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Re: Triangle area bird walks? Also politics and the Owl



On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico wrote:
> 
> Are there any groups of people, formally or informally organized, who
> regularly do bird walks around the Triangle? The answer is, I'm sure,
> "yes," so the question really is: how can I contact them? I know there's a
> Chapel Hill Audubon chapter, but is there one in Durham? I'm an amateur
> birder who just wants to get out more often. I don't even own a spotting
> scope...  ;-)

Hi Paula and other Carolinabirders,

The most regularly occurring trips in the Triangle vicinity are run by 
the Chapel Hill Bird Club. Visit 
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/chbc/index.html for more information; they 
run trips every Saturday, but it's been a while since they've updated 
their schedule which usually says where they are going...

The Wake County and New Hope (Chatham County) Audubon societies have 
walks, but not (as far as I know) on a regular weekly basis. When they do 
have bird walks, they are usually announced on Carolinabirds, as was 
Harry LeGrand's walk for NHAS last Saturday (which I really wanted to 
attend, but I overslept...).

With respect to the alleged Snowy Owl, the location appears (according to 
http://www.delorme.com/cybermaps/route.asp) about 1 hour from Durham, for 
those interested in checking it out. I'm skeptical because the bird is 
described roosting in pine trees; of the dozens of Snowies I've seen in 
Michigan and Massachusetts, not a single one has roosted in a tree. All 
were either on the ground or on bare wood such as fence posts or 
telephone poles.

A last point, on politics: allegedly G.W. Bush, contender for the 
Republican presidential nomination, has retained Terry L. Anderson as his 
environmental advisor. Anderson is an extremist who supports auctioning 
off *all* public lands. That's right, no more Pea Island or Bodie Island 
or Mattamuskeet or any other NWR; no Croatan or any other NF; no Cape 
Hatteras or any other NS; no Great Smoky Mountains or any other NP. The 
only lands safe from becoming strip malls, condos, tree farms, or other 
developments would be that privately held, such as Nature Conservancy and 
Audubon Society properties. Given the relative purchasing power of these 
groups vs. the real estate, logging, mining, and other industries, I 
shudder to think what might happen if Bush gets elected and this guy 
becomes Secretary of the Interior... To read Anderson's own words on the 
topic, visit http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-363es.html

Anyone know who McCain has as his environmental advisor?

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/