Good news for Peregrine falcons in Worcester

On the move

Wildlife officials, former hosts hope falcons will move to site

NEW ADDRESS OFFERED TO DOWNTOWN PEREGRINES  by Nancy Sheehan

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported the wonderful news that, 

The two peregrine falcons that call downtown Worcester home are being offered a nifty custom-built nesting box in a new location atop the Printers Building, 44 Portland St. State wildlife officials are praying that the endangered birds of prey will take to their new digs since they have become aves non grata at their longtime home on a ledge at One Chestnut Place.  It's not that they don't like birds over there. “My tenants went crazy for them,” said Cheryl Esper, property manager at One Chestnut Place, an office building that houses the Fallon Community Health Plan, among other tenants. “When they would band the babies we would do it in the lobby and let everybody come and watch.”  The problem is that the building needs an overhaul of its façade, an important project that was supposed to be done last summer but was put off because of the nesting birds. The concern wasn't just that the work might disturb the peregrine chicks. It was also that the adult peregrines might disturb workers out on the building's roof and ledges. Falcons, while they generally keep to themselves, become extremely protective after their babies hatch. “They've gotten more and more aggressive,” Ms. Esper said, of the sharp-taloned, dive-bombing duo.  The birds have even attacked people on a balcony five floors below their nest, she said. “Last year was really tough. We couldn't even wash our windows,” Ms. Esper said.  The solution was to seek a new nesting place so exterior work on the building could finally commence.

A call went out from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which has worked to restore a peregrine population in the state after the pesticide DDT wiped them out in the 1960s. Owners of the Printers Building stepped forward. “They were looking for a home and we thought it would be exciting to have peregrine falcons nesting on our roof,” said Wyatt Wade, president of Davis Publications, which owns the building. “It's a way to support the wildlife of Central Massachusetts and downtown Worcester.”

The falcon nesting box at One Chestnut Place, which had become dilapidated over the five years the falcons lived there, was taken down before falcon mating season, which begins right about now. Mass Wildlife staff built a new larger box and put it up on the northeastern edge of the Printers Building roof recently. It is a new and improved design that includes slots that allow a piece of plywood to be slipped in to cover the entrance. Then, a side door can be opened and the chicks safely removed for banding so the state can track the birds. The old box had no front door, and because the cliff-dwelling peregrines nest on precipices, there was always the danger that the chicks would try to flee the human hands that were reaching for them and plummet to their deaths.

At One Chestnut Place, a state wildlife staffer had to lie down near the edge of the roof and hold a net under the open front of the box. That worked just fine when the parents weren't around. One time, however, the peregrines caught sight of the operation and — WHAM. “He was blocking their escape route as we were going in from the side trying to take the chicks out,” Mike Morelly, a state wildlife technician said as he was helping install the new Printers Building box. “One of the parents came down and nicked him. The talons are extremely sharp. They're like razor blades. It knocked his sunglasses off and drew a little blood.”  Never fear. You are quite safe unless you go prancing around on the roof while their chicks are there. They don't go attacking people unless they feel their babies are in danger. “Peregrines are very good parents,” Mr. Morelly said, as he helped install the new box on the Printers Building. “But this will definitely become a no-fly zone if she lays her eggs here.”  If she does.  “They could pick any building in the city to relocate to,” said William J. Davis, district supervisor for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. “The new box has everything you would think a falcon could want but it depends on whether they take a liking to it. Bottom line, it's up to them where they decide to go. They may end up on another building.” 

The birds, which historically nest on cliff faces, have adapted to the presence of human cities by setting up housekeeping on taller buildings, on bridge girders and other urban spots that mimic their natural setting. The birds, like other raptors or birds of prey, were especially sensitive to DDT because their place near the top of the food chain meant they ingested higher concentrations of the deadly, now-banned pesticide. Some died from poisoning. In other cases, DDT disrupted the reproductive system of female birds, which prevented some from laying eggs at all, or, when they did, the eggs had extremely thin and weak shells and the birds died out.  Repopulation efforts in Massachusetts began in the early 1980s and there are currently about 30 nesting pairs of peregrines in the state, but only one in the Worcester area. The closest nesting pairs are in Boston and Springfield and at Mount Sugarloaf in South Deerfield and Mount Tom in Easthampton, Davis said.  Building a new box for the local pair is part of the state's continuing measures to protect peregrines. It was placed within sight of the old box so it's certain the birds will see it as they soar over downtown. But will they move in? “It will be the beginning of March before we know,” Mr. Morelly said. “Even then it's definitive only when she sits on the eggs. If that's going to be here or back over there, we don't know. Hopefully it will be here.” 

