The fall meeting of the NOU was held in the Lake McConaughy area on September 8-10, 2000. Our base was the Cedar Point Biological Station,
a group of rustic cabins, lab buildings and a lodge set among the trees on the south edge of Lake Ogallala, just below Kingsley Dam. We checked
in at the lodge on Friday evening and had time to socialize and take a bird-wing identification quiz provided by meeting host Steve Dinsmore.

On Saturday morning Roger Knaggs treated us to a breakfast of homemade coffee cake (courtesy of Mrs. Knaggs), fruit, coffee and juice at the
Eagle Viewing building below the dam. Mr. Knaggs is with the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and is in charge of
Kingsley Dam. The building, which is right on the edge of Lake Ogallala, is a beautiful place to watch the sunrise and the birds (an assortment
of gulls, Western Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe on the lake.

Field trips left from there for Ash Hollow, Lake Mc Conaughy and Lake Ogallala. The water level of Lake McConaughy is very low, so shorebird
habitat is plentiful. Quite a few species were listed, including Black-bellied and Semi-palmated Plover, American Avocet, Willet, Upland
Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Stilt Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and four species of 'peeps'. Ash Hollow proved to be a passerine trap: birders reported seeing Great-crested Flycatchers, Rock Wren, Townsend's Solitaire, Plumbeous, Warbling, and Cassin's Vireos, and Wilson's, MacGillivray's and Townsend's Warblers.

We ate lunch at the Haythorn Ranch, about five miles north of Kingsley Dam. It is a large comfortable facility whose major attraction to many
of us that afternoon, in addition to air conditioning and good food, was a large-screen projection of the Nebraska-Notre Dame game. I am
pleased to report that all but a few of the most de voted football fans remembered that they were there to bird and went back outside to
look for more species after lunch.

We enjoyed two short presentations before our evening meal at Haythorn Ranch. The first, an explanation of field marks useful for
differentiating Empidonax flycatcher species, was presented by Ross Silcock, co-author of The Birds of Nebraska to be published this
winter. Ross talked about primary wing extension, bill shape and color, and eye ring shape. He provided a ray of hope for those of us who, when
presented with a silent Empid, tend to shake our heads in despair and walk on in search of an easier target.

Our second presentation was by Joe Fontaine, graduate student and teaching assistant in the Biology Department at Colorado state
University. Joe talked about "sister species", such as Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Each of these pairs of birds originated as single species, but was divided into Eastern and Western populations by advancing glaciers. When the glaciers receded, the habitat had changed radically (no trees), and these populations remained isolated, eventually becoming separate species.

After a delicious banquet, we settled in to listen to evening speaker, Dr. Fritz Knopf, who is with the Biological Resources Division of the
U.S. Geological Survey in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Dr. Knopf talked to us about the history of the Platte River and surrounding areas and
about grassland birds. Although it is hard to visualize now, at the time of the westward movement of settlers, the Platte was a single
wide channel through the grasslands. There were only a few pockets of trees, such as in the Ash Hollow area. In the past 150 years it has
changed into its present incarnation of braided channels with trees along both banks and on islands among the channels. This is one of many
changes which have reduced the extent of grasslands in North America, thus reducing the habitat for Mountain Plovers and other birds. Dr.
Knopf talked about studies of the plovers on their breeding grounds and in their winter habitats.

On Sunday morning we had another tasty breakfast courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Knaggs and then went out in search of more birds. We met back at
the lodge at Cedar Point for lunch and the tally of birds sighted. Our total was 160 species.

Thanks to all of our speakers, field trip leaders and others who made this a successful meeting. Special thanks go to Steve Dinsmore, who did
an excellent job of organizing all the aspects of this meeting.
 

Have many of you noticed how fast the technology used for birding has changed?  It seems like it has just exploded in the last two years.  Here
are a few comments from a note on BIRDCHAT.  "I have been using a Windows CE based palm-sized computer for daily notes in the field, etc.
and was wondering if others are doing the same.  I use a Compaq Aero 1530 (Windows CE 2.11) loaded with Pocket Bird Recorder and have been much more accurate and detailed than when I used a notebook (the type with paper not Pentium!).  At the end of the day I set the palmtop in
its cradle and all my notes download into my desktop software (Bird Recorder 32) and update all my lists.  I was able to find a paint utility on the Internet for free that allows me to sketch birds on the screen in the field.  I have also used the sound player to keep way.  Files of different species with me all the time (I like to have the Empidonax group handy at times).  The Aero has a built in Picture Viewer that lets me download photos (the Aero 1530 is only 16 grayscale, but there are color models out there that have better reproduction capabilities) so that I can have pictures to refer to.  There also is a program called Pocket Streets that lets you import customized, clipped maps (complete with restaurants, fuel stops, lodging, etc.) of anywhere in the U.S..  These are truly the wave of the future for birders."

