatures moving east This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) Subject: Re: Heat and Hummers From: Janine Perlman <jpandjf AT SWBELL.NET> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:10:09 -0500 Like all bird species of which I'm aware, hummingbirds do indeed pant (bill open) when hot. Best, Janine Janine Perlman Alexander Mt., Saline Co. On 8/26/2010 7:32 AM, Larry Witherspoon wrote: > > Helloooooooooooo! > > This morning is wonderful! The cooler air and the hummers are very > busy. I believe we have around fifteen now. The cooler air and the > fact that the little birds have their bills closed and not open while > they sit got me to thinking. (Desiree always gets nervous when I tell > her I have been thinking. It is like oh noooo). Anyway, and this is > probably a Bob Sargent question, is it possible that the hummers have > there bills open, like dogs when they pant, to cool off or stay cooler > in the heat? Has anyone else noticed this? > > Thanks, > > Larry Witherspoon > > The sounds of the earth are like music. > Subject: Frog Bayou WMA guide From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:20:33 -0500 There is now a guide for birding at Frog Bayou WMA in Crawford County. Go to the web site for Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society at http://www.nwarkaudubon.org/ & look on the left side of the page for "Places to bird in Northwest Arkansas." This opens a series of guides now including Frog Bayou. The guide includes some general information and a map that shows the lay-out of the moist soil units and the general area. Thanks to Richard Stauffacher, web master for NWAAS, the web site continues to grow and provide more information of interest to birders. More guides will be added as they get written. Subject: INFO: Migrants arriving in Gulf. From: Donna Haynes <birdiehaynes AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:18:59 -0500 OOOPPPS! I forgot the link!!! Sorry! http://birding.typepad.com/gulf/2010/08/arriving-migrant-shorebirds-deal-with-oily-coast.html?sms_ss=facebook Donna Haynes West Pulaski CO Subject: INFO: Migrants arriving in Gulf. From: "Donna Haynes" Date: 08/26/2010 7:30 AM I thought some of you might find this blog entry on the American Birding Associations website interesting. Many of these migrant shorebirds are passing right through Arkansas and on to an uncertain future. I can't help but wonder what next years spring migration will reveal about the impacts of the BP oil spill. Donna Haynes West Pulaski Co. Subject: Re: Heat and Hummers and comments From: Bob Sargent <RubyThroat AT AOL.COM> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:02:56 EDT Larry and fellow ARbirders In fact Larry is correct in his suspicions. In hot weather, or even sunny weather when a sunny perched is being used, hummers often sit with mouths opened in an effort to stay cool. Fear not, this system has worked for them since forever. All is well. Larry and all, for what it is worth, we have more southbound hummers in our Alabama yard than I can ever recall. We are approaching 50+ feeders hanging. That includes about 40- 45 Dr. JB's 16 ounce feeders (my favorites), plus 10 or so 30 ounce and 48 ounce PerkyPets units. There are many adult males here and they are still being seen regularly at the Cooks Lake facility at Casscoe, Arkansas. Expect these good numbers to remain until about mid September, at which time we should all expect to see a steady decline in hummer numbers at our feeders. Note, in my opinion, none of this is weather related, but rather a product of the calendar dates. Rufous hummingbirds are now on sites in much of Texas, Maine, Georgia, north Florida, several in Louisiana. Last weeks research project in the Davis Mountain area of Texas produced lots of common migrants such as Rufous, Allen's, Broad-tailed, Black-chinned, Ruby-throated, Calliope, Anna's and large numbers of Lucifer. Seen but not banded were Magnificent, White-eared and Broad-billed. Please leave at least one feeder out all winter and contact Don McSwain or Tana Beasley at Cook's Lake, or me directly at 205-681-2888 or _Rubythroat AT aol.com_ (mailto:Rubythroat AT aol.com) if you have a hummer at your feeders after November 10th or so. Call anyway if you have a "brown hummer" anytime. LIfe is fine when hummers are in the mix. Good birding guys. Bob Sargent Clay, Alabama 205-681-2888 In a message dated 8/26/2010 1:31:55 P.M. Central Daylight Time, ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET writes: Helloooooooooooo! This morning is wonderful! The cooler air and the hummers are very busy. I believe we have around fifteen now. The cooler air and the fact that the little birds have their bills closed and not open while they sit got me to thinking. (Desiree always gets nervous when I tell her I have been thinking. It is like oh noooo). Anyway, and this is probably a Bob Sargent question, is it possible that the hummers have there bills open, like dogs when they pant, to cool off or stay cooler in the heat? Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks, Larry Witherspoon The sounds of the earth are like music. Subject: Sightings: Desha Co. Swallow-tailed Kite - NO From: Dan Scheiman <birddan AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:31:30 +0000 Karl Clampit has not seen any kites by the Potlatch mill since Monday. If that changes I'll let you all know, but for now it looks like the Swallow-tailed Kite is not worth chasing. Dan Scheiman Little Rock, AR Subject: Re: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill From: Leif E Anderson <leanderson AT fs.fed.us> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:37:29 -0500 Greetings akk, It's tough making the call on sightings, but to keep the database as scientifically valuable as possible, it has to be done. Too many times we as birders get our feelings hurt and take it personally when our sighting isn't accepted. We shouldn't, because it's all part of sound science, but sometimes we still do. I know personally I've become annoyed by rejections. Sometimes because I know that was a correct ID, but I was an unknown birder in that state, but mostly I look back on it and realize I was annoyed with myself for not submitting enough information. We birders could help out the records committee by: 1) making some quick field notes. Seeing/ hearing as much as possible. then 2) SUBMITTING OUR RECORDS, putting it on the list server, Ebird, CBC's, BBS isn't enough, it needs to go into the official record for AR. 3) submit only what we saw/heard rather than doing our narrative based on the book. 4) I bet many rejected records aren't because of the wrong species id, but because we failed to document it well or failed to mention what other possibilities we considered. The on-line data form is really easy to use. The very rare bird form is longer, but it should be. The AR curator &records committee do a thankless job, and do it well. I feel ya'll made the right call not just on the Luneau film, the IBWO supporting evidence, but on the records in the db! I've birded around the country and have never seen a checklist better than ours, nor an on-line database as complete as ours! I feel sorry that other folks still question all the supporting IBWO sightings data and ask for it to be reconsidered. Ya'll made the right call in a really tough situation. No need to second guess yourselves, nor reconsider the decision. THANK YOU JOE AND THE ENTIRE RECORDS COMMITTEE for keeping our records, the checklist, and the on-line db one of the best in the country!!!! Cheers, Leif AT Hector Subject: Heat and Hummers From: Larry Witherspoon <ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:32:02 -0500 Helloooooooooooo! This morning is wonderful! The cooler air and the hummers are very busy. I believe we have around fifteen now. The cooler air and the fact that the little birds have their bills closed and not open while they sit got me to thinking. (Desiree always gets nervous when I tell her I have been thinking. It is like oh noooo). Anyway, and this is probably a Bob Sargent question, is it possible that the hummers have there bills open, like dogs when they pant, to cool off or stay cooler in the heat? Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks, Larry Witherspoon The sounds of the earth are like music. Subject: Neonicotinold Pesticides From: Larry Witherspoon <ldspoon AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:57:26 -0500 Since I have chosen not to continue to band Hummingbirds, I wanted to put this information out that I hope will be looked into by Hummingbird Banders and you really smart guys. Back about ten years ago, Perk and I would gather pollen from the hummers and give these samples to the Ornithology lab at UALR, so as to study which and or what flowers the little birds had been into and what other studies were done. Kind of cool! I have not gathered pollen in many years now. So why go to the trouble to gather pollen? I believe many people have heard that the Honeybee populations have been losing numbers slowly over the past five to six years in our country, and the colony collapse has started in Japan this year. The EPA is being sued by the Natural Resources Defense Counsel for withholding details about the impact of Neonicotinoids, (Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, and Thiamethoxam) - a class of widely used pesticides - on Honey Bees and OTHER Pollinators. Key word.Pollinators. Bayer CropScience is the primary producer of these pesticides and maintain the honeybee deaths in Europe was caused by unusual application errors. It is my understanding these kinds of pesticides are band from being used in Europe. A report by Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate at Pennsylvania State University, points out a new study that basically says that Neonicotinoids pesticides levels are ingested at 1000 times higher than in pollen or nectar via water droplets expressed from the leaves. This consumption is high enough to kill the honeybee in five minutes. Hummingbirds get some of their water intake from these droplets! Ok, a lot of people, not only in Arkansas, but around the country have reported that they are seeing fewer hummingbirds. I know that there are many factors that factor in. The report on this list several weeks ago that basically said over the last three years less hummingbirds have been banded, 2000 average per year, meaning at least 6000 LESS hummingbirds average have been banded in the last three years. Again, I realize that there are many factors that must be looked at, one being maybe there are less banders, me being one, and other factors. I reported a little while ago that we have about fifteen hummers now. Well last year at this time we had twice that many. Maybe in the next few days we will have twice as many and I will let you know. I feel that these particular pesticides might be harming, causing reproduction problems, or killing the hummingbirds. I hope that the word will get out so that maybe pollen gathered from the hummingbirds will be studied to see what, if any, pesticides are in the pollen on these birds. How is that for a research project? For more information. http://www.motherearthnews.com Bayer Corporation Fishel, F.M. -- http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi074 /pi088 /pi087 /pi091 /pi224 Nesheim, O.N. -- http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi008 Reigart, J.R. -- United States Environmental Protection Agency Publication, EPA-735-R-98-003 Seyler, L.A. -- http://extoxnet.orst.edu/index.html Thanks, Larry Witherspoon The sounds of the earth are like music. Subject: yank-yank, too-too-too: more Ivory-bill From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:51:47 -0500 When I’m out doing a bird program in public, I am regularly ask if the report of an Ivory-billed in Arkansas is “real”-- or what. I get asked this in the aisles at Walmart. I run into an old friend when I’m out bicycling and the question comes up. I’ll bet a lot of you get asked that, too. For the record: I’m glad the Ivory-bill deniers are out there pushing their views that Ivory-bills have been gone a long, long time. Debate is healthy. I tell folks that a dramatic film like the Zapruder footage that clearly shows John Kennedy being assassinated in Dallas in 1963 has not been collected for an Ivory-bill (I call it, “the moment the bullet hit Kennedy film”). David Luneau’s famous video lacks the unambiguous clarity of the Zapruder film, but then David was in a boat in a swamp, and he wasn’t filming a parade. But there’s other information to support the presence of Ivory-bills, unless you think a fair-sized group of qualified, professional observers are actually unqualified to properly identify birds they see in the field, and unless you completely discount numerous sound recordings. Yes, some sound recordings may be nuthatches, jays, distant shotguns, or duck wings, going yank yank and too-too-too, but ALL? Accepting evidence of the existence of Ivory-bills strains the credibility of many professional ornithologists. It strains my credibility to reject the sightings of every single person who has ever claimed to see Ivory-bills. The Arkansas Birds Record committee reviewed the available evidence and concluded