| Summary: | Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). I EXARS TR CK BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY Thursday, April 16, 1998 - Chapter mejell/niQliiiH - 8 1998 Git Along Little Birdies. Hummingbird Ro 7 p.m. -Social Time 7:30 p.m.-Speaker's Program Free and open to the public Ruble Center, 419 E. Magnolia (east of McCullough; take Mulberry exit off 281) For VIA public transportation, take Route 5 (St. Mary's/McCullough/North Star Mall) to Magnolia What is a hummingbird roundup? Why is the Texas Parks and V)fildlife Department conducting one? Should you be a part of it? How long has this been going on? For the answers to these or any other questions you may h;;we about hummingbirds, come and hear the hummingbird roundup trail boss, otherwise known as Christina McCain, Project Coordinator, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In addition to revealing the rationale behind the roundup, McCain will provide information on hummingbird feeder care and gardening to attract hummingbirds. She will discuss which hummingbirds are where in the state of Texas and answer questions on the life styles and cycles of hummingbirds. BEXAR AUDUBON ELECTION TIME at the APRIL 16, 1998, CHAPTER MEETING The President Reports . New New Slate Nominated for Upcoming BAS Term We have now completed the slate of nominees for the BAS Board election to be held at the April '98 meeting. The slate as reported in the March newsletter showed an empty slot for a one-year term to complete the final year of Mike Mecke's At-Large position. Mike, of course, has accepted the nomination for VP (with the caveat that he will not follow on as President next year). Also reported to you at the March chapter meeting, LibbyBeckhelm asked to have her name.removed from the slate due to work commitments. The nominee for the one-year Board Member term is Jane Nelka. .Jane is a graduate student at Southwest Texas State University, where her major is wildlife biology. Jane has performed two seasons of fieldwork at Kerr Wildlife Management Area on her master's thesis which focuses on the impact of prescribed burns ori the black-capped vireo. She is a Master Naturalist and is a part of the Black-capped Vireo Monitoring Research Project that I am leading for the Friends of Friedrich Park Science Committee. For one ·of the 2-year Board Member positions, we have nominated Janis Merrit from the S.A. Botanical Center. Janis has worked extensively with the Natural Initiatives and Master Naturalist programs and is very excited by this opportunity. The slate in the March newsletter also included a nominee for another 2-year Board Member position, Maria Elizalde. Maria is a teacher who is currently on a sabbatical working on her graduate degree. Chris Dullnig has agreed to serve a second term on the board for the third 2-year Board Member position. With the exception of Mike Mecke replacing Dick Pipes as Vice President, the officer positions remain the same as last year. I, rather foolishly 8~). agreed to remain as President, Betty Minyard will remain as Treasurer, and Deborah Robinson, Secretary. Kim Hoskins and Harry Noyes will continue on the board in the second year of their 2-y~ar terms. I am very pleased with this new slate and commend the Nominations Committee (Bill Woller, Katie Nava-Ragazzi, and Susan Hughes) for a job well done. The diversity of our new board is amazing. The variety of backgrounds and expertise will serve the chapter well. I am especially pleased that our board has links to a wide·variety of oth(jlr organizations with similar interests. BAS has always been at the forefront of forming coalitions with other groups to work issues an!:! problems. The links between the various organizations can only be strengthened by our new board. All this excitement will be offset to some degree by the loss on the board of Dick Pipes, Katie Nava-Ragazzi, and John Langan. We have not lost them completely however. Dick remains as the Chair of our Conservation Committee and Katie as the Chair of our Education Committee. There is a mail-in ballot on page 7 for those of you who can't make it to the meeting but would like to participate. -Bill Sain It's BIRDATHON time! See Page 3 for information on how you can participate. BEXAR AUDUBON' SOCIETY Chapter of the National Au?ubon Society P. 0. Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 7~209 . 210-822-4503. GOALS The Chapter's primary goals are to promote species and habitat conservation and environmental education in the community. OFFICERS President Bill Sain (71634.230@compuserve.com) . 408-7731 Vice Pres. Richard Pipes . (rjpipes@flash.net) . 830-281-2452 Treasurer Betty Minyard . (mink@texas.net) . ~44-6128 Secretary Deborah Robinson (=Bill Sain's) . ~ . 493-4663 Past Pres .•. Harriet Wiygul . (harriet@texas.net)· . 534-7505 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Term Ending 1998: Chris Dullnig . (cdullnig@juno.com) . 