Dr. Ursula Valdez puts a point across to ABCers.

ABC WELCOMES URSULA VALDEZ, May 18, 2016:

Dr. Ursula Valdez thrilled our group with her knowledge and her passion, both for her birds and for the loss of habitat in her homeland, Peru. Now teaching at UW-Bothell, she straddles two vastly different worlds and draws them together.

Dr. Valdez presents her multimedia summary to ABC.

Dr. Valdez is a founder of Centro de Educacion, Ciencia y Conservacion Tambopata (CECCOT) in the Madre de Dios area of SW Peruvian Amazonia, which trains students about the local avifauna. Five years in, the first students are now running the place, to the delight of all. The focus is on research including bird census and banding, as well as education in conservation and sustainability.

 
We moan about overdevelopment around here, but our local problems pale with the devastation of Amazonia. Dr. Valdez’s research has been mainly in the Madre de Dios area, a spot of record biodiversity, where she and her students have documented many hard-to-find species of birds and some true rarities. Nevertheless, slash-and-burn continues to impact this region more every day, for agriculture including soy and palm oil, cattle, logging, and road building, now with a major highway through Peru from Brazil to the Pacific. Cutting the forest is bad enough, but burning the slag has made smoke a major pollutant spreading way beyond localities, impacting human health and much more.

 
If there was one topic that made Dr. Valdez even more unhappy than deforestation, it was gold mining. Gold fever, as ever, makes mankind insane, crazy enough to risk their own lives with unsafe mercury handling and not caring about what else is at stake. Methods of mining completely gut the land, as demonstrated by Dr. Valdez’s startling photos. This is land that now can never be returned to habitat. Much of it is illegal, which barely slows it down, and human trafficking is rife in these areas as well.
Dr. Valdez did mention that political change is coming, just very, very slowly. Peru has national parks and reserves, but no funds or will to maintain them. They have a cabinet position that’s just for show at present, but at least it’s there in case they ever get a firebrand in the job. And there’s a national election coming which could help or hinder.

 
One thing Ursula Valdez did talk about happily was Forest-falcons! Her favorite birds and a main target of her personal research! She showed a slide of the five species found in her area of Peru, including two that are rarely seen, which she concentrated on, Buckley’s and Slaty-backed Forest-falcons. She also showed slides of several other colorful and unusual birds found in her area which her students have found and documented, including Band-tailed Manakin, Rufous-fronted Antthrush, Amazonian Motmot (now split from more northern birds), the very musical Musician Wren, and the Black-spotted Bare Eye, an obligate army ant camp follower, helping to sweep all bugs away.

The 5 species of Forest-falcons in the Madre de Dio region of Peru.

Dr. Valdez has invited ABCers to come down and put in some time with her group next spring, and Kay Pullen will be obtaining information on that prior to the dates involved. Ursula has made believers out of us!

ABC program director with guest presenter, Dr. Ursula Valdez

Here is a link to my online birdathon report. Five ABC’ers made for a great day.

Birdathon Report: April 30, 2016

Ed Pullen

ABC EVENT:  MAY 18, 2016, 6:45 PM, Pierce County Library Administration Building, 3005 112th St E, Tacoma, WA 98446 (near Highway 512).

ABC is excited to welcome Dr. Ursula Valdez to speak about research and education to promote the conservation of Neotropical avifauna in the southeast Peruvian Amazonia.

The Madre de Dios region in Southeastern Peru, harbors one of the richest biodiversity in the Amazonian rainforest region and in the world. At the same time, this area is affected by high rates of habitat loss as a result of rapid human expansion, deforestation and illegal gold mining.  Over the past 5 years at the Centro de Educacion, Ciencia y Conservacion Tambopata (CECCOT), we have been documenting the distribution and abundance of avian species with the goal to evaluate the impacts of habitat change on these species. We have also developed a conservation program that aims at training local students in research and conservation practices with the goal to increase awareness on the conservation of the local forest and to promote sustainable living practices.  In my talk, I will be describing the bird research we do in this region and will offer information on the natural history of a few fascinating species found in the area. I will also talk about the conservation work we do in collaboration with local students of Madre de Dios.

Dr. Ursula Valdez is a Peruvian Tropical Ecologist and Conservation Biologist. She graduated as a biologist from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima Peru. She holds a M Sc in Zoology from NCS, and a PhD in Biology from the University of Washington. She is currently a faculty member at UW Bothell, where she instructs on courses in Natural History, Ecology, conservation & sustainability and a study abroad program in Peru. She conducts ecological research on bird communities in UWB campus. She is the director of CECCOT and conducts bird research in Peru.

ABC’s distinguished guest speaker for May 18, 2016

ABC SHRUB-STEPPE FIELD TRIP, APRIL 10, 2016

They don’t call Andy Stepniewski “Steppie” for nothing, as he is a foremost authority on Shrub-Steppe habitats in the northwest. Andy and his wife Ellen met us at 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning after we’d all had exciting treks eastward on Saturday. Amazingly, we had a blazing sunrise and perfect weather! None of that wind Andy had forebodingly warned us about.

