Spruce Grouse an endangered species

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press Writer

TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. -- Hunting for the few remaining spruce grouse in the Adirondacks is like looking for a needle eater in a boreal forest.

Among thick stands of black spruce trees, heavy undergrowth and marshy terrain in the Nature Conservancy's 4,200-acre Spring Pond Bog Preserve, it's much easier on a summer morning when the bird wears a radio collar."

She took off with the chicks," field researcher Angelina Ross said of the female she'd seen weeks earlier on a nest with five eggs. "We'll get the male pretty quick."

In a study funded by state wildlife grants, Ross since 2002 has collared 16 spruce grouse, listed as endangered species in New York. The graduate student at the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry had a Global Positioning System locator and coordinates of the nest from the last visit."

There isn't much more than 100 to 150 spruce grouse in the Adirondacks," said Glenn Johnson, who accompanied her. He and other biologists are considering ways to restore their numbers, possibly by importing birds from Ontario or Maine."

Nobody's done this sort of work for the spruce grouse, so anything we do is kind of experimental," said John Ozard, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. About 90 percent of those left in the Adirondacks are on privately owned land, he said. "The shrinkage of the range has been happening at least since the turn of the century and probably since the 1850s."

...bird watching isn't for the meek...

Boreal forest holds Adirondacks' few remaining spruce grouse - Newsday.com

technorati tags:bird, watching, spruce, grouse, adirondacks, Spring, Pond, Bog, Reserver

Vodka with ice and fire and birdwatching

Suffering from Glastonbury withdrawal? Head to the Westman Islands for a party you’ll never remember, says Graham Little

It was 50% proof and 100% unwelcome. But this had become a battle for national pride, and I felt compelled to do my bit for the flagging reputation of Ireland. I swallowed a mouthful of warm vodka, retreated further into my sleeping bag and prayed that the sleep police would let me go back to oblivion. It was 7am.

The Westman Islands Festival has been officially named the Greatest Party in the World, according to a Rough Guides readers’ poll. I probably should have warmed up a bit lower down the Top 40, but I’d decided I was man enough to go straight to No 1. I was wrong.

Only two types of people go to the Westmans, a volcanic chain off the south coast of Iceland: bird-spotters, chasing the world’s finest collection of puffins; and hedonists, mostly chasing each other. For four days over the first weekend in August every year, these disparate groups collide on Heimaey, the largest and most beautiful island in the chain.

Heimaey itself would provide an interesting case study for a geography field trip. The walls of the volcano tower above most of the west of the island, though the last eruption — in 1973, I noted uneasily — blew one side of it away. What is left is a perfect volcanic cross section. Steep, grassy banks sweep down to the sea and provide a superb natural amphitheatre for the temporary stage erected in the hollow, facing back up the mountain.

...bird-watching will be what I go back for...

Vodka with ice, and fire - Sunday Times - Times Online

technorati tags:bird-watching, Glastonbury, Westman, Island, Festival

Brazoria County Prairie the best birdwatching area in the country

By RICHARD STEWART

ANGLETON - For years, a group of local economic planners has dreamed of building a spaceport on the Brazoria County prairie. It would be, they said, a commercial gateway to the stars that would launch the county into the space age with plenty of high-tech jobs.

But now that the Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport Development Corporation is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for a license to actually operate a small liftoff facility, some residents say it's a bad idea to launch commercial rockets over the bird-rich coastal marshes and have them splash into the Gulf of Mexico.

"The exclusion zone for these launches is less than 400 yards from my home," Sterkx said, referring to an area that would be cleared of people during launches.

Others worry that rocket launches could harm the birds and other wildlife in the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, which adjoins the 5,000-acre site where the nonprofit corporation wants to build the spaceport.

"This area is a treasure," said Torry Tvedt, president of the Friends of the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. The sanctuary and several other area refuges operated by federal, state and conservation groups attract hundreds of species of birds. "This is one of the best bird-watching areas in the country," he said.

...I have my concerns but I'll watch this space...

Chron.com | Spaceport raises concerns in Brazoria County

technorati tags:bird-watching, spaceport, Brazoria, County, Prairie, bird-rich, costal, mashes