830-980-8156 John Langan . (luby491 @aol.com) . , . 491-06.92 . Katie Nava-Ragazzi (72703.411 @c_ompuserve.com) . 804-1226 ~- ·' ' Term Ending 1999: Kim Hoskins . 696-3780 Mike Mecke . (mmecke@saws.org) . 520-6252 Harry Noyes . 490-3124 COMMITTEE CHAlRS . Adopt-a-Park Bill Woller . 223-3281 Aud. Adven. Betty Minyard . (mink@texas.net) . 344-6128 Birdathon Bill Sain (71634.230@compuserve.com) . 408-7731 Conserv. Richard Pipes . (rjpipes@flash.net) . 830-281-2452 Education Katie Nava-Ragazzi . (see above) . . 804-1226 Hospitality Nancy Johnson . . , . 655-1338 Memb. Susan Hughes . : . . . 532-2332 " . (wordwright@compuserve.com) Naturallnit. Tom Wilson . (twilsond@AOL.com) . 492-4799 Outings Dawn Garcia/Mel Richardson . 226-3807 " . (drrnel@sprintmail.com) Programs Chris Dullnig . (cdullnig@juno.com) . 830-980-8156 Publicity Rita Heck . . 212-8031 SAEN Coord. Bill Sain . (see above) . 408-7721 Ways & Means Bill Sain . (see above) . 408-7721 Bexar Tracks Tom Wilson . (twilsond@AOL.com) . 492-4799 Editors Jill Sandeen . . . . . . . 830-980-3277 usondeen@NetXPress.com) . Fax: 830-438-7393 Bexar Tracks is your newsletter. We welcome your contributions. Next deadline: April17, 1998 Please fax Jill or email Tom as above; diskettes Spring is upon us and the birds and plants are certainly happy. The mockingbird is singing as I type this. Yesterday, I saw flock of cedar waxwings in my yard. What a beautiful sight. The golden-cheeked warblers are back at Friedrich Park and black-capped vireos have also been found in the Austin area. Don't forget the bumper crop of wildflowers this year. Spring is also a busy time for Bexar Audubon. March was busy with events like the SAEN meeting and Master Naturalist Awards Banquet. April is even busier, as you see in this newsletter. The most important April event, however, will take place at our meeting. We will be holding elections for next year's officers and three At-Large members of the BAS Board of Directors. The spring explosion of birds and_wildflowers 'was equafed by our Nominations Committee (Bill Woll~r. Katie Nava-Ragazzi, and Susan Hughes) who have provided us a bumper crop of nominees. Thanks for a job well done. I also want to thank everyone who accepted a nomination. 'You are in for a wonderful ride. - Another annual spring event for BAS is the Birdathon. Additional information is provided elsewhere in the newsletter, but I urge each of you to participate in the event itself, or to offer your support for someone involved. Birdathon is one of our biggest fund raisers every year, providing the majority of our funding for education programs. Please call me at 408-7731 if you would like to be or sponsor a Birdathon participant. -Bill Sain Birders Need Sustenance Too Help Make BAS Meetings Friendly and Nourishing Birders and their friends cannot live by Roger Tory Peterson alone. They need a little something to eat and drink and maybe some nice name tags so they can greet you like they remember your name. · Nancy Johnson, who has selflessly carried on almost singlehandedly to provide food, drink and sign-in materials for BAS monthly meetings, needs a little help. This is very rewarding yet undemanding work, occurring just once a month and providing opportunities to serve those luscious goodies you seldom eat elsewhere. If you can help with Hospitality, and we suspect you can, please call Nancy Johnson at 655-1336. The entire Society will appreciate it. and hard copy should be sent to Tom Wilson, . . . 13227 Hunters Spring, San Antonio, TX 78230. Darkest after Dawn? Outmgs Cha1r Needed-NOW , Please Help BAS Members Get Out and About Printed with soy ink on recycled paper. Visit Bexar Audubon's Web Site: http://www.audubon.org/chapter/tx/bexar/ Suggestions and contributions are welcome. Please contact Jill Sandeen at jsondeen@ netxpress.com April1998 For active and arm-chair birders, Dawn Garcia has been a godsend. As Outings Chair she has provided a varied menu of interesting places to go and things to see. And, she follows up with enchanting accounts of her pilgrimages for those who couldn't make it. Thanks from all of us for a job well done, Dawn. Now, Dawn is moving to Seattle leaving the outings chair vacant. It needs to be filled and BAS NEEDS YOU! Volunteers-the position could be shared-please contact President Bill Sain at 408-7731. Upcoming Chapter Meetings: May 21 - Dr. Fred Bryant - Research at Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute June 18 - Speaker TBA -Atlantic and Gulf Coast Fisheries and the Environment 2 Bexar Tracks May 3. 