Injured Great horned Owl recuperating in aviary built in part with funds donated by our chapter. See the story by rehabilitator and ESAS member Cindy Kamler. (C. Kamler photo)

Chapter Notes Color Photo of Kids Birding at Mono Lake Field Trips Conservation Birding Color Photo of Northern Cardinal at China Ranch Also see Meeting Programs and Field Trips for these months. Back to Main Newsletter Page.

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Chapter Notes

Eastern Sierra Audubon welcomes the following new, returning and transfer members:

Ms. W. Gentry

Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Goodrich

Chris Iversen

Ilene Mandelbaum

Robert L. Meador

Betty Moore

Laurie R. Sada

Chuck Satterfield

Donna Vasquez

Jeanne Walter

Eric Warren

Samuel R. Wasson

Hazel Wittwer

Sandra Whitehouse, Membership Chair

THANKS

Our Audubon chapter wishes to anonymously thank the person who donated a pair of binoculars to our Birds in the Classroom program. This very active program delights students and teachers alike, and it was a wonderful and generous idea for this donor to enable one more child to discover the birds of the Sierras through the eyes of binoculars.

Sandra Whitehouse

ESAS MEMBER CHIDES AUDUBON OVER SUV-IN-WILDERNESS AD

Her Letter to the Editor

Editor, Audubon:

I was shocked to see the full-page ad on page 29 of your November-December issue, showing an SUV driving through a pristine stream and captioned, "Coming soon to a wilderness near you." Your magazine should be a leader in refusing to carry ads that show motor vehicles going where motor vehicles should not go. Please print your pledge in the next issue so that I can, in good conscience, continue my membership and encourage others to do the same.

Joy Fatooh

Audubon publisher replies

Dear Ms. Fatooh:

Thank you for taking the time to express your point of view regarding the advertisement for Subaru that appeared in Audubon magazine. We agree with your assessment of the Subaru advertisement and will not accept it again.

We are certainly aware of the problems that off-road vehicles can cause in sensitive natural areas. Although only a tiny percentage of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are ever used off-road (let alone in environmentally sensitive areas), the advertising agencies have a penchant for featuring them in pristine wilderness areas. The Subaru ad is a particularly egregious example and we should not have accepted it.

Chapter members like you and our public policy staff have worked hard to preserve wetlands and wilderness areas. Audubon recently played a critical role in the Heritage Forest Campaigns outstanding land conservation achievement, which persuaded President Clinton to protect 40 million acres of national forest from commercial development. We have great respect for the important work that is done on behalf of wetland preservation. Audubon magazine also plays an important role in educating members and other readers about wetlands and other sensitive habitats, and inspiring them to advocate and work on their behalf. Please be assured that Audubon Magazines staff share the same mission.

Thanks again for sharing your views with us. I hope this letter has helped to address your concerns.

Sincerely,

Jim Fishman

Joy follows up

Dear Mr. Fishman,

Thank you for your thoughtful response to my note. Im glad I called the Subaru ad to your attention and I truly appreciate your promise not to accept it again. I realize those ads must be a tremendous source of revenue. I applaud your ethics.

Let me tell you a little more about the motives behind my note. Im a wildlife biologist charged with maintaining wildlife habitat on 750,000 acres of the most beautiful, unspoiled land in the West. I always carry a rake in the back of my truck. So do my colleagues - recreation specialists, botanists, archaeologists - and so do our volunteers from the Eastern Sierra Audubon chapter. Its for raking out tracks.

Its true that SUV ads are designed to make people imagine their vehicles to be invincible, while most are used for nothing more adventurous than jumping the curb at the mall. Alas, there is that tiny percentage of drivers that bring their SUVs to places like ours, believing that it is physically possible and morally acceptable to go absolutely anywhere in an SUV. We find their tracks crossing a stream, a sagebrush-covered slope, a wet meadow, a stretch of desert pavement. We rake and rake and rake and hope our efforts will prevent that one set of tracks from becoming an indelible road. Sometimes we find the perpetrators at the end of the tracks, sunk to the axles or highcentered on a rock, wondering why it didnt work like in the ads and how much it will cost to get a tow truck way out here. Our ranger likes to give them the option of paying a fine or doing the rehab work themselves.

