200612 Red Poll

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The Redpoll Newsletter of the Arctic Audubon Society, Fairbanks, Alaska

Vol. 29 Issue No. 3 December 2006

Mission of Arctic Audubon:

Earth has unparalleled natural

diversity, productivity, and

beauty, and provides for

life. Recognizing the full value of nature, we work to

protect Alaskan ecosystems

by encouraging research,

education, and management

that will contribute to

appreciation and good

stewardship of this natural

heritage. We also strive to

conduct our own lives in

harmony with nature.

The Arctic Audubon Society

publishes The Redpoll for its

members monthly fall through

spring. National Audubon

Society (NAS) dues are $35;

new members are $20. NAS

membership includes local

chapter dues. Chapter only

membership is $10 and

includes the newsletter.

Inside…

AK Winter Bird Book ......... 5

Backyard Bird Count ....... 5

Calendar ........................ 6

Christmas Bird Count .. 3, 4

Ketchum Photo Exhibit .... 5

Kid’s Bird Club ................ 5

Student Scholarship ........ 5

Plan To Join Us for a Seasonal Birding Festivity!By Gail Mayo

We hope you will all join us Saturday, December 30th or the Christmas Bird Count(details inside). Fairbanks birders have much to be proud o as they gather or the

46th time to celebrate the plentiul birdlie in our community. Last year we were one o38 counts in Alaska. We saw 24 species and almost 6,000 birds. While other places inAlaska totaled up to 82 species (Kodiak), we had the highest numbers in North Americaor three species, Common Raven (1644), Gray Jay (161) and Boreal Owl (3). Additionally

we had the highest counts in the United States or both Common and Hoary Redpolls.

What makes this all possible is your enthusiasm or going out beore light on a potentiallymiserable day and reezing your ngers trying toocus on little grey bits itting out o sight in snowytrees, and then trying to mark numbers down.

In the past several years Fairbanks has beenamong the 50 counts (out o a total o 2,060 counts)

which manage to attract over 100 participants.All these un acts are gleaned rom the ChristmasBird Count edition o American Birds, volume 60.Te more sobering acts are there also. Aer 106

years, the Christmas Bird Count results can be used

to track changing bird populations and uncovertrends. Your continued participation is the mostimportant part o this eort. We look orwardto seeing you at the compilation potluck aer thecount where stories and numbers will y.

Winter Bird ID WorkshopDecember 12, 7:00 pm

Learn how to identiy winterbirds ound in interior Alaska

and get inormation and registra-tion materials or the ChristmasBird Count. Tis great reresher orbeginning class will be held at the

Alaska Bird Observatory Center orEducation & Research. Te work-shop is ree or ABO and ArcticAudubon Society members and is$5/nonmembers.

Eider Outreach and Education on the North Slope presentation by Neesha Wendling, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Monday, January 8, 7:00 pm

Noel Wien Library Auditorium

he Spectacled Eider and the Alaska breeding population o Steller’sEiders were listed as threatened species under the Endangered

Species Act (1993 and 1997, respectively) due to concerns over appar-ent declines in numbers and a reduction o nesting range in Alaska. In1991, the Fairbanks Fish and Wildlie Field Ofce and the North SlopeBorough Department o Wildlie Management initiated a joint studyo the breeding biology o Steller’s Eiders near Barrow. In 1999, we began conductinannual breeding pair ground surveys, and the community expressed the need or locainvolvement. Outreach eorts in Barrow have been ongoing and expanding since 199

Steller’s Eider © Mark Wil

continued on page tw

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The Redpoll December 006

Important Bird Area Program in Alaskaby Iain Stenhouse, Director of Bird Conservation, Alaska Audubon

he Important Bird Area (IBA) program is part o a proactive globalinitiative by BirdLie International to identiy sites o outstanding

value or birds. As the U.S. partner to BirdLie, the National AudubonSociety is responsible or this program across the country. Sites generally

qualiy as an IBA i they support at least 1% o a species’ local, yway, orglobal population.

