All the following dates are in December.

14th   Scottsbluff     Alice Kenitz  308-436-2959  akenitz(at)prairieweb.c o m
14th   DeSoto     Jerry Toll  402-453-9239   jertol(at)radiks.n e t
14th   Branched Oak Lake /Seward    Joe Gubanyi  402-643-7316  jgubanyi(at)seward.cune.e d u
15th   Lake McConaughy     Steve Dinsmore  662-325-8141  sdinsmore(at)cfr.msstate.e d u
21st    Omaha   Betty Grenon  402-731-2383   grenon925(at)aol.c o m
21st    Lincoln    Kevin Poague  402-797-2301   kpoague(at)audubon.o r g
21st    Norfolk     Duane Wolff  402-379-4177
28th   Calamus    Norma Brockmoller  402-286-4944   nbrock(at)nntc.n e t (snow date 12/30)
28th   Crawford   Bruce & Donna Walgren   307-234-7455  bwalgren(at)coffey.c o m

NOU Opens New Online Nature Store
 

 A new nature store has opened just in time for your Christmas
shopping.  It is the Nebraska Birds Nature Store, which is a joint
venture between the NOU and WithoutBricks.com.   It can be reached by
clicking on the Nature Store link on our NOU website or by going
directly to the following address:

http://www.withoutbricks.com/NOUStore

 The store features over 7,000 nature-related items for sale:  books,
music, software, videos, bird feeders, bird seed, coffee,  jewelry, and
other items that focus on birding, nature, and gardening.  You can shop
at the NOU Nature Store with a credit card and have the items you select
delivered to your door in a few days.  Prices at the Nature Store are
competitive with those you would find in other online stores and cheaper
than in many bookstores.  Books at the Nature Store are typically sold
at a 20% discount from the retail price.

 Not only is shopping at this store convenient and economical, it also
benefits the NOU.   There was no cost to the NOU to establish the store,
and in return for promoting the store to our members and others,
approximately 15% of the amount of every sale will be returned to the
NOU.

 The Nature Store is organized into categories or "aisles".  Customers
can also search for a specific item by typing in the title, the author's
name, the ISBN number or by typing in a key word such as "bluebird".
Each aisle may contain dozens of items for sale.  Each item has a photo,
a description and the price. There may also be reviews of certain
items.

To buy the item,  customers  can simply click on a button that
says "Add To Shopping Cart". While shopping,  customers can stop and
read about the shopping process, procedures, return policy and costs so
they are more comfortable and know exactly what to expect when they go
to the checkout counter.

   Shipping and handling costs  are very competitive and are fully
explained prior to checking out.  If the customer has provided an e-mail
address, he or she will receive an e-mail notification of the order
within minutes.

NOU Membership Renewals Due

 It's that season again: time to renew your membership.  NOU  Treasurer
Betty Grenon would love to get a holiday greeting from you this month,
especially one containing your membership renewal for 2003.  Prices and
membership categories are the same as last year:

Active Member  $15
Family Active  $20
Sustaining Member $25
Family Sustaining $30
Student Member $10
Life Member $250

 Checks may be sent to Betty Grenon, 1409 Childs Road East, Bellevue,
NE  68005-4418.

Nebraska County Life List Totals

 It's time to count up the species you added to  your Nebraska county
life lists this year and send them to Mark Brogie for compilation.

For your individual county totals, simply use the form on the facing
page to report the number of species you have seen in each Nebraska
county (125 species minimum) as of December 31, 2002.   (This is a
lifetime list, not just a year list.)

 For your Total Nebraska County Number, count up all the species you
have seen in each Nebraska county, even the counties in which you have
not seen 125 species.  Report that number to Mark if it is at least 500.

 For example, if you have seen all 446 species of Nebraska birds in
every Nebraska county, your Total Nebraska County Number would be 446 x
93 = 41,478.   (If your total is somewhat less than 41,478, that‚s
OK!)    Mail or email your  totals to Mark as soon as possible in 2003.