Again, I thank you. I hope youll make your decision public and let it serve as an inspiration to other magazines and organizations.

Joy Fatooh

GOLDEN TROUT CAMP - YES!

Lets dream a little this January and imagine: For a lovely sunny week in June or July, hike above 10,000 feet each day with a knowledgeable naturalist. Learn about diverse ecological systems, the flora and fauna of the magnificent southern Sierras and the birds who nest in and use the area. Gaze at incredible sweeping vistas and climb mountains and ridges if you want. At the end of the day, come back to camp for a home-cooked meal and a hot shower! Sound like only a dream? This description of a high altitude hikers nirvana is the Golden Trout Natural History Workshops. Each of the three week-long workshops is held at the Golden Trout Camp in the Golden Trout Wilderness, on the eastern watershed of the Sierras. The camp is on the edge of a long reparian system with the John Muir Wilderness just around the corner. Mt. Whitney is 20 miles to the north and Mt. Langley is 8 miles to the west. This beautiful setting with enthusiastic campers and friendly staff provide a real vacation in our own backyard! Call me for more information at 387-2626 or call Cindi McKernan for an application at (909) 798-3060.

Kathy Duvall

AUDUBON IN THE SCHOOLS PROGRAM

Weve had a busy beginning of the school season already with Debby Parker, John Finkbeiner and Chris Howard contributing time with a birding fieldtrip to

Mrs. Beach's third grade class on a birding outing this Fall to Mono Lake. The kids used binoculars donated by our chapter. Thanks to all who bought T-shirts, etc., to help make the donations possible. Photo by Debby Parker.

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Field Trips

Highway Cleanup

On a beautiful morning at Tom's Place, the faithful gathered for Audubon's fall trash pickup along our stretch of Hwy 395. After an excellent carbo power breakfast at Tom's Place, we all gathered in the parking lot for instructions. John & Dorothy Burnstrom took the west side going north, the Blakleys took the east side. Martha Kramer and Mary Vocelka handled the east side going south while Ros Gorham did the west side. John Gorham did the duties of driver/resupplier. A welcome volunteer showed up midway through the pickup, Gordon Nelson, who got us over the top. An hour and a half and we were all finished. Many thanks to all those mentioned above.

John Gorham

Lone Pine Christmas Count

Saturday, Dec 18th, seven Auduboners roamed the 15 mile diameter circle of the Lone Pine Christmas count area all day tallying every bird that they found. Traveling in three groups, we managed to identify 70 species in what was described by all as a rather slow day. But beautiful weather shone on us, and several species of note were located. In the Whitney Portal area a full adult Goshawk flew right outside the window of a groups vehicle as they descended the switchbacks. Another group found a Double-crested Cormorant at Diaz Lake (a rare bird in winter). Four Least Sandpipers were seen at the Elk Spot at the northwest corner of Owens Lake. Near the Interagency Visitors Center one group had a Lecontes Thrasher fly across the road in front of them. Jumping out and sprinting after the thrasher it was only after clearly studying the bird that they noticed their truck was only half off the road and still running with the doors open. Such are the hazards and excitement as the Christmas chase once again begins. Those of you out driving over the holidays be extra careful. Remember that many of those skid marks that you see on the highway surface are the telltale sign of a life bird sighting. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mike Prather

Field Trip-11/13/99- Forest Ecosystem Management

We traveled up from Bishop to the Glass Flow Road on a beautiful warm sunny day. We met our trip leaders from the Forest Service, Tom Higley, Silviculturalist, and Richard Perloff, Wildlife Biologist. Our small group of 10 traveled east over the Bald Mountain and Aqueduct Roads to the Indiana Summit Research Natural Area of uncut old-growth Jeffery Pine forest of uneven aged trees in natural groupings. Our leaders told us that this was what the first white men saw, except for the clumps of thick young growth. These dog-hair thickets are the result of 80-90 years of fire suppression. We were shown cut sections of old downed trees and standing trees showing repeated fire scars. Forest scientists indicate the natural Jeffery Pine forests are burned over every 8 to 15 years, resulting in an open multi-storied forest, mostly immune to the catastrophic fires we have now.

