Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society

Hobbes State Park Natural Area on Beaver Lake great place for bird-watchers and conservation enthusiasts Jan. 21, 2012

2012-01-17T10:11:00.001-06:00

The next Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip is this
upcoming Saturday January 21, 2012, to Rocky Branch on Beaver Lake.
Meet at 9 AM at the Rocky Branch marina parking area. We will be
looking for species typical of the lake in winter (possibilities
include Pied-billed and Horned Grebes, Bonaparte's and Ring-billed
Gull, Common Goldeneye, Bald Eagle, and others). Depending on the
weather, we can also bird the cedar glade and upland shortleaf pine
areas for woodland birds. A program at Hobbes State Park-Conservation
Area visitor's center at 2 PM will be presented by Joe Neal on winter
birds. Both events are free and open to the public. More information
on the area at

http://media.tripod.lycos.com/2020453/1535379.pdf

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Mitchell Prewitt of Jonesboro, Arkansas, has a really big year seeing wild birds

2012-01-16T21:20:00.000-06:00

News » Arkansas Reporter

A Big Year in Arkansas

Jonesboro teen racks up 311 species.

by Leslie Newell Peacock @@eyecandypeacock

Tools

click to enlarge

NO NEED FOR BINOCS: Pruitt holds a Swainson's warbler, caught for banding by ASU students.

Mitchell Pruitt is only 17, but he's No. 4 in the rankings of most birds seen in Arkansas during a Big Year.
Thanks to the movie, most everyone knows what a Big Year is now, but for folks who don't get out much, a Big Year is one in which a birder dedicates his every waking moment between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 to see as many species as possible. At dawn on Jan. 1, 2011, Mitchell Pruitt started his adventure with a northern flicker; he ended it Dec. 30, in the nick of time, with a golden eagle. In between he saw 309 other avian species, for a total of 311, just seven off Dick Baxter's 318 in 2008 ("a hurricane year," Pruitt noted, with five or six species blown up to Arkansas from the Gulf).
Pruitt is a senior at Valley View High School in Jonesboro who started birding seriously about two years ago. At 6'4" he can practically see into the canopy, a huge advantage for birders who must endure "warbler neck" every spring to see the tiny, high moving migrants. He got some of his 311 birds with the help of Arkansas's top birders, who alerted him to rare birds they were finding, and his parents' chauffeuring skills. His patient parents — who Mitchell said were "speechless" when he first told them he'd decided to do a Big Year — drove him all over Arkansas. His mother, Kathleen Pruitt, was en route to Texarkana one morning when Mitchell called from school and persuaded her to check him out and make a detour to Fayetteville to see a Bewick's wren that "Arkansas Birds" author Joe Neal had e-mailed him about. (Pruitt, an Eagle Scout described by his parents as a "good kid," confessed to consulting his e-mail at school to make sure he wasn't missing any rarities.) The Pruitts drove to Fayetteville, Mitchell saw the bird, and then all headed for Texarkana, "a long day," his mother said. Mitchell's father, Ken Pruitt, bootless and unable to accompany his son, waited a couple of hours in a mud-mired truck in Desha County so Mitchell could hike in to Dick Baxter's family's fish farm pond to pick up mottled duck, least bittern and fulvous whistling duck. Loaded down with scope, binoculars, camera and a healthy fear of cottonmouths, Mitchell made his way along the edge of a soybean field to get to an opening in the vegetation. A deer jumped up in front of him, which rattled him a bit, and a rustle of something scaly in the brush (turned out to be an armadillo) sent him running at one point, but he saw two of his target birds and heard the third, the whistle of the whistling duck.
In what is a common birder story, Mitchell braved 100-degree heat in July in Southwest Arkansas, walking three miles along the OK Levee on Millwood Lake with expert birder Charles Mills to see a tricolored heron, which, of course, they didn't see until they returned to their truck, where the bird was hanging out. (Mom and sis waited at a campground during this adventure.) He sank one leg up above the bootline in the muddy bed of Lake Enterprise in Southeast Arkansas trying to get a better look at an eagle. It takes perseverance to see 311 species in 365 days.
For the record, Mitchell's rarest birds: A Eurasian wigeon, which should have been off the coast of Great Britain or somewhere in south Asia, at Benwood Lake southwest of Turrell. A little Sabine's gull at the same lake. Cassin's sparrow near Foreman. A Barrow's goldeneye that was at Lake Dardanelle last January, except the one day Mitchell went there to see it, but which graciously returned Dec. 2. And one of the prettiest: A vermillion flycatcher, which should have been in Arizona but flew in to the Stuttgart Airport instead.
Mitchell plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in fall. He'll probably major in biology — maybe to become an ornithologist.
No. 2, 3 and 5 in the top five Arkansas Big Year lists: Kenny Nichols (313), LaDonna Nichols (312) and Dennis Brady (307).

          
 
Share

Tags: Arkansas Reporter, Mitchell Pruitt, LaDonna Nichols, Dick Baxter, Dennis Brady, Kenny Nichols

« Lights, camera, action ... soon at Pulaski Tech

more News »

Arkansas Reporter archives »

Comments (2) RSS

Showing 1-2 of 2

Add a comment

What a delightful story!
Congrats, Mitchell. on your BIG YEAR. I enjoyed reading about your adventures.

report 1 of 1 people like this. like dislike

Posted by Challis on January 11, 2012 at 11:38 AM

It is a MOST delightful story!
I know Mitchell's parents; great folks they are. I must say, as a life-long bird watcher, I'm a bit envious and yet in awe of his commitment to seeing that many different birds in one year.
Congrats!

report like dislike

Posted by craighead gal on January 11, 2012 at 3:27 PM

Showing 1-2 of 2

2012-01-12T14:05:00.000-06:00

Trouble reading this e-mail? View it online.

Audubon Advisory
January 12, 2012
Vol 2012 Issue 1


Roseate Spoonbills need a healthy Gulf.

Our Next, Best Chance to Pass the RESTORE Act for the Gulf of Mexico
The RESTORE Act has been praised for its bipartisan support and commitment to restoring the environment and economies of the Gulf damaged by the BP oil disaster. Congress must act to ensure the fines owed by BP and other responsible parties are used for restoring the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem for the people and wildlife that live there. Read more.


The Farm Bill preserves habitat for Western Meadowlarks and other grassland birds.

The 2012 Congress: A Look Ahead
In addition to our number priority to pass the RESTORE Act, two big bills with big ramifications for the environment—the Farm Bill, which is the single, largest source of conservation funding, and the Water Resources Development Act, which is instrumental in restoring large ecosystems, are also slated for action. Read more.


The Ivory Gull, an Arctic-dependent species, spends its life on and around the sea ice. It feeds in open water and on the remains of marine mammals killed by polar bears and other predators.

Dangerous Offshore Drilling Proposed in the Arctic Ocean
The federal government recently released a new proposed Five-Year Program (2012-2017) for offshore oil and gas leasing that could open up pristine new areas in the Arctic Ocean offshore of Alaska to oil drilling. If we've learned anything from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, it's how unprepared the oil industry is to respond to a major oil spill. This is especially true in the Arctic Ocean. Read more.


The agreement will increase healthy habitat for the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

Audubon and Sierra Club Win Major Environmental Benefits for Arkansas in Power Plant Settlement
Audubon and Sierra Club recently announced a legal settlement that phases out one of the dirtiest coal plants located upwind of Arkansas, in Northeastern Texas. The settlement will mean clearer air, more clean energy and efficiency, and protections for Important Bird Areas and other sensitive habitats. Read more.


Audubon is seeking more robust protections for birds like the Piping Plover, whose habitat would be impacted by the pipeline.

Audubon Weighs in on 15,000 Mile Habitat Conservation Plan
Audubon responded to a request from a major pipeline company for authorization to impact habitat needed by 43 imperiled species. Audubon seeks more robust protections for the threatened interior Least Tern, Piping Plover, and Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and asks for avoidance of Important Bird Areas in subsequent phases of permitting. Read more.

News from Our State Network

Over 1500 New Yorkers push for stronger environmental protections from hydrofracking.

January Mystery Bird
Congratulations to Andrew S. of Arcata, CA, who was randomly chosen from the entries that correctly identified last month's Savannah Sparrow, at right. Good luck with this month's challenge, Poking Around, below. HINT: Over 10% of my global population can be found in the California Bay Delta, an ecosystem that is being restored with help from the Water Resources Development Act. The winner will receive a plush Audubon singing bird and will be chosen at random from all entries received that correctly identify the species (NAS employees can play but not win). One entry per person please. Please email us your entry, being sure the words "Mystery Bird" appear in the subject line. Deadline for entering is Sunday, February 5.

Photo credits: Western Meadowlark - John and Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS, Roseate Spoonbill - Rebecca Field, Ivory Gull - jomilo75/Flickr Creative Commons, Red-cockaded Woodpecker - Julio Mulero/Flickr Creative Commons, Piping Plover - Gene Nieminen/USFWS, Savannah Sparrow - Amanda Boyd/USFWS, Mystery Bird - Greg Thomson/USFWS

The Audubon Advisory is published monthly by Audubon's Public Policy Program.
1150 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 861-2242 | audubonaction@audubon.org

Joe Neal and friends visit White Rock

2012-01-10T23:40:00.003-06:00

White Rock is way, way out in the middle of the Ozark National Forest
and the Boston Mountains. Yesterday, there were Hermit Thrushes and
Golden-crowned Kinglets in a stand of native shortleaf pines. Male
Purple Finches (4) were enjoying coral berries and tree buds right
alongside Forest Service Road 1505. Flocks in scattered weedy openings
also included juncos, goldfinches, cardinals, and many White-throated
Sparrows. Field Sparrows decorated twigs poking out of an old rock
wall in the ridgetop farming community of Bidville. An adult Bald
Eagle soared over, too.

Despite a record-breaking ice storm, a forest-decimating outbreak of
borer beetles, and relentless cutting of the Federal budget, the
Forest Service has managed to keep difficult, mountainous, winding
roads to White Rock safe, open and even improved in places, including
attractive road signs that, at least as of yesterday, vandals hadn't
yet destroyed.

From Fayetteville I usually go out highway 16 to Combs, in Madison
County, then turn south along Mill Creek, where yesterday Hamamelis
vernalis, Ozark Witch Hazel was covered with rather elegant reddish
blooms. Unfortunately, off-road vehicles are damaging Mill Creek
bottomlands. Freshly eroded tracks and huge mudholes are visible
without effort, and this, despite the fact that ORVs have been
provided their own special ride nearby. Fresh nobby tracks go right
past "Road closed" signs.

From Mill Creek the forest road ascends toward White Rock. Along some
of those high ridges we found another Hamamelis species, American
Witch Hazel with cheery yellow flowers. We were enjoying Fox Sparrows,
all handsome browns and grays, in thickets of greenbriar and grape
vines. Well below us, and out-of-sight, we heard a steady rustling of
dry leaves, like deer (?) or maybe a bear (?) was walking. An
investigation by Joan Reynolds showed sparrows, mostly white-throats,
working the leaves, but in another place we spotted a fresh bear
track. There was also an Eastern Towhee in the mix.

The Ozark National Forest is full of dead and dying trees, a legacy of
ice, insects, and a natural turning over. My old friend Eleanor
Johnson used to say, "It's an ill wind that doesn't blow someone some
good," and it's good now to be a woodpecker. I gather also a logger or
a fire wood cutter. Without special effort we heard and saw most of
the expected woodpecker species and a sawmill full of hardwood logs
and a mountain of sawdust.

What we see today -- cabins built from native stone, hiking trails,
and winding mountain roads -- recalls a different era. White Rock,
Devil's Den, many schools, courthouses, and lakes were all visions
that grew from the challenges of the 1930s Great Depression. The view
from that time was that government was not the enemy. Government by
the people and for the people should help the people with useful jobs,
conservation that saved productivity of land and soil, and affordable
recreation. The builders of forest roads and fire-fighting
capabilities were Arkansans out of work and down on their luck -- our
parents and relatives from a different era -- and they and their
families survived in part due to a then generous view of the purposes
of government.

--

December 20, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville AR city council draws comment on several important local issues on a 3-hour, 37-minute video

2012-01-01T02:02:00.002-06:00

Christmas Bird Count in Northwest Arkansas 2011

2011-12-31T10:34:00.003-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.

Snow Goose    1                                 (1 white --blue   )
Cackling Goose --
Canada Goose 563
Wood Duck (Count Week – 2)
Gadwall 262
American Wigeon 17
Mallard 298
Northern Shoveler 27
Am Green-winged Teal 15
Canvasback --
Redhead --
Ring-necked Duck 40
Greater Scaup --
Lesser Scaup 36
Bufflehead 39
Common Goldeneye (Count Week)
Hooded Merganser 4
Ruddy Duck 29
Wild Turkey --
Northern Bobwhite --
Pied-billed Grebe 29
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 19
Black Vulture 21
Turkey Vulture 77
Bald Eagle 8                           (mature 5 ; immature 3 )
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper's Hawk 5                          (Accipiter species --)
Red-shouldered Hawk 20
Red-t Hawk: 67                   (1 harlani --calurus --kriderii)
American Kestrel 26
American Coot 31
Killdeer 57
Least Sandpiper --
Wilson’s Snipe 10
Ring-billed Gull 204
Rock Pigeon 350
Eurasian Collared-Dove 25
Mourning Dove 204
Greater Roadrunner 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 2
Great Horned Owl 5
Barred Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher 10
Red-headed Woodpecker 7
Red-bellied Woodpecker 67
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 33
Downy Woodpecker 62
Hairy Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker 27
Pileated Woodpecker 19
Eastern Phoebe 4
Loggerhead Shrike --
Blue Jay 188
American Crow 391
Horned Lark --
Carolina Chickadee 131

Tufted Titmouse 78
Red-breasted Nuthatch --
White-breasted Nuthatch 28
Brown Creeper 8
Carolina Wren 51
Winter Wren 3
Sedge Wren --
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Count Week)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 178
Hermit Thrush 12
American Robin 561
Northern Mockingbird 98
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling12,000
American Pipit --
Cedar Waxwing 80
Orange-crowned Warbler --
Yellow-rumped Warbler 52
Pine Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee--
Eastern Towhee 14
American Tree Sparrow --
Chipping Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 27
Savannah Sparrow 199
Le Conte's Sparrow 5
Fox Sparrow 14
Song Sparrow 109
Lincoln’s Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 25
White-throated Sparrow 454
Harris's Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow 187
Dark-eyed Junco 966
Lapland Longspur --
Northern Cardinal 342
Red-winged Blackbird 530
Eastern Meadowlark 200
Western Meadowlark 2
Rusty Blackbird 33
Brewer's Blackbird --
Common Grackle 23,000
Great-tailed Grackle --
Brown-headed Cowbird 25
Purple Finch 2
House Finch 171
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 289
House Sparrow 118
blackbird species 312
OTHER: Greater White-fronted Goose 1; Northern Pintail 1; Inca Dove 1; Vesper Sparrow 1; Vulture species 150; Horned Grebe-count week

THE NEAL REPORT CHRISTMAS DAY 2011 and from Dec. 22, 2011

2011-12-26T17:33:00.001-06:00

It's hard not to visit Oklahoma when we make our Maysville birding  
rounds. Most stops are in Arkansas fit and proper, but we like to  
drive an Oklahoma county road a brief mile as a falcon flies WEST of  
State Line Road. On Christmas Day we had a small flock (4-5 birds) of  
Harris's Sparrows just EAST of the state line, and a couple of  
America's Favorite Tree Sparrows along State Line Road, but on the  
Arkansas side. Mike Mlodinow and I both distinctly heard a Purple  
Finch while we were standing in the middle of State Line Road, but in  
terms of state boundaries where it began and ended overhead flight is  
mystery. We are very sure we had impressive (50+) flocks of Savannah  
Sparrows and meadowlark species in both Arkansas and Oklahoma,  
including Western Meadowlarks in both states. We saw scores of Bald  
Eagles during the day, including 20+ on the Arkansas side and at least  
15 in Oklahoma. At one point Joanie Patterson and I heard this  
wonderful bubbling chorus ahead and we eventually tracked down  
meadowlarks, in trees. At least a few were Westerns, and maybe 20  
birds flew away. How many Westerns? How many Easterns? They headed  
toward Arkansas. On the same walk, we heard then spotted a flicker,  
and Jacque Brown was soon in full blown picture-taking stalk, because  
this one was the western form of the Northern Flicker. A red-shafted  
flicker it was, in almost (but not quite) Arkansas.
 
