Newsletter for September - December, 1998, No. 4
By Betty Allen
Another fall field days event at Halsey is over.
Looking back, we had a good meeting. As always, one cannot
predict the cooperation of the weather, and this weekend was
no exception. After rain during our drive in on Friday,
the evening turned cool and sunny.
It was rather interesting to find stink bugs swarming
(actual species unidentified). They became quite friendly
and invaded the rest rooms of the cabins and anything else
when a door was left open. The little creatures were quite
harmless, but they did leave an identifiable odor as they met
their demise under a heel or from natural causes.
The entertainment Friday evening was enjoyable. I
showed some slides of one of my Alaskan trips. Linda Brown
gave a preview of the 100th anniversary meeting coming up in
May of 1999. She and others read interesting tidbits
about NOU leaders of the past, material coming in part from
old Nebraska Bird Reviews.
Paul Tebbel of Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary talked
about "Identifying Important Bird Areas" in Nebraska. He
requested NOU participation in this statewide project. It appears
many other states and countries are ahead of us in performing
this task. For more on this topic, see item below.
The meeting adjourned to free time for some. NOU
Board members spent the next two hours in a lively session.
Thanks to Bub Blake for showing his slides Saturday night.
As usual they were great and enjoyed by all.
Also, thanks to the officers and committee chairs for
their work, plus anyone else who helped with the meeting.
Important Bird Areas
The Important Bird Areas Program is a worldwide
effort, concentrated especially in the Western Hemisphere.
Important Bird Areas (IBA's) are sites that provide
essential habitat for one or more species of birds.
IBA's include sites for breeding, wintering, or
migrating birds. IBA's may be a few or thousands of acres but
usually are discrete sites that stand out from the surrounding
landscape.
An IBA in general fits one or more of the following
categories:
Site for important populations of endangered or threatened species.
Site for important populations of rare and endemic species, or species of special concern.
Site for species associated with a rare, threatened or unusual habitat type.
Site where birds occur in significant abundance or diversity.
Site where long-term bird monitoring and research is conducted.
The motto is: Identify, Monitor and Conserve.
The NOU board agreed to join this effort. We have
something to contribute! We have the historical and
incidence data no one else has. It is published in our Bird Review.
In the U.S. the National Audubon Society is
spear-heading the program while enlisting other organizations such as
NOU to assist. I believe Game and Parks, state and local
governments, private land owners, individuals, managers of
public land will all play an important part in moving this
program along.
From our organization, Dr. Paul Johnsgard and
John Sullivan have volunteered to help. We need others to
join with Audubon Nebraska, Rowe Sanctuary, plus others
they have enlisted to start discussion on how to begin and to
identify important birding areas. If you wish to volunteer, call
or e-mail me, Betty Allen, 402-571-9755, e-mail: lizprints(at)webtv.net
News From the Board
Scholarship Committee: Alice Kenitz and Mark Brogie.
Please note that the Scholarship money is available for a
person or group such as Boy or Girl Scouts to attend our
fall meeting at Halsey. NOU will pay board, room and
registration for an applicant and his/her adult guardian, but not
transportation to the meeting.
For a group such as the Scouts, we will pay their
registration and the Saturday night meal. It is assumed this
group would be camping out on their own with their troop
leader and guardians.
We have had a different young man each year for the
last two years. This year our scholarship winner was John Brogie.
Library Committee: Thomas Labedz, Neal and
Izen Ratzlaff, Mary Lou Pritchard, Chair. Because of new
additions to the NOU library, additional shelf space has
become necessary.
Upon hearing this, two members who wish to remain
anonymous have graciously contributed a total of $1,140.00 to the
Museum to purchase matching shelves for us.
The committee continues to work on cataloguing the
books, articles, pamphlets, brochures and periodicals. The library
is open by appointment for research and student papers.
At this time, materials must be used in the library and
cannot be checked out. Perhaps, when everything is
computerized, we may be able to offer interlibrary loan privileges.
Record Committee: Mark Brogie, Robin Harding,
Steve Dinsmore, Bill Huser, Ross Silcock. No activity report, but
it was learned they need to elect new members. They
work quasi-independently, elect their own members and officers.
Their task is to approve or disapprove the acceptance of
rare and unusual sightings.
Nebraska Bird Review: Bill Clemente, Editor;
Tom Klubertanz, Assistant. It was great to have Bill at our
meeting. Members had lots of questions to ask him. Although
he had to leave early Saturday morning, he is available by
e-mail (clemente(at)bobcat.peru.edu) or phone
(402-872-2233, office; 402-872-3073, home) at Peru State College.