Future Meeting Dates:

Annual Meeting:  May 16-18, 2003, at the Rowe Sanctuary Visitors'
Center, southwest of Gibbon

Fall Field Days:  September 26-28, 2003, at the Halsey 4-H Camp in the
Nebraska National Forest

Welcome to the following New  Members:

 Pat Williams, Omaha
 Theresa Pester, Lincoln
 John McCarty and LaReesa Wolfenbarger, Bennington

West Nile Bird Vaccine Breakthrough

 The American Bird Conservancy (ABC), in partnership with the American
Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), and with support from Disney
Wildlife Conservation Fund, has led efforts to develop a West Nile
vaccine for birds. The first round of trials, carried out by The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Fort Collins, Colorado, have
now been completed with encouraging results: inoculated birds showed a
60% increase in survival rates over unvaccinated birds in lab tests.

 The virus, first discovered in the U.S. in 1999, has been responsible
for 214 human deaths as of November 26, 2002.  The toll on both wild and
captive birds has been enormous. The response of birds to West Nile is
highly species specific, with crows, Blue Jays and hawks among the worst
hit. In total 111 species have now been recorded as killed, but because
of the elusive behavior of sick birds and the efficiency of scavengers,
most dead birds are never found. Those that have reached local
laboratories for analysis represent only the smallest fraction of birds
actually killed - a number thought to be in the tens of thousands by
researchers.

 Concern among zoos and captive breeding facilities that some endangered
and threatened species both in the wild and those being bred for
reintroduction could be impacted, has led to the effort to develop a
vaccine.

 "We are very pleased with the initial tests and believe this could be
an effective tool for protecting some of our most endangered birds such
as Mississippi Sandhill Cranes and California Condors," said Dr. Patti
Bright, a veterinary epidemiologist, and Director of ABC's Pesticides
and Birds Campaign. "We are now looking forward to conducting field
trials at participating institutions to see how the vaccine performs in
real-world situations, outside of the laboratory."

 The American Crow suffers close to 100% mortality rates in the wild
when infected by West Nile virus and so was chosen as the test species
for the vaccine trials. At the CDC lab, scientists noted a reduction in
mortality rates of 60% by use of the new recombinant DNA vaccine.

 
2002 NEBRASKA COUNTY LIFE LIST TOTALS!

*** Report only those counties with 125 or more species:
 As of 12/31/02: do not include any 2003 sightings!

 1.    _____    Adams
 2.    _____    Antelope
 3.    _____    Arthur
 4.    _____    Banner
 5.    _____    Blaine
 6.    _____    Boone
 7.    _____    Box Butte
 8.    _____    Boyd
 9.    _____    Brown
10.    _____    Buffalo
11.    _____    Burt
12.    _____    Butler
13.    _____    Cass
14.    _____    Cedar
15.    _____    Chase
16.    _____    Cherry
17.    _____    Cheyenne
18.    _____    Clay
19.    _____    Colfax
20.    _____    Cuming
21.    _____    Custer
22.    _____    Dakota
23.    _____    Dawes
24.    _____    Dawson
25.    _____    Deuel
26.    _____    Dixon
27.    _____    Dodge
28.    _____    Douglas
29.    _____    Dundy
30.    _____    Fillmore
31.    _____    Franklin
32.    _____    Frontier
33.    _____    Furnas
34.    _____    Gage
35.    _____    Garden
36.    _____    Garfield
37.    _____    Gosper
38.    _____    Grant
39.    _____    Greeley
40.    _____    Hall
41.    _____    Hamilton
42.    _____    Harlan
43.    _____    Hayes
44.    _____    Hitchcock
45.    _____    Holt
46.    _____    Hooker
47.    _____    Howard
48.    _____    Jefferson
49.    _____    Johnson
50.    _____    Kearney
51.    _____    Keith
52.    _____    Keya Paha
53.    _____    Kimball
54.    _____    Knox
55.    _____    Lancaster
56.    _____    Lincoln
57.    _____    Logan
58.    _____    Loup
59.    _____    McPherson
60.    _____    Madison
61.    _____    Merrick
62.    _____    Morrill
63.    _____    Nance
64.    _____    Nemaha
65.    _____    Nuckolls
66.    _____    Otoe
67.    _____    Pawnee
68.    _____    Perkins
69.    _____    Phelps
70.    _____    Pierce
71.    _____    Platte
72.    _____    Polk
73.    _____    Red Willow
74.    _____    Richardson
75.    _____    Rock
76.    _____    Saline
77.    _____    Sarpy
78.    _____    Saunders
79.    _____    Scotts Bluff
80.    _____    Seward
81.    _____    Sheridan
82.    _____    Sherman
83.    _____    Sioux
84.    _____    Stanton
85.    _____    Thayer
86.    _____    Thomas
87.    _____    Thurston
88.    _____    Valley
89.    _____    Washington
90.    _____    Wayne
91.    _____    Webster
92.    _____    Wheeler
93.    _____    York
 