the record was valid. The vote was 4 to accept, 1 to reject. I doubt the vote would be any different now, even though the dramatic searches of 2005 and 2006 did not turn up anything like the Kennedy assassination film. The fact that it was 4 to 1 doesn’t prove Ivory-bills are out there, but it did – and still does – meet standards applied to reviews of other records of rare birds in Arkansas. OK, before everyone starts jumping on me about dragging in the Zapruder film, I apologize if it offends. I’m always a fan of a documentary film. However, I’ve always thought the best evidence to support the existence of Ivory-bills was not the Luneau video, but rather what a handful of very qualified observers have seen themselves in both Arkansas and the Florida panhandle. So now the US Fish & Wildlife Service has weighed in. Appendix B (pages 43-45) in the Recovery Plan for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (signed 16 April 2010) includes statements like this: "Our review of the presented arguments leads us to conclude that the alternative interpretations of Sibley et al. (2006) and Collinson (2007) fail to credibly support their assertion that the woodpecker in the Luneau video could reasonably be a Pileated Woodpecker." And, "In conclusion, the FWS accepts the original Fitzpatrick et al. (2005) interpretation of the Luneau video and other evidence gathered during the last five years as the best information available to support the hypothesis that Ivory-billed Woodpecker has persisted into the 21st Century." If you take a look at this for yourself, read carefully. It is no specific endorsement for the existence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. They are NOT saying they have evidence of an Ivory-bill population out there in 2010. They ARE saying their review supports the hypothesis that the bird in David Luneau’s video was not a Pileated Woodpecker and that the alternate explanation is more convincing. They are saying the Luneau video, and sight records, provide the best evidence for Ivory-bills. Of course, what's evidence for some is not evidence for others. This happens in juries every day somewhere in America. The appendix is only three pages, part of a longer document. It’s worthwhile to take a look IF this is an issue for you. Subject: NWAAS Photo Contest From: David Oakley <gdosr AT cox.net> Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:06:30 -0500 Don't forget to submit your images for the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society Photo Contest. Entry deadline is September 30. Subject: Smithsonian Ivory-bill article From: David Luneau <mdluneau AT UALR.EDU> Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:24:46 -0500 Here is a link to an article in Smithsonian about a recent discovery of previously unpublished photographs by James Tanner. Don't miss the photo gallery. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/100463289.html#=20 www.ibwo.org M. David Luneau, Jr. P.E. Associate Professor of Electronics University of Arkansas at Little Rock 2801 S. University Ave. Little Rock, AR 72204 Subject: MIKIs low & slow - Fayetteville From: Joe Neal <joeneal AT uark.edu> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:38:47 -0500 I took off on a bike ride this morning during our “cool” weather. Got one block from my house and had 2 Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow right over me. OK, so MIKIs aren’t a big deal in places where they are common, but northwest Arkansas hasn’t been one of those places. MIKIs have been quite a rarity here, always a big prize find on a local field trip. These 2 birds maybe are part of the nesting birds Ricky Corder found in northeast Fayetteville this summer? Or just migrating birds? Whatever, it’s neat to see them in the neighborhood, though I doubt the dragonflies, much sought after by foraging kites, appreciate the change in the local avian line-up. The presence of more MIKIs here reminds me of a time 25 years ago when we started noticing more Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in town. These gorgeous hawks had suffered population losses due to widespread reductions in bottomland hardwood forests throughout their range. But here they were in town and one year in the 1980s they nested in Evergreen Cemetery by campus. Then within a few years we found them in more places. They built a nest right next to the city pool at Wilson Park. These