The day may not be far off when we can carry a laser type object that can be pointed in the direction of a perching or flying bird and get a
DNA reading, which will tell us the name of the species, where the bird was hatched and fledged, and its parentage.  Won't that make birding a lot more accurate and definitive??  The identified bird will appear on a screen of your hand held computer.  No more field guides to compare and contrast or argue about.  Maybe we are already there.

NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGIST'S UNION
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
September 8, 2000
Cedar Point Biological Research Center
Keystone, NE

Present at the meeting were Clem Klaphake, president; Jan Paseka, vice-president; Jan Uttecht. treasurer; Mitzi Fox, secretary; Thomas
Labedz and Steve Lamphere, directors; Neal Ratzlaft past-president.

The meeting was called to order by President Clem Kiaphake at 8:00pm.
Minutes of the annual meeting were reviewed and accepted with no corrections.

The Treasurer reported there is $15,467.43 in a one year CD at 6.3% interest; $2000 was donated to start an endowment fund invested in a
9 month CD; there is $4,634.88 as a balance for publication of the Breeding Bird Atlas; and $2,125 for publication of The Birds of
Nebraska book (of which $2,000 has been paid to the University of Nebraska Press). The general fund had a balance of $11,424.38.

Clem reported about a new birding trail in northwestern Minnesota. The topic was briefly discussed in reference to the possibility of
establishing such a trail in Nebraska and NOU's involvement. Clem also reported that an ornithology group from Spain had inquired about the
number of members in NOU. They are interested in promoting birding and ecotourism in Spain.

Wayne Molhoff's report (via e-mail) on publishing the Breeding Bird Atlas indicates it is progressing and continues to be on schedule
despite a change in personnel at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (they are publishing this book).  Since NOU agreed to do the handling and shipping of the Breeding Bird Atlas, Neal RatzIaff, Thomas Labedz and Wayne Mollhoff will meet with John Dinan to discuss procedures.

Ross Silcock reported to the meeting that The Birds of Nebraska book is scheduled to be published and available in early 2001. As a result
of donations from NOU members, 24 pages with color will be included and the price can be reduced slightly.  NOU will be the recipient of
most of the royalties from this book.

Neal Ratzlaff reported that the final draft of the new NOU Field Card of Nebraska Birds has been prepared in consultation with NOU members
and John Dinan of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Ten thousand copies will be printed this year at the cost of $374.00. After some
discussion it was decided that we (NOU) would not charge for the cards.  It would be considered NOU's contribution to birding in Nebraska.

Bill Clemente discussed the Nebraska Bird Review, its contents and where we are in keeping up with the latest issues.

It was noted that Joel Jorgensen has been on the Records Committee for six years and chair for two years. This is the limit for membership on
this committee as stated in the by-laws. Tom Labedz moved, and Neal Ratzlaff seconded the motion, that a vote by NOU members be held at
the annual meeting to allow Joel to serve 1 year beyond the 6-year term limit as stated in the Records Committee by-laws. The motion carried.

It was noted that a correction needs to be made in Article IX section 2 of the NOU by laws. Since the Board now consists of 12 members due
to action taken at the May 2000 meeting, rather than 11, the by-laws need to be changed at the May 2001 meeting.

An audit of the financial records is required annually.  It is to be made by 2 members who are not on the Board of Directors.  Clem will
appoint an auditing committee.  The report will be published in the Nebraska Bird Review.

It was announced that the annual meeting will be held at Camp Calvin Crest, south of Fremont, on May 18-20, 2001.  Neal Ratzlaff and Janis
Paseka are making the arrangements.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Mitzi Fox, Secretary

The article on page five of this Newsletter, entitled Evidence From the Skies, was written by Lawrence M. Small, Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution in the July 2000 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine. I realize the article doesn't deal with Nebraska birds per
se, but think you might find it interesting. I obtained permission from the Smithsonian Insti tution to publish it in our Newsletter.

Clem Klaphake, NOU Pres.

page 5

"BUT WHY DO YOU NEED SO MANY?"
It's a question we're asked over and over again about the Smithsonian's immense collections. Why, for instance, must we have so many specimens
of mosquitoes and beetles and rocks and plants and birds and...? The inventory of the Smithsonian collections could march like columns of
ants down the page. What's to be gained from filling rooms and laboratories with so much evidence of nature's diversity?

But what can seem like excess may be only a reasonable degree of sufficiency. The value of many of the collections resides in their
comprehensiveness. They can't be too large.

We can take a lesson from the birds. In a vast space on the top floor of the National Muse- urn of Natural History, aisle after aisle of
cases stacked almost to the ceiling hold more than 621,000 specimens of birds. The origins of the bird collection go back to the early days
of the Smithsonian and to the great insight of Spencer Baird, our second Secretary, who realized that the Institution should document
the biology of the world. The oldest specimens date from the early 1800s; they were already old when Baird began his work.