In case all of this worry about the location of the state line seems  
silly, it is ... in a way. But since Joanie puts field data into  
ebird, assigning this bird to Arkansas, and that bird to Oklahoma, is  
required. You can't have a bird, even a good one like red-shafted  
flicker, in what amounts to almost Arkansas. In our strange world,  
it's all about formal state lines and there's no such place as say,  
calling all of this Beatie Prairie, which it is and was before there  
was either an Arkansas or an Oklahoma. But I digress. The flicker was  
cooperative and that's good enough gift for Christmas Day.
 
-- 
Common Goldeneyes tend to be the most numerous of the ducks present on  
Beaver Lake in winter, but they are never really common. I spent a  
long day on Beaver December 22. Duck-wise, the day amounted to 33  
goldeneyes in one far away flock (more than 0.6 of a mile!) visible  
from Lost Bridge North park. But the sun was bright and I could  
plainly see both males and females vigorously diving in that hungry  
sort of way.
 
I have no idea what foods they seek, but Birds of North America  
indicates they probably aren't catching fish, since most diet studies  
indicate they consume aquatic invertebrates including insects,  
mollusks, and crustaceans. Combining data from a variety of studies,  
their groceries appear to be crustaceans (32% by volume), insects  
(28%) and mollusks (10%). Whatever it is the ducks find, Bonaparte's  
and Ring-billed Gulls know what's up, because when goldeneyes dive on  
Beaver, gulls are often attendant and soon focus where ducks swim and  
dive. I assume the ducks dislodge food then made available for gull  
picking.
 
Watching through my spotting scope, I see them suddenly rise and race  
low over the water, coming my way. I hear the distinctive whistling  
produced by wing beats. They plop down less than a tenth of a mile  
out, with an illuminating sun behind. The effect is electric.
 
There is no white that compares to that on flanks and chest of a male  
goldeneye, no contrast so striking as that big roundish white spot on  
the face set as it is midst a deep, rich blackish-green head. No deep  
chestnut-reddish pattern more distinctive than the female's. No eyes  
so brilliantly yellow, so golden, as those within backgrounds of deep  
black-green and chestnut, illuminated like cathedral glass in a  
brilliant afternoon winter sun: birds stirring water with their dives,  
gulls fluttering and settling, ducks paddling forward across the  
lake's winter quiet expanse.
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Park Board approves accepting money in lieu of land that will result in destruction of all habitat on Hollywood Prairie despite plea to preserve bit of wetland

2011-12-13T22:54:00.003-06:00

Joe Neal's presentation with slide show based on his new book, 'In the Province of Birds: A Memoir from Western Arkansas,' draws full house at Night Bird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville on December 9, 2011

2011-12-09T23:14:00.002-06:00

Please click on images to enlarge.

Susan Young of the Shiloh Museum was among the several writers on hand for Joe Neal''s 'In the Province of Birds.' She wrote a wonderful book on Tontitown that was published about a year ago.

Joe Neal previews 'In the Province of Birds at 7 p.m. December 9, 2011, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville AR

2011-12-05T10:52:00.003-06:00

Hi Aubrey -- just wanted to let you know that Half Acre Press has a new book out from Joe Neal, In the Province of Birds, in case you'd like to mention it on your blog. There will be a booksigning and slideshow/bird talk by Joe at Nightbird Books on Friday, December 9 at 7 pm. Hope to see you there!

Thanks,
Liz

---------------------------------------------------
Liz Lester
479-236-0992
Liz Lester Design
lizlesterdesign@yahoo.com
www.lizlesterdesign.com

Half Acre Press
liz@halfacrepress.com

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Bald Eagles' restoration occurred only because of wise federal scientists and politicians who listened to them

2011-11-26T13:56:00.001-06:00

We saw 10 Bald Eagles and perhaps as many as 15, including
white-headed adults and younger birds, during the Arkansas Audubon
Society field trip to Maysville November 19. They were listed an
Endangered Species because by the 1950s widespread nesting failures
due mainly to impacts of agricultural chemicals, especially DDT, had
caused near total nest failure in Arkansas and throughout the lower 48
states. Their comeback is one of our proudest achievements.

At their great size and prestigious status as national bird, Bald
Eagles are poster children for the the Endangered Species Act and
public will productively at work through government. It is because of
the ESA we still have eagles throughout Arkansas. Because of ESA,
Whooping Cranes did not go extinct. I saw 6 of them in central
Oklahoma during fall migration two years ago.

It has become hugely fashionable to condemn anything public or
governmental. Watching debates among Republicans, it appears they hold
common contempt for government, even though they have little in common
about their religious faith or life experiences. It was private,
corporate interests that caused the near extinction of Bald Eagles. It
was we citizens acting through our government who said we wouldn't
accept extinction. I'm not saying here that a Republican president
might not act responsibly when it comes to endangered species, but it
is now difficult to see one in this political climate defending the
ESA and the Bald Eagles it saved. This is just an observation: I don't
mean it as an endorsement of Democrats.

I find it difficult to look at Bald Eagles on a field trip and realize
many people of national stature, any one of whom could wind as
president, express contempt for regulatory laws like the Endangered
Species Act. On a field trip Thanksgiving Day we saw eagles everywhere
we stopped: two adults in a nest tree at Sequoyah NWR and a nest below
Tenkiller dam, both in eastern Oklahoma (and both areas are government
projects). These are things for which I give thanks for sure. I
consider it dangerous to deliberately ignore or conveniently forget
why it is that we can now find eagles so easily. There is a reason for
it, and you don't have to be a genius or a loud-mouthed radio or TV
talker to grasp it.

I am looking for government, private corporations, and small
businesses to recognize that we voters and American citizens are OF
the earth, not THE reason for the earth. The earth is not privately
and solely OURS. I would like the current president and the wanna-bes
to step up and let us know he or she will not sacrifice every piece of
life's puzzle on the altar of political purity and ideology convenient
for the moment. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying our national bird, in the
field, and thankful that citizens, through government, have made it
possible.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Joe Neal's invitation to a slide show on birds and the release of IN THE PROVINCE of BIRD, a memoir from western Arkansas by Neal, with a few words from Louise Mann

2011-11-23T16:22:00.000-06:00

Hey Neighbors...Fayetteville's favorite birder, Joe Neal has written another book. He will present it with a slide show at Nightbird Books. If you've not attended one of Joe's presentations you are in for a treat. His knowledge and dry sense of humor will keep you chuckling and learning at the same time. He'll also have information about the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.  So, come have a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the birds!   Louise Mann    Joe's note below....

COME TO THE PROVINCE,
Nightbird Books in Fayetteville,
Friday December 9    7:00 PM

       Y'ALL ARE INVITED to a field trip to Nightbird Books in Fayetteville, Fri. night, Dec. 9, at 7 PM.
The occasion is the release by Half Acre Press of IN THE PROVINCE OF BIRDS, A MEMOIR FROM WESTERN ARKANSAS by Joe Neal.

      Yellow-billed Loons and lesser relatives, the World's Champion Hoot Owler, Birds and Baptists,
etchings and Africans, the bigtime woodpecker business, raising Ariel midst migration fall-out: this is the stuff of my PROVINCE and these new essays.

      When I stand to deliver the PROVINCE slide show December 9, it will be a field trip, though in Nightbird it will be warm and foody, rather than rainy, cold and windy as on so many Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trips. The program includes hither-to-for unseen selections from my much-coveted collection of yard flamingos, wooden chickens, and junk cars as well as a few birds rare and not-so-rare.

       Since an independent, local bookstore is such a great asset -- and because my publisher is way, way out on the limb in bringing this book out -- PROVINCE will be available for a price similar to an all-you-can-eat catfish dinner (includes drink, tip extra). As in the case of all our field trips, you do not have to be a member to come. ALL are welcome, with or without investing in PROVINCE. And finally, as they say in trash collection, "Satisfaction guaranteed or DOUBLE your garbage back."

JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Windy Maysville on November 19, 2011, exciting to Joe Neal and Audubon Arkansans

2011-11-20T09:22:00.002-06:00

Rose Ann Barnhill showed up at my house in Fayetteville yesterday
morning at 6:40, but not before a stop at Rick's Bakery for cake
donuts (2 flavors) and a sticky bun. It proved just the fuel needed
along a mid-day country lane southwest of Maysville. Kim Smith has
referred to such food as starch bombs, and for good reason. This was
the start of the Maysville, former Beatie Prairie, field trip, part of
the Arkansas Audubon Society meeting in Rogers this weekend.

Have I said VERY WINDY yet? At times you could barely stand. Maysville
is just north of the broad valley of Spavinaw Creek, and a strong
south wind creates considerable updrafting of air. So one of the first
birds we see is a Bald Eagle, hanging in the breeze, no flaps. Then
two Red-tailed Hawks with an American kestrel chasing. At one point we
have meadowlarks in front. The birds flush, kind of, just dangling in
the wind. Used to Arctic breezery, White-crowned Sparrows loaf in
thickets and on the ground, earth calm, a great place to sing. Five or
six of singing flocks include Harris's Sparrows, to our delight.

Mitchell Pruitt is with us and we are hoping, really hoping, that one
of those White-crowned flocks will produce an American Tree Sparrow.
This would be species number 300 for his year of great quest.
Maysville is the stage and we are in a play. Mitchell has the lead, we
are the Greek chorus. We start working the White-crowned flocks, but
no tree sparrow. Then comes a cell call from Chesney Prairie Natural
Area, where Joan Reynolds and Jacque Brown are leading another AAS
meeting field trip. An interesting owl has flushed from a big cedar. A
Long-eared Owl, as some think? For Mitchell THIS would be 300, so off
he goes, with one-third of the Maysville field trip. Further west on
Loux road, we are birding in Carol Loux's yard with Carol, and nicely
protected from the wind -- protected enough to clearly hear the chuck
chucks of Western Meadowlarks on the lawn. Now comes another cell
call. The owl can't be relocated, but 300 is an American Tree Sparrow!
At Chesney! It's windy there, too, but wind has no chance in the face
of desire.

I have yet to share four Bald Eagles in one tree -- huge birds once
nearly extinct in the Lower 48 and saved by the intelligence,
outcries, and resolution of just such people as on today's many
Arkansas Audubon Society field trips. We are the young and
precociously nimble, the old and slowed, and whatever our place in
life, whatever bone or muscle that works or doesn't work, we have a
full tank of desire pushing us into the old prairie field -- damn
those 30 MPH winds, full speed ahead -- looking for a tiny sparrow (in
this case, Lapland Longspurs) in vast short, waving green. There,
there! Horned Larks, black masks between waving tiny blades.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Did you feel the earthquake in Fayetteville at 10:50 or shortly thereafter Saturday, October 5, 2011?

2011-11-05T23:10:00.002-05:00

Christmas bird count set for December 18, 2011

2011-11-05T10:09:00.002-05:00

The Fayetteville CBC will be conducted on Sunday December 18, 2011. We  
go on Sunday, not to avoid church, but to avoid heavy traffic  
associated with Saturdays. The count will be conducted as in the past  
few years, and we will tally up at the end of the day at Doug James  
and Liz Adam's place, as usual. Party leaders please organize your  
groups and everyone please contact your party leaders and start  
finding all the good rare birds!
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Whooping Cranes need your HELP now

2011-11-01T11:13:00.002-05:00

Print this Page Done

Help Save Whooping Cranes

Help stop a dirty tar sands oil pipeline from being built through crucial habitat for endangered whooping cranes.

Take Action.

Help Save Whooping Cranes
Tar sands oil threatens the lives of America's whooping cranes.
Speak Up for the Florida Panther
The Florida panther is one of our country's most critically endangered species.
Defend Alaska's Polar Bears
Polar bears in the Hudson Bay are in danger of dying out.
Protect Wildlife from Fracking
Accidents from a drilling process called "fracking," can be deadly for wildlife.

Play

News

News Feed

Action on Offshore Wind Good News for Bobcats
This week marked an important step towards decreasing global warming pollution from fossil fuels that threatens the habitat of bobcats and other wildlife.

Wildlife Habitat at Risk from Attack to Clean Air Act
Sensitive forests, lakes and estuaries threatened by Senator Rand Paul's pro-smog and pro-soot attack the the Clean Air Act.

Meet Marjorie Ziegler, Dedicated to Hawaii's Ecosystems
This month's featured voice for wildlife is passionate about protecting the wildlife and ecosystems of Hawaii.

Read more news on: Climate, Water, Wildlife, Education

Press Center | Contact Us | Donate | Follow us on:

© 1996-2011 National Wildlife Federation Action Fund | 11100 Wildlife Center Dr, Reston VA 20190 | 703-438-6043
National Wildlife Federation Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization : Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

A kettle of Franklin's gulls and bald eagles: The Halloween 2011 report from Joe Neal with Don Nelms aboard

2011-11-01T09:52:00.004-05:00

Don Nelms and I went for big birds today in former prairies of western
Benton County. We saw 7-9 Bald Eagles in what is still opening stages
of their migration. An immaculate adult, white-black-white, soared
among 25 vultures (mostly Turkey) at the SWEPCO plant. At Maysville 4
(2 adults, 2 subadults) stood in a pasture along State Line Road. We
began seeing Franklin's Gulls along highway 12 west of Gentry:
graceful, buoyant, white with snappy black trim, floating in the high
blue. I was thrilled to see the first 7 soaring over a pasture and
assumed then I'd had my day. As we turned north on 43, we had 15 right
over us. In the distance a compact spiraling white cloud COULD have
been 100 more--desire and distance play the cello of imagination. A
few gulls, plus vultures and a Red-tailed Hawk, surfed updrafts
created by a south breeze and rising warm air above Spavinaw Creek
bluffs. Then sky turned all gull on the old Beatie Prairie
chicken-farm country south of Maysville. In a very rough square mile
or so I came up with a variety of counts; maybe "around 200" is
reasonable. I have seen a kettle of 200 Franklin's Gulls in northwest
Arkansas in past migrations, but always at distance, and briefly.
Today, Don and I were in the middle, gulls wheeling back-and-forth
eyelevel over a big weedy soybean field. What were they after? There
are warm days when the sun is just right and you see shiny wings of
millions of insects. We didn't have that light, but as Franklin's
Gulls are fond of chironmids (midges), they must have seen them or
something like them in the migration hunger. For our part, Don and I
soon had the option of the Maysville HandiStop into which, after
eagles and gulls, we wheeled.
--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
"I loaf and invite my soul..." -- Walt Whitman

Migrating birds often disappointed with land they fly to when it no longer meets winter-habitat criteria they ancestors enjoyed

2011-10-17T09:01:00.003-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Joe Neal's photo of a Virginia rail.

WHAT RAILS REMEMBER October 17, 2011

Birds remember landscapes fundamentally invisible to us non-birds. I am reminded of this by a telephone call on Saturday night from a gentleman who lives at Garfield north of Beaver Lake. He is an experienced outdoors person, but near his home he has encountered a stranger: in size and general coloration, reminds him of quail, but the bill is longish and pointed; dark eyes large, short awkward flights. Nothing pops up for me while we talk. But then I remember Doug James’ wife Elizabeth Adam finding a Viriginia Rail in a parking lot at Northwest Arkansas Mall (1987), Bruce Roberts finding one at a storage unit in Centerton (2005), and Calvin Bay’s strawberry patch bird in Fayetteville (2008).

Virginia Rail is today exceedingly rare in northwestern Arkansas, though I suspect the rarity is recent and entirely artificial. Habitat-wise, northwest Arkansas is divided between Ozark forest in the east and former tallgrass prairie in the west. Rails have been flying through our former prairies for eons, from nesting areas to our north, to wintering south. They have many thousands of years of experience with our grasslands that can be suitably wet and marshy in season. In their genes, they “remember.” When in migration they come down, they do so in “belief” of suitable wet grassland. Nothing prepares them for what genetically-speaking, is a mere twinkling of an eye: urban sprawl, asphalt parking lots, big boxes, empires of chicken and cattle, all so very recently consuming our seasonal wetlands.

A rail in a parking lot is the dramatic crash between what has taken so long to prepare in an evolutionary sense, bird migration, and exploitation driven by the self-defeating idea that our self-interest is all that matters. Lucky rails, like the one I saw in a spring-fed marshy patch at the state fish hatchery in Centerton (2006), still find suitable mid-journey respite.

Lost rail with genetic memory of a different land seems a good fit for Garfield. When I pass this on to my caller, and he has a chance to see Virginia Rails on the internet, he agrees.

Vultures, condors, buzzards and whatever require DNA studies for clarification of family associations

2011-10-13T22:54:00.000-05:00

It depends on what DNA analysis you want to believe.  The folks who study
avian anatormy were happy when the first DNA finding appeared because bsed 
on anatomical evdence they were trying for ears to convince the 
ornithologists that the condors were storks.
 
