Conservatively
Speaking
by
Bill & Donna Lenhart
September
2001
Crisis for the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo: With "few breeding populations" and
the species in decline throughout its Western range, the USFWS
has recognized that ESA listing of Yellow-billed Cuckoos is warranted
but precluded by "not enough money to
protect" them, says Reuters 7/27. Riverine willow and cottonwood forests
throughout the bird's Western range are disappearing at an alarming rate
due to "agriculture, dams, riverbank protection and overgrazing" but
funding shortfalls are forcing the agency to delay efforts to protect its
dwindling habitat. (from GREENlines 7/28/01)
Hunt raises serious concerns: The
decision to allow a fall hunting season for Tundra Swans in Utah has
come under a sharp attack for threatening rare 'Trumpeter Swans, which
are "almost impossible to distinguish in flight," says the
Salt Lake Tribune 8/17. A "scathing report" prepared by Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility criticizes the USFWS for "suppressing
scientific information" to justify the hunt, failing to do a proper
EIS on the impacts, and inhibiting the "migration of possibly
endangered trumpeters in northern Utah." (from GREENlines 8/19/01)
Adirondack Council vs the
Ferd's Bog boardwalk? In a rather ironic turn
of events, the Adirondack Council has formally objected to the
boardwalk placed in Ferd's Bog. Their chief concern is centered
on materials used for the boardwalk's construction; these are
man made where tradition and regulations call for natural substances
and methods on Forever Wild public lands. Furthermore, they contend
that decisions to proceed in this manner were made by DEC regional
offices without public input. The DEC, for their part, asserted
they had no choice. "When we got into it," says a DEC
spokesman, "we discovered this bog is virtually bottomless.
There were literally no reliable places to set down piers." Thus
the decision to "float" a board- walk made of snap-together
sections of recycled plastic. For what it's worth, the inhabitants
of Ferd's Bog don't seem to mind, judging by Gray Jay ambushes
of visitors silly enough to reveal food that they packed in.
Stop the Swoop! We
had this item printed in the Poughkeepsie Journal by the late Dennis
Kip; however with roaming bands of juvenile raptors (especially Coops!),
we're going to mention it again here. Through trial and error, we have
found a way to deter marauding hawks from feeding on the birds we entice
to our feeders. We have put up wood and metal stakes of varying heights
around our main feeding station. They are from 5' to 3' and we placed
them around the unprotected front of the feeding station. We stood
and looked around, trying to determine where a hawk might swoop in.
Those spots we deemed most accessible to the hawks got a stake. So
far, these deterrents have worked wonderfully. We used to have a sizable
amount of bird mortality; it has dropped off to almost nothing. They
can take a little getting used to as the stakes around the feeder can
be less than aesthetically pleasing, but they provide added and necessary
safety for our birds, and we hardly notice them anymore. We have aptly
named them swoop sticks.
Wings
Over Dutchess, September
2001
