All, 1.Aren't we as a group harassing that TARGET Snowy? Seems every report has it quickly flying off, relocating, sliding, or some such. Just my two cents.
2.Back in the 70s, I banded raptors at Cape May with Sammy Chevalier who was then employed as bird control officer for JFK. He instituted and continued the trap, band, relocate program for Snowys, Rough Legs and anything else deemed a danger to itself or air traffic. The biggest problem then and now are geese, cowbirds and starlings. Why JFK did not continue the program after Sammy retired is a mystery to me. Back to the present, I understand Gary's argument and as a former aviator even had a bird strike once over Hawaii. It's scary and ain't pretty - even if the airframe survives. We took ours in a radome so it just smelled bad and the aircraft had to be taken out of service. Dave is correct in that aircraft hit birds and not the opposite. However, it is impossible to see a bird in flight when you are going several hundred mph;the first indicator is engine or hydraulic pressure loss. The JFK trap/relocate program needs to be reinstated. The problem is training. Finding a trained raptor biologist with banding experience with large birds will be a challenge. There are very few banders experienced with Snowies let alone other large raptors. One does not graduate from banding passerines or even crows to raptors without training and time to gain experience. handling something like a SNOW is quite a chore and if done sanely is a two person job.Unless JFK is very lucky, or foolishly send out their current staff to do this, I don't see a quick solution. John -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Road Burdett,NY 14818-9626 Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ "Conserve and Create Habitat" On Wed, December 11, 2013 03:12, Linda Orkin wrote: > Gary. I disagree with your analysis of this situation. JFK airport has been > there > for a long time with many winters of Snowy Owl irruptions. It was mentioned > that in > earlier years there was an actual expert there who did trap and relocate. So > what > happened? > > There should have been a non-lethal management plan that could have been > instituted > immediately upon arrival of the owls that would have insured the safety of > both > planes and birds. How could wildlife experts have been caught so unprepared > for an > event that should have been easily anticipated based on historical > occurrences that > all they could even imagine doing was exterminating these northern refugees? > > I am glad they were buried in an avalanche of public outrage. > > I only wish people could be roused as easily on other issues such as the > Department > of the Interior and the Obama administration's ill-considered variance to > allow > Bald and Golden eagle kills at wind farms. > > Linda Orkin. > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Dec 10, 2013, at 7:22 PM, Gary Kohlenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I to applaud the quick activism, but I want to point out that the Port >> Authority's >> responsibility is safety for planes and passengers. I doubt anyone losing a >> loved >> one in a plane crash would be comforted knowing it was caused by a cute >> Snowy Owl >> instead of the more common Canada Goose. Boston and New York have two >> different >> responses to the same situation, but the motivations are the same. I will >> hazard a >> guess that the Port Authority felt a time constraint as they may not have >> had a >> trapping / relocating program in place and the hazard is immediate. I don't >> think >> anybody is calling for a relocating program for Canada Geese. JFK airport >> is also >> much busier than Logan, 7th vs 19th on the airport list. I'm glad they will >> change their response in the future. >> Everyone should cut them just a little slack as the term "bird strike" is >> really >> shorthand for " holy sh** if that bird had gone in the turbine we're toast " >> ! >> Jet turbines will and do suck in anything close, just ask the deck crew of >> any >> aircraft carrier. The engine may not explode into bits with a bird intake, >> but it >> will be wrecked. With any aircraft takeoff or landing is the most hazardous >> time >> and that's not when the pilot wants to lose one or more engines. >> >> Happy Owl watching, >> >> Gary >> >> >> On Dec 10, 2013, at 5:48 PM, Dave Nutter wrote: >> >> Thank-you, everyone, for compiling the information & (making) videos, and >> helping >> the Port Authority mend their ways. >> I was "struck" by one irony in the newscast, however. I'm familiar with the >> term >> "bird-strike," and I had always considered it as shorthand for the pilot >> saying, >> "We've struck a bird." Yet the news reporters and even Fitz talked about >> birds >> striking airplanes. Let's be clear about the relationship. When the airplane >> is >> sitting still, the bird does not slam into it the way a confused bird hits a >> reflective window while fleeing a predator or hits a building or tower while >> migrating and confused by the lights at night. An idling airplane might >> actively >> suck a passing bird into its propellers or jet engine, I suppose, but I doubt >> birds would often fly that close to a stationary but noisy airplane. When >> these >> collisions take place, they are really pretty one-sided. A bird is moving at >> tens >> of miles per hour at most, and although birds are very maneuverable, it >> seems some >> of them don't get out of the way quickly enough or properly assess the >> speed, path >> and danger of moving airplanes. The airplanes, on the other hand, are >> traveling >> several times as fast as the birds, perhaps a hundred MPH on the runway and a >> couple times more than that as they take off and climb. The airplanes are >> not very >> maneuverable, although I have been on a small plane whose pilot decided to >> go >> around and make a second landing attempt because of a flock of gulls on or >> near >> the runway. What happens, occasionally, is that an airplane strikes a bird. >> The >> result destroys the bird pretty much every time, I'm guessing. I know that >> the >> species of bird is sometimes identified using bits of feathers remaining >> inside >> the engine. Airplane windshields are designed to withstand bird strikes. >> Testing >> is done by loading dead poultry into a cannon and firing it at the airplane >> windshield. My guess (correct me if I'm wrong, everybody) is that many bird >> strikes are on the nose, wings, or tail of the airplane, not the engine, and >> therefore do not do noteworthy damage to the airplane, although the engines >> probably take more than their share, based on their size, because they are >> actively sucking air in. Yes, it's a big problem for an airplane when >> anything as >> large, massive, and more-or-less solid as a bird goes through a turbine. And >> we >> want to keep the people on that airplane safe. But let's keep it straight: >> The >> airplane strikes the bird. A Snowy Owl or (far more dangerous) a flock of >> hundreds >> of Canada Geese may be dumb about how to deal with airplanes, but it's not >> their >> fault. >> --Dave Nutter >> >> On Dec 10, 2013, at 03:25 PM, Laura Stenzler <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Here is a list of updates and links to further information about the Snowy >>> Owls >>> of New York airports. Check out the Today Show link, as well as the others. >>> Great stuff! Thanks to Pat Leonard at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for >>> putting >>> this information together and sharing it! >>> Laura >>> Laura Stenzler >>> [email protected] >>> >>> Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 3:02 PM >>> To: CLO-L >>> Subject: [clo-l] Snowy owl udpates >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> You undoubtedly know weâre in the middle of a massive influx of Snowy >>> Owls and >>> we wanted to get you up-to-date on some of the publicity surrounding it. >>> >>> --Fitz recorded an interview last night that was part of a larger news >>> story that >>> ran this morning on NBCâs Today Show: >>> http://www.today.com/video/today/53788217/#53788217 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --We and the press office have sent out a Tip Sheet: http://eepurl.com/KsBTX >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --Kevin caught some video of a LOCAL Snowy Owl this afternoon, a young male >>> hanging around the Lansing fire station. You can see it via Cornell Box >>> here: >>> https://cornell.box.com/s/uk9ftraxfbei8ipf9nmb >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --Of course we have the great 2011 material shot in the Washington State, >>> where >>> the bird lives. Itâs on ourYouTube channel. http://youtu.be/Ufkcx-UqljM >>> >>> --Take a look at even more stunning Snowy Owl video in the Macaulay Library >>> archive, including nesting owls feeding their young. Have a look. >>> >>> --And donât forget to check the latest live eBird map to see where this >>> beauty >>> is showing up! >>> http://ebird.org/ebird/map/snoowl1?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=on&bmo=11&emo=12&yr=cur >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Enjoy! >>> >>> >>> Pat Leonard, Staff Writer/Media Relations >>> Cornell Lab of Ornithology >>> (607) 254-2137 >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> >>> www.birds.cornell.edu >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >>> Welcome and Basics >>> >>> Rules and Information >>> >>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >>> >>> Archives: >>> The Mail Archive >>> >>> Surfbirds >>> >>> BirdingOnThe.Net >>> >>> Please submit your observations to eBird! >>> -- >> >> -- >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics >> Rules and Information >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive >> Surfbirds >> BirdingOnThe.Net >> Please submit your observations to eBird! >> -- >> >> -- >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics >> Rules and Information >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive >> Surfbirds >> BirdingOnThe.Net >> Please submit your observations to eBird! >> -- > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
