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ALERT! Thousands of birds dying in Pacific Northwest

May 9, 2012 By RRAS Info

Dear Audubon Advocate,

Greater White-fronted Goose | Credit: Gary Kramer/USFWS

Migratory waterfowl like this White-fronted Goose are dying by the tens of thousands at the Klamath Basin. Please send an email today asking for more water to be released into the Refuge.

Photo by Gary Kramer/USFWS

More than 20,000 birds have already died in the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (located on the Oregon-California border) as water levels reach dangerously low levels. The Refuge is widely considered the most important habitat for migratory waterfowl in the Lower 48, and yet the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has failed to provide adequate water to support the millions of birds arriving for spring migration. With more than two million birds forced to bunch together in the remaining wetlands, an outbreak of avian cholera has caused the massive die-off.

Take Action Please send an email to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Ask him to direct the Bureau to send more water to the Refuge to avert a major disaster for birds.

The Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is a national treasure. It was the nation’s first waterfowl refuge when it was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. And its importance has never waned. Approximately 40 percent of the migratory waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway depend on this Refuge during spring and fall migrations. It hosts the largest concentration of wintering Bald Eagles south of Canada and harbors more than 80 species that are listed as sensitive, threatened or endangered.

Take ActionWe need to demonstrate overwhelming public support for helping the millions of birds that depend on a healthy Klamath Basin. Please send your email today.

Filed Under: Facebook Feed, Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs

Drilling in Arctic Ocean begins in July

May 9, 2012 By RRAS Info

Dear Audubon Advocate,

Pigeon Guillemot | Credit: Jason Crotty/Flickr Creative Commons

More than twenty years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the Pigeon Guillemot and many other species of birds and wildlife injured by the spill still struggle to recover. Please send an email today urging President Obama to stop planned drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

Photo: Jason Crotty/Flickr Creative Commons

As you read this, Shell Oil’s rigs are making their way to the Arctic Ocean to start drilling, as soon as July. The ships are headed to Arctic waters where, twenty years after the Exxon Valdez, fish and wildlife species are still impacted by exposure to lingering oil.1

The memory of the BP oil spill and its environmental devastation is still fresh in our minds, but despite these disasters, the oil industry now has its sights on the fragile Arctic Ocean.

Take Action Please tell President Obama to protect America’s Arctic Ocean!

The waters along Alaska’s northern coast provide vital habitat for polar bears, walruses, ice-dependent seals, endangered bowhead whales, and millions of migratory birds. The Arctic Ocean also is a phenomenally harsh environment. Broken ice covers the Arctic Ocean for much of the year. Storms with hurricane-force winds can whip up 20-foot seas. Temperatures drop to 40 below zero. It is dark half the year. The oil industry is not prepared to drill safely in the Arctic Ocean.

Retired Vice Admiral Roder Ruff, who helped prepare the Coast Guard’s review of the BP oil disaster, has described the U.S. ability to address a spill in icy conditions as “pretty abysmal.”2 The United States Geological Survey, the scientific branch of the Department of the Interior, concluded that because of major scientific gaps about the ecology of the Arctic Ocean “it is difficult, if not impossible” to make informed science-based decisions about oil and gas development in America’s Arctic Ocean. More than 500 scientists recently joined in sending a letter to President Obama asking him to not allow oil drilling to proceed this summer.3 Drilling in the Arctic Ocean is unsafe, not supported by the science, and threatens millions of migratory birds.

Take ActionJoin over one million people who have already asked the President to protect America’s Arctic Ocean. Please send your email today.


Filed Under: Facebook Feed, Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs

Scotts Miracle-Gro Pleads Guilty to Breaking Federal Pesticide Law

March 19, 2012 By RRAS Info

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 14, 2012 (ENS)

- Ohio lawn and garden care company Scotts Miracle-Gro has pleaded guilty to breaching federal pesticide laws by using an unapproved insecticide on bird seed sold nationwide for two years.

In Columbus, U.S. District Court Judge James Graham accepted the company’s guilty plea on Tuesday.

Scotts is proposing to pay a $4 million fine and give $500,000 to help support wildlife conservation and study. Judge Graham said he will issue his decision on the plea agreement at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

The government alleges that beginning in 2005, Scotts produced a line of wild bird food products under names including “Morning Song” and “Country Pride” that contained insecticides.