Douglas A. James                          tel:  479-575-6364
Department of Biological Sciences         fax:  479-575-4010
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201, U.S.A.       e-mail:  djames@uark.edu
 
 
On Thu, 13 Oct 2011, Neil Nodelman wrote:
 
> I thought I read that recent DNA analysis put them back into the hawk
> world??
>
> Neil
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas A. James [mailto:djames@uark.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 10:33 AM
> To: joeneal
> Cc: ARBIRD-L@LISTSERV.uark.edu, ARBIRD-L@LISTSERV.uark.edu; Armstrong,
> Lynn; Barnhill, Rosie; Barr, stephanie; Beall, Bill; Edie, Amy; Erwin,
> Steve; Fields, Warren; Froelich, Jacqueline; geddessylvia@yahoo.com,
> geddessylvia@yahoo.com; Harris, Nancy; Jones, Carole; Liz, Susan And;
> Lowrey, Beth; MADDOX, BEVERLY; mlodinow, michael; Mulhollan, Paige;
> Mulhollan, Kelly; Mulhollan, Mary Bess; Nodelman, Neil; riley, lisa;
> Schmidt, Brandon; Shepherd, Aubrey; STANFILL, TERRY; Stauffacher, Richard;
> tsweston; Turner, Ellen; VINEY, Michelle; Wisener, Ruth Ann; Woolbright,
> Joe; Young, Susan
> Subject: Re: vulture roost at Lake Sequoyah
>
> It is known that vultures drop their body temperature at night presumably
> to save energy.  That is why the roosts usually face east so the birds can
>
> spread eagle at sunrise and catch the first rays of the sun to regain
> normal body temperature.  Besides their food source is not going to run
> away after daybreak.  And they depend on the thermals that are produced as
>
> the day gets warmer.  Then they can glide effortlessly in search of a
> carcass.  Between carcasses they gain energy by consuming a lot if grass.
> Only the Turkey Vulture has a good sense of smell and finds the carcasses
> first.  The Black Vulture does not have a keen sense of small.  Black
> Vultures watch the activity of Turkey Vultures and gang up on them in
> groups chasing them away.  And I guess you all know that DNA evidence
> tells us that the Condors (which includes the Turkey and Black) are short
> legged storks.
>
>
> Douglas A. James                          tel:  479-575-6364
> Department of Biological Sciences         fax:  479-575-4010
> University of Arkansas
> Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201, U.S.A.       e-mail:  djames@uark.edu
>
>
> On Thu, 13 Oct 2011, joeneal wrote:
>
>> Both Turkey and Black Vultures were going into a roost at Lake Sequoyah
> Park
>> in Fayetteville yesterday, with some birds already perched in the roost
> by at
>> least 6 PM. The roost site is on the northwest side of the lake, on a
>> forested slope facing due east. While some birds were in the roost,
> others
>> soared nearby, above and along a forested slope just northeast,
> apparently
>> using thermal updrafts produced by a modest southerly breeze pushed
> upward by
>> the mountain slope, giving the big birds a lift. This roost site has
> been in
>> use for years. We often see both vulture species there during the
>> Fayetteville Christmas Bird Count.
>>
>> Lake Sequoyah was formed by damming the White River. The pre-dam White
> flowed
>> against a relatively low limestone bluff. The birds perch in trees along
> a
>> shallow and now completely forested holler running down the old bluff.
> This
>> affords them a fair amount of protection from wind chill out of the
> north and
>> northwest. Since the bluff faces east, it tends to warm up early in the
> day,
>> another good thing if you are a big creature that soars for a living.
>>
>> A good spot to observe the vultures without disturbing them is an old
>> concrete bridge that once spanned the White River. Now a fishing pier,
> the
>> old bridge is a few hundred yards north of the roost site and provides a
> fine
>> view of the lake's dam end plus the surrounding forested hills. You
> reach
>> this part of the park on Lake Sequoyah Spur. Unfortunately, the forested
>
>> habitat between Lake Sequoyah Spur and the lake edge, including the
> roost, is
>> thin, and quite prone to disturbance, casual and deliberate.
>>
>> --
>> JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
>>

Joe Neal on the paradox of disturbed and permanently flooded land providing bird-watching opportunity

2011-10-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

Beaver Lake is one of the more beautiful settings in northwest
Arkansas. Extensive open water is one of the best places to find
winter waterfowl like loons, goldeneyes, and Bonaparte's Gulls. But I
feel paradox when I come here. Beaver was formed by drowning the
stunning, high bluff-lined valley of the upper White River. I was
thinking about all of this yesterday, at Prairie Creek, on Beaver east
of Rogers, when Joan Reynolds and I spotted a mature Bald Eagle near
the marina, plus a Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated Warbler, and
several Yellow-rumped Warblers in the picnic area. An immaculate
Osprey perched in a snag near the highway 12 boat launch.

Further east, towards Hobbes State Park-Conservation Area, we turned
down Key Road for good looks at Pine Warblers, Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. At the end of Key Road is Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission's Beaver Lake Nursery Pond, constructed in a
picturesque bend overlooking the lake. Near the gate we saw Nashville
Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, and a Yellow-throated Vireo that was
tearing apart a huge green caterpillar, juice flying. The pond has a
dramatic view of open water, bluffs, and sky. About 20 bird boxes line
a circular drive. Several years ago Joan was down here and noticed
that Tree Swallows were nesting in the boxes. Biologist Ron Moore from
Arkansas Game and Fish and his tech Jacob drove up. He said he would
welcome an established, appropriate group that wanted to monitor and
maintain the boxes. As far as I know, this potentially makes the
nursery pond our best place for nesting Tree Swallows.

At Rocky Branch, an adult Bald Eagle was perched in a snag way, way
across one of the widest part of Beaver, white head distinct against a
greenish blue background. Five birds flew across and far away. They
were unidentified duck species until two Wood Ducks flew much closer,
jogging my memory. For me it is an eco-sin to drown a river, and
probably to drive 60 miles to see an eagle, but today there is much
public land here because of the lake, whereas there would have been
very little without the lake. As a birding exploration unfolds, I save
my paradox sorting for a different day.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal report from September 24, 2011

2011-09-27T11:31:00.002-05:00

Please click on Joe Neal's photo of caterpillar to ENLARGE and click on enlargement for closer view.

Jacque Brown and I birded the upper Buffalo River in Newton County on
Saturday September 24. Jacque had seen a small thrush flock, probably
Swainson's, in Lost Valley on the 23rd. We did not refind this flock,
but did get close looks at a Wood Thrush. At one point at least three
Barred Owls were singing back-and-forth, always a pleasure, especially
so in the highly acoustic confines of a narrow Ozark "holler". On Cave
Mountain we had one each of Philadelphia Vireo, Hooded and Magnolia
warblers, an American Redstart, and another Barred Owl. Jacque found
what I assume is the last ripe pawpaw of the season, then spotted on
another pawpaw tree a singular caterpillar composed entirely of long
lime-green hairs; reminded me of a wig my daughter Ariel wore for
Halloween years ago. I sent an image to entomologist Don Steinkraus
who identified it as a spotted apatelodes (Apatelodes torrefacta), a
species of moth in the Bombycidae, the same family that contains
silkworms. He said it produces an attractive gray-colored moth. I
counted at least 10 hummingbirds visiting flowering jewelweed
alongside Boxley millpond.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal welcomes 'our own Dirty Hairy, defender of the Ozark undergound'

2011-09-23T10:57:00.009-05:00

Click on images to ENLARGE. Click again for closer look.

Photo by David Oakley

WELCOME, DEFENDER OF THE OZARK UNDERGROUND
During Thursday’s cool rain I had a totally, completely unexpected visitor at my front door, one of those “What the…” moments… Mr. Aubrey Shepherd, with a plastic critter cage in hand, come visiting. He lives in south Fayetteville, adjacent the World Peace Wetland Prairie, which he led the fight to save and protect. I first met him three decades ago, when we worked on the same newspaper. He’d come today on account of the rain.

In the little cage was what, when I was a kid, we called crawdads. This one was unique, an Osage Burrowing Crayfish that occurs ONLY in our Ozarks part of the universe, and only in places that used to be part of our tallgrass prairies. I’d told him five years ago I’d like to see one when it was raining and they were out crawling around the prairie. I couldn’t believe he’d remembered.

Photo by David Oakley

Just dismissing them as “mudbugs” completely misses their extraordinary beauty. The business end features pincers, and these are formidable on our Osage Burrowing Crawfish. They are blue, with yellow at the sharp clasping ends. The eyes dark, the antennae long, most of the body an earthy combination of greenish browns and muted yellow-oranges.

By the way, in case you and your family have lived here since pioneer times, I wouldn’t get too smug about your precious nativity. Osage Burrowing Crawfish got here way, way first. Their lineage here is measured not in a few hundred years, but in many thousands. Most of the towns and cities in northwest Arkansas are built where these crawfish live in burrows underground, even in areas that seem dry. Maybe you’ve run over their mud chimneys – soil structures made from excavating their underground burrows -- with your lawn mower. They also survive in ditches and other wet spots.

Photo by David Oakley

Aubrey’s crawfish wasn’t by herself, either. This was big momma, with scores of little ones under her protecting tail. Naturally, I wanted to see her closer and get a peek at the babes. If she was the least bit intimidated by Aubrey capturing her (with the plan to take her right back after we were done looking and release her), she showed no signs of fear. She reared up, blue claws ready to fire like some Dirty Hairy, defender of the Ozark underground. When I ignored her warning, she got me sharply by my poker, drawing blood. “Go ahead and make my day,” according to Clint Eastwood, and maybe this offended crawfish.

Over the past decade, the Osage Burrowing Crawfish has become something of a signpost for me. How much of the current economic and ecological mess in which we find ourselves in 2011 is traceable to ignoring signposts like this crawfish? Its presence tells us critical things about our natural heritage. How many unique natural creatures can we destroy, how much habitat can we pave, without bringing down direct negative consequences upon ourselves?

Photo by David Oakley

For more photos of this and other burrowing crayfish photographed by Aubrey James Shepherd on September 22, 2011, at World Peace Wetland Prairie and along the Fayetteville paved trail through Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet prairie west of WPWP, please see World Peace Wetland Prairie blog.

Lake Fayetteville visit an interesting outing for birders on September 20, 2011

2011-09-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

Nancy Harris, Lynn Armstrong, and I birded for a couple of hours  
yesterday near the Lake Fayetteville Environmental Study Center. It  
was too beautiful for good birding: clear blue, upper 50s at 7:15,  
calm. But, improbably, we did see birds. Wilson's Warbler,  
Yellow-throated Vireo, a fresh batch of House Wrens, Yellow-billed  
Cuckoos, and an empid that was maybe Least Flycatcher. Most striking,  
a Common Nighthawk perched sideways on a snaggy bare limb over the  
paved trail.
 
Bicycles peddle under, swish swish, and never see the bird. Joggers  
pass, none the wiser, and ditto for dog walkers. We've been looking up  
at Northern Parulas, a couple of Nashville Warblers, and a richly  
brown Blue Grosbeak. For us, moving at best an ambling pace -- an  
irritant I suppose to some busy exercisers -- the nighthawk is in  
plain sight, not that high up. The bare dead limb is covered with gray  
and dull green lichens, bits of dark thin bark, all illuminated by  
pure morning light. Huge liquid dark eyes occasionally open, the bird  
is a patchwork of gray and darker tones, light tones mixing with sky,  
and only long dark wing tips offering significant contrast, stobby  
twig simulacrum.
 
On the way back, we have overflight by a woodpecker with a big white  
wing patch, Red-headed or Ivory-billed.
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal report on swainson[s hawk in the Chesney Prairie and Stump Prairie area

2011-09-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

A cooperative Swainson's Hawk perched in a snag alongside the gravel  

drive down to Chesney this morning. Chesney proper has several  

interesting patches of blooming prairie sunflowers (Helianthus  

pauciflorus), at least 4 blooming species of goldenrods, and still  

many flowering ashy sunflowers attended by American Goldfinches --  

lovely dominant yellow landscape, except one of the goldenrods has  

white flowers!

 

I also saw a Swainson's Hawk flying low and slow over nearby Stump  

Prairie on August 29. The natural productivity of tallgrass prairies  

is evident and actually measurable in hay, a valuable reality,  

especially in this year, when many non-native hay crops are failures.  

60 bales of native grass (mainly big bluestem, little bluestem, Indian  

grass, switch grass) were cut off 18 acres of Stump recently.

-- 

JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal describes assests of Lake Atalanta area as September 11 field trip site

2011-09-02T08:06:00.000-05:00

NWAAS will host a field trip on Sunday September 11, 2011, to Lake Atalanta in Rogers. Meet at 9 AM in the parking area near the bathrooms. A guide with much more information is at: http://media.tripod.lycos.com/2020453/950077.pdf From 540, take the Walnut Street exit EAST through the old downtown to the railroad tracks. This is the corner of S. Arkansas and E. Walnut. Take E. Walnut EAST for roughly 7-8 blocks downhill to Lake Atalanta Park. There are parking areas on both sides of the road. A bathroom and water fountain are adjacent the parking area on the north side of the road. Lake Atalanta was created in 1936 as part of a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project to employ people thrown out of work by the Great Depression. The earthen dam constructed across Prairie Creek impounded 40 acres and served as a water supply from 1957 to 1970. Habitats include the lake, Frisco Spring (a perennial Ozark spring with aquatic vegetation and bottomland forest), and mature upland forest. Typical resident birds are common here and the place hops during migration. Diversity is enhanced by the presence of former prairie habitats immediately west and mature Ozark forest east. There are striking examples of native plants like wild ginger, understory trees like pawpaws, huge mature walnuts, and native shrubs like hazelnut and spicebush. Paved roads provide good birding access for those with physical limitations. Trails are well-maintained. Overall, Lake Atalanta is attractive for birding because it includes much natural and artificial habitat in a compact space. -- JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Greg Howe has resigned to take a job in a wonderful place to the northwest. His final meeting of Fayetteville's Tree and Landscape Committee, now known as the Urban Forestry Board

2011-08-23T17:18:00.000-05:00

Traditional landscapes suck Energy, Water and Money, says Neil Diboll at The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

2011-08-20T21:07:00.000-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. Click on enlargement for closer view.

« Welcome to The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

The Future of Gardening by Neil Diboll

The Future of Gardening: Why Going Native is the Answer

Presented at the 20^th Millersville Native Plant Conference
Millersville, PA
June 4, 2010

