Pinelands CBC

Once upon a time skill with a rifle meant food on the table. And birds were food.

And as with anything humans do, that skill was turned into a contest. And that contest became a team game, seeing which team could shoot the most birds in a day.

A skill useful to survival, putting food on the table, became one of excess and needless death, most of the birds (and other critters) shot in these contests left to rot.

A stream at our fist stopping point.

Then at the start of the 20th century Frank M. Chapman proposed a different activity. Instead of killing birds let's count how many birds we can see. And thus the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was born.

And for over a hundred years folks have been going out around Christmas time and counting birds. An incredible scientific resource, a database of bird population changes over the years.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

A Golden-crowned Kinglet, one of four at this site, 

taken by Patty with her phone.

Patty and I have been adding to the database, for Area C of the Pinelands Christmas Bird Count for the seven years we've been here, including this past Sunday, when saw 35 different species (in line with previous years) and 986 individual birds (a bit on the low side, it was windy).

There is still time to get in on the fun. Here is a link to find a CBC near you. So get out and count some birds! It's fun, and it's science!

Thompson-Wright

Three years ago the NJ Conservation Foundation purchased a piece of land approximately two miles from where we live. 

A former cranberry bog, now known as the Thompson-Wright Preserve.

And despite repeatedly saying, each time we drove by, that we needed to check it out, it wasn't until last Thursday that I visited for the first time.

It won't be the last.

It is quite picturesque.

At multiple scales.

And did I mention it is nearby?

🌱  🌿  🍃  🍂  🌲

It won't be the last visit because my friend Russell, who works for the NJ Conservation Foundation, recently asked for volunteers to help identify the plants on the Preserve, in preparation for some restoration efforts to remove invasive species, most importantly Phragmites. And I, perhaps recklessly, volunteered. 

"Recklessly" as I suck at plant identification.

Wish me luck!

Across the Street

Is Budd's Bogs. Literally, I can see their property from my living room window.

I know this because in the before times we chatted with a fellow who was marking the property line. Seems they had recently opened the land to deer hunters and he was seeing if there was access to the hunting area from the road between us. It turns out it is too swampy. But we asked if we could visit, and he said sure.

And then just last Friday, during my lunchtime walk, I met another fellow, coming out from the Bogs, listening. I asked, and he replied a bird he couldn't quite place. We agreed it was a Red-Bellied Woodpecker with an off call. We chatted about birding, and he to told me we could bird the Bogs.

And on Saturday, as part of our World Series of Birding efforts, we did visit.

And it is beautiful back there. Not at all what I expected.

Forested areas with ponds and lakes, along with Blueberry field and Cranberry bogs.

And plenty of birds.

We will be back.

It's for the Birds

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I would be tacking part in the World Series of Birding.

And I did. My, and Patty's, team, the Uncommon Nighthawks, took second place in the Ambassador division, with 224 species seen or heard. Patty and I combined for 92 species, mostly in our local patch. Last year this same team had 148 species, although it is not an apples to apples comparison, as the rules changed again this year.

Mourning Dove, just one of the species we saw this year.

The first place team had 292 species. But they had folks all up and down the Atlantic Flyway. We just had team members in Florida and New Jersey. 

We did pretty damn good if you ask me. And even if you don't.

The point of the event is three fold.

One, for the participants to have fun.

Two, to bring attention to the pastime of birding.

And three, to raise money. Each team is raising money for an environmental, usually birding, cause.

Our team, the core of which is composed of NJ Audubon's Grassland Bird Survey Citizen Scientists, raises money for the NJ Audubon's Citizen Science program.

And here is a link, should you wish to donate to our team's cause:

Uncommon Nighthawks.

I, the team, and the birds thank you.

It's a Bird. It's a Mammal. It's ... Wait What?

These days Artificial Intelligence is all the rage. At least with marketing folks. Although I suppose that is a bit harsh. Although while at he same time no doubt true.

