NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION

Dedicated to the Study, Appreciation and Protection of Birds

Newsletter                 June 2003                 Number 3

Welcome

Welcome to these new members:
John Murphy Kearney
Steve Morris Grand Island
Bob & Kathi Gerten Kearney
Tad Leeper Ralston
Bette Bates Stanton
Lyla Koehlmoos Stanton
Jim Locklear Lincoln

Upcoming Meetings

Fall Field Days at the 4-H Camp in the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey on September 26-28.

2004 Annual Spring Meeting at Ogallala May 14-16, 2004

Update

At least for the short term, the NOU Library and archives still have a home at the University of
Nebraska State Museum. It also appears that NOU member, Tom Labedz, still has a job at the Museum.

Bill Clemente is at home in Wisconsin for the summer and is working diligently to get the 2002 issues
of the Nebraska Bird Review ready for printing by the Fall Meeting. If you notice that these issues are
smaller than some, it is because the Executive Committee suggested that Bill do whatever he can to get
caught up.

Clyde Johnson

We extend our sympathy to Emma Johnson on the death of her husband, Clyde, on May 4. Clyde was the
Nebraska Coordinator for the Breeding Bird Survey for many years. He and Emma have been very supportive
of the NOU through the years. We will miss Clyde.

NOU Online Store

Don't forget to shop at the NOU online store which carries over 7,000 nature-related items: books,
music, software, videos, bird feeders, bird seed, coffee, jewelry, etc. Prices are typically 20%
below retail and NOU receives about 15% from every sale. I have used the store on several occasions
and been very pleased.

http://www.withoutbricks.com/NOUStore

IBA

NOU will be cooperating with Audubon Nebraska in the Important Bird Areas (IBA) project. Kevin Poague
has been appointed by Audubon to be the Nebraska coordinator of this important project. We will be
hearing more about this and about how we can help in the identification of Important Bird Areas in
the state.

Seasonal Reports

The summer reporting period for seasonal reports is short--June and July. Reporting deadline is
August 15. Contact Ross Silcock for information.

NOU 2003 SPRING MEETING

The 104th annual Spring Meeting of the NOU was held May 16-18 at Rowe Sanctuary southwest of Gibbon.
There were 74 members and guests in attendance. Meetings were held in the new Iain Nicolson Audubon
Center--a great place to sit and watch birds and the Platte River, as well as to have our meetings.
Many thanks to Robin Harding and Lanny Randolph for making all the arrangements, to Paul Tebbel who
is the manager of the Sanctuary and went out of his way to make our meeting special, and to all those
who helped with arranging meals and leading field trips. Since the Nicolson Center is a 'green' building,
no disposable plates or tableware are used, so Paul washed a lot of dishes that weekend.

Activities began on Friday evening with a barbecue. Great idea, great food, and beautiful weather.
Thanks to the cooks!! Friday evening's speaker was Dr. Wayne Kramer, State Medical Entomologist with
the Nebraska Health and Human Services System and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entomology at UN-L.
His topic of West Nile Virus was very timely. WNV was first discovered in 1937 in Uganda, in New York
City in 1999, and in Nebraska in 2002. Female Culex mosquitoes with the virus inject the virus into
birds when they take a blood meal from birds; uninfected mosquitoes that take a meal from the infected
bird become infected. Humans and horses are the principal animals that can be infected by mosquitoes
that have the virus. Culex mosquitoes use permanent water for breeding and overwintering as adults,
so it is important to eliminate those sources of water-rain gutters, old tires, or any other places
that collect water. Other forms of protection involve wearing protective clothing and avoiding being
outside at dusk when mosquitoes are most active. The presence of WNV is being monitored in dead birds
(mainly members of the corvid family), sentinel flocks of chickens, and mosquitoes. Direct any questions
about WNV to your local health department.

Field trips were held all day Saturday and on Sunday morning. There were 156 species identified in Adams,
Buffalo, Gosper, Hall, Harlan, Kearney, Phelps, Sherman, and Franklin Counties. This does not include
the Mountain Bluebird and Baird's Sparrow that were reported. If you have any information about these
two species, please contact Alice Kenitz or Ross Silcock. Saturday was a beautiful birding day, but
Sunday was a little cooler with more wind. Thanks to all of the field trip leaders. Special thanks
also to Gary Lingle and Bruce Eichhorst who set up mist nets so we could have the thrill of seeing birds
in the hand.

