[cayugabirds-l] Dryden Lake may be in danger
The Dryden Lake that we know and love is in serious danger of reverting toits primitive original form as a shallow pond. The dam is beginning to leak a bit and its current owner NYS DEC may not wish to spend the money for a proper replacement of concrete nor are they interested in repairing and maintaining the current dam. The town is also resistant to assuming the costs and responsibility for either idea, although there has been a dam there since the late1700s. It is unlikely given the way things happen these days that the dam will be allowed to just rot away. It will probably have to be destroyed soon, for liability reasons, and the lake drained to primitive levels. Such action would dramatically effect the lives of persons throughout theregion. The lake would, in effect, become relatively useless to its current large, diverse crop of users. It would have little appeal to the large number of boaters currently dotting its waters throughout the warmer months. Its shallow nature would limit the species of fish that could live there to pan fish. The current Dryden Lake Park would be difficult to justify and the trail would have little relationship to the remaining pond. The current lake’s great value to birders and naturalists would be seriously reduced. The lake attracts thousands of visitors yearly for all the activities mentioned above as well as for public gatherings, picnicking and relaxing. The loss of the lake would have a major economic impact on the region.It would be truly serious for the area to loose Dryden Lake.We can’t let it happen! Attached is a resolution by the Town of Dryden Conservation Board. To strengthen the case for keeping a dam individuals might write to the NYSDEC Region 7, Fisher Ave, Cortland, N Y 13045 and the Dryden Town Board, 93 E Main St. Dryden, N Y 13053 expressing the importance of the lake to them personally. PS: Feel free to post this any where it might further spread the word. -- 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] Draft 2021 Basin First Records for review
Hi All, I’ve been working on the 2021 Cayuga Basin First Records List. Below my signature is a draft of my notes for review. When Paul Anderson has time to make a new spreadsheet, I’ll fill it out, and he’ll put it on the Cayuga Bird Club website here: http://www.cayugabirdclub.org/Resources/cayuga-lake-basin-first-records where it will remain, accumulating species throughout 2021 as I learn about them and update it. But this initial large list is easier to edit before it’s put up, so please have a look, and if you see things that appear wrong or missing, please let me know. Explanations: The six-letter code for bird species, used in Bird Population Studies when I worked there, has this format according to the number of words in the common name: BUFFLEhead, GREater SCAup, Eastern Whip-Poor-WILl. To avoid ambiguity some words may be abbreviated differently: GRaY, GraY, graY; GReeN, GreeN, greeN; GReaT, GreaT, Great; BLacK, BlacK, blacK; BLUe, BlUe, blUe. Have fun deciphering. I find it easier than 4-letter codes. Records are grouped first by date, so everything first found on New Year’s Day - currently the vast majority - is first. Species first found on subsequent days are all at the bottom. Within each day, the species are in the taxonomic order used by eBird. This is different than the older order used by the National Audubon Society for Christmas Bird Counts on the spreadsheet which Paul recently shared for the Ithaca count. For species which were widespread and found by multiple parties on the Christmas Bird Count, both the observer(s) and the locations(s) are listed as “Ithaca CBC”. Species which were found on the count by very few parties or in very few locations have the observers and locations listed. When a new species is found multiple places on the same day, rather than sort out where it was found first, I try to list all the places and credit all the finders, because I think it’s interesting when when a bird species arrives overnight en masse. My sources include eBird; the Ithaca Christmas Bird Count through Pauls’ spreadsheet, Area Leaders, and individual participants; and other birders who post to CayugaBirds-L, or text to the Cayuga Rare Bird Alert, or who contact me personally. Locations do not include personal addresses but do include road names. Locations