But machine learning is quite a fascinating technology. The stuff of SciFi when I was a kid (I go to stay up late on Fridays to watch The Wild Wild West and Star Trek with my Dad) I now talk the the air in my house, and lights turn on and off. 

Well sometimes. There are still to many, "I didn't hear back from your devices" replies for my liking (to be fair, this may be because of our WiFi, it's Comcastic!).

And then there are examples like this.

iNaturalist, and its sister app Seek, are clever bits of technology, with the audacious goal of allowing one to tack a picture, or sound recording, and have the app identify the species.

Recently I took part in the City Nature Challenge, where one submits as many observations a one can over an extended weekend. And I took a picture of a Bluejay on one of our platform feeders. And to its credit, the first suggestion of the iNaturalist app is Bluejay.

But that second suggestion, Eastern Chipmunk?

A bit of a head scratcher that

And I'm not sure the three gentlemen mentioned at the bottom of the screenshot really want to be associated with the set of suggestions.

Pinelands Midwinter Bird Census

Patty and I have participated in the Pinelands Midwinter Bird Census for several years now, and did so again this past Sunday. The best part is that our territory is our yard.*

So we bird from the comfort of our living room.   

Really. One of the target birds is a Barred Owl. The coordinator of the Census sent out a list of eleven sites, with Google Maps coordinates, for folks to get up very early, dive to, and stand out in the cold and listen for the owl. Out in the middle of the Pinelands.

I heard it from my living room couch while enjoying a cup of coffee. The key is the speaker set up I wrote about in this post. I listen and when I hear the owl I go outside to confirm. Had it called earlier, I would have gotten it from my warm comfy bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Other birds we got from the living room included:

Eastern Bluebirds, a male (left) and female getting a drink at our heated bird bath. Note the lack of snow.

A female Purple Finch. A male also put in an appearance.

One of eight Fox Sparrows. 

The snow has started.

A White-breasted Nuthatch, a species which nests in our yard.

A White-throated Sparrow, one of many (and two blurry American Goldfinch).

A non-blurry American Goldfinch, with a droopy wing. It seemed to fly about without issue. This species was also numerous.

A Dark-eyed Junco. The most numerous species of the day.

A male Northern Cardinal.

A Hermit Thrush. 

Full on snowfall now.

Blue Jay.

Three of the four Northern Flickers that were chasing each other around. And one of five woodpecker species we had in the yard for the census.

A Flicker (on top) and a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the Big Feeder.

The ubiquitous Mourning Doves.

Red (Cardinal), White (snow), and Blue (Bluebird).

A Downy Woodpecker joins a Cardinal and a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the Big Feeder.

One of several Tufted Titmouse that call our yard home year round.

Another year round resident, the Carolina Wren.

A Hairy Woodpecker. All of the woodpeckers are year round residents.

The fifth woodpecker was a Pileated Woodpecker, which I saw in our backwoods. Alas, it was obscured by many branches, and flew off without posing for an image. Also while out back in the woods I had a fly over Common Raven, heard and seen.