1998 Chapter Outing Birdathon 98! It's springtime and the migrants are beginning to flow through Central Texas. A great time for a Birdathon. What is a Birdathon? · Birdathon is Bexar Audubon's mq.in fundraising effort of the year. P<!rticipants obtain pledges from their friends, family, and even strangers, anybody who wants to support the Bexar Audubon education programs. Education programs? Yes, all funds raised will be used for our environmental education efforts, such as providing Audubon Adventures packets for classrooms throughout our region. But how does it work? Three simple steps are all it takes. First, you ask folks to pledge a lump sum or so much per species of bird. Then you go spend a day birding. Finally, you collect the pledges and submit them to the chapter. Sounc:ls easy ,doesn't it? That's because it is! Fun, too! What's that? You don't know where to go birding? That's another easy question. Try your backyard, Friedrich Park, Olmos Park, Mitchell Lake, Brackenridge Park, or any of the other wonderful birding places in the area. Join a Wild Bird Center outing or Ernie Roney's tour of Mitchell Lake. Or, you can join me on Sunday, May 3, which is when I plan to spel']d the entire day birding. If you don't want to go birding, you can still participate by pledging your support of someone who does. Support me, if you would like. Last year I saw 92 species despite a very stormy morning. J'm hoping to break 1 00 species this year, so feel free to support my Birdathon. Now that you are convinced that you want to participate, what do you do next? Another easy step . just call me, Bill Sain, at 408-7731, and let me know. If you want to raise your own funds, I'll send you a pledge form. If you want to support my Birdathon by pledging 50 cents per species or a lump sum of $25 (any amount will be appreciated), call and let me know that too. Help us educate the citizens of Central Texas about our environment. February 28 Recap BAS Team Demonstrates Real Earthwise Living It was a beautiful day for communing with nature and who better to point a stellar crowd of John James Audubon wannabees in the right direction at Leon Valley's Earthwise Living Day but a dedicated half dozen BAS members. The event, held Feb. 28 at the Leon Valley Community Center, is one of the area's prime attractions for nature lovers. Most of the several hundred who turned out stopped at the BAS table for birding information, conservations tips or just to share a wildlife experience. The BAS team felt especially rewarded by the keen interest in Audubon educational programs expressed by the many teachers who stopped by the table. Those who shared this pleasant and profitable experience were Maria Elizalde, Betty Minyard, Anita Reeves, Deborah Robinson, Bill Sain and Tom Wilson. The latter functionary, as acting events person, expresses heartfelt thanks to all. -Tom Wilson April1998 -Bill Sain February 19 Chapter Meeting Recap Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve For those of you who missed the February membership meeting, we learned many interesting facts about the Purple Martins from Phil Beckhelm at the Wild Bird Center. We were also honored to have two guests visiting us from the Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda located in Queretaro, Mexico. Roberto Pedraza and Luis Navarrette, with sonie help from translator Sandra Skrei, told us about the amazing work this group has accomplished in Queretaro. Following their all-too brief comments, our chapter presented them with a donation of $100 to 'support their organization. Later in the month, I received a very nice thank-you card from Roberto and Luis. Dear Bill, Thank you very much for inviting us to the meeting, letting us talk about our program and for your generous donation. We will send you information about our work in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, and remember, you are always welcome to the reserve. We will use your donation for building a new enclosure for [wildlife] rehabilitation. · Sandra Skrei added a note which said, in part, "Thanks again for your hospitality, the guys were very impressed with your interest and generosity." -Bill Sain Editor's Note: Visit GESG's Web Page at www. woodrising.comlgesg/homepage.htm March 4 Master'Naturalist Awards Banguet A Good Time Was Had by All. . Good food, good music, and good people. This was the combination that made the Master Naturalist Awards Banquet such a success. Tom and Dolores Wilson and I represented Bexar Audubon at this banquet. ·Awards went to Texas Audubon Society Advisory Board member John Karger for his education work at Last Chance Forever Birds of Prey Conservancy; BAS member Walt Schuman for his efforts to protect the Walker Ranch area; SAWS for their efforts to conserve water; and Mike Ortman of Destiny Homes for his support of wildscaping. · · The Master Naturalist program is an offspring of the Natural Initiatives group which operates as ·a committee of Bexar Audubon. Natural Initiatives was founded by then-BAS President Susan Hughes and BAS member Barb Deluca. -Bill Sain 3 Bexar Tracks March 2 SAEN Recap Environmental Education Opportunities Explored An overview of how environmental education is becoming a part of the standard p.ublic school curriculum and the variety of environmental