THERE ARE 28 bluebird boxes on our 2.25 mile trail which we monitor twice a week from March 21 to August 14, 2008. (Black Snake in bluebird nesting box on the trail)
Totals by species: Bluebirds produced 18 broods with 80 eggs and fledged 21 young (26%). We estimate there were at least 9 pairs of bluebirds active, barely replacing themselves with fledges. A major catastrophe was the very cold rainy weather that occurred in early May resulting in the death of 4 broods (bluebirds only --Tree Swallows and wrens were okay). Predators took 50% of the chicks.
Tree Swallows produced 11 broods with 53 eggs and fledged 30 young (56%). Tree Swallows produce only 1 brood per season. Wrens produced 18 broods with 98 eggs and fledged 48 young (49%).
Things we learned: Boxes must be monitored frequently to know what is really happening, and to deal with wasps, bumble bees and ants. In comparison to other bluebird trails, our trail was not as successful as would be expected. Snakes are our major predator--and they are becoming more competent.
Changes: From our experience and reading, we found that the baffles being used are not as effective against predators, especially snakes. Snakes encounter the circular baffle and learn as they grow longer to arch out and go around them.
The Bluebird Monitor's Guide--Cornell Lab of Ornithology Library--has a stove pipe baffle that may help prevent the snakes from accessing the nests. We are working to experiment next year with some new designs and replacement of some of the baffles. We may also move some of the boxes to improve their productivity.
Bob and Peggy Gelhard Bluebird Trail Monitors Mt. Airy, MD
THE CURRENT administration is 'close' to finalizing a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be harmed by agency projects, according to the Interior Department. In an interview yesterday, Interior spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said the Office of Management and Budget was reviewing the rule, which could be finalized in a matter of weeks.
For more than 30 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service have reviewed any federal plans that could potentially protect endangered animals or plants. Under the administration's proposed rule, these independent scientific reviews would no longer be required if the agency in question determined that its activities would not hurt the imperiled species.
The administration is also working at a breakneck pace to dismantle at least 10 major environmental safeguards protecting America's wildlife, national parks and rivers before Bush leaves office in January. With barely 60 days to go until Bush hands over to Barack Obama, his White House is working methodically to weaken or reverse an array of regulations that protect America's wilderness from logging or mining operations, and compel factory farms to clean up dangerous waste.
In the latest such move this week, Bush opened up some two million acres of land in Rocky Mountain states for the development of oil shale, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet. The law goes into effect on January 17, three days before Obama takes office. The timing is crucial. Most regulations take effect 60 days after publication, and Bush wants the new rules in place before he leaves the White House on January 20. That will make it more difficult for Obama to undo them.
IT WAS one of the most awful things I've ever experienced in life. And it happened right here in the city of Nashville, just a block or so from the governor's mansion.
Not in a rural area, as it did to my colleague, but in the city. I still can't get over it, nor can I believe it happened to me, at least where it did. That is until I take a look at my SUV. There's a dent, there's a dent, and there's a dent. I'm lucky, though. It could have been much worse. Some people have lost their lives after it happened to them.
I'm talking about a doggone deer running into my automobile. It happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. There was nothing I could have done to avoid the huge creature; at least, I don't think so. Headed home, just a mile or so away. All of a sudden, I glanced to my left out the driver's-side window and there it was—barreling toward me. I didn't even have time to say a prayer, or even a bad word.
Bam!
Up in the air the deer went after first running into the front driver's side of my automobile. As I attempted to slow down—and I couldn't have been driving more than 30-35 mph—the deer hit the ground and I ran over it.
It was a strange and creepy feeling. "Are you all right?'' some other motorists asked as I stopped my vehicle. Yes, I was lucky. No injuries, just a broken spirit and some damage to my Dodge Nitro.
Just two weeks earlier, there had been a story in The Tennessean quoting wildlife authorities cautioning drivers to pay extra attention from October to early December, when deer mate and are on the move.
Tell me about it. Officials said there are a lot more deer now than there used to be. According to the story, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency estimates about five times more than 30 years ago.
I have seen young deer on the street where I live, but didn't think a whole lot about it with all the development taking place in Nashville. That is, until Saturday night. I don't know that I will ever drive on Franklin Road again at night. Drivers surely need to cautious and alert because a deer can be on you before you know it.
And, my only wish is nobody else will have to experience hitting a deer. It's no fun at all.
Dwight Lewis Editorial Page Editor The Tennessean Nashville, TN
AUDUBON believes last week's election ushered in a new era of hope for our environment; and the people, birds and other wildlife that depend on it.