I had started, with the owl, at 6:00 am. By noon the snow had started, and we headed back home. Overall it was a good day.

~~~~~~~~~~~

* Well, we've a couple other spots we get out too. But it is our yard, and the woods around us, that are the most productive part of our territory.

For (Very) Large Values of "Native"

Recall from the "Battle of the Septic Mound" posts, that I'm trying to establish a ground cover on the septic mound that is native and does not require mowing.

Today I found this growing there:

I've an app on my phone, "Seek" by the folks at iNaturalist. And Seek ID's this plant as Ivy-leaved Morning-glory:

"Cool", I thought, "A native plant". Based on the big green "Native" tag at the top. Then I read the description, which includes this bit, "... native to the tropical parts of the Americas ...". Now, it may be hot and humid around here, but it ain't the tropics.

Perhaps that word doesn't mean what they think it means?

Weather Rock ...

I have a smart weather rock.

I received an alert on my phone that it was raining here. Of course, as I was sitting home at my desk I could easily see that it was raining. Even better, I had just come inside and had experienced the rain first hand.

This is a screenshot from my phone. Of a weather app that is hyper-local.

The section with the word "MODERATE" (why all caps?) indicates that it is raining out. Of course I already knew that. But this was the first time my new smart weather rock had told me about the rain.

Very cool.

The white thing on top of the post is my new smart weather rock. It is a Tempest weather station from a company called Weather Flow.

And that is why the weather app is hyperlocal, as it is getting data from my yard.

And I think that is cool.

Patty thinks it is nerdly, and wonders why I need a fancy smancy gadget to tell me what she can see by looking out the window.

Seems Patty is a luddite. You learn something new everyday.

☀️  🌤  🌦  🌧  ⛈  🌨  💨  🌬  💦  ☔️  🌪

Should you want to know the conditions here at Piney Place, and not be able to see them for yourself, you can just click this link: Piney Place Weather.

I know, cool right?

The World Series Is On!

Of Birding that is.

And I'm participating this year.

I've done this before ... but is has been a while.

It is a completive birding event (yes, that is a thing!). And a major fund raiser for many nonprofit conservation organizations. My team, the Uncommon Nighthawks, is raising money for New Jersey Audubon's Research Department. If you want to donate you can do so via this link. I know that it is not the best time to ask for donations, so do not feel obligated. But thank you if you do.

It is a very different event this year though. Year 1 of Covid-19.

Whereas in prior years the field of play was the entire state of New Jersey, this year it is a 10 mile circle centered on one's home. And it is not limited to homes in New Jersey.

So, if you live in one of the following states you to can be a World Series Participant!

The 2020 “Special Edition” of the World Series of Birding invites teams to form in New Jersey or in any of the following states, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

If you are interested in joining my team, email me and I'll send the instructions on how to sign up! All  you need to do is keep a count of the different bird species you see on Saturday May 9th.

Although be forewarned, you'll be nagged to pay your $0.00 registration fee!

Wish us luck!

Bird Crisis

Birds, and by extension the entire ecosystem, is in crisis.

Nearly 3 Billion Birds Gone Since 1970. That is, the population levels are down. By 25%.

Image courtesy the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

One out of every four birds. Staggering.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a list of "Seven Simple Actions to Help Birds".

Image courtesy the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Please take what steps you can. Try to do them all. We do.

🐛  🐛  🐛  🐛  🐛

Longtime readers of this blog will know of our "War on Lawn". One of the benefits, both for me and the environment, is less lawn mowing. Another is the habitat provided for what I call "yard critters". A major impetus for our move from lawn to habitat was Douglas W. Tallamy's excellent book, Bringing Nature Home.

Patty and I had the pleasure of hearing, and meeting, Dr. Tallamy at this year's Mothapalooza.

In addition to the talks, Mothapalooza features multiple mothing stations set up and staffed throughout the night. Patty and I visited one, with only the two fellows who set up the sheet as our companions. We had several interesting moths and at one point Patty remarked, "we had this one at Edie's place in the Poconos". To which one of the fellows said, "it is too bad Edie isn't here this year." So I asked, "who should we tell Edie that was disappointed?" "Doug Tallamy", he answered.

One of the points in Dr. Tallamy's very interesting and informative talk (if you have the chance to hear him speak, take it!) was that caterpillar populations are down by close to ninety percent in the period he has data for.

90%. Let that sink in.

