THE 7^ TENNESSEE WARBLER Newsletter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society August, 2018 Editor, Theresa Graham PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE With spring migration over and fall migration about to begin, I hope all of you are enjoying a fruitful, birdy summer. I try to remind myself how much I look forward to the summer heat when we’re in the throes of the wintry ice and snows. At the moment, a little arctic blast might feel welcome! One thing we enjoy in the summer is travelling and/or planning a trip. Whether you are merely going to a local hotspot for the day or travelling across the globe, the benefits are well worth the effort. We just returned from a trip that is generally not on everyone’s “birding radar”. This area has a generous coastline, ample mountains, copious lakes, stunning waterfalls and even the high desert for those inclined. As you might imagine, the biodiversity is splendid. This new favorite birding hotspot of ours has over twice the area of Tennessee with half of the population. Where might this be you say? Believe it or not....Oregon! Our travels involved an essentially circular path through the state. We started in Portland, then headed to The Dalles through the Mt. Hood National Forest. At one scenic overlook, one could see the snow¬ capped peaks of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helen’s and Mt. Rainier all at once. Travelling southeast towards Burns and Malheur NWR afforded great looks at the high desert birds. We then returned to the eastern Cascades near Bend and Sisters as well as Crater Lake. The final couple of days were spent along the Pacific coast towns with the Coastal Mountain range immediately behind us. So rejuvenating!! So, wherever you choose to go, just take the time and do it. You won’t regret it! Cheers, Steve Routledge The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 2 2018 TOS FALL MEETING & SYMPOSIUM AT MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE October 5-7, 2018 The Tennessee Ornithological Society’s 2018 Fall Meeting and Symposium will be held in Manchester, TN on October 5-7. The Highland Rim Chapter will host the meeting and extends a cordial invitation to all TOS members. Events include the annual symposium, a board of directors meeting and field trips. The Ambassador Inn and Luxury Suites at 925 Interstate Drive (1-24 Exit 110) will be the headquarters for the event. For reservations, call 931-728-2200 or 800-237-9228 or www.ambassadorinn.com . A block of rooms is being held for TOS, and the special room rate is $52 plus tax. There is a complimentary breakfast provided by the Ambassador from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. The Ambassador Inn is reached by taking Interstate 24 to Exit 110 (Route 53—Manchester and Woodbury). After exiting, go North to Interstate Drive; the Ambassador sign will be visible on the right. The Inn is within walking distance of Cracker Barrel, Oak Restaurant and quick markets/service stations. A Waffle House and two Mexican Restaurants are nearby. The Annual Symposium The Annual Symposium will feature invited and submitted talks. A formal call for papers will be issued soon. Meanwhile, if you are interested in making a presentation, please contact Steven Routledge at everout@bellsouth.net . Field Trips Field trips will be held Saturday and Sunday mornings and depart from the Ambassador Inn. Field trips will be to Tims Ford Lake area and Woods Reservoir Lake areas. Board of Directors Meeting The TOS Board of Directors will meet Saturday afternoon. Registration The registration fee is $10. Pre-payment is encouraged although attendees may pay upon arrival. Registration will be from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, October 5, at the Ambassador Inn Conference Building. Send a check made out to Highland Rim Chapter/TOS to: Vida Sherwood, 1326 Harton Blvd., Tullahoma, TN 37388. For additional information on the meeting, contact Lisa A Trail at (931) 728-6045 or (931) 224-6129 (cell), or Iisatrail29@qmail.com . The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 3 The 2 nd Annual Wings of Winter Birding Festival by Cyndi Routledge The 2 nd Annual Wings of Winter Birding Festival (WOW) will take place on January 18-20, 2019. Hosted and sponsored by The Friends of TN National Wildlife Refuge, with over a dozen additional sponsoring organizations, including TOS, this wintertime festival continues to grow in size and popularity. The 2018 festival hub was Paris Landing State Park but due to the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of the Paris Landing State Park Inn, the 2019 Festival