Good light / Bad light

Haystack in good light

coming from the left  

Haystack in neutral winter light

no visible shadow

As with art and photography, “good light and bad light” play an important role in observing birds. Our vision is dependent on the light waves that bounce off objects. The bigger and stronger the wave (within reason) the clearer the image. A bird in clear, bright light is not only thrilling to observe but also unlocks subtle coloration and markings that lead to better understanding. Bird watching’s dependence on optics like binoculars and scopes literally magnify the problem of "good light".  When the sun is up and the sky is clear we can see more color and detail than in low light, overcast skies, or fog. However, even on a bright summer day we can stumble into “bad light” situations that make viewing a bird problematic. This is when a bird comes between the viewer and the sun. The effects of back lighting can range from a pure black silhouette to a hazing of color and detail. When you are searching for a good angle to view a bird remember to keep the sun at your back or at least at your side. Watch the angle of the shadows and always try to circle around until your own shadow stretches out in front of you - this is good light.

Haystack in poor evening light
shadow coming towards us

  

Haystack in fog,
muted colors
















Snow buntings on the hill

  

Birds play a role in the visual literacy of most all of the world’s religions. The trickster raven, the altruistic pelican, the falcon headed sun god. To modern non-believer birds often go unnoticed, a thin spoke in Mother Nature’s wheel or at best represent a connection to place rather than religious allegory. A summer forest is more forest when a thrush is signing, a beach is more beach with a gull overhead, and perhaps Spring isn’t Spring without a robin.

On the morning of January 17^th as I parked my car to attend the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast at Quinsigimond Community College atop Greendale hill in Worcester, a loose band of about fifteen Snow buntings landed in the grass in front of me. Snow buntings are a high arctic, white and black bird with patchy gray feathers dispersed depending on age and sex. They appear in New England during the winter, enjoying the frozen peaks and taiga like haunts of airports and beach dunes. They seem out place in their snow colored plumage and bounding flight.

Seeing these arctic fairies dashing into the air on long, elegant wings in the urban heart of Worcester seemed nothing less than supernatural. The air was a still 11°, the sun out, on a day for remembering non-violence, tolerance and love these buntings seemed to leap from the hands of John the Baptist into the air on a mission of good will.

There is no tangible connection between bird watching (a pastime notoriously devoid of cultural diversity) and Dr. King’s legacy and this moment was admittedly anthropomorphized. Yet, seeing these strange and surprising visitors was a reminder of the possibility of life –hopeful and unexpected. On a day marked by the remembrance of a slain leader, the work that has been done, the work that still must be done these arctic buntings became an eccentric allegory for a moment of personal solace in the seven hills of Worcester.

Common redpoll

Built stocky and warm like a French Canadian, always ready to broom off the pond and pull out the homemade nets for a hockey game on a subzero Sunday. The Common redpoll  is a northern finch of the truest sense. Populating the subarctic from Saskatchewan to the Faroe Islands, Finland to the Yakutia province they descend from the taiga lowlands and boreal forest to fatten up at feeders across New England. Not true migrants, Common Redpolls appear in New England in years when pine cone and seed crops are low in their native lands.  This  southern drift is known as an irruption and occurs in two to ten year cycles in conjunction with tree seed production. Watch for these red capped Laplanders, the stuff of Reindeer and snow caves eating up thistle in backyards from Quincy to Princeton.

Becoming a better birder: from seeing to watching to knowing

Over a lifetime we may see a car crash, we will see things change, and if lucky see Bigfoot. We will watch our children grow, watch a movie, and watch the stock market. But what in our lives will we know? We will know where we live, where we’re from, we will know who to trust and will know love and loss. Do not fear the Daily Bird New England has not turned into a new age, smooth jazz, backup ensemble but is simply asking the question: what is the difference between seeing, watching, and knowing?

Seeing is a passive accident. We see things wiz by, a celebrity in a car, a shooting star. Watching however is an active, conscious function. We watch out for danger, watch for a called strike three, when it’s cloudy we watch for snow. Watching implies background knowledge and experience; when it freezes ice appears so we watch out, when a batter has two strikes the third strike is most important, we watch for it.

But at some point we watch long enough that we simply know. Snow predicted for four o’clock? We know to stay off the highway, a 3-0 count in a baseball we know here comes a fastball, we don’t even have to watch, we simply know.

This is the same (as the name implies) in bird watching. As a beginner birds dart past us and if we’re lucky we see them. We buy binoculars to help us see a little more: a bit of yellow on the crown, yellow legs, or a yellow bill. Seeing is the entry point, the immediate response to the avian world, a happy accident. Even an advanced bird watcher might see a rarity now and then.