education resources available in the San Antonio area was provided to an audience of 75 interested persons at the San Antonio Environmental Network's Public Issues Forum held March 3 at the Witte Museum. Catriona Glazebrook, Executive Director of the Texas Audubon Society, Austin, told the forum that the Audubon Society is playing a major role in making environmental education part of the standard curriculum, including the newly revised standard for the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Assessment Test), which now will include sections on science covering ecology, interspecies interdependence, systems analysis, and ecosystems. Recent environmental disasters such as the Dustbowl of the thirties led to the enactment of considerable legislation to protect the environment and create improved environmental education programs. Glazebrook noted, however, that much of the legislation has been ignored. Audubon and other organizations are shifting their emphasis to education as a better means to improve the nation's long term environmental awareness than court battles, which are subject to reversal as new judges take the bench. Glazebrook said that Texas Audubon is a member of the Texas Environmental Education 2000 (EE2000) Committee, which is made up of environmental educators and various representatives from agricultural, oil, and other industries, as well as private property interests working to assure balance and accuracy in state environmental education programs. Texas is a major factor in the national EE2000 program since it is the number one textbook-publishing state. The committee is working to make sure the facts are in the textbooks. Environmental education is one of the best subjects teachers can use to teach kids "critical thinking skills" and how to see relationships. It is interdisciplinary and can tie in social science and history, as well as the environmental sciences. After Glazebrook's remarks, Linda Ximenes moderated two panels: Providers and Educators. Provider Panelists 'were: Kim Ayala and Patrick Shriver of SAWS Deb Buhler of the San Antonio Zoo, Nanc~ Herron of Texas Parks and Wildlife, Ann Parrish and Dr. David Ribble of the Mitchell Lake Wetlands Socity. Educator Panelists were Jeri Garza and Dave Oberg representing elementa'ry and middle schools, respectively. A substantial number of educational resources were outlined varying from the SAWS Adopt-a-Creek program to the TPWD Electronic Field Trips to Big Bend and the Brazos River. While many participants agreed that staff and fuMing limitations make it difficult for ·many students and schools to participate in environmental education on a regular basis, they also agreed that the Forum had made them aware of many more opportunities for help· in this area and of professional development resources for the teachers involved. A detailed report on the Forum is available on the BAS web page. After awarding the door prizes (generously contributed by Wild Bird Center, A Little Nature Store, and BAS), the tickets drawn from a hat loaned by Larry Allen of the Seco Creek Water Quality Project, NRCS, the attendees then adjourned to a wonderful table of refreshments generously donated by HEB and spent the remaining time visiting the displays and collecting educational material from BAS, SAWS, NRCS, TPWD, SA Zoo, Last Chance Forever, Cibolo Nature Center, Texas Forest Service, Wildlife Rescue, and the Sierra Club. Thanks to the organizers (BAS: Katie Nava-Ragazzi, Harry Noyes, Kim Hoskins, Chris & Carolyn Dullnig, Mike Mecke, Dick Pipes, Betty Minyard, Deborah Robinson. SAWS: Connie Henderson Suzanne Weedman, Patrick Shriver, Ki~ Alspaugh, Kim Ayala) and all the participants for a very successful and educational program. -Jill Sandeen I The Great Texas ~i~ding Classic is April 25- May 2. For up-to-date information, 1 VISit www.audubon-tx.org/classic/classic.html April1998 4 March 19 Chapter Meeting Recap SNOW GEESE IMPERIL ARCTIC ECOYSYTEMS Bryan Sullivan, biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said waterfowl managers are faced with a unique conservation dilemma that won't be easily resolved and is certain to create a controversy no matter what corrective paths are chosen. The problem is that snow goose numbers are at unprecedented highs and rising. The sheer numbers of these colonial nesting birds has resulted in serious damage to their arctic nesting grounds. In the most intensively studied salt marsh breeding area, the geese have permanently destroyed 35% of the land with the rest ''damaged" so badly that it offers little or no reliable food source for the birds. A 118-page report of the Arctic Goose Habitat Working Group (AGHWG) says "that the light (snow) goose population must be reduced by as many as one million or more birds to stave off a potentially drastic decline of these birds and to prevent ancillary losses of other species due to the ·devastation of their habitat and nesting ·grounds by the snow geese." If this trend continues 200 other species of birds and a variety of other wildlife will be in serious jeopardy of collapse. Beginning around 1970 the snow goose population began to climb from about one to one and half million to an estimated four to five million in 1997. Biologists attribute much of this growth to rapidly expanded food sources resulting from new and expanded agrairian practices in their wintering grounds. Winter survival rates increased dramatically resulting in a significant increase in the breeding bird population on the nesting grounds. What to do about the problem? At this time no formal decision on a management plan has been announced, but the AGHWG has proposed a series of science-based recommendations as possible steps in reducing the mid-continent snow goose population to about 50% of current numbers by the year 2005. These management strategies will most likely have to include some kind of population control by hunting (first choice) or commercial harvest, trapping and/or culling. Changes in refuge management practices are also under consideration. BAS is most grateful to Bryan Sullivan for his excellent presentation. -Richard Pipes, Conservation Chair Bexar Tracks BIRD TAL Duck and Run No Sanctuary For Beleaguered Birder Editor's note: Claire Drenowatz, former Bexar Tracks editor, filed this report on TEXBIRDS So I'm outside yesterday afternoon, hanging clothes on the line. Yeah, I know it was raining, but that's anoth.er story. And this mockingbird starts getting feisty. I ignore it, mostly, but after it connected with my head twice, I decided the clothes could wait, and I retreated inside. That wasn't enough for the bird. It followed me through the patio door. Now I've got a teed-off mockingbird flying around the house, and six suddenly very attentive cats thinking "lunch ." The bird, apparently realizing it had made a mistake, stopped flying around and perched on the hanging light fixture in the living room, looking very perky and flicking its tail a mile a minute. The cats are getting in each others' way dancing around underneath, doing that funny chattering noise cats make when they WANT THAT BIRD. And the bird figures out, I think, that the cats can't get it. It's sitting on its perch, squawking. Meanwhiie, while holding a napkin to the blood trickling down the side of my face, I'm picking up-or trying to-one cat at a time and locking them in the bathroom. (I should explain that I couldn't just open the patio door and leave it open, cuz the cats aren't allowed outside, and I sure didn't want to have to round them up if they escaped.} About the time I'm down to two cats (the hardest to catch, of course), the darn bird starts making that chattering cat noise. Of course he did. He's a mockingbird, right? I finally had to call in a neighbor to help me chase the two remaining cats into my bedroom (my living room has no doors, so I can't trap them). Then I open the patio door. And the bloody bird decides he'd rather stick to his perch and keep making that noise. • I gave up and headed for the nearest clinic (and got some very weird looks when I told the nurse how I got a puncture wound in my scalp). When I got home an hour later, the bird was gone, so I closed the patio door, turned the now very cranky cats loose, and life returned to normal-more or less. Readers Check In They've Been Here All Along, Hawks Dine at Local Feeders Editor's note: No sooner did we go to press with the story of hawks finding repast at backyard feeders in Dallas, Sierra Vista and Sugar/and than these opportunists turned up right here in San Antonio. The following, from former Bexar Tracks editor Claire Drenowatz appeared on TEXBIRDS, Audubon's Texas listserv. v· . My parents and 1. both have feeders. We're 1]1aybe 6 m1les apart along I. , Judson Road on the northeast side of San Antonio. Their older housing ~ development is more heavily wooded, but our yards are similar-pretty heavy tree cover. My house is closer to open farm land. One other difference is timing: my father puts food out at 4:00 in the afternoon ONLY. I refill the feeders in the morning before I leave for work, and when I get home at night if it's still light out. On weekends, I may fill them several times a day. We both have kestrels regularly visit our feeders. The ohe at my house has been successful in taking white-winged doves, which amazes me considering their relative sizes. It shows up at various times of the day, if the weekends are any indication. The one at my parents' house so far as we know has caught only sparrows and Inca doves, and to their knowledge, comes ONLY after the feeder has been filled up. I've tried to get my dad to vary his feeding times, but he's a blood thirsty sort, and he roots for the kestrel. Then BAS member Mari Bailey, who lives in northwest San Antonio called to report that she has had both merlins and sharp-shinned hawks at her feeders