has been moved just up the road to Paris, TN. Registration and the Friday and Saturday night events will take place in a wonderful venue at the Paris Fairgrounds and all field trips, as well as lodging, will be centered at the Quality Inn in Paris where we currently have 50 rooms blocked for this event. Accessibility and convenience was a key factor in choosing our current venues, and we believe our committee has found that special balance. The weekend will begin with two special pre-festival field trips on Friday. Once again, we will be offering the behind the scenes tour of Cross Creeks NWR during the closed-sanctuary time. On this trip one can get up close to thousands of wintering waterfowl and perhaps find that ‘one rarity’ among them all. Rick Eastridge, Refuge Manager, and our special guest guide and Friday night speaker, Joel Greenberg, author of A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction, will co-lead this adventure. The second Friday pre-festival trip will be a boating adventure aboard the CQ Princess, cruising Kentucky Lake looking for eagles, waterfowl, gulls and other water-loving winter birds. Damien Simbeck and TNWR Ranger Joan Stevens will co¬ lead this adventure. Whether you choose to stay inside in the heated cabin or venture to an outside deck, you’re sure to have great close-up views of life on the lake in winter. During the heart of the festival weekend, full-day and half-day field trips will be offered both Saturday and Sunday and will include some new and exciting adventures as well as trips to local birders’ favorite haunts. Have you ever been on a Sparrow Stomp?? Dr. Stefan Woltmann will be leading this adventure in hopes of finding the 14 species of wintering sparrows that are in the area. What about a Big Day?? You can join Mike Todd and Mark Greene and spend 12 hours zipping around trying to find the over 100 species that are present in the area during the winter months. Or how about joining our Saturday night Keynote speaker and acclaimed field guide author, Richard Crossley, on one of the two field trips he’ll be leading during the weekend? With 15 different trips scheduled throughout the weekend you’re be sure to find one, two or even three adventures that suit your fancy! Registration for this great event is not yet open, but you can preview all field trips, learn more about our guest speakers, lodging and other general information about this wonderful wintertime event by visiting http://www. friendstnwr.ora/winas-of-winter.html . Bookmark this site and watch for announcements on TN-Birds and in your local TOS Chapter newsletter, for opening and closing registration dates to get your most desired field trips. In the meantime, if you have any additional questions please contact me at routledaes@bellsouth.net . We hope to see you this coming January 18-20, 2019 for this wonderful Wings of Winter Birding Festival!! The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 4 CONSERVATION NOTES A new study shows one in eight bird species worldwide may be threatened with extinction, and cites multiple causes, including the expansion of intensive agriculture. Overall, 40 percent of bird species are in decline, the study found; 44 percent are stable, 7 percent are on the rise, with trends for the remaining 8 percent unknown, Bird Life reported. The State of the World’s Birds, a five-year compendium of population data from the best-studied group of animals on the planet, reveals a biodiversity crisis, driven by the expansion and intensification of agriculture. In all, 74 percent of 1,469 globally threatened birds are affected primarily by farming. Logging, invasive species and hunting are the other main threats. State of the World’s Birds: www.birdlife.org Black-capped Vireo Delisted from Endangered Species Act Thanks to robust conservation efforts, the Black-capped Vireo is being removed from the list of endangered and threatened species. From a low of only 350 birds in the late 1980’s the population has recovered to an estimated 14,000 birds across the breeding range of Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. Kirtland’s Warbler Fully Recovered, Thank to the Endangered Species Act The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose delisting the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler, a gray and yellow songbird that ranges from the Great Lakes to the Bahamas. The bird was one of the original species listed under the Endangered Species Act and over the last 50 years has improved from about 200 breeding males to nearly 2,400 today. Northwestern University Takes Action to Make Buildings Bird-Friendly Working with