by Neil Diboll
Prairie Nursery, Inc.
P.O. Box 306
Westfield, WI 53964
www.prairienursery.com
800-476-9453 (800-GRO-WILD)
Traditional landscapes suck. They suck Energy, Water, and Money. These three “Future Factors” will determine to a large degree the shape and structure of our landscapes in the coming years.
The old whipping boy, the lawn, indeed deserves a good whipping. It is emblematic of an expensive, unsustainable, energy and chemical hungry landscape that supports few forms of life and consumes valuable resources that could be better invested elsewhere.
Size of the American Lawn
There are over 50 million acres of lawn in the United States, twice the size of the state of Pennsylvania.
The total American corn crop for 2009 was 86 million acres.
The total American soybean crop for 2009 was 77 million acres.
The total American wheat crop for 2009 was 65 million acres.
Lawn is the fourth largest crop grown in America today.
Water Use by the American Lawn
Thirty percent of the water consumed on the East Coast of the US goes to watering lawns. Sixty percent of the water used on the West Coast is dedicated to maintaining green lawns, in a region that is facing looming water shortages.
A 1000 square foot lawn requires an average of 10,000 gallons of water per year to maintain in good condition.
One acre of irrigated lawn requires nearly half a million gallons (435,000) of water every year!
Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides Applied to the American Lawn
The average lawn receives 10 times as much chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides as the typical farm field, according to a Yale University graduate study.
Over 80 millions pounds of chemical pesticides are applied to American lawns each year according to the USEPA.
More than 70 million tons of chemical fertilizers are applied to American lawns per year.
The USEPA estimates that 40 to 60 percent of the Nitrogen fertilizer applied to lawns ends up in our surface water and groundwater.
Forty four percent of the Nitrogen and 28 percent of the Phosphorus applied in the Mississippi River watershed ends up in the Gulf of Mexico, greatly exacerbating the anoxic “dead zone” that preceded the BP oil spill of 2010.
Solid Waste Created by Lawns
The EPA also estimates that grass clippings and yard debris account for 20 to 40 percent of the landfill space consumed in America.
Energy Consumption by Lawns
The amount of energy required to mow and maintain manicured lawns is surprisingly large, and is used in every phase of lawn care:
Mowing: Gasoline or diesel fuel to is required to power riding mowers and most push type rotary mowers. Electricity that powers electric lawn mowers is produced primarily by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, and by nuclear power plants.
Pesticides: Most herbicides and insecticides are derived from or combined with petroleum-based compounds. Of the 80 million pounds of pesticides applied to lawns in American every year, most are synthesized from oil.
Fertilizers: Fertilizers are applied to lawns in staggering quantities. The energy required to mine and transport the 70 million tons of chemical fertilizers that are dumped on lawns every year is significant. Most Nitrogen fertilizers are produced using the Haber Process, in which Nitrogen in the air is converted into a solid or liquid form that can be readily handled and applied. The Haber Process is extremely energy intensive, and vast quantities of natural gas are consumed to produce nitrogen fertilizer for lawns.
Irrigation: Even watering the lawn consumes energy. Electricity is used to purify water at treatment plants, and to pump water to homes and businesses. The underground plastic pipes that are used in lawn irrigations systems are produced from petrochemicals derived from crude oil.
Carbon Footprint of Lawns
As an energy-dependent landscape, the carbon annual footprint consumption of lawns is high compared to prairies and other natural landscapes that require only occasional mowing, no fertilizers, no irrigation, and few if any pesticides. Prairies release carbon into the atmosphere when burned, and when dead organic matter such as leaves and stems decompose through microbial action. However, these releases are offset by new plant growth which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and incorporates it into new leave, roots, and stems.
The incredibly rich prairie soils of the American Midwest are a result of the accumulation of organic matter in the soil over hundreds and thousands of years. Unlike most forest ecosystems, in which organic matter is sequestered in the upper 12- 18 inches of soil, prairie soils typically exhibit high organic matter content from three to six feet in depth. They also have significantly higher total organic matter content than forest soils. This would indicate that over time, prairies are one of the most efficient plant communities at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and providing long term carbon sequestration in the soil.
Economic Costs of Lawn
Americans spend over $25 billion per year on lawn care (USEPA).
Americans spend over $2 billion per year on lawn and garden chemicals.
A 4000 square foot lawn (1/10 acre) produces an average of 1200 pounds of grass clippings per year. The City of Philadelphia Streets Department reported in 2005 that it costs $75 per year to dispose of this material.
Wildlife and Lawns
The US EPA estimates that between 60 and 70 millions birds are poisoned annually due to the application of lawn pesticides.
On lawns that receive regular applications of pesticides, 60 to 90 percent of the earthworms in the soil are killed.
Air and Noise Pollution
In summer months, 5 percent of air pollution is attributable to gas powered lawn and garden equipment (National Vehicle and Fuel Assessment Lab, Ann Arbor, MI)
Per hour of operation, a typical lawnmower emits 10-12 times as much hydrocarbons as an automobile.
Health and Safety
Of the most commonly used lawn pesticides, 13 are known to cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 11 can interfere with reproduction, and 21 can cause damage to the nervous system. (US EPA)
111,000 Americans are sickened every year due to exposure to pesticides. (US EPA)
Over 230,000 people are treated in the Emergency Room every year for accident related to lawn equipment. (US EPA)
Time
The average homeowner spends 40 hours a year mowing his or her lawn – the equivalent of a week’s vacation!
HOW DID WE ARRIVE AT OUR LAWN-DOMINATED LANDSCAPE MODEL?
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The New World of North America once appeared to be a seemingly inexhaustible resource that held immense promise for the early colonists and settlers. True to their culture, the northern Europeans that swarmed into the vast hinterlands of America created a landscape in the image of their forebears: cut, grazed, plowed, and fenced into submission. The newly broken land yielded great bounty for a growing nation. As the country expanded, the towns and villages took on the names and character of our former homes across the Atlantic: Amsterdam, Birmingham, Gloucester, Berlin, Warsaw, and Rome, to name but a few.
Our goal as a nation and a culture was to tame the wilderness and make it safe for civilization. In so doing, we re-created the Old Country in the New World. As we brought the wilderness under our heel, we took little time to appreciate its unique character and beauty. Most settlers sought bounty, not beauty. In the rush to convert forests and meadows into farms and fields, the flowers mostly went unnoticed. Unplowed, unproductive wild land was a sign of sloth, savagery, and the devil’s work. Indeed, our mandate was to subdue the earth. And subdue it we did.
When our work was finally done, we sat back to take stock of our immense labors, and it appeared that it was good. Mostly. What we had not considered were the terrible losses associated with our great gain. We had gained ascendancy over our young country. In the process, we lost the character of a continent.
Yea, even unto our gardens, we banished the wildflowers and wild things to the far reaches of the countryside and to the corners of our consciousness. And nothing suffered the utter demise and near-total destruction such as that which was visited upon the American Prairie.
The American Prairie: the once-vast kingdom of flowers, grasses, bison and butterflies. This unbelievably rich, unique ecosystem blanketed millions of acres of America’s heartland. These were the flower gardens of North America. Hidden deep underground, among the intertwined roots of a universe of prairie plants, lay the black gold that was to become the currency of the prairie farmer. Here was the inheritance of a million sunny days, hoarded away in the bank account of the prairie soil.
Agricultural, the Industrial Revolution, and the Rise of the American Middle Class
The farmers that tapped into this prairie trust fund found the dividends to be prodigious. No fertilizers were needed to grow bumper crops. The immense yields increased agricultural productivity to levels previously unheard-of, revolutionizing the farmer’s relationship with the land. Now one family could produce food for dozens of others. The day of the subsistence farm was over. Human labor was set free to tend the factory instead of the field. The dawn of the American Industrial Revolution was reflected in the glow of the forge that John Deere used to construct the first sod-busting steel plow in 1836. With the industrial dawn came the sunset of the American Prairie.
The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska was all but obliterated in the span of a few short decades at the close of the nineteenth century. That which was not plowed under was closed in with fences and grazed to the ground by millions of cattle. What were once wide open spaces became food factories and feedlots. Still, we knew not what we had done.
A full century later, we are just beginning to grasp the scope of the loss. The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie is now one of the rarest plant communities in the entire world. Rainforests are commonplace by comparison. Less than 1/10th of 1% of the Tallgrass Prairie remains today. The small refuges where it can be found occur only in small tattered fragments, ripped from the original cloth. Only those pieces that could not be drained, plowed, grazed, or otherwise turned to the service of mankind remain. There was simply no place for wildness in this new American landscape.
The conversion of the New World into the Old Country was complete. All that remained now was to tend the fields and the gardens of plants brought over from Europe, and to make sure that the lawns that replaced that prairie were kept mown and in order.
Order. The watchword of a Puritanical culture that sought to carve structure from the chaos of wilderness. Everything in control. Nothing out of place. Even our gardens reflect this directive. Designs are precise, with each plant in its pre-ordained place, ensconced in a thick bed of bark mulch. The vegetable world must supplicate itself to our omnipotence. Those plants that fail to stay in their assigned seats are branded as weeds, and banished from the garden. And if they should grow wild in nature, how could such peasant plants of common breeding be sufficiently refined to have a place in our gardens?
If the garden is truly the place where people and nature meet, it is almost always the gardener who determines the terms of the meeting. Will the gardeners of the earth choose to work with Nature to create beauty in the landscape? Or will we attempt to overpower her with an arsenal of chemicals, machines, and “maintenance programs?”
We are finally coming to realize that the practice of paying homage to a uniform, idealized landscape of seamlessly interconnected lawns is an illusion. This becomes eminently clear when one realizes that the centerpoint of this landscape is a nearly lifeless, two dimensional expanse of turf, to which we slavishly devote much of our increasingly rare and precious free time. We pour on the chemicals, mow the grass to within an inch of its life, and kill any and all bugs that have the temerity to share the landscape with us. Perhaps most annoying, this national pastime called Lawn Care is really quite expensive.
For many, their lawns are like an addiction. They will pay almost any price to satisfy the cravings. The price is paid in money, time, environmental degradation, and in some cases, one’s health. We have so completely divorced ourselves from Nature that the only connection to the natural world is by watering and mowing their green carpets!
It is indeed a costly divorce from Nature. Enforcement of our unnatural landscapes consumes billions of dollars every year. Lawns, ornamental plantings, and even perennial gardens require constant attention if the desired order is to be maintained. Without intervention by the human hand on a regular basis, these landscapes soon fall victim to the invading hordes of weeds, trees, brambles and vines. Left unguarded, the walls of the domestic garden are stormed by the Vandals and Visigoths of the Vegetable Kingdom. Without the indulgences of their human benefactors, the meeker and fairer plants of the garden are quickly pillaged and displaced by the roving thugs of the plant world.
History of the American Lawn
The modern lawn has it origin in the country estates of landed gentry in England in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. It was a status symbol of the wealthy, for the working classes typically possessed no land, and could ill afford a lawn eve if they did. With our Anglo-American heritage, we looked to the mother country for our social cues in the 18^th century as the American middle class emerged during the industrial revolution. The newly wealthy purchased homes and estates and installed lawns as one of their symbols of having “made it.” Lawns quickly became one of the status symbols associated with the new middle and upper classes.
The great American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, referred to the lawn in the late 18^th century as “The Great Democratizer” of a newly ascendant nation. Rather than installing fences and barriers between neighboring properties as was common in Europe, Americans had a seamless carpet of green grass unifying their properties, all sharing in the new ethos of a mutual affluence.
The lawn quickly became a socio-economic symbol, denoting order and devotion to a non-economic crop that only those with expendable income could afford. As the middle class in America grew after World War II, the occupants of newly-built suburbs embraced the lawn as one of their icons of success and comfortable living.
The lawn was now cemented into American culture. Woe be unto he who violated the unspoken contract of “keeping up appearances” and allowing one’s turf to “go native” and grow beyond the socially acceptable four inches in height. An un-mowed, unkempt lawn was a sign of slovenliness and anti-social tendencies. Social breakdown and chaos could not be far behind.
This is why the lawn is so ardently defended by so many. It is a symbol of an entire social class and lifestyle. It is far more than a near-lifeless green expanse that requires an inordinate amount of time, money and chemicals to maintain. It embodies the hopes and dreams of average Americans, and symbolizes the triumph or order over entropy. It is a shared middle class bond that transcends politics, religion, and ethnicity. In many communities you are judged by your lawn first, and your character as a human being second. And do not for one minute believe that the first does not influence the second.
Why do we Persist with Our Addiction to Lawns? What About Wildlife?
1)    It’s simple and easy! We know how to do it: Fertilize it, spray it, and mow it!
2)    You don’t really have to know anything about plants or gardening to grow and manage a lawn – just follow the directions provided by the purveyors of fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides provide you!
3)    Lawn is a cheap fix. Although less costly to install than native landscapes, lawn has a high life cycle cost over a period of many years. Native landscapes typically have low long-term maintenance costs, with lower life cycle costs.
4)    Lawns don’t attract bugs or wildlife (except for geese), so you know you and your family will be safe from snakes, vermin, and those annoying insects! So what if insects are the foundation of the food chain, and support a myriad of birds and other desirable creatures. We’ve been brainwashed that bugs are bad, so we have to make sure they don’t inhabit our outdoor living spaces.
5)    NO BUGS, NO BIRDS!
6)    Everybody says they love Nature, but nobody ever invites her over to their yard.
7)    I knew my prairie was a success when I saw Meadow Jumping Mice (Zapus hudsonianus) and Hog Nosed Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) in it. These creatures provided evidence that I now had a functioning ecosystem, not just a garden. If you like hawks and owls, you better be able to feed them: rodents and reptiles are some of their preferred foods.
WE ARE NOT A NATION OF GARDENERS:
WE ARE A NATION OF MOWERS!
WHY DO WE CARE WHAT WE PLANT IN OUR GARDENS
AND LANDSCAPES?
Many of us care deeply about the state of our planet and the loss of biodiversity that is occurring on a global scale. Although we all think globally, most of us can only act locally. Together, we can have an impact in our own gardens and landscapes, as well as those of our friends and neighbors. For those of us in the landscape design business, we can promote sustainable landscapes composed of native plants that require little or no fertilizers, pesticides, watering, or mowing (just burning!). This alone, when compounded over time as more people opt for sustainable landscapes, can have an impact.
The looming question for us today is the on-going loss of biodiversity. Restoring native ecosystems is one way we can help support not just native plants, but also invertebrates such as rare butterflies and moths, bees, wasps, and all manner of the generally unloved lower castes of bugs and creepy crawly things. Yet they are all important, and each has an important place in the web of life.
Homo sapiens, is presently presiding over what is believed to be the Sixth Great Extinction. Although we have yet to reach the catastrophic levels of past extinction events, we are well on our way and showing only a few signs of abatement in our drive to subdue and conquer the earth, as we serve our ever-expanding need for food, fuel, water, and living space.
But does it really matter what we do as individuals? A society is composed of all its individuals, and their actions determine the face of that society. Most of us are working to restore the integrity of native ecosystems because we believe it is the “right” and good thing to do, and that we are “doing it for the planet.” But does it really matter? Does the planet really respect our actions? Or is it all irrelevant?
The Earth has been subjected to massive extinctions in the past, some fairly recent in geological history. The planet has always recovered, with the development of new species and a wealth of new life forms. Nature does indeed abhor a vacuum, and she apparently fills it rapidly. All of the work I am doing on my property to control invasive species and restore native plants will someday be negated by the next advance of the glacier, as unlikely as that may seem at this point in geological and meteorolical history. Of course, my landscape will probably be invaded by garlic muster, buckthorn, honeysuckle and other non-native thugs soon after my demise, unless some equally deranged and determined individual picks up where I leave off.
SO WHY RESTORE THE PLANET? DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
If one takes a long-term geological perspective, it doesn’t really matter what we do. Even if we nuke the joint, something will survive and a whole new set of life forms will evolve. Maybe the next sentient beings will be smarter than us, and actually take care of the planet.
We Restore the Earth Because It Is Good for Us!
We need a quality of life that includes clean air, clean water, trees, flowers, ferns, birds, and all the wonderful life forms with which we share the planet. We aren’t just preserving habitat and restoring native plant communities out of the goodness of our hearts – Our very economic and psychic survival depend upon it!
We have yet to fully value the economics of a healthy environment. But as the planet is further degraded, the value of high quality living spaces only increases.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Ultimately, our future landscapes will be in large part determined more by economics than ecology. This is an unfortunate consequence of the human condition. As a quality living space becomes more valuable, more value will be placed upon it. We will protect it more diligently. It will sell for a higher price. People will begin to view the natural environment more as an asset, rather than as a resource to be exploited.
All of this will most likely be precipitated by shortages of water, rather than a shortage of oil or other energy source. You can live without oil, but you cannot live without water. As the price of water increases, the incentive to conserve it will increase. We will need landscapes that do not require huge inputs of water and chemicals to sustain them. We will need to overcome our cultural taboos of “messy” natural landscapes and move beyond viewing lawns as status symbols and a rite of passage into the middle and upper classes.
Someday pride of place will belong to those with the least lawn, lowest water bill, and no chemicals in their garages. Society will value those who work to preserve our environment, rather than those who can make the most money by despoiling it. I personally cannot wait much longer for that day to come.
AT A GLANCE:
TODAY: LAWN, an ecological and economic disaster

TOMORROW: SUSTAINA LE ECOSYSTEMS, composed of native plant
communities that require little or no fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation, o
TODAY: MONOCULTURES of mowed lawns

TOMORROW: DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS that support a wide variety of life
TODAY: FEAR and mistrust of the natural world and its attendant organisms (bugs,
mice, snakes, etc)

TOMORROW: RE-INTEGRATION of people into nature and an understanding that
everything is connected and interdependent
WE MUST ENTER INTO A JOINT VENTURE WITH NATURE TO PRESERVE OUR PLANET AND THE SYSTEMS UPON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS.

ONLY THEN WILL WE LIVE IN HARMONY WITH OUR FELLOW CREATURES ON THIS PLANET.