Following the banquet and door prizes on Saturday evening, the annual business meeting was held. The
minutes of the meeting will be found elsewhere in this newsletter. Speaker for the evening was Dr. Jim
Stubbendieck, Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies and Professor of Grassland Ecology at UN-L.
He gave a fascinating slide presentation, "Nebraska's Dynamic Landscape". He had comparison slides that
show what a section of prairie looked like in the late 19th or early 20th century and what it looks like
now. We were all amazed that he could even find some of the same spots! We are actually better managers
of the land today than was the case in the past. But, with the suppression of natural fires, trees have
pushed out many native species. In some cases the actual shape of the land has changed due to movement
of soil from erosion.

Thanks to Clem Klaphake for donating the book, "Living On the Wind" by Scott Weidensaul for a raffle.
Ross Silcock and Babs and Loren Padelford donated a number of back issues of the Nebraska Bird Review
for a silent auction.

The meeting concluded with the tally of species, which followed Sunday noon lunch.

Again, thanks to Robin, Lanny, Paul Tebbel, and all those who helped make this weekend so enjoyable
and fun.

General Meeting Minutes

The 104th annual meeting of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union was held on May 17, 2003 at the Rowe
Sanctuary, Gibbon, Nebraska. It was called to order by President, Janis Paseka.

The slate of candidates for office presented by the Nominating Committee are as follows:
President Alice Kenitz
Vice-president Dave Heidt
Secretary Mitzi Fox
Treasurer Betty Grenon
Librarian Mary Lou Pritchard
Director Steve Lamphere

It was moved, seconded, and passed to elect the slate as presented.

The minutes of the May 18, 2002 annual meeting were approved as presented. The Treasurer, Betty Grenon,
reported a total of $34,886.61 in the checking and CD accounts. She noted that the membership is down
by 20-25 members. Report accepted.

It was announced that the fall meeting will be at Halsey National Forest on September 26-28; and the
2004 annual meeting will be at Ogallala on May 14-16, 2004. Acknowledgment and appreciation was
extended to Robin Harding and Lanny Randolph for planning the meeting (which included moving picnic
tables from Kearney and organizing the field trips)- to the folks who prepared the Friday evening
meal; to Marian Brown and others for assembling sack lunches for Saturday; and the field trip guides.

Also announced that the NOU Board decided to accept Joel Jorgensen's manuscript on birds of the
Eastern Rainwater Basin as NOU Occasional Paper No. 8. Publication is expected within the year.

Neal Ratzlaff reflected briefly about Clyde Johnson, long-time member of NOU, who died recently.
He and Emma have contributed generously to NOU as loyal and dedicated supporters.

There was no old business.

New business: Tom Labedz reported to the membership on the status of the NOU Library and Archives which
are housed at the State Museum. There is uncertainty due to possible UNL budget cuts to the Dept. of
Zoology; however, no immediate need for alternative housing of the Library and Archives exists.

Loren Padelford reported that he plans to order caps with the NOU logo, which will be available for
sale at the fall meeting,

Outgoing President, Janis Paseka, was recognized and thanked for her dedicated and capable contribution
to NOU as its President.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted, Mitzi Fox, Secretary

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

Vice-President:
Dave Heidt, 1703 Hilltop Drive, Norfolk, NE 68701-2031
Phone: 402-371-3412
daveh(at)northeastcollege. c o m

Secretary:
Mitzi Fox, 1560 Fairgrounds Road, Albion, NE 68620-5200
402-395-2395
mitzi(at)megavision. n e t

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

Editor, Nebraska Bird Review:
William Clemente, Box 10, Peru, NE 68421-0010
402-872-2233 (W)
bclemente(at)oakmail.peru.edu
(also 688 Gary St., Ripon, WI, 54971, 920-748-2369)
402-872-3073 (H)
bill_clemente(at)excite. c o m

Librarian:
Mary Lou Pritchaard, 6325 0 St., #515, Lincoln, NE 68510
402-486-2428

Past Presidents:
Janis Paseka, 1585 Co. Rd 14 Blvd, Ames, NE 68621
402-727-9229
paseka(at)tvsonline. n e t

Clem Klaphake, 707 Garden Ave., Bellevue, NE 68005
402-292-2276
cnk(at)scholars.bellevue. e d u

Directors:
Jan Uttecht, Box 823, Stanton, NE 68779 (2004)
402-439-2114

Loren Padelford, 1405 Little John Road, Bellevue, NE 68005 (2005)
402-292-5556
lpdlfrd(at)juno. c o m

Steve Lamphere, 3 101 Washington St., Apt. 98 Bellevue, NE 68005 (2006)
402-291-9149

Records Committee:
Mark Brogie, Box 316, Creighton, NE 68729
402-358-5675
mbrogie(at)esu1. o r g

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

Occurrence Reports:
Ross Silcock, P. 0. Box 57, Tabor, IA 51653
712-629-5868
silcock(at)rossilcock. c o m

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

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

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union 3745 Garfield Lincoln, NE 68506