In Alaska, the IBA program has been underway since 2000. By 2004,one hundred and een sites had been identied in the Bering Sea andCook Inlet regions alone, the details o which are publicly available on theIBA pages o the National Audubon Society’s website at www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html.

Te coastal and marine areas west and south o Barrow were includedin the Bering Sea project. Around twenty-ve sites between Norton Soundand Barrow were recognized during that project, including Peard Bay, Kas-

egaluk Lagoon, Ledyard Bay, Cape Lisburne-Tompson, Little Diomede,and the central Seward Peninsula, to name but a ew.A state wildlie grant, awarded in 2004, allowed Audubon Alaska to

continue its IBA work and initiate a statewide project aimed at ‘lling in’the rest o the map. At present, a total o 41 potential sites rom all acrossthe state are being tracked. O these, 17 nominations have been completed,many o which have yet to be reviewed by the Alaska and National technicalcommittees, while 24 others are in various stages o progress.

As part o this project, the coastal and marine areas east o Barrow, andthe interior Arctic region, have been a major ocus. In this area, ve sitenominations have been completed so ar, namely eshekpuk Lake, Colville

River Delta, Northeast Arctic coastal plain, Cooper Island, and the EasternBeauort Sea coastal lagoons. Te rst our o these sites have recently beenreviewed by the Alaska technical committee, which chose to accept them asIBAs o local importance. Tree o them (eshekpuk Lake, Colville RiverDelta, and the Northeast Arctic coastal plain) will be orwarded to theNational technical committee or review o their continental and globalimportance. A urther six potential site nominations are in progress or

actively being considered, namely the Upper ColvilleRiver, Porcupine River, Yukon Flats, Creamer’s Field,Iditarod Lowlands, and a section o the oothills o theAlaska Range near Denali.I you have suggestions o other northern sites that may

meet the criteria or IBA status and/or you would liketo contribute to this global project by writing an IBAnomination, please contact Dr. Iain Stenhouse at theAudubon Alaska ofce, 907-276-7034 or [email protected].

with positive results. Recovery Plansor the Spectacled Eider and Steller’sEider identiy high priority actionsneeded to achieve recovery o the

listed populations.Since outreach and education are

important methods o achieving goalsstated in both eider recovery plans,eorts are being expanded to other

villages on the Slope. Eider Journey is a program that joins high schoolstudents in rural villages near keynesting and wintering areas with scien-tists, proessors, and local communitymembers to monitor eider popula-tions and conduct research on eiderhabitat. Similarly, the North Slope

Bird & Cultural Camp helps middle-school age students learn about birdson the North Slope in both westernscience and traditional contexts. Inaddition to youth outreach, visits to

villages, workshops, and educationabout poisoning rom lead shot are

part o ongoing eorts to involve local

communities in eider recovery. Neesha Wendling works or the U.S. Fish and Wildlie Service, primarily on outreach and education in rural Alaska. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Zo-ology fom the University o Idaho, where she researched the physiology o salmonids.She’s lived in Alaska since 1999.

Eider Programcontinued from page one

Students examine an owl nest during a North Slope Bird

and Cultural Camp. Photo by Neesha Wendling

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46th AnnuAl FAirbAnks ChristmAs bird CountSaturday, December 30, 2006 during daylight hours

Compilation Potluck Dinner: 5:00 pm at the Ken Kunkle Hall

o participate, contact the coordinator o the area in which you want to count. Please call ore-mail soon to give the coordinators time to organize. I you have no preerence or can’t reach yourcoordinator, please call or e-mail the compiler, Gail Mayo at 479-2954 or [email protected].

