Chico CA Snow Goose Festival

Snow Geese

The Chico Snow Goose Festival celebrates the annual winter waterfowl migration in California's North Sacramento Valley.

Millions of geese, ducks, swans and other birds visit the Sacramento Valley from as far away as the Arctic regions of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia, making the valley the most important wintering area along the great Pacific Flyway.

Geese, swans, ducks, and sandhill cranes have been spending their winters in the Sacramento Valley for thousands of years.

Waterfowl and shorebirds migrate south on all the U.S. flyways, but on other routes cold weather keeps them on the move. In the Sacramento Valley, mild winters allow the birds to stay in one area, creating a viewing opportunity nowhere else available.

The Festival features dozens of field trips and workshops that range out into six counties. The field trips spread out into the rice fields, wildlife refuges, and river walks where mild winter weather, abundant food and lots of water draw the avian arrivals.

Local wildlife naturalists lrad field trips to educate participants about waterfowl and other migratory birds. In rice fields and on refuges, birding experts describe how to pick out a swan from a goose from a duck. Other field trip leaders will focus on sand hill cranes and their dancing behavior.

Some trips are scheduled around fly-offs when thousands of snow geese take off as they move to a new feeding. Observers are likely to find ducks and geese as trip leaders have scouted out the best viewing sites.

The Festival also celebrates plant and animal life in the North Sacramento Valley. There are programs on wildlife and habitats in addition to rice fields and refuges.

Some field trips explore habitats including vernal pools, grasslands, nature preserves and even hiking in scenic Sutter Buttes.

Festival workshops explore nature photography, beginning birding, birds of your backyard, watchable wildlife, wood ducks, decoy duck carving, and other wildlife-related activities. Also featured are wildlife art exhibits and nature displays.

A Friends of Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge webcam provides views of a seasonal wetlands pond with migrating waterfowl and raptors. 

For more information, or visit the Snow Goose Festival website at www.snowgoosefestival.org.

Wisconsin Osprey Nesting

According to the 2016 Wisconsin Bald Eagle and Osprey Survey Report, record number of occupied osprey nests were observed in the state during 2016.

Osprey nests were found in record numbers: 558 occupied osprey nests were observed in Wisconsin, up from 542 in 2014.

At present, 75 percent of Wisconsin osprey nests are built on artificial platforms erected on utility poles, cell phone towers, and other tall structures.

Osprey populations in Wisconsin declined dramatically from the 1950s to early 1970s.

The osprey is one of North America's most recognizable birds of prey. Adults feed almost exclusively on fish. Their shrill call is a familiar sound to birders, anglers, and outdoor explorers.

source: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count 2016-2017

The 2016-2017 annual National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is coming soon.

Between December 14th and January 5th, tens of thousands of bird-loving volunteers will participate in counts across the Western Hemisphere.


The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running wildlife census in the world. Each individual count takes place in a 15-mile-wide circle and is led by a compiler responsible for organizing volunteers and submitting observations to Audubon. Within each circle, participants tally all birds seen or heard that day.

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is a citizen science project organized by the National Audubon Society.

There is no fee to participate and the quarterly report, American Birds, is available online. Counts are open to birders of all skill levels.

For more information, visit www.christmasbirdcount.org.

source: National Audubon Society

Chesapeake Bay Waterfowl

Mallard Drake

Many of North America's best known waterfowl can be found on the Chesapeake Bay. Located along the Atlantic Flyway, the estuary is an important stopover and wintering area for waterfowl.

During spring, mallards, black ducks, green-wing teal, and Canada geese nest in saltwater marshes of Chesapeake Bay. Farther up the watershed, wood ducks raise their young.

In summer, some waterfowl become secretive and move into backwater hideaways where abundant vegetation conceals their presence. In contrast, mallards and Canada geese often remain in areas where human activity occurs.

As days shorten and nights become cooler, flocks of migratory Canada geese appear in the skies over the watershed. By late fall, surf scoters and long-tailed ducks appear on the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay.

By mid winter, waterfowl populations increase as residents and early season migrants are joined by Atlantic brant, snow geese, and tundra swans.

Despite cold temperatures, many of the watershed's creeks and rivers become feeding areas for common mergansers, red-breasted mergansers, and hooded mergansers.

In spring as temperatures begin to rise and daylight increases, many species begin to move out of the Chesapeake Bay as the migrate towards their summer breeding grounds.

