Plains Lakes Trip Report

Nesting Great Horned Owl

After a week of cold and snow, the sun finally emerged for Laramie Audubon’s Plains Lakes field trip, and the birds were equally cooperative. Waterfowl and raptors predominated. Large numbers of ducks fed, loafed, and engaged in early courtship displays on Osterman Lake, Meeboer Lake, Gelatt Lake, and Twin Buttes Lakes. (We did not have time to visit Lake Hattie or Woods Landing). American White Pelicans showed off their breeding season bill horns while American Avocets swept their elegant bills through the shallow water. A beautiful cream-colored Great Horned Owl peered at the assembled birders from her nest as did a more nervous incubating Red-tailed Hawk. We were delighted to see a late-season male Rough-legged Hawk and some of us were fortunate enough to see a female Merlin. A male McCown’s Longspur perched in the gravel in front of our car by Meeboer Lake and regaled us with his beautiful song. A possible Greater Scaup and a Clark’s Grebe garnered lots of attention and some debate. But the bird that stole the show and made everybody’s day was an achingly beautiful Peregrine Falcon that treated us to lengthy close-up views. She seemed unconcerned by our presence as she stretched her wings and legs, and gazed out over the snowy landscape. She lingered on her fencepost perch long after we’d moved on in search of other birds. And she lingers still in the minds of those fortunate few who had a chance to fill their binoculars and scopes with her elegant image during our field trip. We saw 44 species in total and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Come and join us for the next one: Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge (in Colorado) on May 4, 2013.

Birding at the Plains Lakes

Laramie Audubon Society trip to Laramie Plains Lakes – 44 species:

Pied-billed Grebe 

Eared Grebe 

Clark's Grebe 

Double-crested Cormorant 

American White Pelican 

Canada Goose 

Mallard 

Gadwall 

Northern Pintail 

American Wigeon 

Northern Shoveler 

Cinnamon Teal 

Green-winged Teal 

Canvasback 

Redhead 

Ring-necked Duck 

Greater Scaup – One possible

Lesser Scaup 

Common Goldeneye 

Bufflehead 

Ruddy Duck 

Turkey Vulture 

Northern Harrier 

Red-tailed Hawk 

Ferruginous Hawk 

Rough-legged Hawk   

Bald Eagle 

American Kestrel 

Merlin 

Peregrine Falcon 

American Coot 

American Avocet 

Franklin's Gull 

Ring-billed Gull 

California Gull 

Great Horned Owl 

Northern Flicker 

American Crow 

Common Raven 

Horned Lark 

McCown's Longspur 

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark 

Yellow-headed Blackbird 

Poaching Around Laramie

We have received reports of poaching around Laramie, both at the Plains Lakes and Hutton National Wildlife Refuge. It is illegal to hunt within the refuge and it is illegal to hunt migratory birds (Migratory Bird Treaty Act). If you encounter poaching, please protect yourself and then contact officials. You may be given a reward if an arrest and citation are made. 

The "STOP POACHING" Hotline phone number is 1-877-WGFDTIP (1-877-943-3847) or 1-307-777-4330 for out-of-state "STOP POACHING" calls only. Here's a link to their website: http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/wildlife-1000335.aspx 

Alternatively, you can call the local police at 911.

Field Trip to Plains Lakes/Woods Landing, April 20

Tomorrow Sophie Osborn and Catherine Symchych will lead a Laramie Audubon field trip to the Plains Lakes and Woods Landing. The lakes and plains could be filled with migrants and passers-through, while eagles and other raptors cruise the skies. Depending on conditions, we will head to Osterman pond, Meebor, Gelatt, and Twin Buttes, and then Woods Landing to see what's hanging around the river and mountains. Call 307-721-9841 (Catherine) or 307-760-8546 (Sophie) for more information.

Meet at Coal Creek Coffee at 8 am, 110 E. Grand Ave., downtown Laramie to caffeinate and carpool.

Field Trips are free and open to all levels of birders. You may drive your own car or ride with someone else. Bring binoculars, scope (if you have one), field guide(s), snacks and water. Dress for the worst weather and then add a layer. Families are welcome. Be sure to gas up ahead of time. Field trips may last for several hours. You may return to Laramie at any time if you have your own transportation.

***Please note that the trip to the local Sage-Grouse lek has been CANCELED for this weekend and is now scheduled for Saturday, April 27th.***

Sage Grouse Trip CANCELED

**UPDATE** The field trip on Saturday, April 12 to the Greater Sage Grouse Lek has been CANCELED due to impassable road conditions to the lek.

The field trip has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 20.  Further updates will be posted to the website as the new trip date approaches.

Weekend Trip to Local Sage-Grouse Lek

Saturday morning, April 13th at 5:00 am. Come watch the grouse strut their stuff!

Meet at 5am at the Eppson Senior Center parking lot, Curtis & 3rd St., Laramie.  We will carpool to the lek at 5:10am sharp.  Please call 516-376-4587 (Shawn) or 307-760-9518 (Vicki) if you plan on attending so we will have an idea about how many people to expect.  4WD recommended.  Carpooling encouraged.  It is very windy at the lek so dress extra warm.  We are usually back in Laramie by 8 or 8:30 am. 