OUR QUALITY LIFE AND LONG-TERM SURVIVAL DEPENDS UPON THE SURVIVAL OF THE SYSTEMS AND ORGANISMS THAT SUPPORT US.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science

Summer News Article
FUEL-EFFICIENT LAWNS AND LANDSCAPES
Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor
University of Vermont
With the price of gasoline and natural gas on the rise, most are looking for ways to cut their costs and save energy. If you have a lawn or garden, you may not realize just how much fossil fuels you are using. By knowing where these are used, you can look for ways to reduce consumption. This will reduce your costs, and help the environment.
In a recent PPPro online newsletter Paul Tukey, editor of People, Places and Plants magazine, provides some sobering facts and helpful suggestions. Each year, a family with a one-third acre lawn will on average:
*consume five gallons of gas for mowing and trimming;
*apply the equivalent of seven gallons for fertilizing;
*burn up to five gallons for watering; and
*consume an additional gallon for cleanup.
That’s 18 gallons of fuel per household. With 120 million U.S. households, that’s the equivalent of almost 2.2 billion gallons of fuel used just for lawn care each year. This does not count other landscaping activities. So just how do we use so much?
Yale University has estimated that the United States uses more than 600 million gallons of gas to mow and trim lawns each year — about two gallons of gas for every man, woman and child, or five gallons per household. Mowers also consume engine oil in their crankcases, and two-stroke mowers consume oil in their fuel.
In addition to fuel consumption, mowers and outdoor power equipment contribute heavily to air pollution. Operating a typical (4 HP) gasoline-powered lawnmower for one hour produces as much smog-forming hydrocarbons as driving an average car between 100 and 200 miles under average conditions. Gasoline-powered string trimmers are actually more polluting than many lawn mowers. One estimate (mindfully.org) states that “the 20,000,000 small engines sold in the U.S. each year contribute about one tenth of the total U.S. mobile source hydrocarbon emissions, and are the largest single contributor to these non-road emissions.” These include power blowers, rakes, and brooms.
Creating synthetic nitrogen for fertilizers requires the heating of natural gas to combine atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia. The amount of natural gas required to make approximately 200 bags of lawn fertilizer would heat your home for a year. Each 40-pound bag contains the fossil-fuel equivalent of approximately 2.5 gallons of gasoline. Transporting these bags of fertilizer from the factory and to your home requires additional fuel.
According to a California study, in many areas — especially in the West, where water must be moved great distances from reservoirs — the amount of fuel needed to pump the water is at least equal to the fuel used in mowing.

So what can you do? Here are ten tips to have a “fuel-efficient” landscape.
*Use an electric or non-powered push mower. An electric mower maintaining one-third of an acre for a season consumes only $3 of electricity on average. Electric mowers are 75 percent quieter than gas mowers. Push mowers, of course, consume no fuel and make little noise.
*Similarly, use traditional hand rakes and brooms instead of power ones and blowers to save fuel, and at the same time reduce air and noise pollution. If you employ a landscape maintenance firm, encourage their use of these too. Minimize the need for string trimmers. Mulch along walks and around structures such as lamp posts to avoid having to trim weeds in these areas.
*If you have an old mower, consider replacing it. Newer small engines run much cleaner. EPA emission standards for such engines, to be in effect by 2007, are expected to reduce ground-level ozone emissions by 70 percent or 350,000 tons each year.
*Reduce the area mowed through use of groundcovers. This is especially true in areas with water shortages. Allow parts of large areas to grow, only mowing once or twice a season, creating a natural meadow. You can still mow areas near drives and homes to maintain the more formal manicured effects in such highly visible and high traffic areas.
*Save rainwater and gray water. Gray water is that water from home use, except from toilets, and can make up from 50 to 80 percent of home waste water. It comes from sinks, showers, and laundry and can be used for irrigating landscapes and lawns.
*Water deeply once per week on average, rather than frequently. Drip irrigation and mulches also conserve water. Using less water saves on energy use, whether you’re buying water that has to be pumped, or are paying an electric bill to pump your own.
*Use natural, organic fertilizers not derived from fossil fuels.
*Recycle grass clippings, mow higher and mix 5 percent clover into your lawn seed. All these help recycle nutrients back into the soil. Mulching-type mowers allow you to leave grass clippings on the lawn. If you don’t have such a mower, and remove the clippings, add them to compost or use them to mulch gardens.
*Compost all yard wastes, except for diseased plants and plant parts. They can go into compost piles, saving gasoline hauling such to landfills and recycle centers. If your landscape generates many twigs and other brush, consider buying or renting a home-size brush chipper.
*Finally, consider landscaping to reduce up to 25 percent of home energy consumption. Foundation plantings can lessen heat loss from buildings. Evergreen windbreaks can reduce heating costs in winter in windy areas. Deciduous shade trees can reduce energy needs for cooling in summer. According to the Department of Energy, only three properly placed trees may

Return to Perry's Perennial Pages, Articles

]

		Gardening

		What to do with a Lawn

THIS ZONE
climate
cultivation
natural patterns
pests
lawns
seedsaving
soil
sprouting

THE SITE
home
news
monocult
actions
evolution

RESOURCES
sitemap
books
links
search

US
contact us
our aims
logo/banner

"You can't learn much from a lawn,
but a garden has a whole world of wonders."

history

Lawns started out as grazing areas around the manors of the landed gentry. Having a nice lawn around the house was a sign of power as you owned sufficient land to raise sheep and cow.
As the industrial revolution took hold and animals were less a sign of wealth, the lawn itself became the status symbol. You could indulge yourself in sparing land and time to recreational grounds.
As people moved to the cities so did the grass, on ever smaller plots. First lawns were cut by hand and later with the mechanical lawnmower, (an automated, resource depleting, pointless cow.)
The 20th Century saw an explosion of lawn making as commercial interests produced endless grass seed, fertiliser, pesticides, mowers, spreaders and irrigation equipment whilst developers discovered they could pass off cheap ‘gardens’ by spreading 3 inches of soil over hard subsoil and laying turf on top.
Nowerdays, many lawns are rarely used and some are so covered with chemicals children have been permanently injured after walking barefoot on them.[1]

the modern lawn - a waste of resources

The modern pure grass lawn is artificial... you need effort and chemicals to maintain a monoculture.

Misuse and the inherent toxicity of standard pesticides cause short and long term poisoning, cancer and disease in people and wildlife. [a]

Extensive use and overuse of fertilisers (due to lack of restrictions) causes water pollution problems and wastes resources. [b]

Endless summer irrigation to keep lawns green wastes massive amounts of water and depletes water tables. [c]

Lawnmowers, strimmers and other lawn machinery unregulated for environmental emissions, use vast amounts of petrol and are a significant factor in urban air and noise pollution. [d]

The lawn is the worlds third agriculture. It is probable that westerners spend more person hours, energy and resources on their lawns than any agricultural resource of the third world.[8]

In the early 1990’s in the United States…

$ 25 billion a year was spent on lawn care products.
Of this,
$ 5,250 million was spent on fossil fuel-derived fertilisers and...
$ 700 million was spent on 28 million kgs of poisonous synthetic pesticides.

Meanwhile 20 million acres were planted in residential lawns
and the average city sprayed its lawns with 30 to 60 % of its fresh water supply.[2]

The lawn is a green desert. Adoption of a monoculture for a garden drastically reduces the habitats available for wildlife. Birds, bees, butterflies and other animals all begin to disappear. Often leaving an unstable ecosystem where common ‘pest’ species seem to flourish.

alternatives

Aside from keeping animals or ripping up the turf to plant trees and bushes, build vegetable beds, a pond or a greenhouse there are many things you can do to keep the same purpose of a lawn whilst adding diversity and removing chemical and mechanical dependence. (Unless the area you have is subject to heavy traffic and abuse, where turf is probably the most suitable thing to use.) If you just want somewhere to sit, try making a bench a focal point of your garden.
Lawns can be made more edible, medicinal, beautiful and nice smelling by adding low growing aromatic herbs and flowers. The plants below have been specially selected because they will tolerate at least infrequent mowings. For best results don’t cut as often or as short as a normal lawn and try to lay off for at least 3 weeks in the summer to let the taller plants flower and set seed. You could try sowing them into small gaps in the grass or better still plant them out. For low maintenance choose plants that will like your local conditions.

	lively lawns Apart from the obvious dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), daisy (Bellis perennis) and plantains (Plantago major, plantago media) which are all excellent in lawns, freely self seed, add variety and can also be eaten once you get past seeing them just as ‘weeds,’ try… White Clover, Trifolium repens: 10cm H, spreads, adds nitrogen to the soil, attracts bees and butterflies. You can eat the flowers and leaves, (bit fiddly though) Camomile, Chamaemelum nobile: 15cm H 30cm W, Plants for a future[9] recommend for smell but not for medicine, (no flowers), a cultivar called ‘Treneague’ which is low growing, spreads and will succeed if the grass is cut low and often, however you'll have to find a cutting, there are no seeds. Wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum: 10cm H 30cm W Forms spreading clumps, pink flowers attract bees in summer, drought tolerant, needs sun. High in antioxidants and an essential kitchen herb. Lemon thyme, Thymus x citiodorus: 10cm H 30cm W. Likes light well drained soil and full sun, can be planted by division. Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara: 25cm H, spreads invasively. Tolerates shade, does well in all soils, flowers edible mar-apr, leaves appear afterwards, used for treatment of respiratory problems. Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus: 40cm H 30cm W. Similar to dandelion, prefers chalky soil, flowers all summer, attracts bees & butterflies, edible leaves most of the year.
	Salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor: 55cm H 30cm W. Prefers chalky soil and slightly longer grass, flowers May-Aug and provides edible young leaves all year round. Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris: 15cm H spreading to form clumps 30cm W. Prefers moist soil, tolerates low cutting and shade, flowers mid to late summer, attracts bees & butterflies, eaten in salads and an healing herb for cuts and wounds. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium: upto 60cm H spreads, hardy, drought resistant, good in poor soils, and a very useful medicinal herb. beautiful bulbs By lengthening the time between mowings you can also grow taller plants such as bulbs. Planted surreptitiously they are a nice surprise. All below are edible and most spread naturally. It is advisable to plant bulbs of similar flowering times together to make any lawn maintenance more straightforward. Field & Crow garlic, Allium oleraceum & A. vineale: 60cm H, 5cm W. Both almost invasive in grass if left to form bulbils in jul-aug, tolerant of mowing, leaves edible autumn to following summer. If cows eat them, their milk is tainted. Quamash, Camassia quamash: 50cm H 10cm W. Does well in short grass and under trees, flowers late spring, very edible bulbs when cooked.
	Dog's Tooth Violet, Erythronium den-canis: 15cm H 10cm W. appears in spring for a few months each year. bulbs edible raw or cooked, also try E. revoltum 'pagoda' for a bigger, version. Tassel Hyacinth, Muscari botryoides: 40cm H clumps 20cm W. Easy to grow, does well in short grass, almost invasive, 3.5cm bulbs edible, but a little bitter. Or for beauty, there are many other bulbs, such as daffodils, bluebells, crocus etc that can be planted into the lawn. wonderful wildflowers Perhaps you could turn some of your lawn into a ‘wildflower meadow’. This will attract butterflies and insects as well as bringing nature a bit closer to home. Choose a sunny position on poor soil to get the most flowers. Mow only after the seeds have set (around August) and remove the clippings to keep fertility low. Sow a mix of wild flowers into bare earth, or if grass is already established, grow in pots and plant out in Autumn or Spring, this is more work but gets better results. Most of the above taller lawn plants will do well as these edible ones below... Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria: 120cm H. Likes moist rich soil non acid soils, a useful medicinal and culinary herb. Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella: 30cm H. prefers suny and moist spot, sharp edible salad leaves all year round. Red clover, Trifolium pratense: 60cm H. attracts butterflies, moths and bees, put round apple trees for better fruit, edible leaves, fixes nitrogen. Alternatively you could purchase a conservation wildflower mix from a local supplier, you won't be able to eat them though. For some more lawn fun see the guerrilla gardening pages. Notes [a] Many pesticides have never been adequately tested for toxicity to humans or wildlife. According to the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 13 of the most commonly used lawn care pesticides can cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 21 can damage the nervous system, 15 can injure the liver or kidney, and 30 are sensitizers or irritants. [3] The pesticide MCPA, used as an ingredient is some lawn pesticides, has been found to damage the blood brain barrier which protects against neurological illness.[4] Organophosphate pesticides have been shown to cause memory loss and short attention spans.[5] Other studies have linked long term pesticide use with prostate[6], brain and lung cancer.[7] It is estimated that each year in the US, 67 million birds are poisoned by legally used pesticides.[3] Pesticides are often misused especially by homeowners, increasing the risks. [b] Fertiliser is often over applied, causing runoff problems in nearby watercourses, as well as the obvious waste of fossil fuels in its manufacture and transport. [c] It is estimated that 44% of domestic water consumption in California is used for lawns[8] In many areas ground water tables are being depleted. [d] The manufacture of garden machinery uses energy, depletes resources and creates pollution as do the engine fumes or the power plants producing the electricity they run on. In the early 90’s it was estimated that 580,000,000 gallons of petrol were used to run lawnmowers in the US every year.[2] References [1] The Pesticide Scandal, Sayan, Kathyrne, Family Circle 2 April 1991. [2] Redesigning the American Lawn, F. Herbert Bormann, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe, Yale University Press, 1993 [3] Spring, 1997 edition of The Arlington Environment, Volume Four, Number Four [4] Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 65:23, 1982 [5] Annual Reviews in Public Health, 7:461, 1986 [6] Occupational Environmental Medicine, 56(1):14-21, 1999 [7] Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 71(1), July 1983 [8] Permaculture a designers manual, Bill Mollison, Tagari publications, 1988. [9] Plants for a future- edible and useful plants for a healthier world, Ken Fern, Permanent publications, 1997.

home . sitemap . search . contact us . top

		Gardening

		What to do with a Lawn

THIS ZONE
climate
cultivation
natural patterns
pests
lawns
seedsaving
soil
sprouting

THE SITE
home
news
monocult
actions
evolution

RESOURCES
sitemap
books
links
search

US
contact us
our aims
logo/banner

"You can't learn much from a lawn,
but a garden has a whole world of wonders."

history

the modern lawn - a waste of resources

The modern pure grass lawn is artificial... you need effort and chemicals to maintain a monoculture.

Misuse and the inherent toxicity of standard pesticides cause short and long term poisoning, cancer and disease in people and wildlife. [a]

Extensive use and overuse of fertilisers (due to lack of restrictions) causes water pollution problems and wastes resources. [b]

Endless summer irrigation to keep lawns green wastes massive amounts of water and depletes water tables. [c]

Lawnmowers, strimmers and other lawn machinery unregulated for environmental emissions, use vast amounts of petrol and are a significant factor in urban air and noise pollution. [d]

The lawn is the worlds third agriculture. It is probable that westerners spend more person hours, energy and resources on their lawns than any agricultural resource of the third world.[8]

alternatives

	lively lawns Apart from the obvious dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), daisy (Bellis perennis) and plantains (Plantago major, plantago media) which are all excellent in lawns, freely self seed, add variety and can also be eaten once you get past seeing them just as ‘weeds,’ try… White Clover, Trifolium repens: 10cm H, spreads, adds nitrogen to the soil, attracts bees and butterflies. You can eat the flowers and leaves, (bit fiddly though) Camomile, Chamaemelum nobile: 15cm H 30cm W, Plants for a future[9] recommend for smell but not for medicine, (no flowers), a cultivar called ‘Treneague’ which is low growing, spreads and will succeed if the grass is cut low and often, however you'll have to find a cutting, there are no seeds. Wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum: 10cm H 30cm W Forms spreading clumps, pink flowers attract bees in summer, drought tolerant, needs sun. High in antioxidants and an essential kitchen herb. Lemon thyme, Thymus x citiodorus: 10cm H 30cm W. Likes light well drained soil and full sun, can be planted by division. Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara: 25cm H, spreads invasively. Tolerates shade, does well in all soils, flowers edible mar-apr, leaves appear afterwards, used for treatment of respiratory problems. Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus: 40cm H 30cm W. Similar to dandelion, prefers chalky soil, flowers all summer, attracts bees & butterflies, edible leaves most of the year.
	Salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor: 55cm H 30cm W. Prefers chalky soil and slightly longer grass, flowers May-Aug and provides edible young leaves all year round. Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris: 15cm H spreading to form clumps 30cm W. Prefers moist soil, tolerates low cutting and shade, flowers mid to late summer, attracts bees & butterflies, eaten in salads and an healing herb for cuts and wounds. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium: upto 60cm H spreads, hardy, drought resistant, good in poor soils, and a very useful medicinal herb. beautiful bulbs By lengthening the time between mowings you can also grow taller plants such as bulbs. Planted surreptitiously they are a nice surprise. All below are edible and most spread naturally. It is advisable to plant bulbs of similar flowering times together to make any lawn maintenance more straightforward. Field & Crow garlic, Allium oleraceum & A. vineale: 60cm H, 5cm W. Both almost invasive in grass if left to form bulbils in jul-aug, tolerant of mowing, leaves edible autumn to following summer. If cows eat them, their milk is tainted. Quamash, Camassia quamash: 50cm H 10cm W. Does well in short grass and under trees, flowers late spring, very edible bulbs when cooked.
	Dog's Tooth Violet, Erythronium den-canis: 15cm H 10cm W. appears in spring for a few months each year. bulbs edible raw or cooked, also try E. revoltum 'pagoda' for a bigger, version. Tassel Hyacinth, Muscari botryoides: 40cm H clumps 20cm W. Easy to grow, does well in short grass, almost invasive, 3.5cm bulbs edible, but a little bitter. Or for beauty, there are many other bulbs, such as daffodils, bluebells, crocus etc that can be planted into the lawn. wonderful wildflowers Perhaps you could turn some of your lawn into a ‘wildflower meadow’. This will attract butterflies and insects as well as bringing nature a bit closer to home. Choose a sunny position on poor soil to get the most flowers. Mow only after the seeds have set (around August) and remove the clippings to keep fertility low. Sow a mix of wild flowers into bare earth, or if grass is already established, grow in pots and plant out in Autumn or Spring, this is more work but gets better results. Most of the above taller lawn plants will do well as these edible ones below... Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria: 120cm H. Likes moist rich soil non acid soils, a useful medicinal and culinary herb. Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella: 30cm H. prefers suny and moist spot, sharp edible salad leaves all year round. Red clover, Trifolium pratense: 60cm H. attracts butterflies, moths and bees, put round apple trees for better fruit, edible leaves, fixes nitrogen. Alternatively you could purchase a conservation wildflower mix from a local supplier, you won't be able to eat them though. For some more lawn fun see the guerrilla gardening pages. Notes [a] Many pesticides have never been adequately tested for toxicity to humans or wildlife. According to the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 13 of the most commonly used lawn care pesticides can cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 21 can damage the nervous system, 15 can injure the liver or kidney, and 30 are sensitizers or irritants. [3] The pesticide MCPA, used as an ingredient is some lawn pesticides, has been found to damage the blood brain barrier which protects against neurological illness.[4] Organophosphate pesticides have been shown to cause memory loss and short attention spans.[5] Other studies have linked long term pesticide use with prostate[6], brain and lung cancer.[7] It is estimated that each year in the US, 67 million birds are poisoned by legally used pesticides.[3] Pesticides are often misused especially by homeowners, increasing the risks. [b] Fertiliser is often over applied, causing runoff problems in nearby watercourses, as well as the obvious waste of fossil fuels in its manufacture and transport. [c] It is estimated that 44% of domestic water consumption in California is used for lawns[8] In many areas ground water tables are being depleted. [d] The manufacture of garden machinery uses energy, depletes resources and creates pollution as do the engine fumes or the power plants producing the electricity they run on. In the early 90’s it was estimated that 580,000,000 gallons of petrol were used to run lawnmowers in the US every year.[2] References [1] The Pesticide Scandal, Sayan, Kathyrne, Family Circle 2 April 1991. [2] Redesigning the American Lawn, F. Herbert Bormann, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe, Yale University Press, 1993 [3] Spring, 1997 edition of The Arlington Environment, Volume Four, Number Four [4] Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 65:23, 1982 [5] Annual Reviews in Public Health, 7:461, 1986 [6] Occupational Environmental Medicine, 56(1):14-21, 1999 [7] Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 71(1), July 1983 [8] Permaculture a designers manual, Bill Mollison, Tagari publications, 1988. [9] Plants for a future- edible and useful plants for a healthier world, Ken Fern, Permanent publications, 1997.

