2008 in Review
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At this time each year, we provide a recap of selected natural history
events that occurred during the past twelve months.
On January 1, we had the first thunderstorm of the year.
Thunderstorms are not evenly distributed throughout the year, for various
meteorological reasons. The greatest numbers occur in June, and they are
quite unusual in January. However, in what I believe to be a statistical
anomaly, they have helped us ring in the New Year with a bang on an eerily
high number of occasions. On January 5th, we had a chapter field trip to
Montauk and the South Fork, always one of our best. We were treated to a
Rough-legged Hawk, Razorbills, and Purple Sandpipers. But nothing gets
birders excited like owls! On this trip, we had great views of both Snowy
Owl and Short-eared Owl. The following day, I received a call from Mike
Cooper, alerting me to the presence of a juvenile Glaucous Gull, sitting on
the ice on Argyle Lake. The gull was accommodating enough to remain long
enough for me to arrive and get good looks, but departed soon thereafter.
As I said, January doesn’t normally produce many thunderstorms. Yet, on the
11th, we had our second of the year. Actually, no less than six individual
cells passed over the local area in a very anomalous mid-winter pattern,
which also produced a record high temperature at Islip of 54 degrees along
with nearly an inch and a half of rain.
On Feburary 2nd, I was awakened by a raucous flock of Red-winged
Blackbirds in my yard. Although this species overwinters in increasing
numbers, I believe that these were the first wave of returnees from the
south, marking the beginning of spring migration. On the 9th, our chapter
field trip came up big again with a Saw-whet Owl at Jones Beach and good
looks at “Ken Thompson’s” Townsend’s Solitaire. On the 20th, we were treated
to a total lunar eclipse. After three such events in a twelve-month span, we
will not see another until December 2010. I’ll be waiting with my
binoculars! On the 22nd, we had a record-breaking snowfall, with six inches
measured at Central Park. The old record dated back to 1948.
On April 19th, the chapter’s field trip to Connetquot State Park
Preserve was most notable for mammals. We had a beautiful Red Fox, which
posed for us. The highlight, however, was an adorable Southern Flying
Squirrel, that crawled out of a nest box briefly when I tapped on it with my
walking stick.
If you haven’t already noticed, I’m fascinated by thunderstorms. On May
27th, I had the pleasure of being out on the bay to watch a lightning show
simultaneous with a spectacular rainbow! What a great display! On the 30th,
I observed my first Monarch Butterfly of the year. It turned out to be an OK
year for this species, which has such a precarious life cycle.
On June 12th, I found a beautiful pair of Cooper’s Hawks nesting in a
wooded swamp in Southampton. On the 20th, I saw my first Firefly of the
year. I always note the first date of emergence of this insect, and this was
a relatively late appearance. How these amazing arthropods survive the
onslaught on lawn chemicals, I’ll never know.
The other insect I track is the somewhat mysterious Katydid. These are often
heard but rarely seen, as they remain high in the treetops. I believe them
to be THE most accurate biological calendar indicators we have locally, with
their first calls being heard within a day or two of August 1 every year.
This year, they were a couple of days early, first heard calling on July
29th. This is the earliest I have ever recorded them.
On August 9th, chapter field trip participants were treated to great
views of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the private sanctuary in Baiting
Hollow. This was the start, for me, of a great hummer season, the details of
which are chronicled in the Nov-Dec issue of The Sandpiper. On the 14th we
had, you guessed it, a great thunderstorm, this time with half-inch hail,
some of which is still in my freezer. Don’t ask why! If you aren’t tired of
reading about thunderstorms, see the sidebar. On the 18th, I was treated to
the calls of several Eastern Screech Owls, while bicycling home after an
evening sailboat race.
On October 17th, an immature Bald Eagle flew over the Fire Island
Hawk Watch. On the 31st, there was a Vesper Sparrow at Cedar Beach.
November was an amazing month for Pine Siskins locally. Literally
tens of thousands passed over the barrier islands. On November 8th, those
turning out for the chapter’s field trip to Wertheim NWR were treated to an
amazing 8 or 10 Virginia Rails along with an American Bittern. The next day,
I located a Dicksisel on Captree Island. On November 16th, a cooperative
immature Northern Goshawk flew over my car in Sayville.
It is December now, with three weeks left on the 2008 calendar. I
have no doubt that other exciting natural history events will present
themselves before year’s end. |
Rubies Galore
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In the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of The Sandpiper, we wrote about gardening to
attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, my favorite bird. We discussed the
inspiration provided by our chapter’s field trip to the Baiting Hollow
Hummingbird Sanctuary, and how it was there I learned how to refine my
selection of flowering plants.
What a great show the hummers put on in my garden this year! This may have
resulted from the garden refinements, a particularly good late summer
hummingbird migration, or both. Following are some of my observations.
Before I begin this chronicle, I will confess that I am uncharacteristically
indulging in anthropomorphism, ascribing human motives to animal behavior. I
won’t, however, make a habit of this.
