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Re: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes



Stu,

Pardon me, your political agenda is showing.

Steve Compton,
Summerville,SC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gibeau, Stu" <Stu.Gibeau@afccc.af.mil>
To: "Gamble, Tim" <timg@cityofgastonia.com>; <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 1:12 PM
Subject: RE: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes


> I think one of the biggest problems birders have with oil drilling stems
> from old movies.  One's portraying oil spraying everywhere.  They don't
> drill like that anymore.  Today's oil drilling technology is vastly
> improved.  They've been pumping oil out of Alaska now for decades and
> haven't had any environmental accidents at the drilling sites or along the
> pipeline.  We have government agents whose only job is to constantly
monitor
> the sites for violations and they will come down hard on the production
> teams for as little as one quart of oil spilled.  I think we could have a
> lot more impact on the industry if instead of always yelling "Environment"
> we gave them criteria for protecting what's there.
>
> I don't understand how people can be zealot's about an issue like oil
> drilling and yet drive cars that run on fossil fuels, and use products
made
> with plastics.  Your feeding the industry you hate.
>
> Me, I'm just a birder, and I really don't have a political agenda.  I quit
> Audubon because they became too political and lost their focus on birds.
I
> hope that doesn't happen here.
>
> I think migration is about to hit, lets go see!
>
> Stu Gibeau
> Black Mountain, NC
>
>
> >Subject: RE: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes
>
>
> >  I truly don't understand how someone can appreciate the beauty of
> birds/nature and at the same time favor things like oil-drilling in ANWR.
>
> >Okay, I'm straying too far into politics so I will stop now.  Happy
birding
> everyone!
>
> Tim Gamble
> Schiele Museum of Natural History
> Gastonia, NC 28054
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joshua S. Rose [mailto:jsr6@duke.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 11:50 PM
> To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
> Subject: ANWR protected; Re: Bird Watching vs. Birding; other notes
>
>
> Hi Carolinabirders,
>
> Trying to ignore events in other countries, and look for silver linings...
> After certain senatorial slimeballs from Alaska snuck oil drilling in the
> Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into a mammoth budget bill, the US Senate
> voted to block the plan! So the nesting grounds of many of our shorebirds
> and sea ducks are saved again, at least until the next vote... One story
> on-line at
> http://www.msnbc.com/news/884132.asp
> In the name of nonpartisanship, it should be noted that *seven* Republican
> senators (though none from our part of the country) voted AGAINST the
> drilling; and five Democrats voted for, including Zell Miller from the
> Carolinas-bordering state of Georgia.
>
> More locally, Multiple folks here have corresponded with me about the
> tract of land near the corner of Eubanks Road and Old NC 86 in Orange
> County. Those who have not can read about the contreversy surrounding it
> at
> http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2003-02-26/burtman.html
> Anyway, I visited the tract again on Monday afternoon, along with a few
> members of the committee making plans for its future. We observed a pair
> of Red-shouldered Hawks flying by and calling; I'm not sure if we saw a
> courting pair, or two rivals sparring over territorial boundaries. Saw two
> Field Sparrows in the powerline cut, and heard one of them sing, first
> such song I've heard this year. Spring Beauty and Spicebush were
> flowering, though Heartleaf Ginger (Hexastylis arifolia) was not yet;
> Elderberry was leafing out, Commas (or maybe Question Marks) were flying
> around, and an Eastern Fence Lizard skittered around a tree and under some
> bark. And we found a small pond full of Spotted Salamander eggs,
> alarmingly close to the planned construction zone...
>
> Also saw a different pool full of mosquito larvae, and one of my
> companions said he'd removed ticks from one of his children already.
> Spring is here, time to dig the bug repellent out of storage!
>
> Tidbits from the net: Jack Siler posted an article discussing Christmas
> Bird Counts, a topic of frequent discussion here:
> http://birdingonthe.net/includes/robsimbeck.html
>
> On Tue, 18 Mar 2003, Gamble, Tim wrote:
> >
> > My two cents worth on the "Bird Watching" vs. "Birding" debate:  These
> > terms describe two very different hobbies with only superficial
> > similarities.  Birding tends to be more about science and bird watching
> > tends to be more about art.
>
> Really interesting. Tim's take on the dichotomy is almost the exact
> opposite of the usual definitions. Normally what comes out of such
> discussions is that "Birding" is about lists, rarities, and chasing, and
> so is much more of a sport (an extreme sport, we often say!) than a
> science. And usually "Birdwatching" focuses instead on behavior, and
> ecology, and variation among individuals of a species, all more
> scientific. Under this definition, much of professional ornithology can be
> considered birdwatching, whereas trying to make birding into a science,
> beyond the science of identification, involves endeavors like the CBCs and
> GBBC that run into statistical challenges from folks like Nathan...
>
> Of course, the thing about all dichotomies (even when we all agree which
> name goes on which end) is that they break down in the middle, and most of
> us run both ways. The birder in me is still wired about *finally* getting
> my lifer Dovekie last week, and is looking forward to the spring bird
> counts, and to finishing my Ph.D. so I can do some more big days. The
> birdwatcher noticed this afternoon that the mockingbird pecking dried
> fruit out of the woodpecker feeder was doing the jerky opening and closing
> of wings that I've previously only seen done by mockingbirds on the
> ground; I had seen theories that this behavior helped scare insects out of
> the grass, but seeing the bird doing it while perched on a feeder seems to
> argue in favor of something else, maybe a display of territoriality.
>
> My main worry about Tim's definitions, other than being different from
> what I usually hear, is that they place values on the terms, with birders
> being superior to birdwatchers. I like to think of them as the two ends of
> a see-saw.
>
> Speaking of chasing and such, I have to share something else. For most of
> the winter there has been a Blue Mockingbird coming to a yard in the LRGV
> of Texas. The owner of this yard has been charging a fee for birders to
> enter and see the bird, something like $10 a head; and I've heard he has
> set up a photo blind and charges even more, like $35, to use it. More
> recently, a Slate-throated Redstart has shown up in the same yard. Both
> species are not only extremely rare - I think there are less than 5 US
> records of the mocker, and less than 10 of the redstart - but are non-
> migratory mountain residents, much more likely in the mountains of West
> Texas or SE Arizona than the arid LRGV lowlands. And both are brightly
> colored, attractive birds; the mockingbird is reportedly common as a cage
> bird in markets in Mexico, and the redstart would not be a complete shock
> there either. And birders from all over the US are converging in this
> person's yard, and ticking one or both species off on their ABA lists, and
> he's making money hand over fist.
>
> Just a few observations.
>
> Anybody know where I can find a pet shop that sells Green Violetears? Or
> maybe Barrow's Goldeneyes?
>
> Good birding,
>
> Josh
>
>
> Joshua S. Rose
> Duke University
> Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
>
> jsr6@duke.edu
> http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
>