home . sitemap . search . contact us . top

Next week's shortakes on public-access television previewed on You Tube: See link below

2011-08-12T21:00:00.002-05:00

Welcoming Grass: Joe Neal on August 11, 2011

2011-08-11T19:27:00.000-05:00

Deep booms of far away thunder recalls historical accounts of the furious cannonade proceeding Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg. In the wee dark of yesterday, hundreds of storied Confederate cannon fired away, not at Union lines on Cemetery Ridge, but on drought and heat. The storm held until I got to Vaughn in Benton County.

From this open former prairie, now pasture, fury gathered in the northwest, regiments of whipped-up and boiling gray-purple spreading inexorably across a battlefield of morning sky. I was out of the car scanning the fields when I heard one, then two, and finally 5-7 Upland Sandpipers streaming low and headed south ahead of the storm.

If you use Google Earth, type Vaughn AR (or 72712) into the “Fly To” search field. This gets you to the crossroads of highways 279 and 12 in downtown Vaughn. Now zoom out a little so you can see more landscape, roads and property lines straight, big open fields, and evidence of prairie mounds. Benton County fair grounds are here, less than a mile from where Uplands were flying. They have found it, and didn’t even use Google Earth!

Just as the storm assault commences, I’ve located a flock of 10 Uplands on the ground in a flat grassy field reserved during the fair for stock trucks. Thunder booms and the sandpipers call PER WITA WIT! I sit in my car with my waterproof spotting scope and watch.

If these Uplands nested in North Dakota and are headed for Argentina, they’ve covered a minimum of 1000 miles. The total migration way exceeds 5000, even if it is a straight line, which of course it isn’t. They’ve stopped in what we term our country, near beginning of their southward journey. They wait out the storm in the bare and seemingly miserable shelter of grass in a former prairie converted to a park for cattle trucks.

From my car, and through a 30X eyepiece, I see how rain breaking our drought forms beads on an adult Upland’s sleek, brownish, tan-edged feathers. Beads gather and slow roll toward the tail, diamonds of great value on millions of years of feather evolution. This reminds me of Joseph’s fabled coat of many colors. It blends -- even with all these many tones of brown, white, black, even with streaks and chevrons, even animated by a deep pool of an eye, peering from between two green blades of welcoming grass -- it blends.

But a juvenile, after the storm blast, reminds me of a wet hen. Its plainer, camo browns look, well, and I mean no disrespect, like a wet dishrag. It’s just soaked, its sides and tail ragged and disheveled. I’ve been there myself, soaked to the bones. But, with thousands of miles ahead, there’s plenty of time to molt to that fabled coat.

Morning thunder slowly retreats, yielding to prevailing sun. An adult shakes off diamonds and glides off in pursuit of all kinds of small and low flying insects. Watch out beetles, moths and grasshoppers! The juvenile is more or less on its own, spending a longer time drying, shaking, preening back to a condition suitable and serviceable for an up-and-coming sandpiper. It’s part of figuring out what must done and when. Sun out, preening done, it too glides off into welcoming grass.

Joe Neal: What Upland Sandpipers Say

2011-08-10T23:49:00.001-05:00

WHAT UPLAND SANDPIPERS SAY August 8, 2011
There were two adult White Ibises and six Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (3 adults, 3 juveniles) at Frog Bayou WMA yesterday morning. The birds are feeding in a low, wet disked field with little vegetation and muddy in part. The ibises were constantly engaged in probing with their long decurved bills, usually up to their eyeballs, and wearing mud for shoes. I never could see for sure what they were finding, but so busy were they no one could fault them for lack of industry. Then they would pause, preen in a puddle, and return to mud, red face and pink bill all clean like new.

By comparison, the night-herons seemed mainly to stand around, watching with those bold, orange-reddish eyes, seemingly disengaged. Imperceptibly, they followed the mud, then all of a sudden, a crawfish was hauled up sideways, clamped in the heavy crab-crushing bill. Little Blue Herons, many in their patchy blue-whites, hung around with the night-herons, whereas Cattle Egrets came and went in strings and vees, 10-20 at a time. There were no Great Egrets in the moist field, but I counted 87 around a shallow pond nearby.

As I drove in at dawn, early morning singers included Bell’s Vireo, Field Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Indigo Bunting, Northern Cardinal. I was surprised by all the song. Could it really be only a month ago that we took it for granted, that it would last forever? Upland Sandpipers were calling as soon as I got into the river bottoms, from across seemingly endless soybean fields.

I have been trying to figure out what Upland Sandpipers say during the Arkansas sojourn. Is it “Nice grass” or “Great grasshoppers” or some such? One says WERE WERE WIT! at first light, sun still bedded in the east. Then a flock of five, in early pink sky, flies low and directly over, calling WIDOW WIT! Soon I hear WIDA WIT! and PE R R WIT! and PERR PER WIT! And finally late in the morning, I manage to nail down a defining WIT IT! WIT IT! This from a bird unseen, gliding in grass.

The fields are surrounded by all kinds of voices, including some from the past. The present has its birds, whines of dogday cicadas, and steady roaring of gas well pumps all over the valley. And then there‘s my dad, Grover Ray Neal, who grew up in Van Buren just minutes east as a sandpiper flies. Gone almost 40 years, I nevertheless hear him along with gas pumps and Uplands. His voice is a native mix of western Arkansas twang and southern drawl, mediated by life as an enlisted sailor. An Upland’s voice recalls its native grass; my dad’s combines the valley of the Arkansas with the cultural brew of a Navy ship. Like Uplands, he sounds like where he‘s been.

The Uplands have much in common, but every call sounds just a bit different. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise. They are drawn from a vast nesting range, speaking various native grassland dialects. That’s what we hear during their sojourn in Arkansas. Besides that, some may just talk funny like those of us started life in Fort Smith, upriver from Frog Bayou. It could very well be that proper speech, not to mention grammar, is as optional among Upland Sandpipers as it was for us kids.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan of Fayetteville cites wet-prairie protection by Pinnacle Foods Inc. of Fayetteville as an example of protecting Beaver Lake water-quality in the most natural way possible

2011-08-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

For thousands more photos from Pinnacle Wet Prairie, including some from this event at the bottom, please click Flickr link.
For more than 800 photos made July 4, 2011, at Pinnacle wet prairie, please see Flick set.
For direct links to You Tube videos from Aug. 5, 2011, at Pinnacle Foods, please click on You Tube link.

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. Click on enlargement for even closer view.

Doug Bryson and Lioneld Jordan

Recognition of Pinnacle Foods Inc's. significance to Fayetteville

Joe Neal lauds beauty of summer yellow on Northwest Arkansas prairies

2011-08-03T08:51:00.003-05:00

Coveted MOST YELLOW award August 2, 2011

Early in morning at Chesney Prairie Natural Area ashy sunflowers all turn about as east as flowers can turn, facing brilliant yellow early morning sun. I feel summer tapering off despite the predicted 106 degrees in Fayetteville. Fall is quietly easing in.

For one thing, male Dickcissels have stopped singing. A female is perched atop a gaily-colored poke bush – green leaves, red stems, berries fresh green, others ripe black. She’s keeping a sharp eye on fledglings hidden below. She calls low, buzzy BEEZIT BEEZIP with a few CHIPs and WHITs thrown in. Poke berries are popular; as kids we smeared them on our faces as Indian war paint. Many juicy black fruits have been removed. Under the burning regime called August, a heavy pokeberry crop is welcome, but it’s going fast.

Chesney is blessed with many goldenrod species. These mark the fall and lo, one is blooming, competing with ashy sunflowers for the coveted Most Yellow award. I don’t think anything can dethrone ashy sunflowers, but goldenrods raise the stakes by hosting a sublimely green katydid perched atop goldenrod buds. And not just any old katydid. Eyes, lower legs, and antennae are reddish with dashing chevrons on the upper legs. The long antennae are as impressive as some on police cars.

Like goldenrods, asters say fall. I’ve spotted my first southern prairie asters sort of hidden in the cool shelter of a thriving patch of big bluestem grass. I say sort of hidden because I’m not sure how well you can hide an elegant flower with a brilliant green roseate of pineapple-like bracts, and atop that numerous blue petals surrounding a yellow disk. There’s no mistaking fall, even at 106.

While seeking more asters I nearly walk into the web of an Argiope spider with a significant yellow abdomen. Its orb web with obvious white zigzag pattern hangs between tall sunflower stalks. As I stand there a variegated fritillary, eye-pleasing orange, black, and yellow, dodges the web, as does a hummingbird. But it is the American Goldfinches that steal the show.

Fancy goldfinch males look elegant in their gold, black, and white. There are fewer females; I assume they are tending nests. Of course, nesting finches and blooming flowers say summer, but there are now many ripe seed heads. Goldfinches at the sunflower harvest says fall in the Ozarks: fields of seeds, goldfinches pouring in from all directions. I want to watch so I attempt my just-another-fence-post-in- the-field routine.

Ashy sunflowers have multiple flowers on a stout stalk. The birds defy gravity by perching sideways on fuzzy stalks, contort up, down, around, or stretch their bodies to reach another ripe batch of seed. It’s like a bunch of yoga poses. They perch on one flower head while reaching above with their bill, seeming to stand on tiptoes, to the next seed head. They bend way, way down to remove seeds from below, twist sideways around the stalk to the next seeds. With one foot they grasp a big bluestem grass stalk and with the other a sunflower head.

A fine male perches on a sunflower with a great view of Chesney’s expanse. He sings CHET CHET CHET DE DE DE followed by WIT WIT. After a brief silence I hear another with what sounds like a question, PEE UR? Of course they sing in summer, in the nesting season, but might it also be something about thanks for a bountiful earth, for open space, for sun-loving flowers that produce seeds, for this day in the sun, even at 106? Then they’re off and overhead with CHIPITY-CHIPs.

Two five-minute nature videos recorded on 28 July 2011 to be run on Fayetteville Public Television from Monday, August 1, 2011, through Friday, August 5, 2011

2011-07-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

The bee with the golden leg

2011-07-30T09:47:00.002-05:00

Subject: the bee with the golden leg(s)

Our native post oaks and big bluestem grass can take the
high heat and drought. So can prairie natives like blazing star
and compass plants. Birds that nest in our former prairie land,
like Dickcissels, take this weather in stride. At the very least,
they aren't obviously wearing any big floppy sun hats and none
I've seen recently were lathered up with sunscreen.
This is their time.
It's like there are whole different worlds that exist side-by-side.
I was reminded of this on a visit to Searles Prairie Natural Area
in Rogers this morning. Searles is just 10 acres, and it is all that
is left of what was about 25 square miles of native Ozark prairie,
now rebranded as Rogers and Bentonville.
I park my car off highway 102. Yards and fields outside Searles
look just like yards and fields all over northwest Arkansas:
brown, crisp, overdone, burned up. Except, that is, where lawn
or flowerbed is still being watered.
By comparison, Searles is seriously green. Native prairie plants
there -- the same that settlers who came here in the 1830s
saw -- put down roots and evolved strategies to deal with July
and August. A true green zone it is.
You see big swaths of purple. These are blazing stars, with
stout straight stalks maybe three feet high. In the middle
of this high heat and drought, it's all about lush purple flowers.
They are doing this without water piped from Beaver Lake.
Midst the purple are patches of tall compass plants, marked
by bright yellow flowers, many on a single stout stalk
six feet high. Each stalk has a few to maybe a dozen flowers,
4-5 inches in diameter, and these are natural magnets.
American Goldfinches perch up there, brilliantly,
as do Dickcissels.
Bring on the heat.
Through my spotting scope I see bees with golden hind legs.
They radiate pure gold in flight. Turns out this is another part
of what makes Searles a green zone. Their bodies are hairy
and the hind legs are big and flat. When they visit flowers
the pollen sticks to hairs on their bodies. They periodically
comb the pollen onto these special hind legs. So who is
this bee who spins gold from dogdays?
I ran this question by Amber Tripodi, PhD candidate
in entomology at UA-Fayetteville, AKA "the bee gal."
Her answer: Svastra obliqua, a long-horned bee
(in the Apidae family with honey bee, bumble bees,
and carpenter bees). Some just call it the sunflower bee,
because it is so fond of them.
There is a fair amount of concern that we are losing
our bees because many agricultural crops require their
service as pollinators. To my untrained eye, bee
population looks pretty healthy out in the green zone
of native prairie. I'm not so sure about what surrounds
it and our future in the asphalt zone. You have to wonder
whether or not we are clever enough to sustain our
ever extending way of life. To paraphrase the bard,
it may be something like "To bee or not to bee,
that is the question."
What I mean is:
what impacts bees, impacts birds, impacts people.
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal reports from Ninestone Land Trust along the Piney Creek and invites all to a bird walk at Chesney Prairie at 8 a.m. July 10, 2011

2011-07-09T22:37:00.003-05:00

From the edge of Piney Creek, a Louisiana Waterthrush chips, soon followed by song. An Indigo Bunting delivers bright doublets from a shortleaf pine on the sandstone bluff above. Judy Griffith, Joan Reynolds, and I are in cool shallows at Ninestone Land Trust, in southern Carroll County. Looking above, way above, two Turkey Vultures and one Black Vulture soar over our well-baked, mountainous Ozark landscape. It is really good to be here now. How can you beat sounds of birds and rushing water, minnows schooling and flashing as they swim in a deep pool? From our spot directly below Judy's home, the waterthrush is almost, but not quite, out sung by spring flows cutting through a smooth sandstone bluff. Here we are in July and the flow remains clear, smooth, unhurried, well-groomed. As it passes over and falls, it separates like wind-blown hair into thin streams and droplets. Quiet water gone wild, now grayish rather than clear. And it slams into the deep, rocky pool below, spreading frenzy and energy of white bubbles. Well, slams is too much of a word for a fall of six feet, but it roils the pool's surface. No matter to crawfish, easy to see in the water, waiting on rocks below. Welcome to waterthrush country, a great place anytime, but most especially now, when vegetation is curling brown, earth cracking, SWEPCO electrical generating plant burning hundreds of railroad cars of Wyoming coal to satiate our ravenous urban AC appetites.
Standing there admiring falling water, trying to see the waterthrush, we are surrounded by marvels. Joan notices pines successfully rooted in shallow holes pocking the almost vertical sandstone bluffs. I start examining the bases of these pines when suddenly something stunning green and black crosses my binocular view. Perched then on a spicebush shrub, I see polished emerald green, prominent dark eyes, clear wings black at the tip, and set off extraordinarily by a prominent white spot. Like a Greek chorus well-steeped in the natural history of the Ozarks, Judy and Joan respond "female ebony jewelwing," a damselfly. And we have the males too, with impossibly black wings. Piney Creek had massive spring floods taking out parts of banks. Big sycamores now lean across the water, what Judy calls raccoon bridges. While root wads are partially exposed, the trees continue their duties; much remains in gravelly soil. They adapt to this unexpected lean in life by sending branches and fresh leaves up and vertical from horizontal trunks. I'm thinking this may be something to consider myself, blown out of my comfort zone by a variety of storms. Maybe I too have the sap for some new leaves out of the old trunk?
OK, strange musings these are. Why waste my time here in private murk? I understand completely that I've fallen far from center. At least a half-bubble off, as one of my co-workers noticed years ago. But as I wander in a curious mental state, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calls unseen nearby. I realize, for maybe the 1000th time, I've come here to the creek to be called back. It may be oppressively humid and lethargic, but undeterred, Red-eyed Vireos keep up songs, a steady chorus, with dogday cicadas, and that is good enough. As Thoreau said in his last breaths, one life at a time, and as I think now, we will have this one right here, thank you, and with whatever roots available. And now Joan has spotted an artistic caddis fly egg case constructed and well-disguised between short plant stems. The fly larva is at home. This marvel noted, Judy and Joan head up the creek to look at a special liverwort. I remain behind, piled down on a boulder and listening in on the pines above the bluffline. I hear a Yellow-throated Warbler and much louder, persistent, and insistent, wheezy HER REE! HER REE! begging calls of a fledgling Red-tailed Hawk. Closer, a Yellow-throated Vireo delivers its burry song in a walnut tree right along the creek.
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Chesney Prairie field trip begins in eight hours!

