Wednesday, May 9, 2012

May Speaker Profile: John Cancalosi

John obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in zoology from Colorado State University. He has worked as a field biologist for various federal, state, and private entities, including the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, John has produced independent programs on wildlife conservation that he has shared at schools in several western states.

John has won numerous awards for his wildlife photography, including awards in contests conducted by the BBC, the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the Educational Press Association, and Nature’s Best. John’s photographs have been featured on the covers of National Wildlife, International Wildlife, Natural History, Newsweek, National Geographic Explorer, Ranger Rick, Arizona Highways, and BBC Wildlife. In addition, many nature organizations have published John’s photo- graphs, including the National Geographic Society and the National Wildlife Federation.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Migration Celebration

Celebrate the return of the song-birds! Join the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Saturday, May 12 from 10 a.m.–3:00 p.m. for a family-friendly event that includes guided bird walks, interactive exhibits, live birds, games, face-painting, and hands-on activities for children.

Learn more about bird migration and conservation, and make your own mobile featuring a migratory bird found in the Ithaca area.

Admission is free. Contact the Cornell Lab at 254-2473 or visit the Migration Celebration website at www.birds.cornell.edu/birdday for more information.

Finger Lakes Land Trust’s Annual Spring Bird Quest

The Finger Lakes Land Trust will celebrate birds and bird diversity while raising funds to protect critical bird habitat over the Memorial Day weekend again this year. Mark Chao will lead four guided Bird Quests on Land Trust protected lands. The walks are free but donations are strongly encouraged.

Mark also will be collecting pledges per bird species he finds on Land Trust sites throughout the weekend. You are invited to pledge in support of Mark’s efforts or to visit Land Trust sites, count birds, and raise pledges yourself! Contact Emily Eisman, Outreach and Membership Manager at 275-9487 or at Emily@fllt.org, or visit the Finger Lakes Land Trust website at www.fllt.org, for more information.

Saturday, May 26, 8:00 a.m.
Dorothy McIlroy Bird Sanctuary

Sunday, May 27, 8:00 a.m.
Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve

Monday, May 28, 6:30 a.m.
Goetchius Wetland Preserve

Monday, May 28, 8:30 a.m.
Roy H. Park Preserve

High Achieving Young Birders

Update from New York State Young Birders Club

- By Carena Pooth

The New York State Young Birders Club (NYSYBC) is coming up on its fourth anniversary this year. Two of our original members, Hope Batcheller and Erich Lehner, recently “aged out” (at the ripe old age of 20) and became Supporting Adult Members. By next fall seven of the eight Charter Members will be in college. The kids grow up and leave the nest! But empty nest syndrome will not be setting in at NYSYBC because there are still 29 Youth Members and half of them are under 15.

NYSYBC’s young birders are truly exceptional kids, and not just because they’re birders. Every one of them is a delight, and I could tell you great things about all of them, but there’s not enough space here. So I’ll limit this article to some of the most notable achievements.

Hope Batcheller, age 20: Hope is attending Cornell University and has worked in both Canada and Chile on Hudsonian Godwits. She was recently elected president of the Birding Club at Cornell. In March she went on a recording expedition to the Mojave Desert for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Hope will captain the Cornell Redheads team at the World Series of Birding (WSB) this year.

Eamon Corbett, age 16: Eamon was selected last year to be one of the editors of the American Birding Association’s blog for young birders (The Eyrie). Also last year Eamon won one of three gold medals in the New York State Sci- ence Olympiad, specifically in the ornithology event. He is a finalist for the American Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist Award in the 11th grade division for his essay, “The Impact of Invasive Tree Species on Bird Populations in a Northeastern Urban Park.”