birds became big celebrities because everybody and their child in the pool saw them carrying snakes to the nest. Film maker Carl Hitte made a fine DVD program based upon his study of these birds. See this DVD if you’ve not yet. Today’s MIKIs also reminds me that once upon a time, not so many years ago, the discovery of a nesting season Cooper’s Hawk here was a VERY BIG DEAL. Skeptically, we dashed across town to see a reported nest and returned believers. Now they are nesting basically all over where there are good-sized blocks of forest. They regularly terrorize birds that lounge around feeders. Woo to any American Robins on the lawn, not keeping a sharp look-out in Fayetteville! Cooper’s are back. Note to owners of small dogs: better watch out! Powerful Cooper’s will take you & the dog for a ride! Just kidding… I was with Doug James more than 30 years ago on a Fayetteville Christmas Bird Count. We were thrilled to pieces to see a Bald Eagle soar over the K-Mart on College Avenue. No, I didn’t exactly wet my pants, but came close. Thirty years & MANY Bald Eagles later, we now kinda take them for granted. But I still look up in wonder & my brain often flashes to that bird over K-Mart. Today Bald Eagles winter around northwest Arkansas in the hundreds. PS: K-Mart is gone. So maybe this year’s MIKIs around Fayetteville are part of a range expansion? Or maybe we just got lucky? Whatever the ultimate explanation, it’s very cool to be out on a bike, in the middle of town, and have Mississippi Kites soaring low & slow (and not be a dragonfly). Subject: Osprey on Lake Saracen From: Delos McCauley <edelos AT CABLELYNX.COM> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:52:27 -0500 I saw an Osprey on Lake Saracen (Lake Pine Bluff) yesterday. First one I've ever seen there. Delos McCauley Pine Bluff Subject: Sightings: Desha Co. Kites From: Dan Scheiman <birddan AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:19:26 +0000 J. Karl Clampit reports no sign of the Swallow-tailed Kite yesterday or today. Only three Mississippi Kites yesterday and none at the mill today. He'll keep his eyes open and tell me if the STKI returns. Dan Scheiman Little Rock, AR Subject: ASCA Field Trips Sept.-Nov. From: Karen Holliday <ladyhawke1 AT ATT.NET> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:33:07 -0700 Mark your calendars!  Here are the upcoming field trips being sponsored by the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (ASCA).  You do not have to be a member of ASCA to participate in our trips.  Any level of birder is welcome to join us.  You can also go to our website www.ascabird.org for more information about our trips, our monthly meetings, conservation efforts, etc.  If you have any questions or need additional information, you are welcome to contact me off list. Karen Holliday ASCA Field Trip Coordinator Little Rock, AR   SEPTEMBER 18, 2010 BELL SLOUGH WMA—MAYFLOWER, AR We will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the main entrance to Bell Slough WMA, south of Mayflower. We’ll slowly walk the trail looking for migrating fall warblers. This is a good opportunity to learn to identify warblers in their non-breeding (basic) plumage. The trail is gravel and fairly level for easy walking. This will be a morning trip.   Directions:  From Little Rock-Take I-40 West to Exit 135 at Mayflower. Cross over the interstate, then turn left (south) onto Hwy. 365. Go approximately 2.5 miles, look for the brown sign. Turn left off Hwy. 365 onto Grassy Lake Road. Follow Grassy Lake Rd. under I-40 then turn left into the parking lot just after crossing Palarm Creek.     OCTOBER 23, 2010 MOUNT NEBO STATE PARK—DARDANELLE, AR We will meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Mayflower commuter lot off I-40 West at Exit 135. We’ll arrive around 9:00 a.m. at the Visitor Center on top of the mountain for those who want to meet us there. The trails offer sweeping views of the Arkansas River Valley, are gravel and fairly level for easy walking. With a bit of luck, the mountain will still be in fall color. Our target birds will be winter residents. Bring scope, water, snacks, and a lunch. If time permits, we may make a quick stop at Holla Bend NWR. This will be an all-day trip.   The address for the park is: 16728 W State Highway 155, Dardanelle, AR 72834.  Go to www.arkansasstateparks.com/mountnebo for more information about the park.     