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Upcoming Programs and Events
Announcements/Legislative Updates
Sulfide Mining Activities and Updates
Cats and Birds: Spring Reminder
New to Birding?
Urban Birding
Birds in the Media
About Duluth Audubon Society
About Our Logo
Bird-Friendly Coffee
Upcoming Programs and Events
May Program
Please join us for our annual meeting and last program of the season ... learn, socialize, and have lots of fun! Free and open to the public.
Time: Thursday, May 10, 2012, 7 p.m.
Place: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth, 835 West College Street, Duluth. (Click here for map.)
"Bringing Back Piping Plovers"Presented by Julene Boe, Executive Director, St. Louis River Alliance
With a grant from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program, the St. Louis River Alliance, in partnership with the Wisconsin DNR, the City of Superior, and Douglas County, has begun a five-year project to attract nesting Piping Plovers to the St. Louis River Estuary. And since Piping Plovers have not been know to nest locally in over 25 years, this is challenging. Julene will discuss the project in detail and explain why it is paramount to help these fantastic birds.
Photo of Piping Plover provided courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Boulder Birding Big Day
Are you ready for a crazy, fun day? Well, get ready for Boulder Birding Big Day, co-sponsored by Duluth Audubon Society and Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center.
Saturday, May12, is where you want to be ... Yes, you! No need to sleep in when you could be having lots of fun counting as many species of birds at Boulder Lake as you can.
The party begins with sign-up between 6:15 and 6:45 a.m. This includes breakfast treats as you form into groups. Then, from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. get out there and count as many species as your group can ... And remember, you'll have the whole Boulder Lake Management Area to count ... And that's a really big area!
At 11:00 a.m., we'll count up the numbers. By then everyone is sure to be hungry after a frenzy of counting ... So enjoy a really tasty lunch. Wow, what a great way to enjoy the day! Right?!
So what are you waiting for? Sign up now by calling 218-721-3731, or emailing us at boulder@d.umn.edu or das@duluthaudubon.org. The cost is only $5 per person if you pre-register by May 1st. ($7 after May 1st) Pay at sign-in.
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> Looking forward to seeing you.
Spring Warbler Walks with Jan and Larry Kraemer
Tuesday groups:
When: Tuesdays, starting May 1st and every Tuesday in May, at 6:30 a.m.
Where: at the small paved Western Waterfront Trail parking lot across from the zoo, next to the Tappa Keg (not the large lot behind the Munger Inn).
Thursday groups:
When: Thursdays starting May 3rd and every Thursday in May, at 6:30 a.m.
Where: the Park Point Recreation Center parking lot near the soccer field.
These walks are free and open to everyone. Please note: Jan and Larry will be there rain or shine. Come and have fun with Jan and Larry ... Hope to see you this spring!
Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course
June 13, 2012; 9 am to 4 pm.
Wait just a minute -- why protect pollinators? Isn't Audubon supposed to be about birds? Yes, and birds depend on healthy ecosystems, of which pollinators are a crucial component. Habitat that supports a broad range of native pollinators will also be robust enough to support many bird species. It's all connected! Now for the announcement:
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the
Sustainable Agriculture Project at the University of Minnesota Duluth (SAP @ UMD), and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are pleased to announce an upcoming Pollinator Conservation Planning Short Course in Duluth. This full day training will provide you with the latest science-based approaches to reversing the trend of pollinator declines, and will equip you with the recipes necessary to protect and manage habitat for these vital insects. For full course and registration information, click here.
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Photo of Blackburnian Warbler provided courtesy of Wikipedia.
Announcements/Legislative Updates
Controversy Over Cormorants
From Audubon Minnesota: Rebound of historically depleted populations of Double-Crested Cormorants across Minnesota and other states has inspired concern by many fishing and recreational communities that these birds are depleting walleye and northern pike stocks. There is scientific evidence that Cormorants do not have a negative impact on most fisheries. They often nest in mixed colonies with other colonial water birds, such as Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, providing exciting birding.
Audubon Minnesota is working with members to defeat Congressman John Kline’s bill HR 3074, which removes Cormorants from direct federal management under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, leaving their management to the 50 states.