Jacob Drucker (age 19) and Lila Fried (age 18): Jacob and Lila did a study on primary feather projections in austral migrants, taking measure- ments of specimens in the American Museum of Natural History’s vast collection of bird skins. Jacob presented the study at the New York State Ornithological Association’s (NYSOA) annual meeting in September 2011. Alexander Gottdiener, age 15: Alexander is one of eight (out of 1000) 9th grade division finalists for the American Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist Awards for his essay, “A Study of Predator Avoid- ance Behavior in Birds.”

Nathaniel Hernandez, age 17: Although he lives in New Jersey, Nathaniel is an avid member of NYSYBC. Last year he spearheaded the effort to create a similar statewide YBC in NJ. He is President of NJYBC, maintains its website, and does much of the work to keep the club going with field trips and meetings. Nathaniel is involved in various bird research projects, including banding, grassland bird surveys, and tracking radio-tagged Bald Eagles. He is an enthusiastic writer about birds also, contributing to the Cornell Lab’s Neotropical Birds species accounts at neotropical.birds.cornell.edu.

Benjamin Van Doren, age 18: Recently Benjamin took 5th place (winning $30,000) in Intel’s prestigious national Science Talent Search for the project he presented at the 2011 NYSOA annual meeting. Benjamin investigated a poorly understood behavior of nocturnal migratory birds, called morning flight, which has potential implications for the growing wind power industry.

Be sure to check out the NYSYBC website, where you will find a new “Hall of Fame” page showing club officers and holders of other luminary positions since 2009, plus the NYSYBC teams that have competed in the Superbowl of Birding and the WSB. You’ll also find links to several young birders’ websites/blogs, field trip reports, photography, and artwork. The WSB is on May 12, and the NYSYBC will have two teams in the Youth Division again this year. This event is the club’s biggest fundraising activity and all WSB donations go to the Education/Scholarship Fund. You can donate online at nysyoungbirders.org. The young birders and their parents are grateful to the generous Supporting Adult Members and Partner Clubs, as well as to the adult advisors who donate their time and work. If you agree that it’s important to encourage youngsters to become life-long birders and conservationists, please consider becoming a Supporting Adult member and seize the opportunity to see our young birders in action on a field trip

George Road Pond Drained

- By Carl Steckler

Many people noticed that the pond on George Road in Dryden has been drained. I talked to Mary Ann Sumner, the Town of Dryden Supervisor, on April 13. The action that resulted in the draining of the pond was taken because the blocked culvert and accompanying backup was threatening the bank of Virgil Creek. The creek is a protected trout stream, and the town was more or less forced to take the action it took. The William George Agency (WGA), the owner of the pasture, has been asking the town to fix the problem since it first occurred and has no plans to keep the pond permanent.

The area is too small to qualify as a protected wetland. The New York State Department of Environmental Con- servation (DEC) defines a wetland as having a minimum of 12.7 acres. So as it stands this land will revert to a pond during the rainy season and a dry pasture the rest of the time. I talked to the CEO of the WGA, and he said that the agency was happy that the problem had been solved. They plan to use the land for pasture.

I then talked to the DEC, and they informed me that the Town of Dryden committed no violation in fixing the threat to Virgil Creek, which resulted in draining the George Road pond. Unless someone has some pull with WGA, it looks like the pond will be but a fond memory.

On another note, The Town of Dryden is planning a recreational park to the north of the Town Hall and would welcome input from the birding community. I will have more information at the May Cayuga Bird Club meeting

Bird Club Publications Update

-By Susan Danskin


I am pleased to report that copies of Birding the Cayuga Lake Basin are flying off the shelves. Of the 750 books printed, fewer than 300 remain in inventory. The book is currently available for purchase at 15 different retail outlets throughout the Cayuga Lake Basin, and it is receiving praise from all corners. We are well on our way to recouping the cost of printing.

On a related note, sales of Birding the Cayuga Lake Basin have stirred renewed interest in our first pub- lication, Native Plants for Native Birds. Close to 1000 copies of that book have been sold, and we have just ordered our third printing.

Thanks to all who contributed to these incredibly informative publications. They have contributed greatly to the local public’s awareness and appreciation of birds