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back in town; more info on Barnacles; minority birding
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: back in town; more info on Barnacles; minority birding
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 12:11:47 -0500 (EST)
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Hi Carolinabirders,
I'm back! The trip to Florida was great fun. I won't go into detail, as
this listserv isn't about Florida birds, but I visited (in chronological
order) Noel Wamer's backyard, Merritt Island NWR and the adjacent part of
Cape Canaveral NS, Fairchild Tropical Garden, "Ding" Darling NWR,
Corkscrew Swamp, Cayo Costa SP, Manatee Park (in northern Fort Myers),
and Highland Hammock SP. No big rarities for me, I'm afraid, but a few
state birds, some spectacular plants, a handful of odonates and leps, and
several trees that are older than the nation we live in.
On the way back, we briefly hit Savannah NWR. I was hoping to show my
girlfriend a Purple Gallinule (we never made it to the Everglades), but
they have apparently all left for the winter. Also saw no ibis, Glossy or
otherwise, in the refuge; however, on our way from brunch on the Savannah
riverfront, the marshes on the east site of route 17 were loaded with
Glossy Ibis and many other birds. We weren't able to stop and look more
closely, though; I think this area was part of, or at least adjacent to,
the legendary Savannah Spoil Site that was closed to general public
access a couple of years ago...
For all those who were interested in the discussion of the Guilford
County Barnacle Geese and their countability or lack thereof, BIRDCHAT
recently had a detailed discussion about a completely unrelated Barnacle
Goose in Pennsylvania. The discussion then evolved into threads on why
Eurasian Wigeons are generally accepted and Barnacles generally not, and
on the role of state committees (or lack thereof) in determining origins
and thus countability. I've read only a few posts so far; most relevant
to our discussion here was that Barnacle Geese in Europe winter almost
exclusively north of 50 degrees latitude, and nearly always on marine
habitat (more so even than Brant). See
http://listserv.arizona.edu/lsv/www/birdchat.html and click on "December
2000, week 5" and "January 2001, week 1" for more details.
Lastly, below is information about a survey on minority participation in
birding. For those who have wondered why so many birders are caucasian,
or for those who think they know, participation in this survey might help
identify the reasons and perhaps even remedy them.
Good birding,
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
_________________________________________________________________
Dear birding friends,
John C. Robinson, an African-American birder from California, is
currently researching the area of minorities in birding. Robinson
previously published "An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Tennessee"
(1990), and he is the owner of LANIUS Software.
Robinson is investigating the fact that relatively few African-American
birders exist in North America. He also would like to offer encouragement
to all minorities to become more active in birding.
Details on the effort and access to a short questionnaire are on the
American Birding Association web site:
http://www.americanbirding.org/newsbullet11.htm
You could help John C. Robinson in this effort a few ways:
1) Fill the form out yourself.
2) Post the information and URL on your local area birding
listserves.
3) Pass the information on to your regional bird club publication.
4) Put a one-paragraph notice on your bird club's web site and
establish a link to the page.
5) Pass this information on to an interested/concerned birding
friend.
John C. Robinson <logshrike@compuserve.com> needs the filled-out
questionnaires by the end of February 2001.
Most of us have witnessed some interesting discussion on the subject of
low minority participation in birding. Many of us have also witnessed
some unnecessary finger-pointing and self-flagellation on the subject.
At least John Robinson is collecting some information and asking some
questions which might help us all in this area in the near future.
Paul
====================================================
Paul J. Baicich
Editor, BIRDING
American Birding Association
P.O. Box 404
Oxon Hill, MD 20750
301-839-9736 (839-wren)
301-839-2763 [fax]
Check out the ABA web site: http://www.americanbirding.org/