for the last 6 or 7 years. First the merlins appeared, she said, and then the sharp-shinned. Ms Bailey passed on a home recipe to fill the suet feeder either when you can't get to the store or on a regular basis. Toast two slices of whole wheat bread and apply peanut butter to one side of each slide, spread bird feed, hulled sunflowers or whatever on a plate and lay the bread-peanut butter side down-on the plate. Clean sides together, the slices should fit in the standard square wire suet holder. April1998 5 Get Up Close & Personal Free Bird-Banding Lessons To Be Held in San Antonio Are you looking for new birding frontiers? The world of bird banding awaits you! Imagine capturing a bird and knowing that it traveled to Latin America and returned to the exact spot at which you banded it the year before! Holding, observing, and then releasing such birds is an experience not soon forgotten. The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP), based in California, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a global approach to the preservation of birds and their habitats. IBP coordinates a large-scale, cooperative program called Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS for short) that consists of a network of about 450 banding· stations throughout North America. These stations are operated by a wide assortment of contributors, including government agencies, nonprofits, educational institutions, independent banders, and IBP itself. Birds banded at MAPS stations provide critic;:ally-needed information on productivity and survivorship that can help· identify the causes of long-term population declines. MAPS is endorsed by the Biological Resources Division and Partners in Flight and relies primarily on the contribution of data from volunteer cooperators. IBP operates six MAPS stations on Camp Swift. Now, due to funding cuts, the operation of these stations must be turned over to local vol.unteers. IBP will provide training in bird-banding techniques during April and May, 1998, to Bexar Audubon Society members (a·$550/person value) in return for the operation of one (or more) of these MAPS stations. The operation of a MAPS station entails a total of only nine days a year, all of which can be on weekends, between May and August. · Trainees will assist IBP interns at their assigned stations through the summers of 1998 and 1999 before assuming responsibility for them in 2000. By participating, you will contribute in a direct way to a program that is fast becoming a key element in an integrated monitoring program for North American birds. For more information, please contact Ken Burton at The Institute for Bird Populations, P.O. Box 1346, Point Reyes Station, CA 94956; phone 415-663-2051; FAX 415-663-9482; E-mail birdbanding @compuserve.com. Bexar Tracks Hot off the Presses Austin Birding Guides Editor's note.' BAS prexy Bill Sain recommends this map and hope that it might be a model for a similar enterprise for the San Antonio area. The story is from TEXBIRDS. The Austin Birding Guide has been printed and has just been released. This is a site guide with a large map highlighting 30 prime birding sites within 30 miles of downtown Austin. It is an awesome piece. The 17 X 22.5" sheet is folded down to a 4.5 X 8.5" pamphlet. It is laid out wonderfully with informative text and a readable map. The text was done by four UT-Austin Dept. of Geography students and then "doctored up" by Texas Partners In Flight (TX PIF) and Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept (TPWD). For detailed credits, order your own guide and see for yourself. This project was a partnership between TX PI F, TPWD and Travis Audubon Society (TAS). TAS paid most of the printing costs and will be giving these out for free! To order by mail, send a long (legal-sized), self-addressed stamped ($0.32) envelope to: John Kelly, 7442 Dallas Dr., Austin, TX 78729-7770. Free Texas Birder's Directory Available The long-awaited "Birder's Directory of Texas: Birding Clubs, Licensed Bird Banders and Reporting Bird Sightings" by Texas Partners In Flight and Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) is hot-off-the-press. "This 33 page, 5.5 X 8.5" booklet has three distinct 'chapters' in it. It profiles .47 birding clubs in the state, 45 licensed Texas bird banders and tells where to send your Texas bird sightings (by county) for ABA's Field Notes and TOS's Newsletter," says Cliff Shackelford of Texas Partners In Flight. This booklet is awesome and a must for all birders of any activity level. Best of all, it's FREE thanks to printing costs paid for by Exxon (in Baytown) and the Great Texas Birding Classic at TPWD in Austin. If you want one, send self-addressed, $0.78 postage-paid, 6 X 9" clasp envelope (one booklet per address, no e-mail or phone orders, please) to: Cliff Shackelford, Texas Partners In Flight, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744. Thanks to all