Each Christmas Bird Count lasts 24 hours and covers a 177 square mile circle that is 15 miles in diameter. Cen-tered on the intersection o Yankovitch and Dalton rail, the Fairbanks Circle includes Ester Dome, parts o theanana and Chena Rivers, the dump, Ft. Wainwright cooling ponds, and plenty o typical interior habitat.

Te object o the count is to observe birds in as much o the count circle as possible without duplication. Eachbird must be identifed at least to genus. Because our daylight time is limited, we need many eld observers willing to cover assigned areas. Birds are also counted at eeders by observers who record the largest number o birds o eachspecies seen together on that day. Feeder counters should contact their area coordinator. During “count week” (thethree days beore and aer count day), additional species seen or heard within the count circle are added to the nal

list o species observed. Please use the data entry sheet on the reverse side to record your observations and bring itto the compilation potluck.

Plan to join us aer dark or the compilation and potluck dinner (meat provided) at the Ken Kunkle Hall onGoldstream Road near Ivory Jack’s. See directions at the website www.goldstreamvalley.net/kunkel . Doors openat 4:30 pm and dinner is at 5:00 pm. We look orward to seeing you there.

A $5 ee is required rom all eld observers over 18 years old. All observers under 18, eeder watchers, and owllisteners are not required to pay, but will not receive the CBC issue o American Birds i they do not pay. Make sure

we have your correct mailing address and tell us i you do not wish to receive the CBC issue. Te Christmas BirdCount is on-line with data rom 1900 to present at www.audubon.org.

If you can’t attend the potluck be sure to contact your area coordinator before 5:00 pm.

West GoldstreamBrian Lawhead

[email protected]

EsterPhilip Martin

[email protected]

University Gail Mayo479-2954

[email protected]

Chena Ridge Joyce Potter

479-3523

East GoldstreamAndrea Swingley479-9729

[email protected]

Farmer’s Loop Jamie Marschner

[email protected]

Steese/Wainwright

Carol McIntyre457-4213

hander@mosquitonet.

Creamer’s ReugeMark Ross459-7301

[email protected]

South FairbanksKen Russell & Laurel Devaney

[email protected]

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2 0 0 6 A u d u b o n C h

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S U M M A R Y F O R :

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c i e t y a n d A l a s k a B i r d O b s e r v a t o r y

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4 , 1 1 3

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* A d d i t i o n a l s p e c i e s

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December 006 The Redpoll

The Allen River Enters Lake Chauekuktuli Photo by Robert Glenn Ketchum

Southwest Alaska: A World of National Parksand Wildlife Refuges at the Crossroads

hrough January 28th, this University o Alaska Mu-seum o the North Special Exhibit eatures Robert

Glenn Ketchum’s large-scale landscape portraits rom

Southwest Alaska, a vast watershed draining rom theAlaska and Aleutian mountain ranges.

Student Scholarship Offeredto Shorebird Festival

he im Schantz Memorial Foundation willsend a college-age scholarship recipient to the

Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer, Alaska,

May 10-13, 2007 to help in the student’s study o migrating shorebirds. Te im Schantz Foundationhas been established to insure that im’s passion orbirds lives on in other young aspiring students. Tescholarship trip includes the ollowing:

• round trip airare to Anchorage; transer to Homer• our nights lodging or the estival• a copy o the ABA Alaska Finding Guide

o request a scholarship appliction, e-mail [email protected] or write to im Schantz Memorial Foun-dation, 6608 Medinah Drive, Ft. Worth, X 76132.

Bird Club for Fairbanks Kids

he Arctic Moon Bird Club is the Alaska BirdObservatory’s kid’s bird club! Te club is open

to kids ages 10 and older in the Fairbanks area whoare interested in learning more about birds, bird-

watching, and the natural world. Club members participate in one activity per month. Te member-ship ee is $12 ($1/month). Check ABO’s websiteat www.alaskabird.org or some o this year’s activi-ties. I you are interested in joining the Arctic MoonBird Club, contact ricia at 451-7159 or [email protected].