also include the township to disambiguate, for instance, the many Lake Roads. Birds considered must be within the Cayuga Lake Basin as mapped in a 1926 botany book by Cornell professors Weigand and Eames. The area was adopted by Lab of O founder Arthur Allen as a reasonable convenient area in which to study a wide and representative array of birds. He also started the tradition of keeping an annual list of bird species found in the basin. The Basin, in its south half, as far north as the townships of Fayette and Scipio, is simply the land which drains to Cayuga Lake. However the north half of the Basin also includes lands which drain north and south into the Seneca River, Clyde River, and Erie/Barge Canal, with east and west limits along those waterways designed to include particularly interesting ecological and botanical areas, so it sweeps west just into Ontario County to include the Junius Ponds and east into the edge of Auburn and include Howland Island. The north edge appears ragged because the land is covered with north-south oriented drumlins which complicate the drainage. If you wonder whether a location is in the Basin, I can look it up. W/ = west of Questions? Feel free to ask. - - Dave Nutter 2021 Basin First of Year Records DRAFT as of 0108 BIRDSP MMDDObserver(s) Location, incl Town SNOGOO 0101Ithaca CBC Ithaca CBC CACGOO 0101Ken Rosenberg, Jay McGowan; Drew Weber Stewart Park, Ithaca; Chiropractic College, Seneca Falls CANGOO 0101Ithaca CBC Ithaca CBC MUTSWA 0101Dave Kennedy; Drew Weber, Ash Ferlito, Cullen Hanks Cayuga L SP / Lower L Rd, Seneca Falls; Montezuma NWR VC, Tyre TRUSWA 0101Dave Kennedy; Wade & Melissa Rowley Montezuma NWR VC, Tyre; Carncross Rd, Savannah TUNSWA 0101Dave Kennedy; Janet Akin; Drew Weber, Cullen Hanks, Ash Ferlito Montezuma NWR VC & NYS-89 overlook, Tyre; Cayuga L SP /Lower L Rd, Seneca Falls WOODUC 0101Dave KennedyOak I, Waterloo GADWAL 0101Dave Kennedy; Drew Weber, Cullen Hanks, Ash Ferlito, Reuben Stoltzfus Cayuga L SP, Seneca Falls; Montezuma NWR VC, Tyre; CR-53, Sheldrake, Ovid AMEWIG 0101Josh Snodgrass; Drew Weber, Cullen Hanks, Ash Ferlito SW Cayuga L, Ithaca; Montezuma NWR VC, Tyre MALLAR 0101Ithaca CBC Ithaca CBC AMKDUC 0101Ithaca CBC Ithaca CBC NORPIN 0101Drew Weber, Cullen Hanks, Ash Ferlito Montezuma NWR VC, Tyre GNWTEA 0101Brandon Woo Gracie Pond, Lime Hollow, Cortlandville CANVAS 0101Dave Kennedy; Drew Weber, Cullen Hanks, Ash Ferlito; Ken
[cayugabirds-l] Reminder: Cayuga Bird Club January meeting - Mon., Jan. 11
A reminder that the Cayuga Bird Club's January meeting is next Monday, Jan. 11 @ 7:30 pm. Also, remember to send your photos [up to 5] by tomorrow (January 9) to our host, Kevin McGowan, at k...@cornell.edu. The Subject Line on the email MUST BE Bird club photo submission Jan2021. Kevin will send an acknowledgement when he receives them. IF you do not get an acknowledgement, contact Kevin again WELL before the meeting date. Remember, you must attend the meeting to show your photos. Dont be shy! Share! Although submission is limited to club members, the meeting is open to all! Register to attend the webinar here: https://tinyurl.com/cbc202101mtg Sponsored by https://www.newser.com/?utm_source=part_medium=uol_campaign=rss_taglines_more Trump: I'm Skipping the Inauguration http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ff891ba944ec11ba3158st02duc1 Troubling Details Emerge in Death of Capitol Officer http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ff891bab627511ba3158st02duc2 Trump Ally Sidney Powell Just Got Sued for $1.3B http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ff891bad70a711ba3158st02duc3 -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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] Fwd: [New post] Mojave Desert bird populations plummet due to climate change
