BIRDCHAT for Sunday, April 27, 2008

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   Re: White throated sparrow nesting behavior?   Bill Jones   5:09am   BirdNote , last week and next--the week of April 28   Ellen Blackstone    8:32am   Mystery Duck - any guesses based on pix?   Hilary Powers    10:08am   [Fwd: [Ontbirds]Pelee Weekly Report - Week Ending April 23, 2008 (Late)]   bruce    2:45pm   Butterfly book wanted.   Bird Uganda Safaris   10:30pm

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Subject: Re: White throated sparrow nesting behavior?
From: "Bill Jones" <wejones(AT)megalink.net>
Date: 27 Apr 2008 5:09am

Thanks.  Interesting.  I've never heard of behavior like that.  I've seen 
ducks pretend to be wounded, and seen thrushes fly low away from nests to 
distract predators, and have had oven birds hop up over my foot while walking 
in the woods, but I've never seen this "rodent run" thing before....  or 
perhaps I've seen it, and just thought it was chipmunks. 

Thanks.    Neat. 

   Off topic, but re nesting behavior, on Friday, I was sitting on my deck, 
and a chickadee hopped onto my knee, then hopped up onto my shoulder, and was 
looking at my beard.  I think he was looking for nesting material, but I guess 
I didn't measure up. 

On 26 Apr 2008 at 15:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> Hi.  This sounds like the "rodent run" known from other members
> of the family.  Apparently it's believed to lure predators away
> from the nest.  One description (for the Green-tailed Towhee)
> is at <www.monolake.org/images/bomgtto.pdf>.
> 
> Jerry Friedman
> 

> > ...  We've had some white throated
> > sparrows near our house this 
> > spring, near our feeders, flying around and singing, while
> > snow was still on 
> > the ground.   However a few days ago, when we looked out at
> > the now bare 
> > ground under one of our feeders, my wife said a small
> > rodent, smaller than a 
> > chipmunk ran along the ground to cover nearby.  The next
> > day, I saw the same 
> > thing, but it was a bird.  It wasn't flying at all, but
> > running, quite fast, 
> > so fast that you don't have time to focus binoculars on
> > it.  I saw this two or 
> > three times, each time it ran to a clump of very small
> > hemlocks that were only 
> > about 2' tall.  The next day, I walked down to this
> > clump, heard a rustling 
> > and the bird ran out from under the clump, over to some
> > other low cover.  Each 
> > time, this bird never flew, but ran along the ground, for
> > up to 30' to the 
> > next cover. It is apparently nesting under this small
> > hemlock clump  Didn't 
> > get a real good look at it, but it looked like a smallish
> > white throated 
> > sparrow.  I've never seen a white throated sparrow
> > behave like this

..............
............

Bill Jones         N3JLQ
Sweden Maine
wejones(AT)megalink.net
http://www.megalink.net/~wejones 

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Subject: BirdNote , last week and next--the week of April 28
From: Ellen Blackstone <ellen(AT)123imagine.net>
Date: 27 Apr 2008 8:32am

Hello, BirdChat!

Coming up on BirdNote next week: http://tinyurl.com/5hkh5g
(Shows may vary by station. Please check the website.)

Last week, we talked about:
* songbird nocturnal migration
http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=120
* Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"
http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=662
* the comfort sounds of the Common Raven
http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1463
* the Belted Kingfisher's nest burrow
http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=132
* Western Tanager and shade-grown coffee
http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=111

BirdNote is an audio program, two minutes per episode, which is aired on 
several public radio stations (shows may vary by day). You can also 
listen to the mp3 or read the transcript on the website. It’s available 
as a podcast: http://www.birdnote.org/birdnotepodcast.xml All episodes 
are in the archives--Or search for your favorite bird! Visit the website 
to find out more. http://www.birdnote.org
---------------------------------------------------------
Ellen Blackstone
mailto:ellen(AT)123imagine.net
Seattle Washington

Starting Monday, April 28, BirdNote will air on Connecticut Public Radio 
at 5:49AM and 8:58PM. Welcome, WNPR!

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Subject: Mystery Duck - any guesses based on pix?
From: Hilary Powers <hilary(AT)powersedit.com>
Date: 27 Apr 2008 10:08am

Fremont, California - for the last several weeks, an urban pond has been 
graced by a duck no one can identify.... Which is amazing, considering 
this beautiful set of pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26074555@N08/sets/72157604732633283/

Is it a stray from Europe or somewhere else?
An immature? (Common Goldeneye was suggested, but that doesn't seem to 
cover the bill, or the merganser-ish shape to the head....)
A hybrid? Of what?