Doves, sparrow and house finch on an Illinois backyard birdfeeder that does not contain the toxic products mentioned in the Scotts’ lawsuit. (Photo by Marilee)

The government says the insecticides, which are toxic to birds and other wildlife, were not approved for use on bird food.

According to court records, in 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million packages of bird seed coated with the insecticides Storcide II, containing the active ingredient chlorpyrifos, and and Actellic 5E, containing the active ingredient pirimiphos-methyl, intended to keep insects from destroying the seed.

The company continued to produce and market the insecticide-coated seeds despite being alerted to toxicity dangers by a Scotts staff chemist and ornithologist.

Storcide II is labeled as “Toxic to birds. Toxic to wildlife,” and that “Exposed treated seed may be hazardous to birds.” No such warning exists on the Actellic 5E label.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s own fact sheet on pirimiphos-mehtyl states that “Ecological risks are not of concern to the Agency.” Yet the same fact sheet also states “Although pirimphos-methyl is highly toxic to birds and fish, these risks are not of concern based on the use pattern of pirimiphos-methyl.”

This would seem to indicate that the EPA did not anticipate this chemical to be used on anything intentionally fed to birds, says the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy.

“EPA needs to amend the use label for Actellic 5E and any other pesticide containing the same active ingredient, pirimiphos-methyl, to agree with their own fact sheet, and ensure that no other birds are poisoned by seed dosed with this toxic chemical,” said American Bird Conservancy President George Fenwick.

“This highlights a key problem that it is the pesticide registrant that writes the labels on pesticides, not EPA,” Fenwick said. “In some cases, it would seem that EPA is not effectively checking that the labels encompass the agency’s responsibilities for birds.”

The federal government also alleged that a Scotts manager fabricated federal documents and correspondence to obtain state registrations for two products that were being marketed without U.S. EPA registration.

The government alleged that the manager “told EPA that these files proved that the products had been properly reviewed and registered by EPA when, in fact, they were not authentic EPA files and when, in fact, the products had not been approved and registered by EPA.”

The government also charged that between 2005 and 2007 Scotts sold two pesticides without directions required by the EPA and making claims on labels about the product that the EPA had rejected.

On April 23, 2008, EPA Region 5 today issued a “stop sale, use or removal” order against Scotts Miracle Gro Co., Scotts Lawn Care Service and three affiliates, all of Marysville, Ohio, for illegal, unregistered and misbranded pesticides.

Identified by invalid registration number 62355-4, the two products were marketed as Garden Weed Preventer + Plant Food and Miracle Gro Shake ‘n’ Feed All Purpose Plant Food Plus Weed Preventer.

A Scotts spokesman declined comment until after sentencing.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2012. All rights reserved.

Filed Under: Facebook Feed, In The News

Got Birds? Get Ready to Count!

January 23, 2012 By RRAS Info

Bird enthusiasts across the U.S. and Canada are gearing up for the Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s not too late to participate in the February 17-20 event. It’s free to participate, and everything is available online. The GBBC is open to anyone, including novice bird-watchers and students. Participants don’t need to be able to identify every bird, and the online submission process helps check their accuracy and prevent errors. Out of excuses yet? Northern Flicker

Here’s a quick guide to what’s involved:

1. Make a plan: You’ll need to count birds for a minimum of 15 minutes on one of the count days, but you can count all four days, and you can count for as long as you want. More counting = more data to show us where the birds are.

2. Know your place: Decide whether your count is a STATIONARY COUNT, like watching a feeder out the window, or a TRAVELING COUNT, such as birding during a hike. Print out a data form so that you’ll know what information to record, and a regional bird checklist to help with identification.

3. Count: Record the highest number of each species seen together at one time in stationary counts. For traveling counts, record the total number of individual birds of each species you see during the walk. For more info, visit http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html.

4. Report: Enter your findings through the website by clicking on “Enter Your Checklists!” and following instructions.

5. Spread the word: Tell others about your experience. Find out how to be a GBBC ambassador by clicking “Get Involved” on the website. Also, join the GBBC Facebook group, and tweet about the count (use #GBBC when tweeting).