With most of us westerners just enjoying our first spring birds in early April, it was interesting to hear Andy tell us that on the Shrub-Steppe, all the action is March through May, with summer and winter quiet times for birds as well as vegetation. He quoted Dennis Paulson who said something along the lines of, “There is no place so dead in Washington in the wintertime as the Shrub-Steppe.”

The wildflowers and of course those all-important bunchgrasses, of which there are a bunch, were studied in depth in person. More information on these plants and habitats is to be found in, “Birds of Yakima County, 2nd Edition,” by Andy, of course. It’s available from Yakima Valley Audubon on their website:

http://yakimaaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/08/Birds-of-Yakima-County.doc.pdf

Even though Andy operates out of Yakima County, the Shrub-Steppe does not obey artificial county bounds, so the field trip spent lots of time in Kittitas and Grant counties, visiting several well-known hot spots as well as some unknown sites to some of us.

Besides bunchgrasses and flowers, sagebrush and its look-alikes are king. Andy had us smell and taste the leaves of a sage and a bitterbrush to bring us into the zone. View some of his comments on the FLICKR site below. Moviette was too large to load here.

As for birds, a few of us were thrilled to be birding east of the mountains BEFORE the arrival of those nasty empidonax flycatchers who live to confuse us. Most of our expected and desired species were seen, with particularly thrilling looks and listens at Long-billed Curlew, Wilson’s Snipe, Sandhill Crane, Black-necked Stilt, and COPULATING American Avocets! Other exciting birds included White-throated Swifts, Great Horned Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, Mountain Bluebirds, Horned Larks, and of course those Shrub-Steppe specialties, Sagebrush Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, and Sage Thrasher, seen and heard well. The soundtrack for the day was provided by Vesper Sparrows and Western Meadowlarks. Feasts for eyes and ears!

The flowers were mostly elfin, and some of them grew in bunches, looking like bouquets! Ellen was frequently taken aside by the botanizers among us, and flowers were ID’d and photographed. Those people who stand tall miss so much at toe height! With Ellen being an expert in this field, those two Stepniewskis make quite a power couple.

Special thanks goes to Kay Pullen who helped pull this field trip together along with the sparrow workshops with Dennis Paulson earlier in the week. Then she kept track of all the species for eBird, too!

Many photos were taken. Laurel and Heather will put links to their photos in the Comments section of this site when they’ve had a chance to edit them. Anyone else who wants to share photos is encouraged to do this, also, such as Richard. Diane’s photos are on FLICKR at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/76552838@N03/albums/72157664855173204

Our ABC group as pictured here at the Ginkgo SP Interpretative Center included:
SITTING: ELLEN STEPNIEWSKI, Petrea, Kathy, Faye, Laurel, Donna.
STANDING: Ken, Carolyn, Richard in hat, Ted, Mary, Mike, ANDY STEPNIEWSKI, Carol, Jody, Heather, Ryan, Kay, Diane.

Shrub-steppe field trip, April 10, 2016. Taken at Ginkgo SP.

As an aside, just a couple of weeks ago, the local newspaper did a story on Andy, and it’s pretty thrilling, as well as informative (thanks to Heather for providing the link):
http://www.yakimaherald.com/news/survivor-bear-attack-redefined-how-he-lives-his-life-but/article_d24da4d2-f3e2-11e5-8549-3fbdea3d5b30.html

A SALT & PEPPER SEABIRD SPECTACLE

ABC member Marcus Roening writes:

I had a scheduled trip to Whidbey Island on Monday, April 11, 2016, and elected to take the much more traffic-friendly trip up the west side of the sound and take the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville, Whidbey Island. It was a perfect day for saltwater viewing with a high overcast, no wind, minimal wave action and about 3 hours after low tide (or at least 3 hours after the cancelled ferry runs : –) ). The show began while waiting in line, as I watched a pair of Harlequin Ducks diving around the ferry pilings and a flock of Black Brant feeding on the adjacent beach. Once on the ferry, I high-tailed it to the top to get eye to eye with the Cormorants perching on the pilings.

While most of the year the cormorants are variations on brown and black, it is this time of year that they truly shine. The Brandt’s Cormorant can be a show stealer with their white plumes of feathers poking out in fine white sprays on their head, neck & scapulars. But it is when you can get a good sideways look, especially with sun in the background, that you get to see their electric blue gular pouch – truly amazing! And not to be outdone on the same set of pilings, the Pelagic Cormorants were showing off their white flank patches and brilliant dark red face. Heck, even the Double-crested Cormorants were showing their brighter orange than usual gular and their two black wispy crests.

As the ferry continued east, it looked as if some giant pepper & salt shakers had been knocked over onto the Sound. In the middle was a mass of 300-400 dark birds and as the ferry came upon the mass, it was clear that they were Rhinoceros Auklets. They were so close to the ferry, that I could clearly see their white head plumes and their little rhino horns. As I scanned around the mass I realized that there were at least another 400 Rhinos scattered evenly across the water. The human brain boggles at trying to count such numbers and to be in the middle of such a group of at least 800 birds was a very special treat. And that was only counting the ones that were above the water.

