VOLUME 34, NUMBER 8 MAY 2003

WARIOTO AT A GLANCE

REGULAR MEETING: Thursday, May 1, 7:30 p.m., Sundquist Science Complex, room E106A, APSU.

PROGRAM: "What tree is that warbler in?" presented by Deb Beazley, from the Warner Parks Nature Center

HOSPITALITY: Gloria and Bill Milliken will provide refreshments following our program.

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

FIELD TRIP: April 26, 6:00 a.m. Birding at Land Between the Lakes, led by Dr. David Snyder - Details on page 2.

May 10, Spring Migratory Bird Count - An all day at your own pace tally of spring birds. Details on page 2.

OTHER AUDUBON ACTIVITIES: May 3, Spring Fling and Dunbar Cave SNA 30^th Birthday Celebration. See program details provided elsewhere in this newsletter.

John Hoffelt, Project Manager for Tennessee Division of Superfund, presented a talk and wonderful slide show (with the aid of Jody Bailey) on the subsurface hydrology around the city of Spencer. John summarized the work he and his associates conducted over the last 20 years, which was instrumental in getting the discharge from the Spencer wastewater treatment plant diverted from the high quality cave system to a local surface stream. His talk included such interesting photos as the 20 story high Rumble Room, rare cave invertebrates, and 3-D maps showing the water flow of the underground cave system. The Warioto chapter would like to extend a big thanks to John and Jody for their fascinating program!

Please join us May 1^st when Deb Beazley, from the Warner Parks Nature Center, will give a presentation entitled "What tree is that warbler in?". Deb will teach us how to identify trees so that we will be better able to point out a bird to other birders. Come join us and maybe you will help a friend locate that next spectacular Blackburnian Warbler!

Mother Nature wasn’t of much help in assisting Warioto Audubon in Welcoming Spring on Sunday, March 30! It was a sunny, yet very cold, windy afternoon. Nevertheless, a few hearty souls arrived to join Polly Rooker (who led the hike for injured Amy Wallace) as we spied the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season, a tree full of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Purple Martins busily building in the Martin house, flocks of American Goldfinches and a variety of woodpeckers. We also heard the resident Barred Owl. Twenty-two species of birds were either seen or heard. Early Saxifrage, Virginia Bluebells, Columbine, Phlox, Rue Anemone, Trillium and Purple Cress were among the twenty-one species/varieties of wildflowers enjoyed. Two herds of White-tailed Deer were observed for quite some time. So in spite of some unfriendly climatic elements an enjoyable outing was had by all.

Saturday, April 5 was a much more inviting afternoon as we joined Dr. Wayne Chester at Ashland City’s Cumberland River Trail and enjoyed nature at its best. Fifty-six species of wonderful spring wildflowers, shrubs and trees were sighted and discussed. It seems almost everyone had his/her favorite wildflower, but the abundant Shooting Star, Columbine and Fire Pink probably ranked near the top of each person’s list. Other flowers of particular note included Nashville Bladderpod, Pawpaw, Jacob’s Ladder, Phacelia, Bluets, Oxalis, Spicebush, Kentucky Coffeebean, Wild Ginger and a variety of violets. Dr. Chester generously shared with each participant a copy of Wildflowers of the Land Between The Lakes Region, Kentucky and Tennessee. While most of us were intent on wildflowering several discerned additional evidence of spring including Cricket Frogs, Green Tree Frogs, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Eastern Bluebirds, Goldfinches, Black-and-White Warbler, Zebra Swallowtails and one snake, species unknown. We are much indebted to Dr. Chester for so generously giving of his time, knowledge and sharing copies of the excellent wildflower book.

On Saturday, May 10, Warioto Audubon will again participate in the North American Migratory Bird Count. This count is held each year on the second Saturday in May in conjunction with International Migratory Bird Day. It is an important measure of the "health" of our Neotropical migrants as well as that of our resident and non-Neotropical migrant species. On the designated date, groups from all over North America identify and enumerate birds in their areas. Through the coordinated effort we can contribute to the "snapshot" of the North American migration in progress. The information can be used to follow population trends of migrant and resident species and provide long term documentation of New World avifauna activity.