Alternate date in case of inclement weather or impassable roads is April 20, same time and place. If that day is bad, then we will try April 27, 4:30 am, leaving at 4:45 am sharp.

Dress for the worst weather.  Bring snacks and water, hot beverage optional, binoculars, scope if you have one, and field guides.  You may return to Laramie at any time if you have your own transportation.  Families are welcome.  We stay close to our automobiles so as not to disturb the grouse.  Be sure to gas up ahead of time! 

Spring has Sprung in Laramie

Over the past week, birds have started showing up to the Laramie area. On the Plains Lakes, hundreds of Redheads (Aythya americana), Lesser Scaup, and many other waterfowl are filling in the recently thawed ponds and lakes.

Redhead (Aythya americana) with Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) - Lake Hattie, WY

Redhead (Aythya americana) - Lake Hattie, WY

Along with waterfowl, gulls are also returning to the Laramie Plains, with California Gulls (Larus californicus) making up the bulk of the diversity. The star of the past weekend, however, was a young Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) that James Maley found at Sevenmile Lake. This sighting represents the first time that this species has ever been found in Wyoming! 

Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) - First state record for Wyoming

Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) - First state record for Wyoming

California Gull (Larus californicus) - Meeboer Lake, WY

Not to be outdone, on Monday, Don Jones discovered an adult Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) on Meeboer Lakes, part of the Plains Lakes, which represents only the third time this species has been found in Wyoming.  Associating with the Great Black-backed Gull was also a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus), a rare visitor from Europe.

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) - Meeboer Lake, WY

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) (left) with a
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) (right) - Meeboer Lake, WY

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) with other gulls - Lake Hattie, WY

In addition to the waterfowl and other early spring migrants, the area is still hosting good numbers of winter finches, including all 3 of the rosy-finch species (Leucosticte sp.) and continuing numbers of Common Redpolls (Acanthis flammea).

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) - Buford, WY

In the coming weeks, waterfowl will continue to come into the area, as well as more blackbirds and McCown's Longspurs (Rhychophanes mccownii) among many others.

Note: all photos in this post are © Shawn Billerman

NY Times: Winter of the Monarch

The New York Times ran an interesting, albeit disturbing, piece on the threats to the wintering range of the monarch butterfly. The piece came out last week, but with spring in the air (gulls and blackbirds have returned!) I thought others may be interested.

Winter of the Monarch

To track the northward migration of monarchs, visit Journey North.

Bright nights speed birds' lives

Exposure to low levels of artificial light at night can cause birds to become ready for reproduction earlier than those that experience dark nights.

Davide Dominoni and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, attached miniature devices to wild European blackbirds (Turdus merula) to record the light levels that the birds experience in city and forest environments. On the basis of these data, the authors exposed adult male blackbirds captured from both settings to either dark or low-light conditions at night. Birds kept in the brighter-night environment developed reproductive physiology nearly a month earlier and moulted sooner than their dark-dwelling counterparts.
The light level the authors used was 20 times lower than that produced by a streetlight, showing that even small changes can have an impact on animal development.

Abstract: Nature v494, pp 284–285 (21 February 2013). <doi:10.1038/494284d>

Original article: Dominoni, D, M Quetting, and J Partecke. 2013. Artificial light at night advances avian reproductive physiology. Proceedings Royal Society B v280, n1756, pp20123017. <doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.3017>

Winter Finch Extravaganza!

Across southern Canada and much of the United States, a variety of winter finch species have irrupted south of their typical winter range to the delight of many birders. While this pattern is most pronounced in the east, with huge numbers of both Red (Loxia curvirostra) and White-winged Crossbills (Loxia leucoptera), as well as Common (Acanthis flammea) and Hoary Redpolls (Acanthis hornemanni), we here in Laramie are also seeing good numbers of Red Crossbills and Common Redpolls, which are usually very rare in southern Wyoming. In addition to the winter finches, irruptions such as these also see large flights of Red-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis) and Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus), both of which are showing up in parts of Wyoming.

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) - Long Island, NY

Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) - Laramie, WY

While finch irruptions are fairly typical on a cyclical basis, the one that birders are seeing this winter is unusually large, due to widespread seed crop failure, including those of various coniferous trees, birches (Betula), alders (Alnus), and Mountain Ash (Sorbus sp) (Erskine and McManus 2003, Howe et al. 2012). As finches in the north wander in search of good seed crops, they move southwards in huge numbers (Pittaway 1998).

In addition to the irruptive species that only visit Wyoming on occasion, winters in Wyoming also host a number of other great finch species, including Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator), Evening Grosbeaks (Coccothraustes vespertinus), and all three rosy-finch species (Leucosticte sp). Recently around Laramie, we have seen good numbers of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis) and Red Crossbills, as well as smaller numbers of Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls. 

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) - Buford, WY

Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) - Albany, WY

Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) - Albany, WY

As winter turns slowly into spring here in Wyoming, we can expect to continue to see many of these irruptive species well into April before heading back northward.