the local community and experts from American Bird Conservancy, Northwestern is using state-of-the- art solutions to keep birds from dying in collisions with glass walls and windows. The measures put Northwestern in the vanguard among U.S. colleges and universities to implement practical and effective ways to avoid collisions which kill up to 1 billion birds a year in the U.S. alone. American Bird Conservancy ( www.abcbirds.org ) Hawaii Bill Promoting Trap, Neuter, Release, Defeated In a victory for Hawaiian wildlife conservation, Hawaii House bill 2593 failed to make it out of the Senate Committee on Judiciary this session after making it through a joint meeting of the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee and the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs. The bill would have legalized keeping feral cat colonies throughout the islands and would have provided extraordinary legal exemptions for feral cat “caretakers.” Feral cats are a major threat to the state’s endangered species. The bill was opposed by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. ABC: Inside Bird Conservation - May 2018 Editor’s note: TOS is a member organization of the American Bird Conservancy The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 5 NEW MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING AND CONSERVATION STAMP The 2018/19 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation (Duck) Stamp went on sale July 1 st . The stamp features a pair of Mallards about to land on water. The new stamp is valid from July 2018 through June 2019. The stamp costs $25. While the stamp is a federal license to hunt waterfowl, it also allows free entry to any National Wildlife Refuge that charges an entrance fee. Sales during the next twelve months should raise approximately $40 million for bird habitat acquisition for the National Wildlife Refuge System. There is no better simple, cost-effective, and direct way to ensure that wetland, bottomland and grassland habitats are secured than to buy a Duck Stamp. You can get stamps at many locations, including many National Wildlife Refuges, most large Post Offices, major sporting goods stores, and through theAmplex Corporation (1-800-889-8871) or online (www.amplex.com/stamos. html). Ninety-eight cents of every dollar from the sales of Duck Stamps goes to the purchase of wetlands. One third of America’s threatened species make their home in wetlands. Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp WHITHER THE CHIMNEY SWIFT? There is a growing concern in North America about declining swift populations. A number of North American aerial insectivores are in decline, and Chimney Swifts are certainly among them. Is the problem the loss of “aerial plankton” (the arthropod fauna in the atmosphere upon which many aerial insectivores feed), loss of suitable nesting sites, or some other causes taking place in South America, where the species spends the winter? The Chimney Swift may well be an indicator of more serious and widespread problems, including other species as well as Chimney Swifts. Making an extra effort to count these swifts in the United States is appropriate (e.g., via eBird) and sharing more information on nesting sites is warranted. As an example, a recent conference was held at the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts on the subject of declining aerial insectivores and one of the presentations was specifically on the subject of declining Chimney Swifts. Birding Community E-Bulletin, May 2018 You can access all the past E-Bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association website: http://refuaeassociation.org/news/birdina-bulletin/ If you wish to subscribe to the monthly E-bulletin mailing list: http://tinvurl.com/E-bulletinSIGNUP/ _ OCTOBER 31 st DEADLINE \ The deadline date for the December issue of The Tennessee Warbler is October 31st. Please submit all articles, announcements, reports and items of interest by this deadline date. Submit Material To: Theresa Graham, Editor PO Box 366, Oakland TN 38060 (901)465-4263 e-mail: 2araham@bellsouth.net / The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 6 2018 GLOBAL BIG DAY On May 5, 2018, nearly 30,000 eBirders tallied 6,924 species in 24 hours, an incredible 2/3’s of the world’s species. This set a new world record for the number of bird species reported in one day. Importantly, this event provides valuable information to help birds. eBirders gathered more than 1.6 million bird sightings on May 5 th , which are now freely available to researchers, conservationists, and birders everywhere. Columbia led the way, with 1,546 species, followed