Birders, I thought this would be of interest. Regi “The future of the world is nuts.” Philip Rutter, founder of the American Chestnut Foundation Begin forwarded message: > From: The Cottonwood Post > Date: January 8, 2021 at 11:12:29 AM EST > To: rltcay...@gmail.com > Subject: [New post] Mojave Desert bird populations plummet due to climate > change > Reply-To: The Cottonwood Post > > > > Respond to this post by replying above this line > New post on The Cottonwood Post > > > Mojave Desert bird populations plummet due to climate change > by Stephen Carr Hampton > Two recent papers concluded that many breeding bird species in southern > California and Nevada deserts have declined dramatically due to climate > change. > > In their abstract, Iknayan and Beissinger (2018) summarized, "We evaluated > how desert birds have responded to climate and habitat change by resurveying > historic sites throughout the Mojave Desert that were originally surveyed for > avian diversity during the early 20th century by Joseph Grinnell and > colleagues. We found strong evidence of an avian community in collapse." > > > They re-surveyed 61 sites originally surveyed by Grinnell teams in the early > 20th century (primarily between 1917 and 1947). > Of 135 species assessed (which included some wintering and migrating species, > as well as breeding species), 39 had significantly declined; only one (Common > Raven) had increased. This was in stark contrast to similar assessments they > conducted of Sierra and Central Valley sites, where more species had > increased than decreased and there were no overall declines (not to say there > weren't winners, losers, and range shifts within those regions). > > > Figure 1B from Iknayan and Beissinger (2018). Every study site had fewer > species than previously-- on average each site had lost 43% of their species. > Detailed analyses suggested less rainfall and less access to water was the > primary driver. Habitat change only affected 15% of the study sites and was > of secondary importance. They found no evidence of expansion of species from > the hotter, drier Sonoran Desert (e.g. Phainopepla, Verdin, Black-throated > Sparrow) into the Mojave Desert. > > Consistent with a community collapse, declines were greatest among species at > the top of food chain -- carnivores such as Prairie Falcon, American Kestrel, > and Turkey Vulture. Insectivores were the next most impacted, and herbivores > the least. But the declines affected both common and rare species, both > generalists and specialists. > > > Figure 1B from Iknayan and Beissinger (2018), which I've augmented with > species labels from the database available in the supplementary materials. > Other significant losers (red dots), in order of degree of decline, included > Western Kingbird, Western Meadowlark, Black-chinned Sparrow, Lawrence's > Goldfinch, Bushtit, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and Canyon Wren. The yellow > dots are newly invasive species: Chukar, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Eurasian > Starling, and Great-tailed Grackle. > A follow-up study by Riddell et al (2020), also involving Iknayan and > Beissinger, focused on the thermoregulatory costs -- the water requirements > to keep cool -- for the declining species. They found that "species’ declines > were positively associated with climate-driven increases in water > requirements for evaporative cooling and exacerbated by large body size, > especially for species with animal-based diets." Larger species get much of > their water from the insects they eat. They estimated larger species would > have to double or triple their insect intake to meet their water needs, > though insect abundance is lowest July thru September. > > > American Kestrels were among the biggest losers in the study, struggling to > meet their cooling needs. > Intriguingly, they found that 22 species had actually declined in body size > over the last century, consistent with Bergmann's Rule, and had reduced their > cooling costs up to 14%. These species fared better. Current climate change, > however, is at least ten times more rapid than any previous warming event, > during which many species evolved. They estimated cooling costs have already > increased 19% and will reach 50% to 78% under most scenarios, far > outstripping any species' ability to evolve through the current rapid warming. > > These results stand in stark contrast to the Pacific Northwest, where many of > the same bird species (e.g. Anna's Hummingbird, Turkey Vulture, Northern > Mockingbird) are increasing. This is consistent with projections which > generally show individual declines along species' southern edge and > expansions at the north edge of their range (see Audubon climate projection > maps for individual species). > > Iknayan and Beissinger conclude, "Our results provide evidence that bird > communities in the Mojave Desert have collapsed to a new,
