Cedar Waxwings picking over the same patch of dried berries that the Robins found appealing in yesterdays post. We only see the Waxwings for a week each year and only in the fall. This year they were right on schedule and arrived sometime during the last week of November and had departed by last weekends walk through the woods.
When the fresh fruit runs out it’s a good thing the pantry is stocked with dried.
An American Robin picking over a patch of dried berries on a December afternoon.
A Curved Bill Thrasher catching some winter sunlight casts a glance our way to let us know he is aware of our antics.
While this past year has felt like one negative story after another with respect to environmental and conservation news there are successes to be recognized and accomplishments lauded.
The national Audubon Society recently published a list of their success stories for this year that will bring a little cheer to a birders holiday season.
Successes occurred on numerous fronts including clean energy projects, local conservation measures, increasing awareness for endangered bird species, protection of habitats and several others all of which are detailed here.
For me the Audubon report entitled “Survival by Degrees” will stand out as a crowning accomplishment. It is bringing widespread awareness to how climate change will endanger up to 389 bird species in North America and was widely reported on in the media.
Yes, there is good news to be found and reading it felt like a much needed gift from Santa himself.
Wishing you all a very Happy Holidays.
Just look at those beautiful feathers…bluer than blue and many shades to say the least.
A stellar’s jay sitting quietly on a snowy afternoon.
A Northern Flicker adding a wonderful splash of color to a December afternoon.
Foraging away…
or just sitting quietly brightening up the day.
Side note: It appears the flicker has the same frenemy as we do. This day the flicker landed within the territory of one very aggressive red squirrel who charged the flicker from a distance of at least ten feet forcing the Flicker to quickly take flight. The upside of the altercation was we got a nice view of those very colorful wing and tail feathers on the underside of the Flicker.
Neonicotinoids are the most commonly used class of pesticides in the world protecting crops from insects but not without untoward side effects including killing beneficial insects that pollinate the crops we need. Additionally this class of pesticides has been show to have negative effects on songbirds in laboratory studies.1 Migrating songbirds frequently forage and ingest seeds treated with these pesticides during their migrations. Until now the effects of neonicotinoids on free living wild birds had not been studied.
As reported by Kristine Liao in Audubon:
“A new study published online today in Science provides the first evidence that neonics harm songbird populations in the wild. University of Saskatchewan researchers found that White-crowned Sparrows that consumed small doses of a neonic called imidacloprid suffered rapid weight loss and delayed migration, both of which can hinder birds’ survival and ability to reproduce.”2
This is an interesting study where researches captured free-living White Crowned Sparrow and feed them them either a low dose, high dose pesticide or a control meal as well as fitting them with a tiny radio transmitter that allowed the freed birds to be tracked over a 100,000 square-kilometer area.
The sparrows fed the highest dose lost on average 6% of their body weight and 17% of their fat reserves both of which are vital for fueling successful migrations.3 Sparrows who consumed the pesticide then delayed their migration between 2-4 days compared to the control fed birds.
As for the potential consequences of songbirds delaying their migration in response to pesticide intake, one of the studies authors, Bridget Stuchbury,was quoted in a report by Smithsonian as saying:
“that extended rest stops can leave birds—already disoriented by the toxic chemical—vulnerable to predators. At the same time, she explains, late arrival to a final migration destination may reduce a bird’s chances of finding a mate, particularly if it has a shorter breeding season.”
Neonicotinoids are considered cheap insurance against insect-pests for many crops including corn, canola and soybeans and one of the most widely-applied pesticides in the world. The scientific evidence is now clear that these pesticides have harmful effects on bees, fish and now bird populations. How much more evidence will be required before we stop using these chemical willy-nilly… Before, or after, we loose innumerable bees, birds and fish?
References:
1. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/09/common-pesticide-makes-migrating-birds-anorexic
On an overcast afternoon a raven flies while we sit and watch earth bound and content. The Ravens calls rang loud and echoed far and wide across the landscape below. A moment in time that flew quickly by as smooth and swift as the ravens flight.
A black capped chickadee finds a pleasant perch to greet the morning light which has finally made it over the mountains on this Decembers day.
Happy Monday.
On Saturday at mid-morning we spotted this Coopers hawk tidying up a bit on a broken old Cottonwood branch. He looked like he has had a bit of a rough time lately with his feathers looking downright scruffy. After a half hour or so of preening his feathers were back in fine order and he was off again hunting in nearby woods.
nature has no boss 
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