If that doesn't set off alarm bells for you then nothing will.

Many birds eat insects. And caterpillars, the jelly donuts of the insect world, are prime food, especially for nestlings. Unlike insects with hard exoskeletons, parts which can't be digested, caterpillars are almost pure nutrition.

The equation is simple: 90% fewer caterpillars = 90% fewer birds.

And this is one of the reasons I was so happy to find some many different caterpillars in the yard this year. It means that the steps we are taking to provide habitat are working.

Dr. Tallamy suggests that cutting the amount of lawn in your yard in half will have significant benefits for you (less moving, watering, and other maintence), critters (providing food and habitat), and the environment (less mowing, more carbon stored in plants). Most of our land is wooded. But of the part that isn't we are well on our way to reaching the 50% goal and should do so next year.

🦃  🐧  🐦  🐤  🦉

Here are some links with additional information on the crisis, the research behind it, and how you can help.

Original scientific paper: 

Decline of the North American avifauna 
   Science 20 September 2019 Vol 365, Issue 6459
   Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Adriaan M. Dokter, Peter J. Blancher, John R. Sauer, Adam C. Smith, Paul A. Smith, et al. 

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/09/18/science.aaw1313   
$30 for full access (or membership in AAAS or a research library)

Cornell has made a PDF of the full manuscript available:
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DECLINE-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf
 (67 pages)

Coverage:

National Audubon:    
   https://www.audubon.org/news/north-america-has-lost-more-1-4-birds-last-50-years-new-study-says
   North America Has Lost More Than 1 in 4 Birds in Last 50 Years, New Study Says. 
   by Jillian Mock

Cornell Lab: 
   https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

American Bird Conservancy:
   https://abcbirds.org/3-billion-birds/#homepage

Science News:
   https://www.sciencenews.org/article/3-billion-birds-lost-since-1970-north-america
   We’ve lost 3 billion birds since 1970 in North America: Scientists found profound losses among both rare and common birds. by Jonathan Lambert

Scientific American:
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/silent-skies-billions-of-north-american-birds-have-vanished/
    Silent Skies: Billions of North American Birds Have Vanished. by Jim Daley.

Washington Post:
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/19/north-america-has-lost-billion-birds-years/?wpisrc
   North America has lost 3 billion birds in 50 years. By Karin Brulliard.  

NY Times:
   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/science/bird-populations-america-canada.html
   Birds Are Vanishing From North America: The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion, or 29 percent, over the past half-century, scientists find.  by Carl Zimmer.

Analysis: 

Blog post "Dynamic Ecology" blog by Brian McGill
   https://dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2019/09/20/did-north-america-really-lose-3-billion-birds-what-does-it-mean/
   Did North America really lose 3 billion birds? What does it mean?  Sept. 20, 2019.

Thanks to Laurie Larson for compiling this list and posting it to the Jersey Birds email group.

Bird of the Day

On the weekend of May 10 - 12 the Rancocas Conservancy held their curiously named annual Rancocas Watershed Bird Day (why not "Bird Weekend"?). I participated Friday morning the 10th birding my yard (and on an incidental basis Saturday and Sunday as we came and went form the house), which backs up to the South Branch of the Rancocas Creek.

I tallied thirty-two species, including a late Saturday afternoon Belted Kingfisher, espied by Patty at the top of one of our willow trees. That bird was clearly lost.

The bird of the day (weekend?) for me is the one shown above (the yellow dot sitting dead center in the bush).

Fortunately it came a little closer.

A Prothonotary Warbler. A great bird to have visiting the yard on any day.

Whitesbog BioBlitz - Fungi

This past weekend was the second annual BioBlitz at Whitesbog, located in the Brendan Byrne State Forest.

Patty, I, and many of our friends were participants. We arrived around noon, found our 'group', added our cooler to the already massed bounty, and had some lunch (food and drinks would continue to arrive throughout the day; we did not go hungry). After lunch we joined Marical Patino of the NJ Mycological Association for a Fungi and Mushroom Walk.

And while spring is apparently not the best time for mushrooms in the Pine Barrens we did find some interesting stuff, as can be seen below.

Eyelash Fungus

All fungi, but for one, I know not the species.

🍄  🍄  🍄  🍄  🍄

As it was a BioBlitz we looked at all living things, not just fungi.

Like this Green Frog.

And this Wolf Spider.

And flowers too.

🍄  🍄  🍄  🍄  🍄

But this walk, mostly fungi. Like these Waxy Cap mushrooms.

After we returned to listen to music, on the new Stage at Whitesbog, and eat some more. Good times.