Count for the Birds inAmerica’s Great Backyard

February 16-19, 2007

Join with thousand o others to nd out how manybirds are being seen in your area and across the conti-

nent this winter. By participating in the Great Backyard

Bird Count, you help document where birds are, andtrack changes in their numbers compared to previous years, helping scientists paint a picture o the state o birds this winter. For more inormation, and to viewresults, go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

• No ee or registration required• All ages and skill levels welcome• rack results in real time online• Count in your backyard, balcony, schoolyard, park,

wildlie reuge

Book on Alaska’s Winter Birds

Winter Wings is a bound collection o 23 articleseaturing Alaska’s winter bird species. Each

article includes inormation on identication, vocaliza-tions, and natural history, along with color photos. Te

proles were produced or publication in newspapersacross Alaska with a grant rom the Watchable WildlieConservation rust. he bound collection makes agreat stocking stuer and is available in the Alaska BirdObservatory’s gi shop or $12.

Arctic Moon Bird Club member, Jesse Miller-Harris, sets four

Potter traps, used to trap chickadees at ABO’s bird feeding

station. The bird club worked with ABO biologists to measure

changing fat levels on Black-capped Chickadees throughout a

winter day.

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Arctic Audubon SocietyPO Box 82098Fairbanks, AK 99708www.arcticaudubon.org

Nonproft Org. US Postage

PAIDPermit No. 181Fairbanks AK

Upcoming Events--Mark Your Calendar

Arctic Audubon Board of Directors

email address: [email protected]: Gail Mayo (479-2954)

Vice President: OpenSecretary: Open

reasurer: Gail Mayo (479-2954)Education: Megan Phillips (456-1000)

Conservation: Kristi Bailey (479-4874)Hospitality: Brook Gamble (456-3775)

Programs: Lauren Attanas (474-9736)Publicity: Open

Newsletter: Mary Zalar (479-4547)Membership: Mary Zalar (479-4547)

Field rips: om Green (452-6370)Birdathon: Sherry Lewis (479-0848)

Web Site: Jim Logan

Alaska Audubon Board: Frank Keim (451-9308)

Giving a Voice to Nature—Sharing the North TroughPhotography by Ken Whitten, December 14, 7 pm

Sponsored by NAEC at the Noel Wien Library.

Christmas Bird Count, Saturday, December 30Details on page 3 & 4. Compilation Potluck Dinner at5:00 pm at the Ken Kunkle Hall on Goldstream Rd.

Arctic Audubon Board Meeting, Monday, January 2,5:30 pm, UAF Natural Science Facility, Rm 300

Members are welcome at our business meeting.

Eider Outreach & Education on the North Slope,

Monday, January 8, 7:00 pm, Noel Wien Library Biologist Neesha Wendling will talk about Spectacledand Steller’s Eiders on the North Slope.

Great Backyard Bird Count, February 16-19Details on page 5 and at www.birdsource.org/gbbc

Birding Hotline

(907) 451-9213Updated by Laurel Devaney & Ken Russell

Report interesting bird sightings;learn what others have spotted.

also at

www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/realbirds/index.html

National Audubon SocietyNew Member Form

❒ Introductory rate, $20

❒ Two Year membership, $30

❒ Student or Senior rate $15

Membership includes both National Audubon and thelocal chapter, Arctic Audubon. You will receive NationalAudubon’s magazine, Audubon, and Arctic Audubon’s newslet-

ter, Te Redpoll.Name: ________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________

______________________________________________

City State Zip

❒ I do not want the Audubon Society to share my name withother organizations.

Amount enclosed: $______ (Make check payable to Na-tional Audubon Society)

Send to: Arctic Audubon SocietyPO Box 82098 A52

Fairbanks, AK 99708 7XCH

❒ Chapter Only Membership, $10

For membership in Arctic Audubon Society only, check boxand make check payable to Arctic Audubon.

200612 Red Poll

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