by Peru (1,490) and Ecuador (1,154). The United States reported 716 species, with Texas (408), California (361) and Arizona (310) setting the pace. eBirders in Tennessee contributed 626 checklists, containing 211 species, and ranking 32 nd among the states. The next Global Big Day is October 6, 2018. For more information and complete results: ebird@cornell.edu Spring Count Data Now Due Spring Bird Count data is now due. If you haven’t already sent your count data to your local compiler, then please do so soon. If you do not have a local compiler, you can send the data to me at the loca¬ tions listed below. Please always remember to send the following: 1. Hours and miles by car, foot, and any night birding 2. Number of observers and parties 3. Any feeder watching hours & names 4. Start and end times for the count 5. Weather data for the count 6. Names of all the participants 7. Anything else about the count, i.e. record high or low numbers, extraordinary weather, all-time species total for your particular count, etc. As always, TOS thanks the participants and compilers for their efforts in these surveys to help monitor our birdlife. These data are important and your efforts are much appreciated. Ron Hoff, TOS State Bird Count Compiler 166 Chahyga Way • Loudon, TN 37774 • 865-567-9679 webe2brdrs@amail.com The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 7 CHAPTER NEWS The JOHN W. SELLARS Chapter had a great spring after a winter of events being spoiled by bad weather. In March Linda Robertson gave a very informative talk on plants that can be used in our Landscapes for attracting birds. In April we prowled around the cedar glades searching for migrating birds. We had a very cooperative Ovenbird that gave us great looks and opportunity to hear its song. In May, we met for a bird outing at the Discovery Center in Rutherford County in hopes of seeing Yellow-crowned Night-herons. We were all treated to close looks of the bird right off the bat. Next, we headed out to Lytle Creek Rd. in search of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Loggerhead Shrikes. Both birds were seen by all. Unfortunately, the Lark Sparrows were not being cooperative. We did locate Lark Sparrows at the Race Track in Wilson county and we found Grasshopper Sparrows at the Rutherford County Landfill. On May 19, we had our annual Picnic. Some of us went out birding early and were able to get several Members on lifer Dickcissel out on Trousdale Ferry Pike and got to view another Loggerhead Shrike at another spot. On June 23, 17 individuals met at the Cedars of Lebanon Nature Center for an informative tour of the Butterfly Garden lead by Linda Robertson. We saw Pipevine Butterflies along with Pipevine and Monarch caterpillars. Next, we headed out into Cedar Forest where we were treated to the aerial displays of Common Nighthawks. We also had a few fly over Chuck-wills-widows. We all enjoyed listening to Whip- poor-will calls and Chuck-wills-widow calls. It was a great spring after a winter of bad weather. Stephen Zipperer Treasurer Knoxville TOS Chapter is feeling the blow of losing two very stalwart members both of whom contributed greatly to the organization over the years. Tony King passed in March and Marcia Davis passed in June. Marcia was a member of the Tennessee Ornithologi¬ cal Society since 1976, and served as Knoxville TOS president in 1982-83. She also served as TOS State Vice President and as a representative on the TWRA Board. Over the years, she led many fall bird counts, walks and motorcades. Since 2001, Marcia had been a guest columnist, writing the Birdlife Column for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Over the last 10 years, she spoke tirelessly to garden and civic groups about at¬ tracting birds. She received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from TOS. Marcia once wrote about her practice of standing on her porch for ten minutes every morning and trying to see how many birds she could identify by song. She also taught a class on building and placing birdhouses for different species. Tony King was a long time member of KTOS and al¬ ways attended the monthly meetings providing a warm welcome to newcomers and the coffee and snacks for after meeting socializing. Most importantly, as an ardent birdwatcher, he guided many novices into a love of bird watching. He closely followed “Operation Migration” and kept KTOS members up to date on the whoopers progress. Locally, he advocated for birds faced with environmental destruction such as from the planned location of wind turbines on a ridge in Crab Orchard. Crowning all his bird watching was the sighting and doc¬ umentation of a Northern Wheatear in Loudon County. Marcia and Tony are very much missed. KTOS continues to work with Seven Islands Birding Park, participating in quail counts and other birding events. Speakers have included: Chuck Estes on his trip to Uganda, Tanzania, and Botswana, Michael Plaster on a trip to Pantanal Brazil (279 species), and Liz Cutrone and Tiffany Hamlin on the best way to do backyard bird feeding. New Officers are: Jimmy Tucker, President; Bill Keeler, Vice President; Morton Massey, Treasurer; and Talissa Ralph, Secretary. Talissa Ralph, Secretary. The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 8 CHAPTER NEWS It has been a busy first half of 2018 for BIRDING KINGSPORT! We have enjoyed great regionally focused programs on “Birding Alaska” by Gary Bailey, “Florida Birding” by Belinda Bridwell and “Birding Brazil” by Dr. Fred J. Alsop III. For our February meeting, we welcomed Justine Cucchiara, Park Manager for Seven Islands State Birding Park, who gave us a great overview of the Park and upcoming plans for continued improvements. Our club made a visit to Seven Islands soon after Justine’s presentation and had a great day of birding. Other field trip highlights included a visit to a local residence to see an evening Woodcock Display and a trip to Sharp’s Ridge, Knoxville, where we saw 10 varieties of warblers, including a Bay Breasted Warbler, plus 22 other species. A special thanks to Tony Headrick, Knoxville TOS, for helping us with the Sharp’s Ridge trip. We also made a trip to Bark Camp Lake in Coeburn, Virginia and were fortunate to arrange a private birding outing at Camp Davy Crockett in Whitesburg. Local bird walks included outings to Winged Deer Park in Johnson City, the Kingsport Greenbelt East Stone Commons (part of the Kingsport Birding Trail) and Laurel Run Park. Another special eventwasa“soup-er” lunch and bird walk hosted at the home of Mike & Susan Hubley on John Sevier Lake, Rogersville. Bill Grigsby gave a presentation on bird identification at the Warrior’s Path Spring Nature Festival in April. Afterwards, several members led groups of new and novice birders on a walk around the park that featured many new arrivals from spring migration. Our conservation efforts also focused on bluebird box monitoring on the Kingsport Greenbelt, as well as assuming responsibility for several existing boxes from two other Kingsport sites near the Meadowview golf course. These efforts have been led by BK members Kim Pruden, Bill Grigsby, and community volunteer Fred Saylor, who have worked diligently to ensure the boxes are monitored and maintained. In the 12 nest boxes on the Greenbelt, we had over 30 eggs in early June. By June 20 th , 13 of those had hatched with 15 more expected to hatch by month-end. For many of the boxes, this represented the second brood! Our 2018-2019 club year began at the end of June and the following officers were installed: President, Helen Sirett; First Vice President Programs, Bill Grigsby; Vice President Activities, Belinda Bridwell; Administration Secretary, Lois Cox; Public Relations Secretary, Kay Ann Smith; Treasurer, Betty Bailey. I would also like to recognize and thank our outgoing officers, VP Gary Bailey who has done a wonderful job of leading our field trips and bird walks the last two years, and Priscilla Little, who has been a faithful and dedicated Administration Secretary, also for the last two years. Birding Kingsport meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm, typically at the Eastman Employee Center in Kingsport. Meeting details can be found on our website at birdingkingsport.com. Helen Sirett, President. The MEMPHIS CHAPTER would like to thank Van Harris, MTOS VP and Program Chair, for the exceptional group of speakers this past fall and winter. We had our Annual Potluck Supper in March, and Dr. Dawn Wilkins from UT Martin gave a presentation titled “Bird on a Stick.” Some TOS members might remember Dr. David Pitts giving this presentation. This Bird on a Stick presentation is as entertaining as it is informative, and Dr. Wilkins’s knowledge of birds is impressive. In April, Kristina Mitchell from Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in northern Mississippi discussed her Bird Banding Program at the Center. Kristina’s banding operation began last year as part of the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) program. Kristina’s team caught and released hundreds of individuals in their first spring and summer, and MTOS is excited to see what other birds they band in upcoming years and what these birds can teach us. Our list of speakers concluded in May with a presentation