NOVEMBER 12-14, 2010 ARKANSAS AUDUBON SOCIETY (AAS) FALL CONFERENCE All birders are encouraged to participate in the AAS Conference being held at the Lake Point Conference Center, Russellville, Arkansas.     NOVEMBER 20, 2009 DEGRAY LAKE RESORT STATE PARK—ARKADELPHIA, AR We will meet at 8:00 a.m. at the commuter lot at I-630 and Shackleford Road (I-430) in Little Rock. We’ll arrive around 9:30 a.m. at the park’s Lodge for anyone in the area who would like to join us. Our target birds will be eagles, ducks, mergansers, gulls, and other water birds.  Bring scope, water, snacks, and lunch.  Dress warm, the lake can be windy. We will return to Little Rock after lunch.   Address for the park is:  2027 State Park Entrance Road - Bismarck, Arkansas 71929.  Go to www.degray.com for more information about the park. Subject: Announcement: Audubon Magazine Photo Contest From: Dan Scheiman <birddan AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:53:55 +0000 I'm forwarding this from the folks at Audubon Magazine... Dan Scheiman Little Rock, AR --------------------------------------- Last year the first-ever Audubon Magazine Photography Awards was a big success, and we got hundreds of amazing bird photos. (For a look at the winners and some very worthy runners-up, go to http://www.audubonmagazine.org/issuearchives/issue1001.html .) The 2010 contest is now in full swing, and we're expecting to see even more great photos this year. The deadline is September 7, which means you still have time to send us your best bird shots and compete for some great prizes (trips to the Galapagos, Belize, and Peru; camera equipment; iPod Touch with your choice of 5 Audubon Guide apps). The entry fee for Audubon members is just $15 (there's also a free-entry option). Again, the deadline for this year's contest is September 7. If you'd like to enter, or would like more information, go to http://www.audubonmagazine.org and click on the Photo Awards banner at the top of the page. Thanks, and if you decide to enter, good luck! Sincerely, Jerry Goodbody Managing Editor Audubon Magazine Subject: pelicans From: Judy Blackwell <blackwelltj AT SBCGLOBAL.NET> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:24:31 -0700 Around 50 white pelicans at Lake Saracen in Pine Bluff late Sunday afternoon: one (1) roseate spoonbill inside levee between Pendleton and McGehee. J.Blackwell Saline County Subject: Photos, etc. From: Richard Baxter <dickbaxter100 AT gmail.com> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:42:33 -0500 I just posted a few photos to my pbase site. Try: http://www.pbase.com/dickbaxter/fall2010&page=all Many thanks to J. Karl Clampit for finding/ reporting the Swallow-tailed Kite! Good birding! Dick Baxter Subject: Yellow-headed Blackbird-Bald Knob From: Karen Holliday <ladyhawke1 AT ATT.NET> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:27:46 -0700 I neglected to report that a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was seen by a small group of birders at our ASCA field trip to Bald Knob Saturday.  Robert Herron has two excellent photos of the bird.  Unfortunately, we were not able to relocate the bird.  Also, I need to add four more birders to the trip list, for a total of 35 birders, including a birder from Harrison.  It was quite a crowd Saturday! Karen Holliday Maumelle, AR Subject: Bird Island in lake Ouachita From: Jerry Butler <grandoc AT ATT.NET> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:53:01 -0700 I boated to Bird Island, an Important Bird Area, in the middle of Lake Ouachita in Montgomery County last Saturday  afternoon late.  The martins were just beginning to arrive when we got there.  There were fifty or so cattle egrets, a few snowys, 10 little blue herons, two green herons.  I counted thirteen white ibises, three were in the spotted immature plumage.  I also saw two dark ibises (glossies?) the first I had ever seen at Ouachita.  I'm wondering if any one else has ever seen any there? A storm blew up and forced me to leave at 7:15.  At that time there were only about 400 martins swirling about.  Had I been able to stay later I believer there would have been more.  