Nebraska Bird Atlas: Wayne Molhoff. Wayne said
species accounts have been written. He is writing the
introduction. Game and Parks are working on the layout,
making sure the data matches the maps in the computer. Data
thus far consists of 22,000 entries. Some sorting has been
done by the computer, but other sorting had to be done manually.
Due to illness of the Parks Commission's staff editor,
some areas have not been analyzed. Progress is
"grindingly slow," but it is hoped the Atlas will be ready for the
spring meeting.
(Wayne, by the way, has been studying the Nuthatches
and the White-throated Swift out at the Pine Ridge. He
mentioned the occurrence of an Egyptian Goose at Burwell.)
Call him for details.
Deadline for Dues: January 1, 1999.
See Page 3 for membership application form and new membership rates.
Bird Counts Around the State
The Seward-Branched Oak Lake Christmas Bird Count
will be held Friday, Dec. 18. Help would be appreciated.
Contact Joe Gubanyi for more information at 402-643-3989.
The Audubon Society of Omaha (ASO) will hold its Omaha
area Christmas Count Sat., Dec. 19. For details call Betty
Grenon (402-731-2387).
ASO will assist DeSoto Refuge with their Count on
Sat, Jan. 02. Please call Jerry Toll, 402-453-9239, or Mindy
Sheets at the Refuge, 712-642-4121.
On Sat, Feb. 13, an informal birding trip will be held
at Lake McConaughy. Participants should meet at 7:00 a.m.
at the Eagle Observation Building below Kingsley Dam,
immediately north of the spillway. The focus will be on
gulls and waterfowl. If time permits, we will also bird
Sutherland Reservoir. Interested persons should monitor NeBirds and
contact Stephen Dinsmore, Ft. Collins, CO
(stevedinsmore(at)usgs.gov) as the trip date may be
changed at the last minute due to poor weather or a lack of birds.
Fall report period: Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov ** Due Dec 15
Winter report period: Dec, Jan, Feb ** Due Mar 15
Spring report period: Mar, Apr, May ** Due June 15
Summer report period: June, July ** Due Aug 15
Send to Ross Silcock, P.O. Box 57, Tabor, Iowa 51653.
Ross welcomes anyone's record from 1 to 1,000,
especially the winter report. Call 712-629-5865 or
e-mail silcock(at)sidney.heartland.net
NOU Web Site: http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/
Do you have e-mail? Sign up for the NeBirds chat line.
Read what fellow NOUer's are spotting around the state.
Send a message to autoshare@rip.physics.unk.edu, subject line
not required, in the body of the message write "subscribe nebirds
(your name)." That's all it takes, you will soon receive a welcome
message with instructions. The address to send messages to the
list is: NeBirds@rip.physics.unk.edu.
By Lanny Randolph
October 16-18, 1998 the Nebraska Ornithologists' Fall
Field Days were held at the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey.
The final tally was 92 species of birds, with one more
unidentified as to species. Some of the highlights: an
American Bittern, Great Egrets, 13 species of ducks including
Canvasbacks and Ring-necks. We saw 12 raptor species
including Golden Eagles, a Prairie Falcon and a Peregrine Falcon.
We saw large numbers of Greater Prairie Chickens,
even more Sharp-tailed Grouse, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Northern Shrike, American Pipit, Nashville Warbler, 13 species
of sparrows including a Fox Sparrow; also Red Crossbills.
The food was good and plentiful, the birding was
good, and the companionship was warm, even though the
weather Saturday (the only full day we had) was cold and windy.
By Linda R. Brown
Announcing the 100th anniversary meeting of the
Nebraska Ornithologists' Union May 14-16, 1999, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Friday, May 14: Registration 4-6:30 p.m., Nebraska
Center for Continuing Education, North 33rd and Holdrege St.
Open House 7-9:30 p.m. Nebraska Hall, UNL. Honor
our founders. View birds they collected. Thomas Labedz,
Collections Manager of the museum's birds at Nebraska
Hall, will lead us on small `hands off' tour of the collection
and NOU library.
Saturday, May 15: Field trips arranged by John
Sullivan; leave from various McDonald's at 6:30 a.m.
12:00 noon: Annual meeting and Pizza Buffet
at Valentiino's on Holdredge ($8 with gratuity).
4:30 p.m. Program on the history of the Nebraska
State Museum presented by Richard Corner, Collections Manager.
Morrill Hall auditorium.
5:30 p.m. Reception. Cash bar. Morrill Hall.
6:30 p.m. Dine with the mastodons at a sit-down buffet
in Elephant Hall. $25.
8:00 p.m. By History Committee, a short peek at
NOU history that is sure to warm our hearts. We are honored
that Ross Silcock has agreed to speak to us about birds in
Nebraska, some history, current trends, and future possibilities.