The new Forest Service plan and policy will not allow the cutting of old-growth trees (those over 140 years old). It calls for managing the forest by channeling the growth into an old-growth forest like Indiana Summit Natural Area.

Fire is the key but they can not burn these thick young stands without causing catastrophic fires, destroying all the trees. They are now thinning these young stands mechanically and selling the downed trees to woodcutters. They broadcast burn the slash. We viewed one area, cut but not logged, and also areas burned after the downed trees were removed. I could not see any trees killed by the fires, but it left a sterile appearance.

Richard then talked about the wildlife effect. He believes that opening the stand will bring in understory vegetation important for wildlife and birds. Since the fires destroy downed logs, they will go back through the treated stands and fell a number of trees, replacing the logs. In addition, trees will be killed to form snags. The area will be burned only in the early spring or late fall, before or after the nesting season.

Tom showed us that the trees that were left after cutting were not in a uniform spacing, but in natural groupings like the trees in the Natural Area. Over the years, several cuttings will be required to reach old growth stage. The young stands have hundreds of trees per acre. Two one-acre plots in the Natural Area show 18 and 35 old-growth trees per acre, which is the final goal for the treatments. The Forest Service plans to treat 100 acres or so per year of these dog-hair stands, and then continue to burn them on the natural cycles. The total forested area is approximately 60,000 acres, but only portions are in thick stands. It will take many years to treat the whole area. Not all areas will be treated, which they hope will result in a mosaic of many different conditions.

As a bird watcher and forester, it looks like a good plan, but Id like to come back in 150 to 200 years to see if it worked!!

John Finkbeiner

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Conservation

The following is from Kathie Schmiechen, Legislative Advocate, Consultant to the National Audubon Society, 926 J St., Ste. 612, Sacramento, CA 95814, 916-313-4522, fax 916-448-1789, kschmiec@quiknet.com

What are Props 12 and 13?

Prop 12, the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection bond, and Prop 13, the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Watershed Protection, and Flood Protection bond, are now on the March 7, 2000 ballot. These bond acts received strong bipartisan support in the Legislature, recognizing the tremendous need California has for parks, open space, and recreation as well as clean water for its growing population and natural environment.

Prop 12 is for parks and open space

Prop 12 is a $2.1 billion bond act that includes much needed funding for dilapidated state and local parks and other agencies that protect open space and recreational resources. Funds will also be available for land acquisition, habitat restoration, coastal protection, open space protection in fast growing suburbs, protection of remaining wildlife areas in some of our fastest growing counties, as well as playgrounds, zoos and soccer fields, urban conservation corps, and recreation for at-risk youth.

Prop 13 is for cleaner water

Water quality in California continues to be a problem. Outdoor recreation is a huge industry in California, and the quality of urban streams and river parkways attracts business to our state. Birds and other wildlife depend on clean water and healthy wetlands. Prop 13 addresses water pollution issues and makes our drinking water safer by funding watershed restoration, improving sewage treatment, and reducing non-point source pollution caused by street runoff in urban areas.

According to the Association of California Water Agencies, this $1.97 billion general obligation bond act will improve Californias water supply by one million acre-feet. To put that in perspective, this is three times the water yield of the proposed controversial Auburn Dam, for less than the total cost of that dam.

Why do we need Prop 12 and Prop 13? Though voters approved similar bond acts in the '70s and '80s, there has not been a park bond passed since 1988. The last bond’s funds ran out years ago. A recent independent study reports that state and local agencies estimate unmet park needs for the next ten years at over $12 billion. California is growing at a rate of more than 600,000 people per year, and all these new residents need places to recreate, appreciate wildlife, enjoy the outdoors, and exercise. Additionally, the California Department of Water Resources predicts major shortages of pollution-free water. Its official five-year forecast says existing water management options wont fix the problem.