On Wednesday night at the same location we estimated there were about 30,000 martins at 7:45. I have written an article on Bird Island  that will appear in the Style section of the  Arkansas Democrat Gazette next Monday. Peace and Birds   Jerry Butler Subject: Re: ASCA Field Trip Report Bald Knob NWR From: Kelly Chitwood <kchitwood AT CABLELYNX.COM> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:01:39 -0500 Karen, Several in our immediate group were fortunate enough to photograph and view a Yellow-headed Blackbird. Unfortunately, we didn't relocate it for others to see. I enjoyed meeting new birders and seeing everyone and gaining three life birds. The morning just went by too quickly. Thank you to everyone who invested some time in visiting with my daughter, too. It's great to see young people involved in birding. Bald Knob is an awesome place! Kelly Chitwood Camden, AR On Aug 23, 2010, at 10:21 AM, Karen Holliday wrote: > Twenty-nine birders converged at the Bald Knob National Wildlife > Refuge Saturday, August 23 for ASCA’s August field trip. Our group > included birders from as far away as Camden, Jonesboro, Heber > Springs, Conway, and even Missouri! The day was hot and sunny, but > birds were abundant. We did not see our target birds-Wood Storks > or Roseate Spoonbills. Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Little Blue > Herons, and Snowy Egrets were present in large numbers, along with > one lone American White Pelican. Also spotted was a group of five > immature WHITE IBIS. An UPLAND SANDPIPER close to the road was > early find. Two more were spotted later in the day. Adult and > immature Black-necked Stilts were scattered among the herons and > egrets. Shorebirds included lots of Semipalmated Plovers, Greater > and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitchers, > some still in breeding plumage, possible Stilt Sandpipers, and many > peeps. 3 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were spotted. > > 4 BLACK TERNS skimmed and dove over one of the ponds. Ducks > included Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, and > Mallards. Some of our group checked the swampy area and found 6 > Black-crowned Night-Herons. Another group spotted 5 Yellow-crowned > Night-Herons on one of the levee roads. We made a quick side trip > to see the Bald Eagle nest on the back side of the refuge. It’s an > interesting looking nest. The eagles weren’t present. 16 BAIRD’S > SANDPIPERS were a nice end to a fun day. Our final tally was 51 > species for the trip. > Karen Holliday > ASCA Field Trip Coordinator > Little Rock, AR Subject: ASCA Bald Knob Trip Addendum From: Karen Holliday <ladyhawke1 AT ATT.NET> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:44:18 -0700 With the extensive group of birders on our ASCA field trip Saturday to Bald Knob, it was a challenge to get an accurate count.  I left off Ed Laster, so the final group tally was thirty(!) birders for the trip.  Also, Ed reminded me that several of us saw the Wilson's Snipe.  Ed saw two, the rest of us flushed only one.  Also, the Baird's Sandpipers I listed were actually 16 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS.  Sorry, got in too big a hurry. Karen Holliday Maumelle Subject: ASCA Field Trip Report Bald Knob NWR From: Karen Holliday <ladyhawke1 AT ATT.NET> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:21:48 -0700 Twenty-nine birders converged at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge Saturday, August 23 for ASCA’s August field trip.  Our group included birders from as far away as Camden, Jonesboro, Heber Springs, Conway, and even Missouri!  The day was hot and sunny, but birds were abundant.  We did not see our target birds-Wood Storks or Roseate Spoonbills.  Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Little Blue Herons, and Snowy Egrets were present in large numbers, along with one lone American White Pelican.  Also spotted was a group of five immature WHITE IBIS.  An UPLAND SANDPIPER close to the road was early find.  Two more were spotted later in the day.  Adult and immature Black-necked Stilts were scattered among the herons and egrets.  Shorebirds included lots of Semipalmated Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitchers, some still in breeding plumage, possible Stilt Sandpipers, and many peeps.  3 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were spotted.   4 BLACK TERNS skimmed and dove over one of the ponds.  Ducks included Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, and Mallards.  Some of our group checked the swampy area and found 6 Black-crowned Night-Herons.  Another group spotted 5 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons on one of the levee roads.  