Some waterfowl remain on the estuary year round. The marshes, swamps, and other secluded habitats of the Chesapeake Bay watershed provide important nesting and nursey areas for black ducks, wood ducks, teal, Canada Geese, and other waterfowl.

North American Snow Goose Populations

Snow Geese

Populations of snow geese, blue geese, and Ross’s geese in North America, collectively referred to as “light geese,” have grown to record levels over the past three decades, according to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

USFWS biologists theorize that the overabundance of light geese is harming arctic tundra breeding habitat, which could have negative impacts on light geese and other bird species that depend on these areas.

Since 2009 hunters have had the opportunity to pursue snow geese during the spring as a result of a special management action referred to as a “Conservation Order” allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The measure was adopted at the recommendation of federal and state wildlife scientists in response to concerns about a growing number of snow geese across North America.

Eight states in the Atlantic Flyway (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont) will hold a Spring Snow Goose Conservation Order in 2014.

source: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Best Areas to View Snow Geese in New Jersey

Snow Geese

The following is a summary of the best areas in New Jersey to view snow geese:

Northern Jersey

In Northern Jersey, snow geese often winter at Merrill Creek Reservoir. These flocks typically exceed 15,000 birds in January and can build to over 75,000 birds in late winter. Merrill Creek Reservoir flocks may cover a wide area during daily feeding forays. Feeding snow geese are usually found from Belvidere to Washington to Clinton to Flemington.

Central New Jersey

Snow goose flocks typically total 5-10 thousand birds in central New Jersey. Flocks in this region are seen feeding in fields in an area from Cranbury to Roosevelt to Wrightstown to Burlington.

Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay tidal marshes and nearby inland farm fields attract the highest numbers of snow geese in New Jersey. During the Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey in early January, researchers may estimate 100,000 light geese in these areas.

Delaware Bay flocks feed, roost and loaf in the tidal marshes yet often make inland field feeding flights primarily into Salem and Cumberland Counties. At times, flocks range as far inland as Mullica Hill, Turnersville and Franklinville.

Southern New Jersey
Snow geese can be found in and around Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville. Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey counts from early January are typically about 5,000 birds in this region.

source: NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife

Connecticut Urban Waterfowl

Researchers found high numbers of mallards and other puddle ducks in urban sanctuaries during Connecticut’s annual Midwinter Waterfowl Survey. The presence of wild waterfowl in urban areas is often associated with supplemental feeding activities, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

“The Department discourages citizens from feeding waterfowl for a number of reasons, including increased risk of disease transmission, potential for poor nutrition, and a clouding of the real issue facing waterfowl and wildlife in general in Connecticut – loss of suitable habitat,” said Rick Jacobson, Director for the DEEP Wildlife Division.

DEEP conducted the annual Midwinter Waterfowl Survey on January 8 and 9, 2014. The survey is conducted throughout the Atlantic Flyway, and is used as an index of long-term wintering waterfowl trends.

The Connecticut survey is conducted from a helicopter and a census is obtained from the coast, the three major river systems, and selected inland lakes and reservoirs.

A brochure entitled, “Do Not Feed Waterfowl” outlines potential hazards of feeding waterfowl. The document is available on the DEEP website at: http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/wildlife/pdf_files/game/NoFeedWF.pdf.

source: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

USGS Red Knot - Horseshoe Crab Research

According to a U.S. Geological Survey study, ecological links exist between
red knots and horseshoe crab populations

Population health of the red knot, a shorebird species whose population has plummeted over the last 15 years, has been directly tied to the number of egg-laying horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay during the red knot’s northward migration each spring.

The research appears to support the hypothesis that managing horseshoe crab populations and their harvest may help conserve red knots. Horseshoe crabs are harvested for bait. They are also used in the pharmaceutical industry, which collects their blood for its clotting properties.

The study, which looked at data from more than 16,000 birds over a 12-year period, revealed that the chance of a red knot gaining significant weight after arriving at Delaware Bay is directly related to the estimated number of female horseshoe crabs that spawned during the shorebird stopover period each spring.

Birds that do not gain enough weight tend to have a lower chance of surviving the rest of the year, and in some years the difference between heavy and light bird survival can be large.

The research also found evidence that the annual survival of these birds is not only partly dependent on their body mass when they leave Delaware Bay but is also strongly related to snow conditions when the birds reach their arctic breeding grounds.