My first hummer of the season arrived on August 30th, a little later than
usual. From then until September 8th, I would generally see a single
individual at any particular time, feeding on Salvia, Cardinal Flower, and
other plants. On the 8th, however, I had my first hummer to use the nectar
feeders. On the 16th, there were two hummers in the yard, and they engaged
in a long and amusing battle over feeding territory. Both birds fed on
Honeysuckle, Salvia, Cardinal Flower and the nectar feeders. They also
provided excellent views while perching. At one point, they sat about eight
inches apart on a bare branch, and seemingly stared each other down for
several minutes.
The following day, there were four or five hummers. This level of activity
continued for the next week or so, and it was becoming apparent that one
individual was holding a feeding territory, and expending a huge amount of
time chasing away her rivals. Of course, as soon as she would chase one
rival away, another would arrive at the feeders from another direction! I
named this aggressive adult female “Terri,” for “territorial”.
On September 21, I watched an immature hummer struggle unsuccessfully to
learn the secret of the nectar feeders. She tried hard to find the feeding
port, but to no avail. On the 23rd, there was a vigorous encounter between
Terri and one of her competitors. It took place right over my head, and I
was able to hear interesting “screech-click” vocalizations, of which I later
found a recorded version on one of my bird call tapes (Stokes). Terri had a
favorite perch on a leafless branch of an oak tree about 12 feet high. From
there she surveyed her domain and launched her attacks at her rivals
whenever they approached the feeders. I watched one particularly clever
individual learn to approach one of the feeders from such an angle that the
feeder blocked Terri’s view of her rival’s approach. When the subordinate
hummer would feed, she would periodically elevate a few inches to peek over
the top of the feeder, in Terri’s direction, to make sure she was still
undetected. What great fun to watch!
On September 24th, I decided to sit in the garden and see how late into the
dusk the hummers would remain active. There were three or four present,
including Terri. They displayed an obvious burst of crepuscular activity,
active even for hummingbirds. Evidently, they needed this time to fuel their
rapid metabolism through the night. As darkness ensued, the hummers took on
a ghostly appearance in the fading light. Terri seemed more tolerant of her
competition, apparently more interested in filling up on nectar before
setting down to roost.
On September 27th, the weather turned nasty, due to an intense subtropical
storm and the offshore passage of Hurricane Ike. These weather systems were
evidently the cue to Terri and company to resume their southbound migration.
As of this writing, in early October, I’m still hoping for another wave of
migrant hummers, which make all of my gardening worth the effort. |
Time for Some New Field Guides
“Gonna rise up, find my direction magnetically” - Eddie Vedder
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The relatively new study of genetic sequencing has provided a methodology to
reevaluate the tree of life. Traditionally, the tree of life was based on
morphological comparisons between animals, combined with the study of
fossils. This was done with the understanding that evolution can perform
morphological tricks, making distantly related animals appear much closer,
since natural selection often forces similar adaptations in comparable
environments. This is known as convergent evolution.
It has been thought that the osprey, for example, although superficially
similar to the hawks, and lumped with them in the field guides, is a product
of convergent evolution, and not really a hawk at all. Genetic sequencing
has changed our understanding of evolutionary patterns. Initially,
researchers proceeded by comparing a select few genes on a specific
chromosome to determine degrees of relatedness among species. This often
yielded inconclusive or contradictory results. Better analysis tools have
been developed to facilitate comparisons of relatively large sequences,
consisting of thousands of DNA bases, producing a more robust result with
much smaller error bars. This rapidly developing science is known as
phylogenetics, and it has been recently focused on birds.
In the June 27, 2008, issue of Science, Hackett, et al., published their
study of the relationships between 169 species of birds. The results
demonstrated some expected relationships, verifying the old comparative
methods, but also revealed some surprises. The passerines, or perching
birds, make up half of all bird species and include such large, diverse
groups as the warblers, blackbirds, and finches. They were found to be
closely allied with the parrots, which was quite unexpected.
Also closely related to the passerines and the parrots are the falcons. A
second group of “cousins” to the aforementioned birds includes the
woodpeckers, kingfishers, owls and hawks. And yes, the osprey is allied with
the accipiters, or bird hawks.
Next in the relatedness hierarchy are the shorebirds, which was also
somewhat unexpected. Continuing down towards the most “primitive” or oldest
orders, we find the herons along with most of the other wading birds. Also
in this group are the loons. This verified another recent genetic analysis
which dispelled the long-held belief that loons were the most primitive
living birds, which is why they appear first in traditional field guides.
The rails and cuckoos turn out to be close family members, not too distant
from the loons. Finally, the waterfowl, including our swans, geese, and
ducks, are now believed to be the oldest and most primitive birds, backing
up some recent fossil evidence uncovered in China. This, of course, will be
a boon to the publishers of field guides, and I will be among the first of
the suckers to buy them. |
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