the club representatives and bird banders that contributed to this endeavor. It's nice to see so much great information in one handy booklet. Don't wait! They are sure to be gone soon. Things Are Always Changing In Austin Editor's note: Austin birder Chuck Sexton provided this report on TEXBIRDS Texas observers are now well aware of the expanding range of the white-winged dove and the increase in numbers in urban areas that has occurred in little more than the last 1 0 to 12 years. Today, I did a bird count that added quite an exclamation point on this continuing story. I chose to walk the 6.2 miles from my home to the office and I made a casual census of birds along the way. WHITE-WINGED DOVE-2000; great-tailed grackle -800; European starling-700; common grackle-80; blue jay-70; house sparrow-30; rock dove-12; cardinal-6; Inca dove-4; Carolina wren-4; American robin-3; mourning dove-3; mockingbird-2; red-bellied woodpecker-1; downy woodpecker-1; yellow-rumped warbler-1. White-winged Doves literally outnumbered all other birds *combined* in this particular urban census. l'lllet you know that this part of town generally had been the epicenter of winter roosts of white-wings over the last few months, but those roosts broke up several weeks ago. This count was not a cluster of roosting birds. The estimate of 2000 white-wings is comprised of singing, displaying, courting birds, literally spread out everywhere along the census route (in the residential areas, not the commercial corridor). That worked out to about 25 - 30 birds per city block on average. Many observers have expressed concern about the fate of mourning doves and/or Inca doves in urban areas due to the influx of white-wings. White-wings are not yet establishing themselves much away from the confines of urban habitats so MODOs and INDOs have little to worry about overall, but in cities we may be seeing a real change. The only equivalent changeover I can find in historical records involves the great-tailed grackle and common grackle which about 75 years ago were quite the reverse in abundance as I found today (Simmons, "Birds of the Austin Region", 1925). April1998 6 500.000 and Counting Great 1998 Backyard Bird Count Puts El Nino's Effect on the Map Ithaca, NY, March 2-Nearly 14,000 bird enthusiasts across North America reported more than half a million birds at feeders, local parks, and natural areas in the Great '98 Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 20-22, co-sponsored by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Findings are revealing that El Nino may have influenced where certain species spent their winter months. "Meteorologists predicted that El Nino would mean a milder winter for those of us here in the Northeast, and we're seeing evidence of that in bird distributions," says Frank Gill, Vice President for Science at NAS. "The Great '98 count is showing American robins and red-winged blackbirds in far greater numbers than usual farther north, including Maine, Vermont, and other northern states and provinces." Reports poured in from all states and provinces, with New York, Texas, Maine, and Florida showing the busiest flurry of count activity. Mourning dove, black-capped chickadee, and northern cardinal were the most reported species in this study. This spring, birdwatchers can keep counting for the birds by participating in BirdSource's upcoming project, Warbler Watch. Like the Great '98 count, Warbler Watch will combine the unique and powerful partnership of the continent's citizen birdwatchers with the state-of-the-art technology of BirdSource. This endeavor will track the migratory movements and breeding distribution of North America's warblerssome of which, like the handsome, sky-blue cerulean warbler, are experiencing severe and long-term population declines. Visit the BirdSource Web site often in the upcoming months for the latest developments. View findings in the form of colorful graphs, maps, and charts. Images as well as bird songs are also accessible at the site, and an animated map shows when reports came in. Bexar Tracks ·Goose Flights: A Parable for Environmental Action Editor's note: The following parable, submitted by BAS President Bill Sain, should help our membership better understand. the need for cooperation and unity in our efforts to protect and enhance the environment. Working together we can reach out goal. From a speech given by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development Network and based on the work of Milton Olson. The Flight of the Wild Goose In the fall when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in the "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately fol lowing. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. - ' ;.: ~·! -~ J ~ ::' PEOPLE WHO ARE PART OF A TEAM AND SHARE A COMMON DIRECTION GET WHERE THEY ARE GOING QUICKER AND EASIER, BECAUSE THEY ARE TRAVELING ON THE THRUST OF ONE ANOTHER. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go through it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the power of the flock. IF WE HAVE AS MUCH SENSE AS A GOOSE, WE WILL SHARE INFORMATION WITH THOSE WHO ARE HEADED THE SAME WAY WE ARE GOING. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose takes over. IT PAYS TO SHARE LEADERSHIP AND TAKE TURNS DOING HARD JOBS. The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed. WORDS OF SUPPOFJT AND INSPIRATION HELP ENE~GIZE THOSE ON THE FRONT LINE, HELPING THEM TO KEEP PACE IN SPITE OF THE DAY-TO-DAY PRESSURES AND FATIGUE. Finally, when a goose gets sick or is wounded by a gunshot and falls out, two geese fall out of the formation and follow the injured one down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and then they launch out with another formation to catch up with their group. IF WE HAVE THE SENSE OF A GOOSE, WE WILL STAND BY EACH OTHER WHEN THINGS GET ROUGH. The next time you see a formation of geese, remember . It is a reward, a chal lenge and a privilege to be a contributing member of a TEAM. r. --- ~ * BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY BALLOT 1998 ELECTION Circle proposed candid_ates or write in your own: President. . . Bill Sain Vice President. . Mike Mecke Secretary . . Deborah Robinson Treasurer . Betty Minyard Board Member-2 year . Chris Dullnig Board Member-2 year . Maria Elizalde Board Member-2 year . . Janis Merrit Board Member-1 year . Jane Nelka Write-in Write-in Write-in ' Write-in Write-in Write-in Write-in Write-in Mail Ballot to BAS Elections, PO Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 78209. ~--T-he- BA-S N-om-ina-tin-g C-om-mitt-ee,- co-nsi~-tin-g of- Bil-l W-olle-r, K-atie- Na-va--Ra-gaz-zi, -and- Su-san- H-ugh-es,- ha-s pr-opo-se-d a- we-ll-ro-un~ded slate of experienced conservationists for the 1998-1999 term. The election will take place at the BAS general meeting on Thursday, April16, 1998. Please come and participate in the future of BAS. If you cannot attend the meeting, but wish to vote by mail ballot, please mark and cut out the ballot and mail it in time to be received by April 15th. You are encouraged to write in your own candidate for any postion. Write-in candidates must be current members of BAS. Ballots with write-ins must be accompanied by a statement signed by the candidate indicating willingness to serve If elected. Your name and address as it appears on your newsletter label (on the back of this page) must be clearly marked on the outside of your mailing envelope in order to validate your vote. To protect your privacy, however, you may enclose your ballot in another envelope inside your mailing envelope. · April1998 7 Bexar Tracks Bexar Audubon Society, Inc. P. 0. Box 6084 San Antonio, TX 78209 Address Service Requested r --- ., 11ntroductory Membership 1 1 National Audubon Society 1 I Bexar AudubonSociety I I (Chapter Code W19) I I New memberships tal I National Audubon Society, including I I a subscription to Audubon magazine, I lare $20 ($15 for seniors or full-time I I students). This includes membership I 1in Bexar Audubon and a subscription tto Bexar Tracks,as well. I Makes a great gift! 1Name I Address I city I state Zip I IPhone: ( ) :Mail this coupon and your check - payable to "National Audubon I Society" to: I Bexar Audubon Society I P. 0. Box 6084 I San Antonio, TX 78209 . ___________ . Apnl 1998 RECEIVED 1 Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid San Antonio Permit #590 UTSA Library Serials W19 UNIV Of TEXAS NOV98 LIB SERIALS 6900 N LOOP 1604 W SAN ANTONIO TX 78249 - 1130 RECURRING EVENTS Second Thursday of Each Bexar Audubon Society Board Meetings. Month. Call408-7731 for more info. Members welcome Third Thursday of Each Month Bexar Audubon Society General Meetings, Open (except Aug) Call 822-4503 for info. to the public, Ruble Center, 419 E. Magnolia,? pm First Saturday of Each Month. Friedrich Wilderness Park offers a free guided Call698-1057 for more info. general natural history hike Second Saturday of Each Month. Bexar Audubon sponsors the "Second For information and reservations, Saturday'' program at Friedrich Park call 698-1 057 $2 donation requested Fourth Saturday of Each Month. Birding morning at Mitchell Lake - meet at 8 am Call308-6788 for more information Led by Ernie Roney (656-4239; San Antonio Audubon Soc.) First Tuesday of Each Quarter San Antonio Environmental Network meets at March, June, September, December. the Witte Museum auditorium, 7 pm. Free and Call 822-4503 for more info open to the public Help Bexar Audubon Spread the Word We need help at our booth for the following events: April18 San Antonio Earth Day 1998 . .Woodlawn Lake Park April18 Texas Children's Festival. Institute of Texan Cultures If you can help-there is a money back guarantee that you will enjoy it-please call Tom Wilson at 210-492-4799 . 8 Bexar Tracks
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