Who says?

Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike recognize the benefits of safe neighborhood parks and clean water. Fiscal conservatives such as the California Taxpayers Association support Prop 12 and Prop 13 because they will not raise taxes, and all funds will be appropriated through the state budget and subject to careful review and annual public audits.

Audubon, the League of Women Voters, the Nature Conservancy, and California Chamber of Commerce all support Prop 12 and Prop 13. In addition, the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs and AARP endorse Prop 12 and the Association of California Water Agencies and Agricultural Council of California are backing Prop 13.

Why are Prop 12 and Prop 13 important to Audubon?

Prop 12 and Prop 13 contain ENORMOUS potential for Audubon and its chapters. These bond acts provide funding and grants to state and local agencies that protect and restore land and wildlife habitat. Local projects that we support and our own projects will be eligible for bond funds!

How else can we help?

Your help is needed to pass these important bond acts! To get more information, donate funds, or volunteer locally to help the campaign, please contact your friendly Audubon legislative advocate Kathie Schmiechen at kschmiec@quiknet.com or call (916) 313-4522.

Further information on Prop 12 and Prop 13, including summaries, votes of your legislators, fact sheets and visual aids, is available on Audubon-California's website at http://www.audubon-ca.org/.

Register to vote by Feb 7! Vote Yes on Prop 12 and Prop 13 on March 7!

WINGED VICTORY

Audubon won a major victory for the endangered California condor this fall, when Enron Wind Corp. agreed to withdraw its proposal to site a wind farm near the California condors federally designated critical habitat. The agreement, which was orchestrated by Audubon, Enron, and the Tejon Ranch Company, represents a rare win-win outcome that will benefit California condor recovery while also facilitating a wind power project to supply green energy to the Los Angeles area.

Enron, the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the United States, had originally proposed to build the wind farm between two blocks of California condor habitat. Because of their location, the wind turbines could have interfered with the California condors flight patterns. These environmental concerns, plus a possibility that Enron would be denied the Wind Energy Tax Credit due to these impacts, led Enron to consider alternate sites. Tejon Ranch, a land development company that owns property next to the original area proposed for the wind farm, has agreed to lease a similar parcel of land in a different location to Enron for the project.

THE AUDUBON ADVISORY, December 1, 1999

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Birding

Diaz Lake County Park is a conveniently located birding spot right along Highway 395 three miles south of Lone Pine. It offers the best birding during

Each of these habitats provides its own specialty birds. The open water shelters all species of waterfowl from winter ducks to breeding plumage loons in spring (even a Magnificent Frigatebird one year!). The tules are home to booming American Bitterns in the spring and are decorated with Yellow-headed Blackbirds nesting there also. Make sure to check out the tules at the north end of the lake. Access is from the campground on the west side of the lake. At the southern end of the lake, a walk along the road passing the large willows and cottonwood can yield Red-Shouldered Hawk and many species of songbirds (in the spring particularly). Scanning the desert scrub and irrigated pasture during your visit can add more species to your visit list.

So when you are traveling north or south along Highway 395 stop for a stretch and do some birding at Diaz Lake. You will be rewarded with many and varied species of birds and spectacular views of the Alabama Hills, the Sierra and the Inyo Mountains.

