VOLUME 34, NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2002

HOSPITALITY: The Schillers will provide refreshments following the program.

BOARD MEETING: In the Sundquist Building biology conference room, D126 at 7:00 p.m..

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, Saturday, December 14. Gather at Shoneys at 6:00 a.m. See information below.

We have been invited to participate in the Trees of Christmas at Smith-Trahern Mansion. We have been asked to decorate an outside tree that the Audubon Society planted a number of years ago. The theme this year is a "Holly Jolly Christmas" with a children's emphasis. As I understand, in years past all the decorations were made of avian-eatable material. The request is for the decorating to be done during the first week of December. I thought Saturday, December 7th would make sense so that we can discuss and coordinate plans at our December 5th meeting. We are very pleased to be asked to participate in this event as we have done so in the past. Please come to the next meeting with great ideas and plenty of Christmas spirit.

The question is: "Are Whooping Cranes a Native Tennessee Species? Troy Ettel will follow up on the wonderful, informative presentation by Sandy and Jerry Ulrikson on the whooping crane reintroduction with a quick look at the historical occurrence of whooping cranes in and around Tennessee.

Polly Rooker, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency biologist, entertained - and educated - us with her delightful program, Birds of Cheap Hill, following the annual potluck dinner. Picture a rolling pasture bordered by woodlands and you have a mental image of the location where Polly recently built a new home in Cheatham County. While the house was under construction Polly observed a variety of avian activity and behavior much of which she shared with us during her presentation. Couple Polly’s wit and humor with her scientific training and you have just the right combination for a great November program. Thanks, Polly!

On October 27 nineteen persons journeyed to Pennyrile Forest State Park just north of Hopkinsville for a magnificent display of autumn foliage. Suva Bastin led a portion of the group on a 2 mile hike while Barbara Wilbur took the remainder of the group along a shorter route. Both groups enjoyed the terrific rock formations and the wide assortment of mushrooms present, as well as the wonderful diversity of foliage coloration. Twenty-six species of birds were observed with the Pine Warbler and an abundance of kinglets being of special interest. The group ended a great afternoon with a congenial dinner in the Park dining room.

The November 18-19 field trip scheduled to observe the Leonid meteor showers was canceled at the last minute due to cloud cover.

The December field trip will be the Christmas Bird Count scheduled for December 14. Additional information on the count is provided below.

Wheeler Refuge Update

Wheeler NWR is our field trip destination on Saturday, February 1. For anyone interested in the February field trip, but not familiar with the refuge an informational video will be previewed at 6:30 p.m. just prior to the December meeting.

We will participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 14. This will be the Warioto Audubon Chapter’s 32^nd year of participation in this annual event. The first Christmas bird count was held on Christmas Day 1900. If you visit the National Audubon web site <www.audubon.org> you will find links to information about the CBC. This include a historical overview of the CBC plus access to the records of counts. It is a fascinating site to visit. It will give you a good idea of what a grand project we have contributed to for the past 31 years.

Our chapter contributes to the CBC by identifying and counting birds in the Clarksville area between dawn to dusk on the selected day. You may also do owl counts in the wee hours if you are so motivated. Our count circle is a 15-mile radius centered near downtown, so your "owl prowl" records, "count week" records and observations on December 14 must all be within that area.

You are encouraged to participate whether you are an expert birder or not. Spotting and tallying birds in concert with a more experienced birder makes an important contribution to the success of the count, and it helps you learn more about the Clarksville-area winter bird fauna. Of course, if you are an experienced birder you should be out there! It appears there is some correlation between the number of birders participating and the number of species counted, i.e., the more eyes, the better the results.

FIELD COUNTERS should meet at Shoney’s (2nd and Kraft Streets) at 6:00 a.m. where we will organize into groups that will count in assigned areas of the official count circle. At the end of the day (dusk) we will meet at the Biology Conference Room (D-125) of the Sundquist Science Building to enjoy a chili dinner and tally the day’s results. You can enter the building at the double doors facing the Trahern Art Building. Parking is located behind Trahern and in a gravel lot along Eighth Street.