We made a quick side trip to see the Bald Eagle nest on the back side of the refuge.  It’s an interesting looking nest.  The eagles weren’t present.  16 BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS were a nice end to a fun day.  Our final tally was 51 species for the trip. Karen Holliday ASCA Field Trip CoordinatorLittle Rock, AR Subject: Bald Knob From: Michael Linz <mplinz AT GMAIL.COM> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:12:51 -0500 This was my first ASCA trip and I had a great time. I hope to be able to go on additional ones. I definitely plan to go back to BK NWR over the next few weeks to see if I can find a Wood Stork or Spoonbill and maybe some night herons. I took a few pictures...they aren't that great but for those that have never been to Bald Knob NWR it will give you an understanding of what is there. http://picasaweb.google.com/OtaLinz/BaldKnobNWR Michael Linz Conway, AR Subject: Info: Swallow-tailed Kite, Desh Co. From: Dan Scheiman <birddan AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:02:43 -0500 J. Karl Clampit, the Potlatch employee who saw the Swallow-tailed Kite on Thursday and Friday of last week, just told me that both days all the Mississippi Kites and the Swallow-tailed Kite circled high and away around noon. He hasn't looked for their return in the evening, but clearly the contingent of kites has or had been coming back to the paper mill each day. Dick says that the Nichols did not see the bird Friday afternoon. Clearly if you wish to have a shot at this bird, you should be at the mill in the morning. Mr. Clampit has seen the bird within 20 feet of the top of the plant's powerhouse structure on which he stood! Good luck. Dan Scheiman Little Rock, AR Subject: Sightings: Crawford & Desha Counties From: Dan Scheiman <birddan AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:14:08 -0500 After spending Friday and Saturday in the greater Fayetteville area for an event on Beaver Lake, Samantha and I birded Frog Bayou WMA to follow up on Joe Neal's sightings. We didn't see nearly as many shorebirds as he and Joanie did: Willet (1), Lesser Yellowlegs (1), Least Sandpiper (1), and only one immature White Ibis (no White-faced). At the West-Ark Sod Farm we saw 16 Buff-breasted Sandpipers and only 1 Upland Sandpiper. As we were leaving the sod farm Dick called about the Swallow-tailed Kite; that was around 10:30. He called again sometime between 12 and 1 to say it was flying high west of the paper mill. We arrived at 3:15. No sign of the Swallow-tailed Kite or even Mississippi Kites. We drove around the area without seeing a single kite. They'd all circled high and moved out. Maybe the bird is there only in the morning? If we had been home in Little Rock instead of stopping to bird Crawford County we might have seen it. Oh well. We did see a Roseate Spoonbill off the levee road, a flock of 25 Wood Storks high overhead, and several Plegadis Ibis far out on the reservoir on Camp Nine Farm. Dan Scheiman Little Rock, AR Subject: Bald Knob NWR From: Mitchell Pruitt <mlpruitt24 AT YAHOO.COM> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:43:40 -0700 I had a great time this morning with the ASCA fieldtrip crew. It was so nice to finally meet everyone. I got three lifers today as well as some good photos and will definitely go back to Bald Knob NWR next year!! Here is the link: http://www.pbase.com/mpruitt/bald_knob_nwr ~Mitchell Subject: RARE: Swallow-tailed Kite Continues in Desha County From: Arkansas Birder <arkansasbirder AT mac.com> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:02:37 -0500 Dick Baxter reports that the Swallow-tailed Kite found by J. Karl Clampit at the Potlatch Cypress Bend Mill in Desha County continues today. Dennis Braddy Little Rock, AR http://www.arkansasbirder.net "I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell." - Harry Truman (no keyword) Conservation, habitat, behavior, distribution, abundance, migration, feeders, birdhouses, ... SIGHTINGS: Bird sightings (not rare), day lists, surveys, yard birds, trip reports FOS: First of season sightings RARE: Rare bird sightings (rare or rarer in AAS Field List) INFO: Spontaneous emissions of information on topics not covered elsewhere RFI: Requests for information (general, ARBIRD-L, bird identification, optics, subscriber polls) LINK: Links to photos, websites FOW: Fellowship of the Wings ANNOUNCEMENT: Announcements of field trips, meetings