The Audubon movement was started more than 135 years ago to establish federal control over migratory birds to prevent their local exploitation: the opposite of this legislation! Cormorants continue to be singled out unfairly as problem species and need the same protections that all migratory birds receive as they move across our nation. |
Photo of Double-Crested Cormorant provided courtesy of Wikipedia. |
What You Can Do:
Learn more about this issue at the Audubon Minnesota website and help defend Double-Crested Cormorants by calling your Congressional representative today. Five of Minnesota’s Congresspersons are supporters of Congressman Kline’s reckless bill: Representatives Kline, Paulson, Bachman, Cravaack, and Peterson. These representatives need their constituents to remind them that all native migratory birds are important to us and deserve full federal protection. Ask them to oppose HR 3074 and fight any other measure that endanger our birds!
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Sulfide Mining Activities and Updates
Currently no events. Please check back!
Sulfide Mining Videos from Friends of the Boundary Waters:
These short videos explain the potential problems posed by the current plans for sulfide mining in Minnesota:
- The Sulfide Mining Snowplow - an overview of mine proposals near the BWCAW and Lake Superior.
- Fool Us Twice - the history of pollution associated with the kind of new mining which is being proposed in northern Minnesota.
- Our Most Precious Resource - information about the risks to clean water posed by sulfide mining proposals.
- Clean Water, Healthy Communities - sulfide mining threatens northern Minnesota's economy
- When the People Lead - what Minnesotans can do about sulfide mining.
Also, visit our introduction to sulfide mining.
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Cats and Birds: Spring Reminder
Our friends at Wildwoods Rehabilitation would like to remind us that cats are non-native predators, and every year, free-roaming cats kill and orphan millions of birds and small mammals. Cat predation hurts many species of native birds, as well as the native predators that depend on them for food. Keeping pet cats indoors is clearly the right thing to do for wildlife.
Photo provided courtesy of Pat Thomas.
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Indoor cats live far longer, healthier lives than cats who are allowed to roam (17 years vs. less than 5 years, on average). Indoor cats are sheltered from the many dangers that shorten the lives of outdoor cats--cars, getting lost, parasites and diseases, as well as human and wildlife predators. |
Many people are learning about ways to keep confined cats contented. For tips on how to make your cat into an indoor cat, click here. Many people are constructing or purchasing "catios," that is, outdoor areas for cats that keep them and their would-be prey safe. For more information on outdoor cat enclosures, click here.
If your cat has caught an animal, bring the animal to a wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible. Even if you do not see an injury, there are likely tiny puncture wounds from your cat’s teeth, and bacteria from your cat’s mouth will kill the animal in a day or so if it does not receive treatment.
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New to Birding?
We're in the process of building a birding page, but in the meantime, here are some links to help you get going if you're a "newbie."
For starters, visit Audubon's Get Started Birding page, for tips on learning the arts of observation and listening. For a slightly more in-depth presentation, visit their How to Bird page.
For help with learning to identify bird species, visit National Audubon's Online Guide to North American Birds, which covers all of North America's regular breeding birds-approximately 580 species - as well as an additional 180 or so non-breeding species that regularly or occasionally visit North America north of Mexico.
To see photographs (and hear calls of) bird species to which National Audubon is devoting special care in protecting, visit their Bird Profiles page. Species on this list include those on Audubon’s WatchList, the top 20 Common Birds in Decline, birds under threat from climate change, birds affected by the Gulf Oil Spill, the top 30 Birds to Help in your neighborhood and the Waterbird Conservation program.
And finally, for the basic courtesies observed by birders, visit National Audubon's Birding Etiquette page.
Birding is good for mind, body, and soul, which is why it is a hobby for nearly 50 million Americans. The idea of learning about the hundreds of North American birds may seem daunting, but if you only learn to recognize one new bird per month, in five years you'll know sixty new birds!
Photo of American Woodcock; courtesy of Wikipedia.
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Urban Birding
Most of us think of birding as an activity we do in forests, fields, marshes, and other natural areas. However, there is plenty of bird life right in front of us in the middle of the city. Urban birding is important, not just because it gets city dwellers connected with wild things, but also because it can motivate people to make their cities more bird- and nature-friendly.