If you cannot join the outdoor group, you may still contribute by being a FEEDER COUNTER on December 14. Your feeder must be within the count circle. To be a feeder counter you need to do the following: (1) Record how much time you spend watching the feeder on December 14. (2) Record the largest number of individuals of a species seen at one time. For instance, if you see 3 cardinals at the feeder all at once, record "3." If later you see 2 cardinals at the feeder, your count remains "3.". However, if you look again and you count 5 cardinals at the feeder at once, your total count is now "5." (3) Call Sally Schiller at 387-4071 with your feeder results as soon as you can after the count. Sally will also answer any feeder count questions before the count date. Sally will forward the data to Debbie.

Debbie Hamilton is CBC coordinator again this year. If you have any questions or wish to help in any way with this special chapter event, please call Debbie at 645-8092.

One year ago today I wrote about energy policy and the effort to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from drilling for oil. The results of this election, control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate by Republicans, are indeed dire for ANWR in particular and the environment generally. One can almost feel the vibration resulting from the collective "quivering with excitement" of the energy, petrochemical, and other industrial special interests that poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Republican campaign chests of the congressional races. I urge all of you not to give in to despair, but to continue to speak out, through your words and actions, on behalf of the environment. It has never been more important to voice your disagreement with Tennessee’s two senators who support oil drilling in ANWR. We may not change their vote, but we will remind them we are still here, we are watching, and we will vote again! I would also urge you to exercise your power to deprive them of any justification for their policies by exercising your ability to "vote with your pocketbook." Make a commitment to purchase energy efficient and sustainable products. Consider replacing those energy hogs like old refrigerators, air conditioners, and cars. Consider giving gifts that "keep on giving" to your friends and relatives this holiday season. I know it does not sound very glamorous, but a compact fluorescenct lamp will save the gift receiver at least four times the cost of the lamp in electricity bills at today’s prices. That financial return is much better than current returns on savings bonds.

Despite the results of last month’s elections there is some good news to report. November 13th, a House-Senate Conference Committee rejected granting Department of Defense (DoD) an exemption from provisions of the Endangered Species Act on DoD-controlled lands. Such exemption would have undermined critical habitat protection for more than 300 imperiled species that are found on DoD lands. The Committee also rejected the proposal that would have undermined the protection under the Wilderness Act of critically important wild areas in Utah.

The Committee did, however, agree to a modified version of the House-passed exemption from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA.) The House-passed version would have unilaterally exempted all military training activities from the MBTA, giving DoD broad authority to kill migratory birds with no oversight and no requirements to minimize or mitigate the damage Audubon and our partners in conservation worked with Conference Committee members to secure two significant improvements over the House-passed language. First, the Department of the Interior, which had no role in the House version, will be required to exercise its regulatory authority over DoD training activities impacting migratory birds. Second, the DoD will be required to take appropriate actions to minimize and mitigate the impact of military training actions on migratory birds. This means that the DoD must look for ways to avoid impacts on birds, and ensure bird populations harmed as a result of military training activities are helped with compensatory conservation projects.

Our members will be pleased to learn that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has opened a 90-day comment period to allow the general public to provide information on listing the cerulean warbler as "threatened" on the Endangered Species List. This is a positive step towards getting this songbird the protections it needs to survive! The comment period will close on January 21, 2003. If you have information on present or threatened destruction or modification of cerulean warbler habitat, or other information illustrating the need to protect the species, please do not miss this opportunity to share it with the USFWS! Be sure to submit your comment by the January 21 deadline! Comments and any supporting materials should be directed to: Field Supervisor, Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 608 East Cherry Street, Room 200, Columbia, MO 65201, or FAX: 314-876-1914. For more information on the process, log onto the USFWS website at:

http://midwest.fws.gov/Endangered/birds/cerw_find.html