Mike Prather

WILDLIFE CARE: SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES

A great horned owl was one of the first patients to use Eastern Sierra Wildlife Cares new aviary. According to rehabilitator Cindy Kamler, the skin had been torn from a large area of the birds leg in a tangle with barbed wire. Rehabber P.J. Estes cared for the bird, dressing the wound and administering antibiotics, until it was nearly healed. The owl was then brought to the aviary for conditioning, both physical and environmental, Cindy explained. The bird flew strongly when it was released at an appropriate site about 10 days later. On October 28, a white pelican was brought to Bishop Veterinary Hospitals clinic and then transferred to Bishop. The next morning, Cindy Kamler assisted Dr. Laurinda Fallini while she sutured numerous deep lacerations the pelican had suffered, also apparently due to barbed wire. Leaving the large waterbird to recover from anesthesia, Kamler returned home to receive a message from Fish and Game about a golden eagle report from Swall Meadow. According to homeowner Bill McNeill, the eagle had been on his deck earlier in the day, unable to fly. Kamler asked him to go and see of he could locate the bird and said she would try to enlist some help. She called Lyn and Ralph Haber, who live nearby, and they agreed to help McNeill look for the bird. It was getting very close to dark, Kamler said, so I decided to drive up there right away in the hope that they would have spotted the bird. Armed with only a small bird net and some welding gloves, Kamler arrived on the scene and learned that the eagle had taken shelter under a pine tree. It was quite a chase, Cindy recalled. She couldnt fly, but she could sure hop rapidly. I got the little net over her head several times, but she shook it off. Finally, the bird was tired enough that I could hold her with the net while Bill threw a sheet over the bird and I secured her. The next morning, Bishop Vet again generously offered help, and examination and xrays were done and a badly fractured humerus found. Kamler then took the eagle to Dr. Jeff Novak in Ridgecrest for a consultation. Both he and Dr. Fallini agreed that the bird needed expert care and Kamler contacted UC Davis Raptor Center for permission to bring the eagle to their facility. While arrangements were being made to get the eagle to Davis, things got even busier. The white pelican was transferred to Kamlers facilities and after about 6 days indoors was moved to the aviary. Thanks to Fish and Game and the Fish Springs hatchery staff, he was soon filling up on trout. On November 8, a second golden eaglestruck by a carwas rescued from 395 near Aberdeen by CFG Warden Pat Woods.This bird was also seen by Dr. Fallini at Bishop Vet, suffering from head trauma. On November 15, both eagles were driven to the Davis Raptor Center by rehabilitator Janet Titus of Crowley Lake. The white pelican spent nearly three weeks in Kamlers aviary. She then drove it to Irvine to Pacific Wildlife Project, a rehab facility that specializes in pelicans. He needed more time to heal, a pool to swim in, and other pelicans to be with, Kamler explained. Since he was probably migrating south, hell be closer to his destination when hes released. To have two of the largest bird species in North America at the same time, and two golden eagles at the same time, was overwhelming, Kamler exclaimed. Fortunately, thanks to many people and agenciesthe injured birds got the best care possible. And thanks to another donation from Eastern Sierra Audubon, the next time I have to chase down an eagle, Ill have the proper net and gloves!

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER

The Olive-sided Flycatcher is always a treat to come across on a summer walk through a wooded area. Its usually at the very top of the tallest tree around, issuing its quick-three-beers call. According to data of Tom and Jo Heindel, it is an uncommon species here (as it seems to be most places); it is found in Inyo County from May through August. According to Audubon The discovery of this species is due to my amiable and learned friend [Thomas] NUTTALL. Nuttall, then on the faculty at Harvard, discovered the bird in the vicinity of Cambridge, MA, in 1830. He gave it the scientific name Muscicapa cooperi* (honoring the same noteworthy personage for whom the Coopers Hawk is named). Two years later Nuttall took Audubon for a walk through the countryside when they chanced upon one of these rarities - the first one J. J. had seen. They were both excited to see it, and . . . well, let Audubon tell it:

On the 8th of August, 1832, while walking out from Boston towards the country seat of the Honourable THOMAS H. PERKINS, along with my friend NUTTALL, we were suddenly saluted with the note of this bird. As I had never seen it, I leaped over the fence beside us, and cautiously approached the tree on which a male was perched and singing. Desiring my friend to go in search of a gun, I watched the motions of the devoted bird. He returned with a large musket, a cows horn filled with powder, and a handful of shot nearly as large as peas; but, just as I commenced charging this curious piece, I discovered that it was flintless!** We were nearly a mile distant from Mr. PERKINS house, but as we were resolved to have the bird, we proceeded to it with all despatch, procured a gun, and returning to the tree, found the Flycatcher, examined its flight and manners for awhile, and at length shot it. As the representative of a species, I made a drawing of this individual, which you will find copied in [my Olive-sided Flycatcher plate] . . .***