Rhinoceros Auklets, April 2016.

And just to keep things lively, there were Bonaparte’s Gulls in their Black-headed finery, Glaucous-winged Gulls with glaucous wing tips, truly “Red”-necked Grebes, Common Murres, Marbled Murrelets and a one group of 63 Pigeon Guillemots working the tidal rip.

It was a great day to be birding.

Marcus Roening, Tacoma WA

SPARROW WORKSHOP REPORT – April 5 & 6, 2016, with Dennis Paulson.

Our mentor, Dennis Paulson, retired director of the Slater Museum, Master Birding instructor, and authority on shorebirds, dragonflies, and everything else that flies, brought ABC’ers up to snuff on LBJs!

Emily and Kevin study sparrows while Dennis Paulson stands by.

Larus gull dominates sparrows at Slater.

Rufous & Anna’s Hummingbird skeletons.

Margie, our leader Dennis Paulson, Ken Brown, and Ryan Wiese birdwatching.

Dennis Paulson surrounded by Slater Museum groupies.

Sparrows!

Some interesting factoids included:
ANY sparrow can have a breast spot, not just those who are supposed to.
That rufous on a Vesper’s wing is at the WRIST, in cast you thought that was the shoulder.
Sagebrush Sparrows run around like mini Roadrunners.
A notched tail can look square, then round, as the bird spreads it.
Fox Sparrow subspecies leapfrog each other in migration patterns.
Most birds that live in thickets cock their tails, including many sparrows, not just wrens.
Chipping Sparrows are the only sparrows that migrate in juvenile plumage.
Yes, Juncos are breeding more on the west side than in time past. It’s not just your imagination.

After the classroom instruction, a fun time was had by all in the museum, noticing how tiny the specimens were and how different Song Sparrows are compared to Lincoln’s Sparrows, as opposed to living birds. A few non-Sparrows were also admired, such as the hummingbird skeletons and the Bat Mobile.

Thanks, Dennis. You can be sure we’ll be after you again for more instruction in the future.

ABC FEBRUARY 2016 MEETING REPORT:
LIFE NET NATURE/Ecuador:

On February 16, 2016, ABC’ers were entertained and educated by three of our own, Mike Walker, Jerry Broadus, and Clarice Clark, on their experiences banding and otherwise counting birds at the Life Net Nature site in Ecuador at the Las Tangaras (Tanagers) Reserve in the tropical Andes. The group was so thrilled that we practically had to be kicked out of our room at the library or we would have been there all night.

The history of this reserve, one of several throughout the world administered by Life Net, is another example of one person making a huge difference in the knowledge deficit surrounding tropical birds, this person being the founder of the reserve, Dr. Dusti Becker. Just a few days of observing and banding in this reserve almost always turns up something previously unknown to science.
Mike started out with this history, which he knows well, having done 5 volunteer stints there by now. He was definitely recruiting for the next December period. This last time there were 7 volunteers besides the staff, and his map showed the ABC Team (3) plus 2 from Utah and 2 from the east, so only 7 people. Mike made it sound like Paradise, which perhaps it is, with great food, luggage carriers (burros), and a swimming waterhole. The lodge must be hiked into, so not a lot of riffraff. The swinging bridge wasn’t loved by all (Clarice!), and the barracks sleeping quarters weren’t like the Hilton, but running water, occasional electricity, clean air, and the music of the jungle. Volunteers pay $1650 from Quito for 2 weeks all inclusive, part of which is fundraising, but anyone who’s priced birding in this area will recognize this as a darn good deal.

The forest was so dense that it was hard to see birds, but the huge network of mist nets turned up amazing finds that would never have been seen just with binoculars. The photos were great and were taken by our team, either at Las Tangaras or nearby afterwards.

A crowd pleaser was the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, which the team got very acquainted with via photos and videos of lekking males. Wow! Not a really melodic dawn chorus, though!
Jerry led us through the banding process including the amazing Club-Winged Manakins, which they were able to both examine in the hand while banding plus get video of that amazing wing-slap sound!

Clarice ended the presentation with the dessert — Hummingbirds! There are so many species (30+) that in short daily counts watching 3 feeders, the team relied on cheat sheets. Some were caught for banding in the mist nets, but most of the banded hummers were caught with a feeder trap. One of the miniscule bands was passed around for the group to see the size. Attaching these to the tarsi of tiny birds was a painstaking and even scary process.

The website for the organization is currently not working well, although if you persevere and scroll to the bottom you can find most of the meat about the projects and how to volunteer:
http://lifenetnature.org/index.php/volunteer/andes-mountains-south-america/
Also: https://lastangaras.wordpress.com/who-are-we/

APRIL 10, 2016:  Yakima County with Andy & Ellen Stepniewski!