[MASSBIRD] Quabbin Park 5/18

[Mark Lynch]

We spent the morning birding QUABBIN PARK/SOUTH QUABBIN and immediate
vicinity Even though it was Friday, there were a number of birders about.
There was only a little migration going on, but still lots of birds. We
missed Dave Larson�s Olive-sided and Canada, but did have a few other
species. BTW: On Birdathon day (Saturday), one of the teams from a sanctuary
that (for now) will remain nameless; was seen TAPING IN a pair of Cerulean
Warblers even though they were asked not to by another non-affiliated birder
present. It SHOULD go without saying that this is unconscionable field
behavior: harassing a local and rare breeding species. That person is
damned lucky I was not present.

Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Great Blue Heron (5)
Green Heron (1)
Turkey Vulture (13: including 10 on the ground at the State Trout hatchery)
Canada Goose (3)
Mallard (1)
Surf Scoter (8)
Hooded Merganser (1f w/13 ducklings. But, only 3 of those ducklings were
Hoodies. The rest were Wood Duck ducklings)
Common Merganser (1f)
Bald Eagle (1 yg bird in nest)
Red-tailed Hawk (1 pr+another)
Wild Turkey (3)
Killdeer (2)
Ring-billed Gull (1)
Chimney Swift (2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (2)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
N Flicker (1)
Pileated Woodpecker (1)
E Wood Peewee (11)
E Phoebe (15)
Great Crested Flycatcher (11)
E Kingbird (7)
Yellow-throated Vireo (10)
Warbling Vireo (2)
Red-eyed Vireo (87)
A Crow (6)
C Raven (3)
Tree Swallow (16)
N Rough-winged Swallow (2)
Barn Swallow (13)
Black-capped Chickadee (11)
Tufted Titmouse (9)
House Wren (3)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (5)
Veery (10)
Wood Thrush (2)
A Robin (21)
Gray Catbird (26)
N Mockingbird (2)
Cedar Waxwing (2)

WARBLERS:
Blue-winged (1)
Yellow (19)
Chestnut-sided (43)
Black-throated Blue (1)
Yellow-rumped (8)
Black-throated Green (1)
Blackburnian (1)
Pine (13)
Prairie (4)
Black and White (9)
A Redstart (37)
Worm-eating (1)
Ovenbird (56)
C Yellowthroat (27)

Scarlet Tanager (9)
E Towhee (37)
Chipping Sparrow (33)
Song Sparrow (7)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (18)
Indigo Bunting (3)
Red-winged Blackbird (20+)
C Grackle (8)
Brown-headed Cowbird (4)
Baltimore Oriole (14)
House Finch (2)
A Goldfinch (3)
PLUS: Red Admiral (12); American Lady (13); American Copper (4)
Pearl Crescent (5); C Ringlet (7)

Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll
Moa....@verizon.net

[Joshua Rose]

Major competitions like the World Series of Birding and Great Texas Birding Classic do not allow the use of tapes to attract birds. Perhaps MAS should consider following their example.

JSR


Joshua Rose, Ph.D.
Amherst, MA
op...@mindspring.com
http://bugguide.net/user/view/2399
http://www.facebook.com/opihi

[Glenn d'Entremont]

How can this be effectively monitored? In theory a noble stance, in practice if the team needs the bird, playback is used (sometimes-I am not suggesting everyone and all the time). Also, no use of recordings? What about rails and owls?

Glenn

Glenn d'Entremont: gdentr...@comcast.net Stoughton, MA

[Joshua Rose]

We heard two owl species during our Franklin County bird-a-thon a couple of weeks ago, without using any recordings. I spoke with several Great Texas Birding Classic teams that recorded five owl species and multiple rails in one night/day, no recordings. I've never been to New Jersey during World Series season but would wager that the teams there fare pretty well on owls and rails as well without using tapes.

It is conceivable that the ban on using tapes in such competitions relates as much to competitive fairness, correcting for teams' differences in equipment quality and ethical standards, as it does to the actual impact on the birds.

With regards to monitoring, I believe it is mainly on the honor system, with back-up from the fact that teams in competitions often frequent popular birding spots and publicly known stakeouts for parts of the day. Mark's e-mail that started this thread is evidence that the behavior of teams in the field is often observed by non-participating birders.

Good birding,

Josh

Joshua Rose, Ph.D.
Amherst, MA
op...@mindspring.com
http://bugguide.net/user/view/2399
http://www.facebook.com/opihi

On May 18, 2012, at 8:37 PM, Glenn d'Entremont wrote:

> How can this be effectively monitored? In theory a noble stance, in practice if the team needs the bird, playback is used (sometimes-I am not suggesting everyone and all the time). Also, no use of recordings? What about rails and owls?
>
> Glenn
>
> Glenn d'Entremont: gdentr...@comcast.net Stoughton, MA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joshua Rose" <op...@mindspring.com>
> To: "Massbird" <mass...@world.std.com>
> Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 6:22:07 PM
> Subject: Re: [MASSBIRD] Quabbin Park 5/18
>
> Major competitions like the World Series of Birding and Great Texas Birding Classic do not allow the use of tapes to attract birds. Perhaps MAS should consider following their example.
>
> JSR
>
>

[Glenn Williams]

Do non-taping teams use their own vocal imitations or whistles, and if so, what is the difference between that and tapes.  Just wondering. Glenn Williams Mystic, CT --- On Sat, 5/19/12, Joshua Rose <op...@mindspring.com> wrote:

[Joshua Rose]

Glenn, the number of bird species that can be effectively imitated by humans, well enough to elicit a response from the specific bird being imitated, is extremely small. I cannot say how many teams imitate the calls of those few species, but most of them are far more common and widespread than species like the rapidly declining Cerulean Warbler. Teams do use pishing and screech-owl imitations to bring small passerines out of hiding; because this is a general stimulant, it does not specifically target and agitate rare species the way that using a tape can do.

JSR

Joshua Rose, Ph.D.
Amherst, MA
op...@mindspring.com
http://bugguide.net/user/view/2399
http://www.facebook.com/opihi

On May 19, 2012, at 9:46 AM, Glenn Williams wrote:

> Do non-taping teams use their own vocal imitations or whistles, and if so, what is the difference between that and tapes. Just wondering.
>
> Glenn Williams
> Mystic, CT
>
> --- On Sat, 5/19/12, Joshua Rose <op...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> From: Joshua Rose <op...@mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: [MASSBIRD] Quabbin Park 5/18
> To: "Massbird" <Mass...@world.std.com>
> Date: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 12:37 AM
>
> We heard two owl species during our Franklin County bird-a-thon a couple of weeks ago, without using any recordings. I spoke with several Great Texas Birding Classic teams that recorded five owl species and multiple rails in one night/day, no recordings. I've never been to New Jersey during World Series season but would wager that the teams there fare pretty well on owls and rails as well without using tapes.
>
> It is conceivable that the ban on using tapes in such competitions relates as much to competitive fairness, correcting for teams' differences in equipment quality and ethical standards, as it does to the actual impact on the birds.
>
> With regards to monitoring, I believe it is mainly on the honor system, with back-up from the fact that teams in competitions often frequent popular birding spots and publicly known stakeouts for parts of the day. Mark's e-mail that started this thread is evidence that the behavior of teams in the field is often observed by non-participating birders.
>
> Good birding,
>
> Josh
>
>