For more information on patterns of winter finch irruptions, see this very informative and interesting write up on eBird by Ron Pittaway.

Note: all photos in this post are © Shawn Billerman

References:

Erskine, AJ and R McManus. 2003. Supposed periodicity of redpoll, Carduelis sp., winter visitations in Atlantic Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 117(4), 611-620 

Howe, EJ, ME Obbard, and J Bowman. 2012. Prior reproduction and weather affect berry crops in central Ontario, Canada. Population Ecology. 54, 347-356

Pittaway, R. 1998. Winter Finches. Ontario Field Ornithologists News

February Program

Laramie Audubon is hosting two programs tomorrow, Wednesday February 27th.

The first, an art exhibit by Beth Cochran, starts at 5PM at the Berry Center:

5:00 pm: "Furs and Feathers" photo exhibit, Beth Cochran
Photographs of specimens in the UW Vertebrate Collection
Wed., Feb. 27, 5-7pm, Berry Center

Join us for the kick-off event of UW Art student Beth Cochran's photo exhibit entitled "Furs and Feathers" on Wednesday, February 27, 5:00 – 7:00 pm in the Berry Center lobby. Beth will give a short presentation at 5:00, then be present to answer questions and provide information about her photos until 7:00. Free and open to the public.

The art exhibit is sponsored by UW Art Department http://www.uwyo.edu/art/, Biodiversity Institute http://www.uwyo.edu/biodiversity/, Vertebrate Collection http://www.uwyo.edu/biodiversity/vertebrate-museum/, and Laramie Audubon Society http://laramieaudubon.blogspot.com/.

6:30 pm: LAS Bird Chat and refreshments will be in conjunction with Beth Cochran’s photographs (Her exhibit reception begins at 5pm). You may still arrive at 6:30 or 7pm for Laramie Audubon program and will get a chance to see her photos.

7:00 pm: Sage-grouse as an umbrella species: is what’s good for the goose really good for the gander? – Jason Carlisle
Is Greater Sage-Grouse conservation beneficial for other inhabitants of the sagebrush steppe? The ecological concept known as the “umbrella species concept” holds promise as a means of streamlining the efforts of resource-strapped wildlife managers and extending conservation to oft-overlooked parts of the wildlife community such as non-game birds, small mammals, reptiles, and beyond. Simply stated, by focusing conservation efforts on a suitable umbrella species, managers hope to also benefit co-occurring wildlife with similar ecological requirements. Although the Greater Sage-Grouse has been informally adopted as the umbrella species of the iconic sagebrush steppe, this idea remains largely untested. Come learn how researchers from the WY Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit are setting out to test this idea using time-tested field methods and cutting-edge spatial analyses and how you can help.

Jason Carlisle, UW PhD student in Program in Ecology and Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

As usual, the talk will be held in the auditorium of the Berry Center, room 138.

Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages.  By counting birds in real-time, we can create a snapshot of winter bird populations!

This year, anyone visiting the GBBC website will be able to see bird observations pouring in from around the world and contribute their own tallies. Global participation will be made possible thanks to eBird, a real-time online checklist program that the Cornell Lab and Audubon are integrating into the GBBC for the first time this year. The GBBC is open to anyone of any skill level and welcomes bird observations from any location, including backyards, national parks, gardens, wetlands, and urban landscapes. The four-day count typically receives sightings from tens of thousands of people reporting more than 600 bird species in the United States and Canada alone.

The top 10 from 2012:
1)   Northern Cardinal
2)   Mourning Dove
3)   Dark-eyed Junco
4)   Downy Woodpecker
5)   American Crow
6)   House Finch
7)   American Goldfinch
8)   Blue Jay
9)   Black-capped Chickadee
10) Tufted Titmouse

When:
Friday, Feb 15 to Monday, Feb 18

What to do:
Count birds for as little as 15 minutes or as long as you wish.
Participate on one day to all four days.  Do what you want and can do!
Anyone can participate - from beginners to experts.

Where to report:
Report your sightings with others at birdcount.org.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a joint partnership between Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, with Bird Studies Canada as its official Canadian partner.

Click here for more info from Audubon.

Laramie Conservation Expo

Laramie Audubon will be at the Conservation Expo tomorrow!

When: 9 am - 3 pm, Feb 9, 2013

What: The Laramie Conservation Expo promotes a responsible conservation ethic in the community by helping citizens learn about tools and methods to conserve water, energy and other resources. Participants can learn about such practices as composting, growing your own food, installing a wind turbine, purchasing a hybrid vehicle, water-efficient landscaping or building an energy-efficient home. More than 60 exhibitors, representing business, government, nonprofits and home practitioners, will give demonstrations and answer questions.

Vendors will display products to help with landscaping, green building, alternative energy, alternative transportation, recycling, local foods and environmental education. Government agencies and local nonprofits will explain their services. Experts will give presentations on smart energy choices, local foods and other topics.

Where: Albany County Fairgrounds Activity Center, 3520 US Highway 287, Laramie

Cost: Free and open to the public.

For more information, call (307) 721-0072 or visit www.lrcd.net or www.uwyo.edu/enr/upcoming-events.