-- 
- Hilary Powers - hilary(AT)powersedit.com - Oakland CA -
-  Freelance copyediting and developmental editing   -
- Author: "Making Word Work for You" - available now -
-            www.lulu.com/content/1175135            -
-      The edit you want, when you want it done.     -

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Subject: [Fwd: [Ontbirds]Pelee Weekly Report - Week Ending April 23,
         2008 (Late)]
From: bruce <brucep(AT)mnsi.net>
Date: 27 Apr 2008 2:45pm

This weeks update Enjoy

Bruce
B and B's Bed and Breakfast
216 Erie St South
Wheatley (around the corner from Pt Pelee)
Ontario N0P2P0
800-851-3406
www.mnsi.net/~brucep
www.bandbsbandb.com

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[Ontbirds]Pelee Weekly Report - Week Ending April 23, 2008 (Late)
Date: 	Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:45:40 -0400
From: 	Janice.Sarkis(AT)pc.gc.ca
To: 	ONTBIRDS(AT)hwcn.org

This is the weekly birding report for the Point Pelee National Park birding
area for the week ending April 23, 2008.

The beginning of the week brought some excitement in the first male
Prothonotory Warbler for the season that was seen and photographed from the
south bridge of the Woodland Nature Trail. Then a flock of 37 American
Avocet was reported from the shorebird impoundment at the Hillman Marsh
Conservation Area.

Warm weather, clear nights following the full moon, and south-west winds
during most of the week may have seen species fly over Point Pelee to reach
their breeding grounds, but a good number of new species for the year were
reported during the last week as set out below:

Wood Duck - various locations inside and outside the Park
Broad-winged Hawk - one circling over the Visitor Centre Parking Lot
Black-bellied Plover - a couple dozen at Hillman Marsh
American Avocet - originally 37 at Hillman Marsh down to 12 at Wheatley
Beach April 23rd
Short-billed Dowitcher - one - Hillman Marsh
Little Gull - one - mixed in with the Bonaparte's Gulls at Hillman Marsh
Caspian Tern - Hillman Marsh
Common Tern - Hillman Marsh
Forster's Tern - Muddy Creek at Wheatley Harbour
Red-Headed Woodpecker - Tip
Purple Martin - Onion Fields
White-eyed Vireo - Tilden Woods
Black-throated Green Warbler - Tip
Black-and-White Warbler - Tip
Common Yellowthroat - Woodland Trail and Marsh Boardwalk
Bobolink - Onion Fields

The repairs to the bridge over the Sturgeon Creek have been completed and
the regular route to Point Pelee down the Bevel Line to Point Pelee Drive
is back open.

Thanks to Ross Mackintosh for filling in last week, and for input from Mike
Tate on this week's posting.

Submitted by Todd Pepper on behalf of the Friends of Point Pelee

4th Annual Fundraising Dinner
Friday May 9th, 2008 @5:30 PM
Pelee Days Inn- $60 per person ($25 tax receipt)
Reservations can be made at www.friendsofpointpelee.com
To help our environmental impact...this is a ticketless event!
Presentation: "Coming Home: Return of Western Lake Erie's & Detroit River's
Charismatic Megafauna"
by  Dr. John Hartig - Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge

Janice Rogers, General Manager
Friends of Point Pelee
519-326-6173
info(AT)friendsofpointpelee.com
www.friendsofpointpelee.com

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Subject: Butterfly book wanted.
From: "Bird Uganda Safaris" <director(AT)birduganda.com>
Date: 27 Apr 2008 10:30pm

Dear All,
Iam looking for
The Butterflies of Kenya and Their Natural History
By Torben B. Larsen Is there some one who would want to sell it from his/her
shelf.

I will be  exhibiting at the American Birding Convention between June 23rd
and 29th 2008. If you are near there or you can get it delivered there
thanks

Herbert Byaruhanga
-- 
Executive Director
Bird Uganda Safaris Ltd
2nd Floor
Jos House, Plot 55B,
Opp. Fish Factory
Telephone +256 312289048
Fax +256 (0)414383031
Cellphone +256(0)772518290/ 777912938
Email. director(AT)birduganda.com
web www.birduganda.com

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