Ready to start? Go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ for everything you need. Happy counting!

Filed Under: Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs Tagged With:

Take a Child Outside Week: Sept 24-Sep 30

September 9, 2011 By RRAS Info

From the Take A Child Outside website:

September 24-September 30, Annually

eyes

Take A Child Outside Week is a program designed to help break down obstacles that keep children from discovering the natural world.  By arming parents, teachers and other caregivers with resources on outdoor activities, our goal is to help children across the country develop a better understanding and appreciation of the environment in which they live, and a burgeoning enthusiasm for its exploration.

Going outside:

  • connects children to the natural world
  • helps kids focus in school
  • reduces chances of obesity

At TakeaChildOutside.org you can:

  • pledge to take a child outside and record your outdoor experiences
  • get ideas for outdoor activities
  • find participating organizations in your area

Note:  There is a Red Rock Audubon Society field trip to Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve scheduled for 9/24.

Filed Under: In The News

Agreement forces decision on protecting 54 Nevada species

July 15, 2011 By RRAS Info

By Keith Rogers
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 12, 2011 | 7:47 p.m.
Updated: Jul. 13, 2011 | 8:43 a.m.

A nationwide species preservation group reached a landmark agreement Tuesday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will spur the agency to make decisions on adding more than 750 plants and animals to the list of federally protected species, including 54 in Nevada.

“What this means is hundreds of species will finally get a decision on protection,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s office in Portland, Ore. In some cases, a decision has been awaited for decades, he said.

Of the 54 Nevada species, Greenwald said the Fish and Wildlife Service is obligated to make decisions in the next few years. That includes calls on whether or not to list the Mount Charleston blue butterfly, the relict leopard frog, the Mono Basin sage grouse and the Western yellow-billed cuckoo.

Decisions to grant federal protection as threatened or endangered species could impact development or land use in habitats where the species are found, requiring costly mitigation measures.

The inch-long Mount Charleston blue butterfly, for example, is believed by some biologists to be on the brink of extinction.

“It clings tenuously to existence in the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas and remains threatened by habitat loss, fire suppression and drought,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

A news release from the center says the relict leopard frog, once found in Utah, Nevada and Arizona, disappeared in the 1950s and was thought to be extinct until some small populations were rediscovered in Nevada in the 1990s. Those populations are being monitored by biologists in and around Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Lower Colorado River system.

“It lives in undisturbed, permanent springs and is threatened by water development, recreation, disease and invasive species,” the center’s news release states.

In addition, Greenwald said 42 Great Basin spring snails fall under the agreement, including many that he said are threatened by the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plans to pump groundwater to Las Vegas from remote locations in eastern Nevada.

A decision on listing the spring snails is expected this year.

Southern Nevada Water Authority spokesman J.C. Davis said the authority “is firmly committed to environmental protections and will continue to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service.”

The service is in the process of determining from studies what actions, if any, are necessary to protect spring snails in the Snake Valley basin in White Pine County, 300 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

The Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to set legally binding deadlines on deciding whether or not to list species for protection in exchange for the center dropping lawsuits on the spring snails and some 90 petitioned species and dropping a global lawsuit over the service’s lack of progress on species listing decisions.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., accepted the agreement for approval pending the outcome of a petition to intervene by another group.

“The agreement has been reached. We’re waiting for imminent approval by the court,” Greenwald said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Southern Nevada, Dan Balduini, said in an email that the agreement “allows us to focus our resources on the species most in need of protection. It provides a clear path forward.”

Under the agreement, the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to make decisions on 757 species across the country with a decision on the last one, the Pacific walrus, finalized in 2017.

“Most decisions will be in the next two years or so,” Greenwald said in a telephone interview.

In the center’s news release, Greenwald said, “Nevada’s endangered species are a bellwether telling us there’s too much urban sprawl, pollution and habitat destruction. If we can’t save them, we won’t be able to save ourselves. We’re in this together.”