***  Total Nebraska County number: __________ (500 Minimum)
 Add totals of all species for every county visited:
 For example if you have seen all 446 species of Nebraska birds in every
 Nebraska county; your total county number would be 446*93= 41,478

Call, Send, or E-Mail Totals to:

  Mark A. Brogie
  508 Seeley, Box 316
  Creighton, NE  68729
  (402) 358-5675
  email:   mbrogie(at)esu1.o r g

(In order to deter junk e-mail, the e-mail addresses have been altered.
Replace the (at) with @ and remove the spaces between the last three letters)

President and Newsletter Editor:
Janis Paseka, 1585 Co. Rd. 14 Blvd., Ames,  NE  68621,  Phone:  402-727-9229
E-mail Address:  paseka(at)tvsonline.n e t

Vice-President:
Alice Kenitz, 190648 Co. Rd. 22,  Gering,  NE  69341,    Phone:  308-436-2959
E-mail Address:  akenitz(at)prairieweb.c o m

Secretary:
Mitzi Fox, 1560 Fairgrounds Road, Albion,  NE  68620,    Phone:   402-395-2395
E-mail Address:  mitzi(at)megavision.c o m

Treasurer:
Betty Grenon, 1409 Childs Road East, Bellevue,  NE  68005,    Phone:   402-731-2383
E-mail Address:  grenon925(at)aol.c o m

Editor, Bird Review:
William Clemente, Box 10, Peru State College, Peru,  NE  68421    Phone:   402-872-2233  Work
E-mail Address:  bclemente(at)oakmail.peru.e d u
(also 688 Gary St., Ripon, WI  54971, 920-748-2369 or 402-872-3073 Home)
E-mail Address:  clementeb(at)chater.n e t

Librarian:
Mary Lou Pritchard, 6325 O St., #515,  Lincoln,  NE  68510    Phone:  402-486-2428   Home
or N.O.U. Library, c/o Division of Zoology, Univ. of Nebr. State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall,
Lincoln, NE  68588-0514,  402-540-9157

Past Presidents:
Clem Klaphake, 707 Garden Ave., Bellevue,  NE  68005    Phone:  402-292-2276
E-mail Address:  cnk(at)scholars.bellevue.e d u

Betty Allen, 9628 Emmet St., Omaha,  NE  68134    Phone:   402-571-9755
E-mail Address:  lizprints(at)webtv.n e t

Directors:
Loren Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue,  NE  68005,  Phone:  402-292-5556 Home,
E-mail Address: lpdlfrd(at)juno.c o m

Steve Lamphere, 3101 Washington St., Apt. 98, Bellevue, NE  68005   Phone:  402-291-9149

Jan Uttecht, Box 823, Stanton, NE  68779   Phone: 402-439-2114

Records Committee:
Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton,  NE  68729    Phone:  402-358-5675
E-mail Address:  mbrogie(at)mother.esu1.k12.ne.us

Breeding Bird Atlas Project and Nest Records Committee:
Wayne Mollhoff, 1817 Boyd St., Ashland, NE  68003,  Phone:  402-944-2243
E-mail Address:  wmollhoff(at)netscape.n e t

Occurrence Reports:
Ross Silcock, P.O. Box 57, Tabor , IA  51653,  Phone:   712-629-5865
E-mail Address:  silcock(at)rosssilcock.c o m

Nebraska Birdline:
Loren and Babs Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue,  NE  68005,  Phone:  402-292-5325 Birdline
402-292-5556 Home,    E-mail Address: lpdlfrd(at)juno.c o m

NOU Website:          http://rip.physics.unk.edu/NOU/