by NTOS member and former Memphian Danny Shelton, who gave a wonderful talk on “The Birds and Culture of Thailand.” What a treat it was to learn about Thailand from a fellow TOS member! The Tennessee Warbler August, 2018 Page 9 CHAPTER NEWS MTOS spring field trips included outings to Overton Park (an old growth urban forest in Memphis), Meeman- Shelby Forest State Park, Fort Pillow State Park, Shelby Farms Park, Herb Parsons Lake, the Wolf River Restoration Trail, and Wall Doxey State Park (MS). Shelby County birders also contributed to the Traditional Spring Count in May, and attended the Hatchie Birdfest in early June. In May, MTOS elected Allen Sparks as our new chapter Vice President and Program Chair. We also elected Theresa Graham and Van Harris as State Directors and David Blaylock and Martha Waldron as Local Directors. We appreciate these members stepping up to serve TOS next year. MTOS will kick off our 2018-2019 events with our August Potluck at the Mid-South Raptor Center on Saturday, August 18 th . Michael Collins, President It’s been a busy few months for the NASHVILLE CHAPTER of TOS. We wrapped up our 43rd year of Radnor Lake Wednesday morning walks with a record number of participants. This spring and fall tradition continues to grow in popularity and provides a wonderful opportunity for education and outreach. As always, many thanks to those who volunteer to lead the groups, keep track of the bird sightings and then ultimately submit the group list to eBird. Our 44th year of Wednesday morning walks will begin on September 19th and run through October 10th. We invite you to join us as the tradition continues. The NTOS Annual spring bird count took place on May 6th. Rain postponed it from Saturday the 5th to Sunday the 6th, which proved to be a great day to be out and about, as an above average number of birds was seen or heard collectively. Thanks to member Barbara Harris for leading the charge and coordinating both the spring and fall counts for us and to Scott Block for compiling the numbers. Our members have enjoyed a series of wonderful programs this spring secured by our Program Director Danny Shelton. We’ve been to Alaska, the Darien of Panama, and Uganda and learned about native plants through the stories and pictures of our presenters. Tarcila Fox, our Field Trip Coordinator, has done a fantastic job planning and carrying out our monthly birding adventures. We’ve experienced Prairie Chickens in Illinois, birded by kayak on Drakes Creek with Hook Outfitters and enjoyed the birds on our local Greenways. Each trip reaping the bounty of birding springtime has to offer. Our important conservation work continues as well. Not only state-wide through participation with the TOS Conservation and Policy Committee action alerts, but additionally with our own Window Strike Campaign. We are busy soliciting funds and searching for grants that will enable us to install various window treatments at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center to act not only as a deterrent to window strikes there but also as a showcase for what local citizens can do to minimize window strikes at their own homes or places of work. As with any project needing funding it’s been a slow process with three steps forward and two steps back. But the sub-committee continues to push forward and it’s my hope that we’ll have good news to report with regard by 2019. In April NTOS members traveled to Chattanooga for the Annual Spring meeting. Many thanks to the Chattanooga Chapter for a great meeting, new and exciting venues and fun field trips. A good time was had by all. And speaking of Annual Spring Meetings, NTOS will be host for the May 2019 meeting. Our BODs are busy seeking out a venue, setting a date and planning a fun weekend. As soon as we nail down some details we’ll be posting the information to the TOS and NTOS webpages and on TN-birds. Be looking for that information in the weeks ahead. We hope to see everyone at the Fall meeting in Manchester on October 5-7th. Until next time... Good Birding! Cyndi Routledge, President Send corrections & Change of Address Requests To: npmcwhirter@amail.com “THE TENNESSEE WARBLER” Published by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 274 Beech Grove Rd McMinnville, TN 37110 PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID MEMPHIS, TN PERMIT NO. 238 Want to save a tree, unclutter your mailbox and save mailing expense for the Society? If you would prefer to read each edition of The Warbler online at the TOS website http://tnbirds.org/warbler.htm please drop Mac McWhirter an email at npmcwhirter@gmail.com The Tennessee Warbler - August, 2018