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/landmark-agreement-gives-nevada-54-additions-to-federally-protected-species-list-125462903.html
www.lvrj.com

Filed Under: Facebook Feed, In The News, Nevada State News Tagged With:

2011 State of the Birds Report

May 12, 2011 By RRAS Info

2011 State of the Birds Report released

The Department of the Interior recently released the 2011 State of the Birds Report – Birds on Public Lands. Public lands support at least half of the entire U.S. distributions of more than 300 bird species. The new report provides the first assessment of the distribution of birds on public lands, and identifies conservation challenges and opportunities in the different habitats on which they depend. stateofbirds

David Yarnold issued the statement below on the report:

“This report is telling us that we must take action to protect the public lands our nation’s birds depend on. That means environmentally-sound siting for green energy­­—and the discipline to wean ourselves off fossil fuel. That means adequate funding for the public agencies that preserve, restore and manage these lands for wildlife and the millions of Americans that visit them. And that means investing in the kind of public-private partnerships that have shaped conservation since Teddy Roosevelt established Florida’s Pelican Island as the first federal bird reservation in 1903, with support from the Florida Audubon Society.”

Like previous USFWS State of the Birds reports, this one reflects the combined effort of multiple public and private (NGO) partners. Audubon’s Greg Butcher, Director of Bird Conservation, played a key role as a member of the Report’s science team; Glenn Olson, Donal O’Brien Chair in Bird Conservation
and Public Policy, provided broad leadership, as he does for multiple federal bird conservation initiatives; Audubon also participated in communications planning.

Glenn Olson garnered an exclusive interview with Secretary of the Interior Salazar for Audubon magazine editor David Seideman at Wednesday’s roll-out event at Kenilworth Park in Washington, DC. Other Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture staff joined Secretary Salazar in offering brief remarks. Prior to the event, Mike Mangiaracina, a Brent Elementary School teacher and summer volunteer for Audubon’s Project Puffin, led Secretary Salazar and a group of students on a bird walk.

You can learn more and download a pdf of the report at http://birds.audubon.org/state-birds. Print copies of the report are in progress; we will contact Chapters when they are available.

Filed Under: Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs

Great Backyard Bird Count Produced a “Gold Mine” of Information

April 13, 2011 By RRAS Info

Great Backyard Bird Count Produced a “Gold Mine” of Information
Annual event collected massive amounts of data about birds

Dark-eyed Junco by GBBC participant Jerry Acton, New York

April 4, 2011—When tens of thousands of people watch birds and report what they see online, they create a snapshot showing the whereabouts of many hundreds of bird species across the United States and Canada. This annual gold mine of information about birds comes from participants in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.

This year, an estimated 60,000 bird watchers of all ages took part in the free, four-day event held February 18-21. Participants identified 596 species and filed 11.4 million individual bird observations. Their reports provide useful information to scientists tracking changes in the numbers and movements of birds from year to year, just as winter is about to melt into spring.

Two new species never reported to the count before included a Brown Shrike in McKinleyville, California, and a Common Chaffinch recorded in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador—both species well out of their normal ranges. In Alaska, a GBBC participant observed a Brambling visiting her feeder—the only one reported for all of North America.

Female Evening Grosbeak by GBBC participant Carrie, Maine.

GBBC participants also reported a surprising increase in the number of Evening Grosbeaks this year—the highest number of observations ever for this species during the count and an increase that isn’t simply attributable to greater GBBC participation. A closer look finds this upturn especially marked in the northwestern U.S. and in Canada. This uptick is also supported by data entered so far this season from Project FeederWatch, a winter-long citizen-science project from the Cornell Lab and Bird Studies Canada. FeederWatch data have shown sharp declines in Evening Grosbeaks over the past two decades for unknown reasons. Future counts may reveal if this year’s increase in GBBC grosbeak reports is a one-time fluctuation or part of a long-term trend.

For the third year in a row, checklists submitted to the Great Backyard Bird Count topped 92,000. Participants set new bird checklist records in 11 states and in 7 out of 13 Canadian provinces and territories, resulting in a new overall checklist record for Canada.

To find out more about these and other trends from the 2011 count, visit www.birdcount.org and click on “Highlights of 2011 GBBC.”

The Great Backyard Bird Count is sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited.

The next GBBC is February 17-20, 2012.