The collection, one of the world's largest, documents perhaps some 80 percent of the more than 9,000 species of living birds. As important,
it documents the biological, ecological, spatial and temporal diversity within many individual species. To an untrained eye, for example, the
red-tailed hawks laid in rows in a drawer will appear to be different species, and yet they are merely male and female, young and old,
differing sometimes simply by the circumstance of where they lived.  The collection has always been available for scientific study and
research, and that painstaking work has had a remarkable, and quite unforeseen, benefit.

In October 1960, a Lockheed Electra plane taking off from Logan Airport in Boston hit a flock of starlings, and the ensuing crash killed 62
people. In November 1975, a DC-10 leaving JFK Airport in New York caught gulls in its engines. The takeoff was aborted, and though all
139 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, the plane caught fire and was destroyed. In September 1995, a flock of Canada geese brought
down a U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS radar plane in Alaska, killing all 24 crew members. These three incidents are among the most unnerving, but
contact between birds and airplanes is not unusual. The Federal Aviation Administration received some 4,000 reports of bird strikes
last year. The Air Force receives nearly 3,000 additional such reports, and it loses, on average, one aircraft a year. You'd think it would be
no contest, bird against massive machine. And yet a one-ounce bird can hit a moving plane with the force of a bullet. And larger birds can
cause crippling and catastrophic damage.

An increasing concern about bird-plane collisions brought the Air Force (as well as commercial airlines and engine manufacturers) to the
Smithsonian for help. In our Natural History Museum's Department of Vertebrate Zoology, ornithologists Roxie Laybourne and Carla Dove
identify the birds that have struck planes. Through their detailed examination of the structures of feathers, and correlations of the
identifications with the dates and times of day and the altitudes, longitudes and latitudes of the incidents, they have contributed to
an invaluable database. Analysis and interpretation of the data reveal patterns that can lead to preemptive action-such as managing airport
habitats more carefully, altering flight patterns and building stronger engines.

The bird remains sent to the museum are often fragmentary indeed. Even so, Dove, drawing on her expertise and experience, can sometimes make
an identification outright, without the need for microscopic examination. Lives may depend on the outcome of her observations, and
she can know as much as she does only because those aisles of museum cases have been filled so assiduously over the years.

Rarely have the virtues of "excess" been more apparent.

President and Newsletter Editor :
Clem Klaphake, 707 Garden Ave., Bellevue, NE 68005,   402-292-2276,   cnk@scholars.bellevue.edu

Vice-President:
Janis Paseka, 1585 Co. Rd 14 Blvd., Ames, NE 68621,   402-727-9229,    paseka@tvsonline.net

Secretary:
Mitzi Fox, Rte 2 Box 36, Albion, NE 68620,      402-395-2395,    mitzi@albion.net

Treasurer:
Jan Uttecht, 1505 Glenmore Drive, Norfolk, NE 68701,     402-371-8793

Editor, Bird Review:
William Clemente, Box 10, Peru State College,  Peru, NE 68421,    402-872-2233 Wk,  402-872-3073 Hm,     clemente@bobcat.peru.edu

Librarian:
Mary Lou Pritchard, 6325 '0' St., Lincoln, NE 68510,  402-472-3334 State Museum,  402-486-2428 Home

Past President:
Betty Allen, 9628 Emmet St, Omaha, NE 68134,    402-571-9755,   lizprints@webtv.net

Directors:
Thomas Labedz, 724 Glenarbor Cr, Lincoln, NE 68512,  402-423-1384,   tlabedz@un1info.unl.edu

Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729,      402-358-5675,   mbrogie@mother.esu1.k12.ne.us

Steve Lamphere, 3120 Fillmore St., Omaha, NE 68112,  402-455-5496

Records Committee:
Joel Jorgensen, Chair, 1218 Jackson St, Blair, NE 68008, 402-426-5138,   zrtac@genesis.net

Breeding Bird Atlas Project and Nest Records Committee:
Wayne Mollhoff, 1817 Boyd St, Ashland, NE 68003, 402-944-2243,   wm24.925@NAVIX.net

Occurrence Reports:
Ross Silcock, P.O. Box 57, Tabor, IA 51653,     712-629-5865,   silcock@sidney heartland net

Nebraska Birdline:
Loren and Babs Padelford, 2405 Little John Rd.,  Bellevue, NE 68005,     402-292-5325 Birdline,  402-292-5556 Hm,  lpdlfrd@juno.com

NOU Web Site:  http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/

Rare Bird Alert:
John Sullivan, 3003 Orchard St., Lincoln, NE 68503,      402-476-5239,   johnsllvn@juno.com