The designated date for the 2003 spring count is May 10. Reading Barbara’s description of the Welcome Spring field trip to Dunbar Cave and the wildflower walk on the Cumberland River Trail, it is clear that spring is here and migration is underway. We will garner a further assessment of the spring migration on the LBL fieldtrip scheduled for April 26.

The spring count tallies species and numbers of individuals much like the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). You must keep a record of your activity on the count. That is, record distance traveled on foot and in the car and time in and out of the car just as you would for the CBC. Also, similar to the CBC are the count week records. This allows you to report observations of birds that were seen in the three days before and three days after the count day, but were not observed on the count day.

The count is organized differently from the Christmas Bird Count. We (1) do not meet at Shoney’s, we (2) do not have a post-count meeting, and (3) we are not restricted to the 15-mile count circle, only by the county boundaries. While it is an all-day count, you are not required to put in a full eight hours as you are with the CBC (although, as with several of you, Debbie and I will get in at least eight hours). It is organized as follows: (1) You MUST call Gloria Milliken (358-2998) in advance to select your count areas/locations. You pick the areas/locations were you plan to count and she makes sure there is not an overlap or duplication of efforts with other birders. Gloria may be able to direct you to an area or pair you with someone. (2) Call Gloria and report the results of your count. Gloria will compile and submit Warioto’s results. (3) The count is restricted to Montgomery County. If you have any questions about the count, call Gloria at the number provided above.

To learn more about the North American Migratory Count and read more detailed instructions, visit the following web site: http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/migratorybirds/pif/dc18s03.en.html

For information on International Migratory Bird Day, check the following web site sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Warioto Audubon with Friends of Dunbar Cave, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Dunbar Cave State Natural Area will co-sponsor another "Spring Fling" at our local state natural. This event will be held Saturday, May 3. Programing begins at 7:00 a.m. and will continue throughout the morning and early afternoon. A program is provided as a flyer in this newsletter. Please copy this flyer and share it with as many people as you can.

This year’s events will be especially significant. May 1^st is the official 30^th birthday for Dunbar Cave State Natural Area! While there have been many struggles in those 30 years to develop and protect this wonderful state resource (most recently against park closing), The new TDEC and Division of Parks administration is very supportive of parks and state natural areas in ways that we have not seen for years. Please come out and enjoy the activities and celebrate with other supporters of Dunbar Cave State Natural Area.

Good News! The Senate voted not to open the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling. However, proponents in the House of Representatives continue to try to open ANWR to drilling. Fortunately, they were unable to attach a provision to do so in the budget bill that went to the House-Senate reconciliation committee. This means any attempt to open ANWR to drilling will have to occur in the energy bill or as an amendment to some other bill. The Senate has not yet completed action on its energy bill, but its leaders have made it clear that Arctic drilling provisions will not be included. The House bill will authorize ANWR drilling. This means it is likely that a House-Senate Conference Committee will ultimately decide the fate of ANWR. Please contact your two U.S. Senators and urge them to ensure no Arctic drilling provisions are included in the Senate Energy Bill or any final energy bill as passed by the Conference Committee!

Another congressional action of interest is the setting of funding levels by congress for a number of programs coordinated through the U.S. Department of the Interior, including the State Wildlife Grant program. This program provides states with the resources they critically need for effective bird and wildlife conservation and restoration efforts. The State Wildlife Grant program can help conserve and restore species throughout our country, but only if Congress funds it at a sufficient level. Funding has fallen to dangerously low levels in recent years - a short-sighted decision, as adequate funding of this program, and the resulting conservation actions taken now to prevent a species from becoming endangered, will save significant federal taxpayer dollars that would have to go into species recovery later! Help convince Congress to fund the State Wildlife Grant program at the needed level of $125 million for Fiscal Year 2004 by contacting your senators and representatives.