THE UPLAND PLOVER

Publication of the North Country Bird Club, Inc.

September/October 2004 --- Volume 45 No.4

Contents

• Calendar of Events
   
• Presidents Column
   
• Bird Sightings
   
• Membership Information
   
• Bird Club Website is Up and Running
   
• Listers (as of 12/31/03)
   
• Scouts clear trails at Blake Sanctuary
   
• Return to The Upland Plover archive page
   

Presidents Column

As I enter my second year as your club president I would like to share some thoughts with you regarding the club as follows:

• This is your club and as always there is a critical need for volunteers, so become involved. At present the same few people do what they can and burnout can be a problem.
• The Blake Sanctuary is a wonderful asset to this club and a nice place to take a hike, so go visit it. If you are willing and able, sanctuary manager, Dick Brouse can always use a hand.
• Thanks to Steve Litwhiler and input from club members, our web page is up and running. Hopefully this will bring the club to the attention of younger interested members of the community. Steve welcomes photos and other submissions to the web page, so help out.
• Our club is located in one of the richest birding regions in New York State. Many threatened species, such as the Upland Sandpiper (Plover) for which this newsletter is named are making their last stand in our region. The club needs to become much more active in conservation at a regional level in order to preserve these species. This should include interactions with town boards on land use planning, etc. to assure that the interests of our birds are on the table. It is highly possible that within years to decades the symbol of this club will no longer breed in this region, something the founders of this club could not have conceived of. All we can give our birds for the pleasure we derive from them is to protect their habitat. More conservation activists are needed in the North Country if this is to happen.
• Our club must build partnerships with other conservation, education and outdoor organizations if it is to survive into the 21st century. New thinking is required and because certain practices have always been used does not mean they have value in our new century. In New York, many small birds clubs are fading away as they fail to attract younger people. The North Country Bird Club is no different and unless we act aggressively we shall be irrelevant in 2-3 decades. I would urge all members within travel distance of Watertown to become more involved, and in particular seek to involve younger members of the community.

I would appreciate the thoughts of the membership on how we may improve any aspect of the club and make our organization more relevant for the 21st Century.
Gerry Smith - President

Bird Club Website is Up and Running

By Steve Litwhiler

The North Country Bird Club's web site (www.northcountrybirdclub.org) was launched in February of 2004. Since then the site has grown to include 18 separate web pages, 28 pictures (thus far) and one map. There is plenty of space for expanding the Bird Club's web presence. So far we are using less than a sixth of our available space on the Westelcom host server. I am always looking for your pictures and field trip reviews and bird sightings.

A user counter was recently installed on the web site to count the number of separate visitors who view our main web page. I encourage everyone with Internet access, (or even those without, visit your local library), sit down at a computer and visit the site. I hope to report to the board of directors once the web page is a year old, that we have lots of people visiting www.northcountrybirdclub.org and they should vote to fund the page for another year. The number of visitors will increase over time when they find useful updated information whenever they surf over.

The board has asked me to post a north country bird sightings page, since it could be a popular page on our web site. It will only be useful though, if our birders contribute their sightings and they get posted in a timely manner. I have made a commitment to the board to post north country bird sightings that are E-mailed to me within one week of receipt. This sightings page can easily be updated if the complete information is E-mailed and then it is just added to the list on the web page. I can be E-mailed with sightings, photos, comments and/or field trip narratives at alderacres@cs.com.

Good year for Cuckoos

Jeff Bolsinger reported that both Black and Yellow-billed Cuckoos appeared far more common than usual this year due to the tent caterpillar outbreak. In most years, he reported, he would find Black-billeds primarily in successional woodland and open areas with wet shrubland, but this year many were found in mature sugar maple forest where the caterpillars were most abundant. He noted 2-7 Yellow-billeds per day this June, compared to 0-2 per year during most non-outbreak years.

Listers (as of 12/31/03)

Back in February of this year I put this little "Big List" request together to see how big some of the lists are. These are the only submissions that I received. I am sure that there are a few more listers out there. I will make the same request in January of next year. Same rules will apply and there are no prizes.
David Prosser
DWProsser@aol.com

Scouts clear trails at Blake Sanctuary

On December 4, 2003 I received a letter from Mr. Matthew Aubin, a member of Boy Scout Troop 60 in Copenhagen, N. Y. Mr. Aubin is a student at the Copenhagen Central School.

He stated his desire to become an Eagle Scout, but needed a service project that would benefit the school, church, or the community. He decided that he would like to make the Blake Sanctuary his project. I met with him , his grandfather, Mr. Ken Rogers, and his father at the sanctuary and we made an inspection of the trails, signs, and trail markers and decided what work would be required.

Matthew then worked on obtaining tools, and materials that would be required, all of which must be must be donated, including food and beverages for the group. He was assisted by ten scouts and several adults. The adults manned the chainsaws and the scouts performed the labor removing the trees and brush that was blocking the trails. They also painted the trail markers. The work was done on Saturday, June 19, 2004.

After the work was completed I made a visit to the sanctuary and was very impressed with the fine job that was done to the Pine Avenue, Pond, Big Maple, and Yellow Birch Trails. I sent Matthew a letter thanking him and those who assisted him on behalf of the North Country Bird Club for their work in making the trails safe for all who would use them.

Richard Brouse,
Blake Sanctuary Chairman