Sunday, May 16. Field trips; from McDonald's, 6:30 a.m.
Spring Creek Ranch (Near Denton). Kevin Poague,
President of Wachiska Audubon, and staff person for
State Audubon will present a short workshop on various types
of bird census data collection. He invites participants to
use these techniques as they spend the morning contributing
to the on-going bird census of this new property purchased
by Audubon for the purpose of education.
Noon Lunch (about $8); Count Tally. Spring Creek Ranch.
Hotel Reservations: In response to concerns raised
at Halsey, we have reserved 20 rooms at Nebraska Center
for Continuing Education, North 33rd & Holdredge. The
price quoted is $61.50 for king bed and $65.50 for twin beds.
Rooms will be released April 14.
This facility is convenient to downtown campus,
across the street from Valentino's and next door to ag campus.
The grounds are beautiful and will undoubtedly provide
good birding. Stop for homemade ice cream at Dairy Store.
I urge you to call for reservations now: 402-472-3435.
Be sure to mention Nebraska Ornithologists' Union.
Last but very important: We will ask Wachiska
Audubon members to provide in-home hospitality for those who
want it. If you do, I need to know by January 10. For this or
other special needs, contact Linda Brown, 3745 Garfield,
Lincon 68506, 402-489-2381, e-mail lb14735(at)navix.net
Please enter my membership in the category checked below:
One Active Member.........................$15.00
Name_______________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________
City____________________________________State_________Zip______
Telephone___________________________ E-Mail_________________
Make checks payable to the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union and return
with this form to:
Sue Amiotte, 11 City Dam Road, Chadron NE 69337
See our Web Site at http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/
Since spammers glean e-mail addresses from web sites, please replace the 'at' symbol for the (at).
President and Newsletter Editor: Vice-President: Secretary: Treasurer: Editor, Bird Review: Assistant Newsletter Editor Librarian: Past President: Directors: Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729-0316,
(402) 358-5675, mbrogie(at)mother.esul.k12.ne.us
Alice Kenitz, 290648 County Rd 22, Gering, NE 69341,
(308) 436-2959, akenitz(at)aol.com
Records Committee: Breeding Bird Atlas Project & Nest Records Coordinator: Occurrence Reports: Nebraska Bird Line: Rare Bird Alert:
Nebraska Ornithologists' Union
NOU to Celebrate 100th Anniversary
Yes, I want to join the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union
Family Active................................$20.00
One Sustaining Member....................$25.00
Family Sustaining...........................$30.00
Student Member.............................$10.00
Life Member.................................$250.00
Betty Allen, 9628 Emmet St, Omaha, NE 68134,
(402) 571-9755, lizprints(at)webtv.net
Lanny Randolph, 50370 24th Rd, Gibbon, NE 68840,
(308) 468-5057, randolphl(at)platte.unk.edu
Robin Harding, 50370 24th Rd, Gibbon, NE 68840,
(308) 468-5057, hardingr(at)unk.edu
Sue Amiotte, 11 City Dam Rd, Chadron, NE 69337,
(308) 432-3783, samiotte(at)bbc.net
William Clemente, Box 10, Peru State College, Peru, NE 68421,
(402) 872-2233 (office)
(402) 872-3073 (home), clemente(at)bobcat.peru.edu
Laurine Blankenau, 3808 Grebe, Omaha, NE 68112,
(402) 451-3647, rblanken(at)creighton.edu
Mary Lou Pritchard, 6325 "O" St, Lincoln, NE 68510-2246,
(402) 472-3334 (State Museum),
(402) 486-2428 (home)
Neal Ratzlaff, 536 Brentwood Rd, Omaha, NE 68114-4269,
(402) 397-0135, nratzlaff(at)aol.com
Thomas Labedz, 724 Glenarbor Circle, Lincoln, NE 68512,
(402) 423-1384, tlabedz(at)unlinfo.unl.edu
Mark Brogie, Chair, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729,
(402) 358-5675, mbrogie(at)mother.esul.k12.ne.us
Wayne Molhoff, 1817 Boyd St, Ashland, NE 68003,
(402) 944-2243, wm24.925(at)NAVIX.net
Ross Silcock, P.O.Box 57, Tabor, IA 52653,
(712) 629-5865, silcock(at)sidney.heartland.net
Loren and Babs Padelford, 2405 Little John Rd., Bellevue, NE 68005
(402)292-5325 (Bird Line), (402)292-5556 (home), lpdlfrd(at)juno.com
Jeff Hall (402) 488-5397
3745 Garfield
Lincoln, NE 68506