 


http://kunalanand.com/delicious/

 

But once you’ve purchased those binoculars, opened a few books, and spent more than one cold morning in the spring rain you will begin to watch. In late February you will watch for Red-winged blackbirds in the cattail swamp behind your house, you will watch for the continuous flicking of a tail when you see a warbler, you will watch for the Dark-eyed juncos when the frost appears, you will no longer see birds but will begin to watch them, compiling information and experiences.

And finally you will become one of those strange gurus of the trade who hears a “chup” note deep in the reeds and says, Common Yellowthroat, who hears crows calling and says owl! You will have amassed enough watching to simply know. It is a life long journey and the best part is the seeing never looses its thrill, the watching never ends, and the knowing only grows.

Online tools to better birding – the where

As a reader of an online bird watching blog you have already discovered that the web is a valuable tool for learning about, identifying, and finding birds near you. In New England we are blessed with many online resources dedicated to bird sightings. This plethora of New England sites is a direct result of the area's concentration of active bird watchers and the ease with which individuals can now share data on the Web. These sites are sponsored by both individuals and organizations and can be divided into three areas of focus: recent sightings, rare bird alerts, and compiled data.

Recent sightings: trip or individual reports that list a broad range of highlights but generally leave out the more common birds for the time of year such as Black-capped chickadees and Red-tailed hawks
Rare bird alerts: report ONLY birds that are very unusual to the area and time of year such as European rarities or west coast migrants
Compiled Data: thousands of individual lists and historic trip reports compiled into sortable data by species and geography

These online resources can be overwhelming to the beginner birder. Remember that many of these observations are from hard nosed bird watchers braving inclement weather and pre-dawn cold. “They saw what!” Is often the first response to a rare bird report, or trip list. But take heart, while the rare bird sites are dedicated to the strange birds that pop up out of season the recent sightings can help queue you in on what to look for in your area. For example, Common redpolls and Barred owls are turning up in recent sightings around New England so give a second look to the thistle feeder and you may just find a redpoll amongst the finches or take a walk on a calm, clear night and listen for Barred owls beginning to give their barking call. Looking through the compiled data is a great way to learn when a particular bird may show up in your area. Explore the sites below for your location or do a quick Internet search for "recent bird sightings [your location]" and see what's about.

Recent Bird Sightings 

Massachusetts or Central Massachusetts, Plum Island, Cape Cod

Rhode Island or Norman Bird Sanctuary

Maine 

New Hampshire

Vermont

Connecticut

Tri-States

East coast

Rare Bird Alerts

Massachusetts rare bird

New Hampshire rare bird

Compiled data

Ebird - U.S. or international data on occurrence by species or location

Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas - Occurrence of breeding birds across state by species or location  

The sky is falling: blackbirds, acorns, and horsemen



Some of the window collision

bird fatalities in Toronto alone

Recent doomsayers and news reporters would have us believe that the end is near. On New Year’s Eve red-winged blackbirds fell from the skies over Beebe, Arkansas by the thousands. While this mass kill is no doubt alarming this is no apocalypse. Though cause of death for these blackbirds is still unknown, the event itself is not totally unusual. Birds, bats, amphibians, and fish die in large groups from known and unknown reasons several times each month in the U.S. alone. Large-scale animal deaths are caused by disease, poisoning, weather, and collision and are tracked by the U.S. Geological Survey. While a visit to the USGS website may prove comforting to 2012 alarmists the reality is birds are dying in large numbers every month. USGS reports include staggering incidents such as: 3,000 Purple gallinule and American coots dead from avian cholera, 600 Lesser snow geese from lead poisoning, and 1,500 Brown pelicans off the Oregon and California coast from starvation.



Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Dürer

The news media continues to play up the large and very public Arkansas’ death of roughly 3000 red-winged blackbirds meanwhile there is a far more sinister and deadly killer out there, a killer that resides right in front of our faces every day, find out more on the news at eleven... Sensationalism aside the true killer of close to a billion migratory birds in the U.S. each year is the glass windows that climb sky high from the sidewalks of cities and suburban developments across the country. Window collisions out pace death from oil spills, wind turbines, and cars as the top killer of birds in the United States. Cities across North America have started to take steps to reduce this number including the “Lights Out Campaign” which encourages downtown property owners to darken skyscrapers at night and more stringent planning codes.

While experts continue to research the exact cause of death in Arkansas it is safe to say that these blackbirds are not some pre-Apocalyptic exhalation of death. The media would be better served sounding the alarm where it's needed - loss of habitat, dependence on oil, generation of plastic waste, and pesticide use. Or let the doomsayers pay homage to the true horsemen of American migratory birds: transmission lines, cars, glass windows, and house cats. These far less frightening Apocalyptic riders are still a stark reminder that our presence on this earth has a direct, negative effect on the birds that breathe life into our world.