The research, Demographic consequences of migratory stopover: linking red knot survival to horseshoe crab spawning abundance, was authored by Conor McGowan (USGS), James Hines (USGS), James Nichols (USGS), James Lyons (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and others.

It was published in this month’s edition of Ecosphere, a new open-access journal of the Ecological Society of America. The article is available online.

source: USGS

Maine eBird Birdwatching Resource

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Maine Birding Trail and Cornell University have launched a state-specific version of eBird – a popular birding site where birdwatchers share information about sightings, trips and trends.

Birders are encouraged to visit the new Maine eBird site at ebird.org or from MDIF&W’s website at www.mefishwildlife.com. There birders can submit their observations, look at data that have already been collected, view news stories relevant to Maine birders, read articles regarding Department research and conservation planning efforts, and consider volunteer opportunities.

For more information about Maine Birder Bands, visit www.mefishwildlife.com

source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

Songbird Photography Tips

a female summer tanager

Throughout North America, photographing songbirds is a popular pastime. For many photographers, a rewarding experience occurs when a new songbird is captured by the camera's eye. In order to locate and photograph many of North America's most beautiful songbirds, one must learn a variety of techniques.

Before embarking on a trip into the field to photograph birds or other wildlife, it may be important to do preliminary research. Weather often plays a major role in the success of a trip. Other environmental factors may also affect bird behavior, such as tides, moon phases, or other events.

A checklist may also be helpful before heading into the field. These usually cover essential equipment such as camera batteries, sun block, insect repellent, hat, eyewear, and other gear.

Time of day is an important factor when photographing birds and other wildlife. Early morning is often the most active time for songbirds. Another busy period may come in the last hour or so of daylight. When photographing songbird species, the photographer must take into account, not only time of day, but light levels and the sun's position.

Some birds are extremely shy and will not tolerate the presence of humans. In some cases, A blind may be necessary in order to get high quality songbird photographs. In other situations, the photographer cannot get close and instead must use telephoto lenses.

Hundreds of species of birds tend to be found near water. Obviously, ducks, geese and shorebirds are drawn to water, but songbirds such as warblers, waxwings and others are often found along streams, creeks, lakes or ponds. Kayaking or canoeing is often one of the most effective means of approaching these birds.

As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. Successful bird photography often requires that the photographer remain still in the environment. Movement, noise and the glimmer of equipment is likely to alarm birds. In some cases, birds are actually quite curious and if a photographer's actions are non-threatening, they may actually approach to investigate.

To capture images of songbirds, photographers should dress appropriately. Earth toned clothing is preferred as it seems to attract less attention. Bright colored jackets, hats, or shiny accessories are usually avoided as they can draw attention to the photographer. During cool weather, layered clothing will allow photographers to add or remove items as conditions change.

Before going into the field, it is important to be familiar with cameras and accessories. In some cases, camera settings may need to be hastily adjusted in the field. Knowing equipment features can make the difference between a once in a lifetime photograph and a missed opportunity.

Always be alert and ready when scouting out potential areas. Birds often appear unexpectedly but rarely remain in view for long. An opportunity to photograph a bird of interest may last only a few seconds.

North American Blue Songbird Identification

Spotting North American songbirds is always enjoyable, but identification of bird species can be sometimes be complicated.

This series of photographs show how a wide range of bird species can be quite similar in appearance. Below are several blue male songbirds of North America's Mid Atlantic region.

Distinguishing songbirds starts by looking for identifying characteristics such as beak shape, coloration, habitat, behavior, and other factors.

Binoculars, field glasses, or spotting scopes can be a big help. A good field guide is another indispensable tool to help with bird identification. When possible, digital photographs will allow bird enthusiasts to study birds at home in greater detail.

In the series below, several blue songbirds occupy similar habitats. Each bird has slightly different body coloration as well as behavior.

male blue grosbeak

male indigo bunting

male eastern bluebird

 

Best Places for Spring Birdwatching - Creeks and Streams

Springtime is an excellent time to look for songbirds around local waterways. Lakes, ponds, creeks and woodland streams are all good places to spot warblers, sparrows, chickadees, and other songbirds.

Aquatic birds may also be encountered, especially herons, egrets, ducks, geese, and fish-eating species such as grebes.

As with most birdwatching, the best time to visit these areas is usually early morning or late afternoon, when birds are more active.

Although many birds are shy, some are quite curious and will actually approach humans that remain quiet and resist the urge to make sudden movements.

A camera is always worthwhile to carry on spring birdwatching trips as birds can appear at any moment.