Acid Rain Conference Speakers

CENTRAL ADIRONDACKS ARTS AND SCIENCES ADVOCACY (CAASA)

Presents a Lecture Series

ACID RAIN AND CLIMATE CHANGE:

EFFECTS ON ADIRONDACK ECOSYSTEMS

The burning of fossil fuels affects the global climate by its contribution of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere and the deposition of pollutants on the earth and water of the planet.  The waterways of the Adirondack Mountains are, in many ways, especially fragile and prone to disruption by this climate change and these pollutants.  Come spend an afternoon with a panel of experts and learn of these effects on our waterways and what needs to be done to mediate or reverse them.

Threats to Adirondack Ecosystems: Acid Rain, Mercury, and Climate Change

Dr. Jerry Jenkins, Wildlife Conservation Society and free lance writer

Long Term Trends in Acid Rain Emissions and Water Chemistry in Adirondack Lakes and Streams

Ms. Karen Roy, New York State DEC and Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation

Effects of Acid Rain on Fishes in Adirondack Lakes and Streams

Mr. Howard Siminon, New York State DEC (retired)

Effects of Acid Rain on Streams, Soils, and Forests of the Adirondack Region

Dr. Greg Lawrence, United States Geological Survey

Recent Climatic Trends and Ecological Responses in the Adirondacks

Dr. Curt Stager, Paul Smiths College

The Arts Center, NYS Rt. 28, Old Forge, NY

Wednesday     3 March 2010

12:30 PM to 3:30 PM

Free of Charge and Open to the Public

Backyard Bird Count Options 2/10/10

GBBC participant newsletter – February 2010

Other visitors to your Bird Feeder

One night last week I looked out in the spot light a saw a Barred Owl looking for a snack under the feeder. It let me take a couple of pictures before it caught something on the ground a flew away.

Friday 1/29/10 about noon I was catching Goldfinch to band in a Potter Trap when i looked out and a Northern Shrike had caught one of my Goldfinch throught the cage. I went out and retrieved two others that were in the trap and left the dead one. I opened the cage door and came back inside. The Shrike came right back looking for his meal. I got a few good pictures of him before he went into the trap. I retrieved him from the trap with a gloved hand and he is now wearing a band on his leg.

The 13^th Great Backyard Bird Count takes place Friday February 12 through Monday February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” During last year’s count , participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continents largest instantaneous snapshots of bird populations ever recorded. This year maybe this record can be broken. You can submit your bird list from your backyard or on a hike you take in the woods to www.birdcount.org. If you don’t have a computer, I would be glad to send in your list so give me a call at 357-5150 to get your birds counted and join in the fun.

Northern Shrike

Barred Owl

Keep those feeders full as you never know what may come for a treat. Gary Lee 2/3/10

Duck Count Region 7-Adirondacks

Duck Count Essex, Frankilin, Clinton and Hamilton Counties 2010

The final count of Ducks in Region 7 was quite impressive with most of them being on Lake Champlain, Snow Goose 3, Canada Goose 188, Am. Black Duck 92, Mallard Duck 873, Redhead 17, Ring-necked Duck 23, Lesser scaup 2, Mixed Lesser and Greater Scaup 1,300, Bufflehead 169, Common Goldeneye 6,595, Barrow’s Goldeneye 5, Hooded Merganser 20, Common Merganser 1,234, Red-breasted Merganser 3, Red-throated Loon 1, Common Loon 6, Pied-billed Grebe 2, Horned Grebe 30, Double-crested Cormorant 14 for a total of 10,077 birds. The parties also saw three Bald Eagles, hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, several Herring Gulls and several Greater Black-backed Gulls.

Gary N. Lee-Naturalist and Retired Forest Ranger I

Death of a red-throated loon

A red-throated loon was found injured with a badly broken wing near Old Forge Pond two days before the annual Audubon Christmas Count in the Old Forge region. Red-throated loons, which breed in Alaska and northern Canada, are considerably smaller than the common loons found in the Adirondacks. The bird apparently hit a power line. It was put to sleep.

The injured loon. Photo by Gary Lee.

On the count day, observers spotted 803 birds, representing nineteen species. New birds included six tufted titmouse, seen at feeders, and wild turkey (forty-two, in all). Seven more species were seen during the week of the count but not on the count day itself.

I saw a barred owl the day after the count, on the Woodcraft Camp ski trails. This week I had one at my feeder during the evening, trying to catch mice that come out after the dropped seeds. This bird has been back several nights, so the hunting must be good. Many things roam around in the night world that we never see.

Bird notes

The snowstorm that hit on Friday, December 11, brought to the feeders a lot of birds that had been living off the natural food in the woods.

I got all kinds of calls about the geese, both Canada and Snows, that were flying all day and night to escape the instant winter. While it was snowing the hardest, flock after flock of Snows were going over at tree-top level, barking to each other and to flocks that were following right behind. At times I could see some wing movement through the falling snow.

The smaller birds mostly went early this year because there was little wild food in the woods. The late frost this spring hit many of the flowering bushes and trees, preventing them from producing berries or seeds. Most of the ones that I saw with fruit were on lakeshores and river edges where the temperature from the water kept the flowers from freezing.

This winter is going be quiet in the woods. You may come on some scattered flocks of Black-Capped Chickadees with a Nuthatch or two tagging along. A lone Hairy or Downy Woodpecker tapping here and there, but no big flocks of Crossbills or Siskins working the evergreen cones as there are none.

I did see a lone Cedar Waxwing eating some fruit from a tree at the Old Forge Bank the other day.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The birds are counting on us

The 110^th National Audubon Christmas Bird Count will soon be going on across North and South America, the Caribbean, and, for the first time, Antarctica. The count starts on December 14 and ends January 5. In the 109^th count, a record 2,124 count circles took part.  

Black-capped chickadee

Right here in the Adirondacks there are five bird counts. Only the Ferrisburg, Vt., count (Dec. 12, leader Mike Winslow), which includes the New York side of Lake Champlain, has enough observers. The other counts could use your help.

So if you want to get a little fresh air and watch some birds along the way, contact one of the leaders below. Feeder watchers are also very important as there isn’t much wild food out there. Many of the birds will be tallied at feeders. The more participants the merrier at this time of the year when we are in between the fall and winter seasons. 

The leaders, or compilers, follow:

Old Forge count: Dec. 19, Gary Lee, 315 357-5150.

Elizabethtown count: Dec. 20, Charlotte Demers, 518 582-2157.

Plattsburgh count: Dec. 20. Judith Heintz, 518 563-5273.

Saranac Lake count: Jan. 2, Larry Master, 518 645-1545. 

For more information, visit the Northern New York Audubon website.