Northern Cardinal – the Southern emigrant to New England



                                           By Bear Golden Retriever via Wikimedia Commons

Many birds considered common New England residents are in fact relative newcomers. In recent decades species such as the Turkey Vulture, Red-bellied woodpecker, and Carolina Wren once uncommon in New England are now found here year round, exceptions being very harsh winters. Go back four or five decades and seasoned bird watchers (enter appropriate age here) remember a time when such New England staples as the Tufted Titmouse and the Northern Cardinal were rare New England visitors. An excerpt from A. C. Bent’s Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds published in 1968 recounts, Less scientific data tells a similar story. Consider this U.S. map showing the seven states who's official state bird is the Northern Cardinal: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina.

“As we travel southward from New England's ice and snow to meet spring halfway, we are greeted by the loud peto, peto of the tufted titmouse, the lively, striking song of the Carolina wren, and the rich, whistling notes of the cardinal redbird, three birds we rarely see in New England. They seem to be welcoming us to the land of sunshine and flowers, and their music brings a heart-warming change from the bleak and silent woods we have left behind. We formerly considered the cardinal a southern bird… our 1886 Check-List gave its range as only casual north of the valley of the Ohio River, which forms the northern boundary of Kentucky.” Text by Arthur Cleveland Bent and Collaborators. Selected and edited by Patricia Query Newforth

The state bird program began in 1927 and these original “red states” selected the bright songster between the years of 1928-1950, giving an informal picture of bird population and the physic power a bird can play in the identity of a region.

Since the cardinal was not a common northerly occurrence, New England states selected such hardy Yankees as the Black-capped Chickadee (Massachusetts and Maine), the Purple Finch (New Hampshire), and the American Robin (balmy Connecticut). Vermont in an act of optimism selected the summer residing Hermit Thrush and the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, with what can only be described as a good sense of humor, selected the Rhode Island Red Chicken.  

The cardinal's slow shift north over the past fifty years can be attributed to such factors as a rise in backyard bird feeding, their comfort nesting in sprawling suburban habitat, and even adaptation. Today the cardinal is a favorite backyard bird throughout New England, but don’t take this elegant songster for granted it is a new and welcome emigrant.

Cardinals and their large seed-cracking beaks will readily visit backyard feeders filled with sunflower or millet. For more information on attracting cardinals to your backyard visit the great resource from WorldBirds.org, "12 Simple Tips to Attract Cardinals to Your Backyard". 

The red-tailed hawk: John Wayne, Central Park, and plastic bags

This time of year it is common to see hawks perched along the highway in bare trees. These barrel-chested lumps, easily confused for a plastic bag, are most always red-tailed hawks. Hunkered down on a bare branch along highways, in city parks, and open fields they appear to be waiting for something to happen or avoiding something that already did. They sit motionless, feathers ruffled to create a thicker baffle of warmth, eyeing the grass below for a mouse, snake, or squirrel to make that fateful dash.

The red-tailed hawk is the most abundant raptor in all of New England, as well as the entire country. When perched on a branch they sit upright, tail hanging below the limb (unlike the horizontal perching crow)  and show a dark band of feathers against an off-white chest. The “red” tail is only visible from behind or when back lit by sunlight and immature birds have a barred, brown and black tail. In flight the red-tailed hawk glides on rounded outstretched wings, with the tips of its primary feathers or "fingers" curved slightly up. These impressive birds of prey have a two foot wingspan and eyesight that can spot a mouse several hundred yards away, and a recent, living bird found in New York was 27 years old. “Red-tails” are famous for both their affinity for nesting in high end urban real estate and their iconic “screeee” call that has been dubbed over soaring eagles, misty-eyed John Wayne, and panoramic shots of a hundred Westerns. 

Happy New Year and a message of optimism - "you never know where they’re going to be"

It’s the mantra on the lips of every bird watcher who soaks shoes in wet meadows and tears pants on brambles. “You never know where they’re going to be”. Chaos theory would have us believe that if we plunked down in a lawn chair in our own backyard and watched the skies we could conceivably see every bird on earth fly over in the course of eternity. This would take a long time. In reality we don’t know where they’re going to be. Normal birds show up in strange places and strange birds show up in normal places, this is what makes bird watching endlessly interesting, the surprises, the suspense, never knowing what's around the next bend. Weather systems blow birds off course from west of the Rockies, Europe, or the arctic. Tired but determined Arctic gulls appear in Newburyport and Gloucester and tiny European falcons on Martha’s Vineyard. What might be called the “optimistic chaos theory” combines the joy of looking for something new with hard work and dumb luck because in the end you never know…





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And, for this New Year I hope you carry the optimistic chaos theory into your every day, may you find many happy surprises around all the cold, wet, and slippery corners.