Three important events of interest this week

2011-07-06T10:44:00.002-05:00

Three Interesting Events

Tomorrow, Thursday July 7th at 1:00     A Tree Hug    Lemonade and Tea provided. Bring a chair if you'd like to sit and enjoy the shade provided by
this 100 plus year old tree. Where--at the old Summercorn Tofu Factory....just west of the railroad track on the north side of Cato Springs Road.
     Cato Springs Road is being widened, sidewalks added, etc. All good. The event is to raise awareness about how to keep from killing the tree during construction. Hopefully the information relayed at this Tree Party will be conveyed to other construction projects. Tree deaths could often be prevented, if a few precautions are taken.

Saturday Night at Nightbird Books at 7:00 PM   Dr. Joanie Patterson and Audubon will be showing a half hour powerpoint done by National Audubon about the BP spill, loss of wetlands, and effort to restore the coast to a more natural state. The powerpoint is really well done, fascinating, educational. We need to get 100 postcards signed and sent to Congress urging funding for the restoration of the wetlands.  Come learn how what happens in the wetlands affects your life. If you can't come, but would like to sign a postcard, just email Lmann2@earthlink.com       We want to mail all 100 together, so it will be a couple of weeks before I get them all collected.

And on Sunday morning Joe Neal will be leading a bird walk at Chesney Prairie, near Siloam Springs. For more information go to NWAAS web site at
http://www.nwarkaudubon.org/index.html and follow the link on the left : Places to bird in northwest Arkansas

Louise Mann

Video of slide show to run June 27-July 1, 2011, on Fayetteville Public Television

2011-06-24T20:36:00.002-05:00

Chesney Prairie northeast of Siloam Springs site of weekend nature walk

2011-06-23T09:35:00.006-05:00

A set of photos from previous Audubon outings to Chesney Prairie.

Join members and friends of Northwest Arkansas Audubon

Society on Sunday July 10 for a field trip

to Chesney Prairie Natural Area near  
Siloam Springs. The field trip is free

and open to the public.

This is an opportunity to see rare prairie

habitat, including native birds,  
flowers, butterflies, and other insects.

Chesney will feature a good showing of native

flowers, especially several species

of sunflowers and dramatic

purple blazing star and attending butterflies.

Many open-country birds such as Dickcissels,

American Goldfinches, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers,

Loggerhead Shrikes, and others are seen,

and we have occasional overflights by

Swainson's Hawk. The trip will consist

of an easy walk on mowed trails.

People can walk as much or as little

as they wish.

Water, sunscreen, and hat are recommended.

Participants do not have to be members

of the NWAAS to participate. All ages and skill

levels are welcome.

Meet the group at the entrance to Chesney at 8 AM.

For directions to Chesney, go to the NWAAS web site at  
http://www.nwarkaudubon.org/index.html and follow the link on the  
left: Places to bird in northwest Arkansas.
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Shortakes recorded Monday, June 13, 2011, to run June 20-24, 2011, on Public Access Television at 218 on Cox Cable and U-verse 99 on AT&T as well as simulcast on the Your Media Web site

2011-06-17T17:31:00.002-05:00

Joe Neal: Curmudgeons of sound unite

2011-06-13T22:25:00.002-05:00

My house is about a half-block from College Avenue, busy drag through Fayetteville's heart. Cardinals and Carolina Wrens sing at first light. When I tune in, add thrasher, catbird, and phoebe. But at various times my backyard soundscape is performed by Harley-Davidsons, 70,000 trying all-at-once for Razorback stadium, medivacs swooping into Washington Regional.
When I bought this place 17 years ago, it was summer, quiet traffic gap in a college town. The little house seemed a tropical island, miraculously isolated from city, a place in the country, Thoreau's cabin, well off pavement. Papers all signed, we move in, and on one otherwise quiet June morning I notice a noisy constant pump from a neighbor's pool. Summer Wednesdays I learn are Bike Nights when Harleys race up and race down the hills of College, roaring river at flood tide, audible in my paradise so recently acquired. And have I forgotten rider mowers, weed whackers, and the guy who with latest in power tools restores old Chevys?
So welcome to the soundtrack of urban America, Fayetteville style.
Welcome to my litany of audible woe. I've tried to figure out what to do. I thought maybe the city government would care, but some are themselves Wednesday's Harley Knights. Maybe the neighbor would consider an electric mower? But can you ride one? And pool pump? I enjoy the happy splashy screams of kids and their friends. It sounds like innocent fun, and I am a sour curmudgeon.
Sound curmudgeon I am; but, by the same token, this weird stuff doesn't just appear out of thin air, like an immaculate conception. Either the worst curmudgeon in me prevails, or I convert. The inside of my brain, that is, and at least some of my house. Down go windows, up goes AC, and there's a CD player beside my bed that like Superman is more powerful than a speeding locomotive, or perhaps I should say, rotor wash from a low passing chopper.
On the CD is "Rain Forest," from The Atmosphere Collection entitled "A month in the Brazilian Rainforest." Here's first aid for aggrieved audio sensitive brain cells. An island of sorts, rescue for a sound curmudgeon. Who would have thought my old house, so near a busy noisy center, could acquire modest aspects of Walden Pond where I might "Relax with Loon Lake" courtesy of Eclipse Music Group?

So on quiet days as in old and more naive times, I try my windows up and enjoy cardinals. But as antidote to my creeping and sometimes galloping sound curmudgeoncy, I have the "Nature sound adventure series" by Lang Elliot, numbers 1-4. He celebrates the birds of North America in all their audio glory: No. 1, "Prairie Spring," No. 2, "Voices of the Swamp," No. 3, "Seabird Islands," and 4, "Wings Over the Prairie."
For y'all out there with audio distress, yield not to your inner sound curmudgeon. Help is on the way! I have no license to practice, but palliation if not cure may be as simple and inexpensive as a do-it-yourself brain rewiring job.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal and Joe Woolbright at Chesney Prairie admire new growth of liatris and the bob-white calls of quail

2011-06-10T10:13:00.000-05:00

A Swainson's Hawk flew over Joe Woolbright and I yesterday, at Chesney Prairie Natural Area near Siloam Springs. We were standing in a nicely mowed path, admiring wildflowers like obedient plant and colicroot. As the hawk soared over, we were speculating about the spreading swath of liatris, the prairie gayfeather, up and at it, but not yet blooming.
Come July 10 it will be a magnificent prairie forest of purple, and just in time for the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip.
I would not call Swainson's rare here in summer, but rather local. We never find many, but we see them on a regular basis. It is a bird of former tallgrass prairies, now become pastures, hayfields, epicenter of poultry production. Summer records from western Benton County date to the 1960s.
Dickcissels are singing from anything that serves as perch. Males and females are together, and the peeping notes I hear in dense vegetation tells me it is not just a bunch of random singing. We also see several small flocks of American Goldfinches, including six working seed heads of a yellow composite. We flush a male-female Northern Bobwhite pair
and for the morning hear BOB WHITE! from three directions on and
adjacent Chesney.
There is a kind of fever attached to actually seeing or even hearing BOB WHITEs, kind of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker moment for Arkansans not otherwise interested in birds. The fever derives from the fact that in the 1950s bobwhites seemed everywhere. Now they seem nowhere.
Joe told me that while herbiciding invasive non-natives like velvet grass, he recently saw or heard BOB WHITEs in at least six places on or adjacent to Chesney.
Some may classify such reports as tall tales, right up there with Big Foot. Joe carries BOB WHITE abundance with him to Kathy's Corner in Siloam, where he riles his coffee-drinking buddies who can't quite figure-out why he cares so much about prairie restoration. Six coveys, right! And how many Ivory-billed Woodpeckers?
Besides Swainson's, Great Blue Herons are much in evidence and fly over while Joe and I explore. Included is the 2011 class of novice black-capped juveniles. When Joan Reynolds and I visited Chesney early in the week we were greeted by a grim sight: a Great Blue Heron juv alive and twisting by wing tip from a highwire; helpless, struggling, broken ulna clearly projecting from the wing. Survived and prospered in this spring's many storms, but unlucky in close encounters with high wires.
GBHs, hawks, and winged creatures in general are fully prepared for the unobstructed landscape of 1800 or 1900, but not our high-energy demands of 2011. Now mercifully deceased, this wire-hung GBH is cautionary tale for all of us environmentalists pushing hard for wind-energy development that will come especially to these old windy prairies and introduce many more wires.
But back at Chesney, Joe points out how much liatris has expanded. The mowed path now winds THROUGH the liatris, but originally went AROUND it. That is, liatris has jumped the path and happily there seems no stopping it. Perhaps, like other energetic creatures under a June sun, liatris is intent upon storming the gates of heaven. To paraphrase the artist Walter Anderson, god knows it needs storming.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal report on Sunday, June 5, 2011, field trip

2011-06-06T10:34:00.001-05:00

Just at daylight on Sunday morning, June field trip day with Northwest  
Arkansas Audubon Society, I noted a big something-or-another fly off  
the lawn. Even so early on a Sunday, jays and robins were all  
atwitter. Something was a red-phased Eastern Screech-Owl making  
back-and-forth flights from ground to adjacent woods. This means  
hungry fledgling owlets.
 
Something else great: we were carpooling, which means that four of us  
in my relatively fuel-efficient old, but not terminally crippled,  
Toyota turns $4 per gallon gas into $1 per gallon passengers. Take  
that high fuel prices! So we are the lucky ones, big free day ahead,  
and off for the Buffalo National River at 6:15: Steve Erwin, Jacque  
Brown, David Oakley, and I.
 
Out past Huntsville, along 412, near Kings River and before the  
Buffalo, we stop for fuel, field trip spirit at high tide. While I  
wrestle with the credit card reader, they pounce on a showy Regal  
Moth, 4-5 inches wingtip to wingtip, all fuzzy yellows and oranges,  
flopping on the concrete drive. David and Jacque especially are photo  
hawks. They spot the prey and they are on it in a flash, long camera  
lens stuck out like a hawk's bill.
 
We are meeting at Boxley Bridge, and at 8 AM we are a mere 12 souls,  
one of the most poorly attended field trips of the year. Bird-wise,  
and especially breeding warbler-wise, this is the best place to be on  
June 5 in Arkansas, BUT it is stifling, and the sun, an unforgiving  
glare, is intimidating. Happily, this doesn't obviously bother  
American Redstarts singing in willows along the Buffalo, or  
Yellow-billed Cuckoos, out there where periodical cicadas hum like  
mother ships.
 
In terms of interest and enthusiasm, the best stop is at Cave Mountain  
Cave, in the shade. We stand around on a narrow path enclosed by  
luxuriant poison ivy and wild ginger, and thanks in part to the modern  
miracle of MP3 players, enjoy clean views of Acadian Flycatchers,  
Scarlet Tanagers, and an Ovenbird.  But by 10:30 no one can really  
focus.
 
By comparison, what works best is shade, bathroom break, and the  
church pew in front of Ponca Store, with snacks and a Blue Sky soda. A  
Wood Thrush sings on the slope, where there is humidity, ticks, and  
mosquitoes. Duely noted in today?s field book.
 
We had already stood out in brilliant shadeless boil for picture  
postcard perfect views of nesting Trumpeter Swans and a Wood Duck  
family, both at Boxley mill pond. Cars passed by, windows up, AC  
blowing long hair. They had more comfort, but no swans. Naturally  
enough, probably wondered about us demented idiots. In Ponca, at the  
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Elk Education Center, we learned  
both swans at the nest are females. So this is practice for a future  
nesting, or I thought, part of re-defining what it means to be a  
family. Steve Erwin and I battered this one around under shade,  
listening to mother ship periodical cicadas, and awaiting the return  
of our photo hawks.
 
So this is most of our Buffalo field trip, but on return to  
Fayetteville we find our way out to Skillern Road and hopes for  
Mississippi Kites. OK, I know this elicits yawns from y'all out there  
in kite plentitude, where a kite is about as interesting as nesting  
habitats of Brown-headed Cowbirds. BUT kites remain mysterious and  
novel in Northwest Arkansas. Maybe not as mysterious and novel as say,  
a Great Potoo, but when one and then two suddenly kite over the  
Toyota, we just can?t get stopped fast enough.
 
Steve and I and the photo hawks bail into the burning glare of 2:30  
PM, binoculars handy and skyward, and photo hawks praying the kites  
will soar low and away from the sun.
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Aubrey's shortake on Old Main lawn road plan

2011-06-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

War Eagle Days: Click on the kayak photo to open full view, please

2011-06-01T14:48:00.002-05:00

Audubon Arkansas & Partners invite you to

5th Annual War Eagle Daze

Friday-Saturday, June 3-4

Withrow Springs State Park & Huntsville Town Square

Contact Audubon's Northwest Arkansas Field Office for more information - (479) 527-0700 or clacey@audubon.org.

Audubon Arkansas
4500 Springer Blvd., Little Rock, AR 72206
(501) 244-2229 | ARaction@audubon.org

Leave it to Joe Neal to turn the sounds of periodical cicadas into poetry

2011-06-01T08:21:00.009-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.
Click a second time to fill your screen!
See May 22, 2011 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for story.
See Web site featuring Cicada information: Magicicada

May 22, 2011, photo by Aubrey James Shepherd

Photos May 22, 2011, at World Peace Wetland Prairie

Painted Buntings sing from woodlots of oak, hickory and cedars in
south Fayetteville, along City Lake and Willoughby roads. I hear them
as I bicycle a loop at the base of South Mountain. Now I am also
hearing a powerful low hum, like the mother ship has landed, unseen,
on the mountain. In waves of rising and falling, a shrill hiss has
joined hum. It's like the earth has taken on new breathing. In and
out, up and down, inhale-exhale. Millions of individuals of different
species of periodical cicadas are in massed chorus.

It's the old story of frog turned prince. They live 13 years
underground as worm-like larvae, emerge into light transformed to
astonishing red-eyed, black-bodied, no-nonsense adults. They sing and
mate in massed frenzy and die in a few fantastic weeks. It's an orgy
to the future. Singers of 2024 come from eggs fertilized in these few
sun-lighted weeks.

Something like an old road heads through shrill hiss to mother ship. I
can't resist. I'm not too far in before I find dump trucks, trailers,
miscellaneous pipe, boards, an inspiring working junkyard of
mechanical equipment. Red-eyed and orange-winged, periodical cicadas
land on my head while I'm wondering if I'm trespassing.

A Red-bellied Woodpecker heads toward hiss and hum. The trail rises
into a former rocky hillside pasture now regenerated to oaks,
hickories, and lots of eastern red cedar. And today, periodical
cicadas. They hang upside down under cover of twigs and leaves. Blue
Jays bugle from the woods. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo calls CUK CUK CUK
COO COO. Cicadas fly back and forth where tree tops join the sun.