"Eight dismal years of environmental abuse and neglect are now coming to an end. President-elect Barack Obama and a more environmentally aware Congress offer the promise of leadership and fundamental change. This will translate into improved protections for America's treasured places, and a new lease on life for species in decline.
"The days of secret task forces and backroom deals with polluters are over. In his own words, President-elect Obama said: 'The future of our planet is at stake.' Conservationists have waited years for this opportunity and are strongly committed to helping the new administration and Congress to live up to this great promise."
Betsy Loyless Senior Vice President for Policy National Audubon Society
AS HE assumes the presidency, Barack Obama must make climate-change legislation and investment in green energy top priorities. And, he must be ready to take bold—and politically unpopular—action to address global warming. Read what one of the best "minds" on the environment has to say. Bill McKibben is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. His The End of Nature, published in 1989, is regarded as the first book for a general audience on global warming. He is a founder of 350.org, a campaign to spread the goal of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million worldwide. His most recent book is American Earth, an anthology of American environmental writing.
THE HOUSE has blessed a bill sponsored by Rep. John Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, that would funnel more federal funds into getting kids outdoors and learning about the environment.
The "No Child Left Inside Act," which passed 293-109, was heavily lobbied by environmental groups, including WindStar Wildlife Institute. WindStar is host to youth working on Eagle badges, students fulfilling graduation requirements and teens who want to contribute to the environment by helping to maintain WindStar's demonstration wildlife habitat.
Advocates say federal spending on outdoor environmental education needs to be boosted because kids spend half as much time outside today as did children a generation ago, and are increasingly disconnected from nature. Surveys have found that many youngsters put more than 40 hours a week into playing video games, watching TV or browsing the Web. Research suggests that kids who spend significant time outdoors before they turn 11 are more likely to develop a life-long conservation ethic, they say.
The bill would create new federal grants to states to provide more "hands-on" environmental education, among other things. Even though the measure sailed through the House, supporters are going to have to start all over again next year, to get the Senate to take up the bill.
Meanwhile, for those parents who don't want to wait, encourage your kids to spend an hour outside a day.
By Scott Shalaway ONCE UPON a time, Eastern Elk inhabited the entire state of Pennsylvania. By 1867, the species was extinct statewide, and within a few years the Eastern Elk was gone from its entire range in the northeast.
Today, approximately 700 elk roam six north-central counties. They are descendents of the Rocky Mountain subspecies introduced to the state by the Pennsylvania Game Commission between 1913 and 1926. For decades the population fluctuated. The first scientific census in 1971 revealed a population of 65 animals.
The current herd is healthy enough to sustain a modest harvest. In November, 45 hunters selected randomly from a pool of 17,432 applicants will participate in a six-day hunt.
Though elk are members of the deer family, they are easily distinguished from the ubiquitous White-tailed Deer.
The first clue is size. Compared to deer, elk are huge. At birth, an elk calf weighs about 30 pounds compared to four to eight pounds for a newborn white-tail. A mature bull elk stands about 60 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 600 to 1,000 pounds; female elk weigh 500 to 600 pounds. Mature white-tailed deer, on the other hand, stand about 33 inches tall at the shoulder, and an average buck weighs about 140 pounds; does are smaller.
Differences in the pelage of elk and deer are also quite obvious. An elk's winter coat is dark tan with a darker, shaggy neck and a creamy rump. The bull's antlers are enormous, consisting of one main beam and usually six points. White-tailed Deer are grayish brown in winter. The underside of the large flag-like tail is pure white. Bucks' antlers consist of several tines arising on a single main beam.
Other differences between elk and deer include:
• Gestation: elk 8-1/2 months, deer 7 months
• Elk have short tails, about five inches; deer tails are about 11 inches.
• Elk have a pair of upper canine teeth; deer lack canine teeth.
• Elk are primarily grazers; deer are primarily browsers.
• Elk rarely have twins; Whitetail Deer usually have twins. --Pittsburgh Post Gazette
WindStar Wildlife Institute Thomas D. Patrick Founder & President
10072 Vista Court
Myersville, MD 21773
Phone: (301) 293-3351 Email Windstar
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About Windstar
WindStar Wildlife Institute is a national non-profit conservation organization established in 1986. WindStar is a leader in "connecting people to nature through education." In 1999 the Board of Directors decided to move the headquarters to an award-winning, passive solar and earth sheltered structure, Terra Vista, near Myersville, MD. And, a new, four-acre demonstration wildlife habitat, containing all the elements and key components, was created for members and others to visit and to get ideas for their own properties. Each year new habitat components are added. The Institute is known for its award-winning environmental education and certification programs, web site, American Wildlife Blog and outstanding use of nature photography.