*Nuttalls original scientific name has not survived intact. During the late 19th century through much of the 20th century it was known as either Nuttallornis borealis (Nuttalls Peewee), a name given by the famous naturalist Robert Ridgway, or Contopus borealis, the borealis part stemming from a name applied by the brilliant but underrated 19th century naturalist William Swainson. Currently it is officially referred to as Contopus cooperi, harking back to Nuttalls original appellation.

**Nuttall was not a gun enthusiast. On an earlier occasion, while accompanying the Astorians up the Missouri in 1811, and when the party was faced with possible hostilities by Indians, his gun, upon inspection, was found to be choked with dirt, either a result of using the barrel as an instrument to dig up plants, or as a repository for seeds he had collected.

***The remainder of Audubons commentary on the Olive-sided Flycatcher can be found on the website described in the Sept/Oct 99 issue of the WAVE. Nuttalls masterful and engaging comments on this bird (and many others) may be found in his book Birds of the United States, copies of which are readily available on the used book market.

by Tom & Jo Heindel

Migration varies from spring to fall and from year to year. Spring migration tends to be a period of hyperactivity when birds and birders are in a hurry to get where they are going and do what they do. Fall migration, on the other hand, is a more leisurely paced period where the numbers for a given species are fewer per day than in spring and the length of time from the first southbound migrants to the last is two to three times as long as in spring. That said, no fall is like another and this year proved that again. Many Inyo County birders felt that this fall migration was slower than most falls and that numbers and diversity of species was low. However, there were a few spectacular exceptions, as is usually the case.

The first spectacular exception was on 24 Sep when Gary Rosenberg and Scott Terrill found a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH at Panamint Springs, only the second ever recorded in the county. About a dozen birders were able to see it and it remained at least until the next day. The first county record was 7 Aug 1985 at Deep Springs College when Jon Dunn found it while leading a bird tour there. This recent bird is only the 8th record for the state with 4 in spring from early May to early Jun, 3 in fall from early Aug to mid Sep and 1 in winter from early Feb to late Mar. These dates almost completely overlap the dates that Northern Waterthrushes have occurred in Inyo so extreme care and attention should be paid to all waterthrushes.

The second spectacular exception was in the early evening of 20 Nov when Tom Wurster found a RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN at Furnace Creek Ranch, only the second ever recorded in the county. This Mexican species has a nice habit of wandering north in late fall with many records existing for Arizona; however, it is very rare in California. The bird remained until at least 27 Nov and attracted birders from all over the state. The first county record was 5 Nov 1983 at Furnace Creek Ranch when one was found by Richard Webster. There is a 3rd record for Death Valley National Park at Saratoga Springs, just south into San Bernardino County, on 19 Nov 1974 when it was found by Bob Hudson of Independence and Merle Archie. This recent bird is the 9th record for the state with the window of opportunity from early Nov to mid Apr.

The third spectacular exception was on the morning of 21

Northern Cardinal at China Ranch, photo by Jo Heindel.

The last spectacular exception was on 27 Nov when Steve Tucker found a male NORTHERN CARDINAL at China Ranch, near Tecopa. Brian Brown, the owner of China Ranch, said that this bird has been there since June. It appears to be the Arizona race with an extremely long crest, brighter rosy red than the eastern races and no black between the bill and the forehead. The question many are asking...Is this a true vagrant that wandered up from southern Nevada or along the Colorado River where a small population exists or is it an escaped caged bird? Since it has been in the wild at least since Jun normal indicators of a caged life, extreme feather wear and long claws, have long since molted or been worn down. Trying to decide the origin of this bird is a dilemma fit for King Solomon.

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