To learn more about urban birding, visit the website of David Lindo, an expert photographer, bird watcher, and communicator on the urban birding experience. Also, some of the projects on our Citizen Science page are geared specifically for urban birders, like Cornell's Project Pigeonwatch, Project Feederwatch, and Celebrate Urban Birds.
Photo by Franklin Vera Pacheco; courtesy of Wikipedia
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Birds in the Media
Watch streaming views of a Red-tailed Hawk nest high above a Cornell University athletic field. The female, Big Red, who is banded on her right leg, is currently incubating a clutch of eggs, and hatching is imminent. She is almost nine year old. The male, Ezra, is at least seven years old and is banded on his left leg.
Watch a short clip on the beauty of hummingbirds and other pollinators, from Wings of Life, a film not yet released in the U.S.
Pat Thomas
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About Duluth Audubon Society
Duluth Audubon Society is celebrating its 39th year of promoting the enjoyment of birds, educating the public, and protecting habitat for our region’s diverse plant and animal species. Established as the Duluth Bird Club in the early 1940s, we became a chapter of the National Audubon Society in 1972. Our mission is to promote education, conservation, and research focused on birds, and to preserve and enhance the ecological diversity of the greater Duluth area.
As members of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, we believe in the power of collaborative grassroots efforts to protect and restore Minnesota’s natural environment. Please browse our website to learn how you can make a difference in the lives of birds and other species native to our unique urban wilderness.
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About Our Logo
We chose the birds in our logo to highlight the important role water and marshlands play in our region. Ecosystems at the boundary between water and land are vital to so many of our birds, as well as other important wildlife species, but unfortunately many of these areas are also considered by humans as “prime real estate.” In addition to development, many of our rivers, lakes, and marshes are being degraded by runoff from industry, households, and mines.
Despite these challenges, the Great Blue Heron has a conservation status of “Least Concern,”* partly because it was never over-hunted for its plumage, and also due to its greater tolerance for pesticides compared to other bird species. The Heron prefers to nest in trees near water, and reminds us to keep our shore areas well-planted, preferably with trees and other plants native to our region.
photo of Yellow Rail by Dominic Sherony
Unfortunately, the Yellow Rail--a small, secretive, wetlands bird--has not fared as well as the Heron. It is now a Minnesota Species of Greatest Conservation Need bird, as well as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Priority Species for this region. The Yellow Rail breeds in shallow marshes and wet meadows, and its numbers have declined mainly due to habitat loss. We hope that the establishment of the St. Louis River Estuary/Minnesota Point Important Bird Area will help expand this bird’s habitat. Click here for more information on the Yellow Rail.
*According to the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN).
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Bird-Friendly Coffee.
Traditionally coffee plants were grown in the shade as an understory plant. In order to increase yields, growers started raising coffee in large plantations under the sun. This change caused habitat loss for birds as plantations replaced forests.To protect birds, many producers are switching back to growing coffee in the shade, thus preserving precious forest habitat.
Although some brands of coffee are labeled as shade grown, they do not necessarily grow under biodiverse conditions that qualify as prime bird habitat. For that reason, different certification labels have arisen to help consumers figure out what sort of habitat their purchase supports. The Rainforest Alliance provides an excellent certification label. Caribou Coffee has committed to sourcing 100% of their coffees from Alliance certified farms, and is on track to achieve this goal by the end of 2011. You can also purchase Rainforest Alliance certified coffees from Mt. Royal Fine Foods and Whole Foods Co-op.
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center offers another label carrying stringent standards for certification. Coffee and Tea Ltd. of Minneapolis sells the Smithsonian certified brands Peru 'La Florida,' Guatemala 'Guaya'b,' and Colombia 'Mesa de los Santos.' They will ship to the Arrowhead region. We will post other purveyors of high-quality shade-grown coffee as we discover them.
Photo courtesy of nps.gov.
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A shade-grown coffee farm loving bird: The Baltimore Oriole nests in the eastern and central regions of North America, and winters in southern Mexico and Central America. One of its favorite winter habitats is biodiverse shaded coffee plantations. Next time you enjoy a cup of your favorite coffee, think of the oriole, and consider buying bird-friendly coffee. |
The Rainforest Alliance also certifies shade-grown chocolate -- look for the logo with the little green frog!
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