#  #  #

Top 10 birds reported on the most checklists in the 2011 GBBC:

1)   Northern Cardinal
2)   Mourning Dove
3)   Dark-eyed Junco
4)   Downy Woodpecker
5)   American Goldfinch
6)   Blue Jay
7)   American Crow
8)   Black-capped Chickadee
9)   House Finch
10) Tufted Titmouse

Filed Under: Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs

Spring Wings Bird Festival: May 13-15, 2011

April 13, 2011 By RRAS Info

SPRING WINGS BIRD FESTIVAL – FALLON, NEVADA
May 13, 14, & 15, 2011

Come Join the Migration Celebration!  The Spring Wings Bird Festival introduces the connection between all aspects of the Lahontan Valley: habitat, wildlife, history, humans, and how the community works together to protect and preserve natural resources.

Spring Wings Festival offers the best guided tours of the Lahontan Valley wetlands, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Carson Lake, and surrounding habitats!   Only the most experienced naturalists and birders are recruited to provide visitors with the ultimate in birding and outdoor adventure!

swlogo-50

This year, Spring Wings is offering  “The Top 12″, our most popular tours and leaders from the past 14 years, which received the highest visitor satisfaction ratings.  We’ve added more seating and more dates for these tours, so visitors can customize a schedule to suit their Spring Wings needs!

Spring Wings Bird Festival is an annual celebration of shorebird and waterfowl migration through the Lahontan Valley.  Our mission is to encourage growth of this educational event, promote interest in and awareness of the Lahontan Valley Wetlands.   The Lahontan Valley Wetlands are recognized as a site of international importance by the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network, a ‘Globally Important Bird Area’ by the American Bird Conservancy, and an ‘Important Bird Area’ by the Audubon Society.

For more info, please visit:

See Event Schedule
See News Release

http://www.springwings.org/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spring-Wings-Bird-Festival/129733843758723

Filed Under: Nevada State News Tagged With: , ,

Great Backyard Bird Count: Feb 18-21, 2011

February 16, 2011 By RRAS Info

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count
February 18-21, 2011

Marbled Godwit by Sharon Millgan, MS
2010 GBBC

The 14th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is coming up February 18-21, 2011. The four-day event is free and is open to bird watchers of all ages and skill levels. Participants watch birds for any length of time on one or more days of the count and enter their tallies at www.birdcount.org. The results provide a snapshot of the whereabouts of more than 600 bird species. The GBBC is a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.

The 2010 GBBC was another record-breaker with more than 97,300 bird checklists submitted by an estimated 63,000 volunteers from across the United States and Canada. These volunteers found connecting with nature to be great fun.

“I enjoy being outdoors and birding is a source of relaxation and stress relief!” wrote one participant. “Looking and listening for birds forces me to focus on the environment around me at a higher level of intensity, and notice things I might otherwise miss.”

From reports of rare species to large-scale tracking of bird movements, the GBBC provides insight into the lives of bird populations.

American Robin by Nick Saunders, SK, 2010 GBBC

A few highlights from the 2010 GBBC:

• A massive roost of nearly 1.5 million American Robins was reported in St. Petersburg, Florida. Will they be back in 2011?

• The invasive Eurasian Collared-Dove keeps expanding its range. It was reported in 39 states and provinces during the 2010 GBBC. Where will this hardy dove show up next?

• Tree Swallows showed dramatic increases in numbers during the last count, possibly because of warmer temperatures and earlier migration. Will that pattern hold true again for GBBC 2011?

Read the complete 2010 summary here.

Mid-February is chosen as the time for the Great Backyard Bird Count because it offers a good picture of the birds typically found throughout the winter months. It also coincides with migration for some species, such as the Sandhill Crane. That window of transition affords an opportunity to detect changes in timing for northward migration.

On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators.

GBBC participant surveys have shown that people really enjoy exploring the data and say they learn more about their local birds. “I looked at data with my 9-year-old son to help him learn about birds in our area,” wrote one parent. “We talked about migration, bird flyways and compared bird counts for our area (coastal South Carolina) with where his cousins live (Wisconsin and Alabama). We found out our area has a much greater variety of birds in February than either of the other two.”

Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.

Filed Under: Nat'l Audubon & Cornell Labs, Volunteer Opportunities Tagged With:
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