In their puffy summer cloud hats, midst hum and waves of shrill hiss,
green hills of the Ozarks transform. For a moment I can't remember
where I am. It's like I?m hallucinating. But I see the familiar
visage of a Great Crested Flycatcher at eye level, low and slow,
looking methodically up under twigs. There are lots of "flies" here to
be sure. Out fly a dozen screeching cicadas as a yellowish female
Summer Tanager darts into oak leaves. Fantastic it is, hallucination
it is not.

Above hiss and hum, I can hear someone banging around near where I
started into the woods. This turns out to be Earl Smith, property
owner, looking for pipe. In our lamentable age of
suspicion-about-everything, this retired truck driver and mechanical
jack-of-all trades is friendly, open, unsuspicious. He immediately
says I am welcome anytime while swatting a cicada that has just tried
to land on his ear. Behind Mr Smith a hickory trunk is so packed with
bugs it is the periodical cicada equivalent of a Saturday afternoon
Walmart parking lot.

We talk a bit about the hum. For him, it's not the mother ship.
Rather, it sounds like a big chicken barn. Hawks and vultures are
soaring overhead as we talk. One hawk is eating a familiar-sized
insect held kite-like in its claws. Back in 1985, precisely two
festive periodical cicada parties ago, a Mississippi Kite spent weeks
in the vicinity of a cicada chorus near Durham in Washington County.
I've called the hum the mother ship, a rather romantic notion, but now
at Smith's suggestion, it does resemble the massed sounds of thousands
of white birds in big poultry houses. Smith amends, Well maybe more
like one of those big turkey houses.

Standing there, with cicadas briefly landing on us both, in the big
sound, in all the hiss and hum at once familiar and astonishingly
strange, I see not one or two, but 5 kites soar over.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Karen Rollet-Crocker to present program on landscaping with native plants at 5:30 p.m. today at her home on Mount Sequoyah

2011-05-10T10:58:00.002-05:00

Landscaping with Native Plants

Native plants in a landscape help preserve our Ozark identity, provide food for our birds and insects and are well suited to our soils and climate. Karen Rollet Crocker, recently retired UA professor of landscape architecture, invites us to see how she is using native plants in her home landscape and to hear what she has learned during her years of designing gardens for others, including the native landscape for Compton Gardens and the heritage gardens at Peel Mansion, both in Bentonville.

Crocker’s talk and demonstration on landscaping with native plants is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. at 951 N. Pembroke Road in Fayetteville . The rain date is Tuesday, May 17 at the same time.

Directions: from Mission Blvd (45) go up the hill on Rockwood Trail (.6 mi). At the top turn left on Pembroke and go to the first corner on the left side (west side).

Attendees who want starts of native plants are invited to bring a couple of small pots with soil in which to take them home.

The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Fayetteville Tree and Landscape Advisory Committee. For information, call 871-7023.

View Larger Map

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Landscaping with Native Plants
Community Events
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 951 N. Pembroke Road, Fayetteville
Landscape Architecture Professor Karen Rollet Crocker

Contact: Fayetteville Tree and Landscape Advisory Committee
Phone: 479-871-7023

Invitation to attend Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie and share your information on environmental and natural-resource conservation

2011-04-15T21:10:00.001-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mullholan's poster for Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie.

World Peace Wetland Prairie EARTH DAY 2010 VIDEO
Flickr collection of sets of photos from World Peace Wetland Prairie
World Peace Wetland Prairie blog
World Peace Wetland Prairie.com
Aubrey's photos at flickr.com

2000-2005 archive of stories and photos related to creation of WPWP: www.aubunique.com

Please use link below the map to see larger view of the WPWP area, which also allows a person to travel the world by 'Google AIR' by simply using the cursor to move in any direction or search for other addresses.

View World Peace Wetland Prairie in a larger map

Joe Neal report

2011-04-14T22:30:00.002-05:00

My inbox had a deluge of 45 bird-related emails today, almost all
Arkansas birds. Welcome to spring excitements. So I am not kidding
myself that with so much birding, many of you have no time for
literary rambles. Here is my Executive Summary for you busy busy
birders.

I went down to Frog Bayou WMA and nearby West-Ark Sod. At Frog one of
my first birds was a Tricolored Heron flying out of Unit 5. Soras were
singing at dawn in Unit 3. One of the last birds was a Willet in Unit
2. Unit 2 also had 12 Greater Yellowlegs that looked puny next to
lordly Willet. Sod had Horned Larks singing to a south wind and my
first of the spring Grasshopper Sparrow, handily perched and singing
alongside the road. Such an apparently tiny creature, but when it
throws back that big bill and sings that lusty insect trill, it owns
the world of open fields, the only reality that matters.

Before closing the Executive Summary, let me note that at a distance,
and in the hopeful heart, an exquisitely ruddy female Northern Pintail
bears a certain likeness to a juvenile male Cinnamon Teal that has not
quite acquired full glory of the breeding season. Throw in some
aquatic vegetation, distance, white light, a drop or two of sweat on
the old bins, and voila! You have yourself a rare bird, or so you
think, for oh so very brief and sweet a while. But I reveal too much.
Allow me to draw the curtain on anxious moments and my disappointment,
and move on to birding gear.

Frog is laid out in a series of shallow moist soil units, essentially
marshes that mimic wetlands that once existed along the Arkansas
River. If you are like me, you are sure the next cattails, that next
big patch of sedges, that far corner will surely have even more
interesting birds. And thus, one marches deeper and deeper into the
heart of Frog. And, of course, there is the required walk back. That
walk would be one thing, if we were in the olden days, when we just
shoved a field guide in the back pocket and threw bins around the
neck. Birding light. Well, those days are long gone, gone as dollar
gas gone.

So I am at Frog all geared up. The sun is higher, the wind is sharper,
and the spotting scope, tripod, field guide, water bottle, MP3 player
with speaker, binoculars, rubber Muck boots have not gotten lighter.
Did I forget anything? Is there any other gear I just cannot go in the
field without? Oh yes, the Sony sound recorder. All hauled in, cattail
patch after cattail patch, and will be hauled out. On foot.

But today I brought my bicycle with me, now all tricked out with two
big wire baskets and very ugly in an aesthetic sense. I stuffed those
baskets full of gear and off I went, wobbling down the levees around
the units, flushing a very surprised abundance of Savannah Sparrows. I
saw Brian Infield of Arkansas Game and Fish. He did not openly laugh
at my outfit. In fact, he was cordial and rather sympathetic, telling
me that duck hunters also get loaded down with tons of gear, so much
in fact that many now pull little two-wheel carts full of shotguns,
decoys, stools, ammo, and what have you. I have seen those two wheel
tracks in the mud and wondered what creature had made them.

The American Coots had no idea what to make of me, so off they went.
Pied-billed Grebes promptly sank under water. The Blue-winged Teal
watched a while, started peeping, and off they went, too.
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas
Please click on image to see full view and read details. Please come to WPWP after your morning of birding and enjoy the music of Still on the Hill, Toucan Jam, Pete Howard and his group as well as Dan Dean and several other local musicians. Please check the poster for a few of the many activities for kids and adults packed into three hours of intense action that requires nothing but hanging out and enjoying.

Video running this week (11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday on Fayetteville public-access television

2011-04-05T00:21:00.000-05:00

Bitterns at Woolsey Wet Prairie day after controlled burn: Another report from Joe Neal

2011-03-20T14:28:00.001-05:00

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE BLURRY IMAGE OF HAWK ON POWER POLE AT WOOLSEY WET PRAIRIE DURING CONTROLLED BURN ON MARCH 18, 2011.

Paraphrasing Edward Abbey, Seasonal wetland needs no defense, only more defenders. That was running through my mind after I had seen a fourth (possibly fifth) American Bittern yesterday at Woolsey Wet Prairie in Fayetteville. Woolsey had a prescribed burn on March 18. I walked the black yesterday evening.

Woolsey used to be just like tens of thousands of other low-lying former tallgrass prairie acres whose clay-rich soils retain so much water they are hard to plow. Unplowed or only plowed in the occasional dry year, they retain biotic aspects of tallgrass prairie. An anomaly, Woolsey is not ditched, drained, plowed, and covered with the endless ugly pursuit to turn every square inch into gold bullion. Unlike the lost tens of thousands, Woolsey functions to retain rain water and snow melt, protecting streams from flash floods. It does have migrating American Bitterns that eat what's in the shallows including bugs, fish, even snakes and small mammals, and terrestrial prairie crayfish whose burrows are much in evidence after the burn.

The wetland cells where I found bitterns didn't burn, of course, but higher areas did. Song, Swamp, and Savannah Sparrows were harvesting exposed seeds in the black. Swamp Sparrows have molted into the nesting season's bright plumage, reddish crown feathers contrasting blacken stubble.

Wetland mitigation cells function like shallow ponds. In these I found Blue-winged Teal (4), Green-winged Teal (2), Canada Goose (8), and one American Coot. Wilson's Snipe (15-20) flushed here and there. Chorus Frogs, Spring Peepers, and a choir of American Toads welcomed dusk.

It was a satisfying hour or so. I have never seen so many American Bitterns. It must be some kind of migration peak. But it is disturbing that we once held a fortune in functioning seasonal wetlands suitable for bitterns migrating through western Arkansas. That fortune has been thrown away. Today declining bittern populations face our bottleneck ? for what? You don't have to be a math whiz to see that greed driven sprawl contributes to this bird's population decline.

Too bad they don't make a bittern that eats ditching machines, drainage projects, plows, and real estate developers. And the next time someone calls you an environmental wacho because you prefer bitterns to mini-malls, tell them as I do that Noah loaded bitterns into the Ark. Who are we to say they don't belong here in our consumer paradise?

Again paraphrasing Abbey, American Bitterns need no defense, only more defenders.
--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Video recorded after 2010 Super bowl includes photos of birds feeding in February 2010 snow

2011-03-16T12:55:00.000-05:00

2010 snow video shows Junco, Eastern towhee (orange-sided sparrow), fox sparrow, black-capped chickadee, other birds at edge of WPWP

2011-03-16T10:46:00.000-05:00

2011-03-11T08:45:00.000-06:00

March 10, 2011, opened simply enough. Joan Reynolds had part of a day  
for Devils Den State Park. We met in Fayetteville around 9, blasted  
off into bright sunshine, heading south on old Cato Springs Road. Joan  
spotted two Greater Roadrunners seeming to enjoy the same spring sun  
just north of Hog Eye. Birding was slow in the park, but sunshine  
energized patches of golden pale corydalis and toothwort. White  
dog-tooth violets poked up through brown leaves on a rocky hillside.  
We were back in Fayetteville by 2. Joan returned home to Rogers to  
pick up her kids from school, me to the house with a blinking  
answering machine.
 
Behind the blinks was the familiar voice of Mike Mlodinow. A guy  
hauling hay bales loaned Mike his cell phone so he could let us know  
about a Northern Shrike he was watching at Woolsey Wet Prairie in  
Fayetteville. The answering machine is just inside the front door. My  
birding gear, especially spotting scope and camera, were still in the  
car. As on Black Friday, if you snooze you lose. I spun for Woolsey,  
sudden acceleration from sunny slow birding and spring wildflowers to  
high drama of a second state record. No time for lunch, no time for  
noon nap.
 
Woolsey Wet Prairie is not huge. The formal wetland mitigation is 30  
acres give or take, but mounded former prairie occupies at least three  
times that, including a fine pioneer oak savanna. Where is the shrike?  
I pull up, park, scan fences and powerlines; in the past I have had  
Loggerhead Shrikes here. At the savanna edge is a deteriorating barn,  
remains of an old rock home, and dense fencerows. Scan tree tops, scan  
tumbling fences marked by tangles of multiflora rose and blackberries.  
No shrike, but here is the figure of none other than Mike Mlodinow! He  
is walking toward me; once there, informs me we are in the right  
place, thickets by the house remains.
 
By now it is 3 in the afternoon. Mike has spent the day here. He rode  
mass transit as far as he could, then walked the rest to Woolsey. That  
is his style. Now we walk some more.


We scan and scan, thickets and house place, around the barn. And then,  
way on top of a catalpa tree, Mike spots the Northern Shrike: thin  
mask with the eye rising above it, bill large and strongly hooked.  
Reddish-brownish bars mark the soft gray of breast and under parts.  
This is a bird in the first year that has mostly molted to adult  
plumage. A real northerner, it may have been pushed south by two big  
snows of early February.
 
A visitor so rare exudes star power. Return flight north is  
inevitable, but maybe, just maybe, it will remain a few days for  
others attracted to so rare a sun. For those bitten by birding, it is  
not enough to see a picture.
 
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

A visitor so rare: Joe Neal's report from March 10, 2011

2011-03-11T08:38:00.001-06:00

March 10, 2011, opened simply enough. Joan Reynolds had part of a day  
for Devils Den State Park. We met in Fayetteville around 9, blasted  
off into bright sunshine, heading south on old Cato Springs Road. Joan  
spotted two Greater Roadrunners seeming to enjoy the same spring sun  
just north of Hog Eye. Birding was slow in the park, but sunshine  
energized patches of golden pale corydalis and toothwort. White  
dog-tooth violets poked up through brown leaves on a rocky hillside.  
We were back in Fayetteville by 2. Joan returned home to Rogers to  
pick up her kids from school, me to the house with a blinking  
answering machine.
 
Behind the blinks was the familiar voice of Mike Mlodinow. A guy  
hauling hay bales loaned Mike his cell phone so he could let us know  
about a Northern Shrike he was watching at Woolsey Wet Prairie in  
Fayetteville. The answering machine is just inside the front door. My  
birding gear, especially spotting scope and camera, were still in the  
car. As on Black Friday, if you snooze you lose. I spun for Woolsey,  
sudden acceleration from sunny slow birding and spring wildflowers to  
high drama of a second state record. No time for lunch, no time for  
noon nap.
 
Woolsey Wet Prairie is not huge. The formal wetland mitigation is 30  
acres give or take, but mounded former prairie occupies at least three  
times that, including a fine pioneer oak savanna. Where is the shrike?  
I pull up, park, scan fences and powerlines; in the past I have had  
Loggerhead Shrikes here. At the savanna edge is a deteriorating barn,  
remains of an old rock home, and dense fencerows. Scan tree tops, scan  
tumbling fences marked by tangles of multiflora rose and blackberries.  
No shrike, but here is the figure of none other than Mike Mlodinow! He  
is walking toward me; once there, informs me we are in the right  
place, thickets by the house remains.
 
By now it is 3 in the afternoon. Mike has spent the day here. He rode  
mass transit as far as he could, then walked the rest to Woolsey. That  
is his style. Now we walk some more.


We scan and scan, thickets and house place, around the barn. And then,  
way on top of a catalpa tree, Mike spots the Northern Shrike: thin  
mask with the eye rising above it, bill large and strongly hooked.  
Reddish-brownish bars mark the soft gray of breast and under parts.  
This is a bird in the first year that has mostly molted to adult  
plumage. A real northerner, it may have been pushed south by two big  
snows of early February.
 
A visitor so rare exudes star power. Return flight north is  
inevitable, but maybe, just maybe, it will remain a few days for  
others attracted to so rare a sun. For those bitten by birding, it is  
not enough to see a picture.
 
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Honking Canada geese enjoy wet prairie on March 9, 2011, in Fayetteville, Arkansas

2011-03-09T11:15:00.000-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.

Birdside Baptist and other books by Joe Neal available from publisher and from sources of both new- and used-book sellers online.

2011-03-06T12:44:00.000-06:00

Birdside Baptist publisher's site.

Example of used-book site that offers Joe's book.

A couple of reviews on the Amazon site.

Joe Neal writes about native, wild white geese

2011-03-05T14:54:00.005-06:00

For more of Joe Neal's work please see Birdside Baptist.
Please click on image to ENLARGE closeup of a Canada goose in Northwest Arkansas. I didn't have a handy photo of a white goose to illustrate Joe's essay, but I hope everyone enjoys seeing this friendly Canada a few feet from World Peace Wetland Prairie.

Joe Neal's illustrative photo below: Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Here in the western Ozarks we don't see many geese at mid-winter, but
the skies should be full of geese heading north anytime now. Got me to
thinking about two geese at Lake Atalanta in Rogers ? a white Snow
Goose and a white Ross's Goose. These birds are easily seen and easily
photographed and all of us who enjoy birding there have seen them many
times. But who are they, exactly?

I photographed them up close and personal by accident on December 5,
2010. In one image you can see their bills, legs, etc. With the images
up on my computer at home, what strikes me is their similar size and
shape. Compared to Ross's in the same image, Snow Goose has the
obvious grin patch, heavier/larger bill. The legs of the Snow Goose
are thicker. I am puzzled by how close they are in size, but didn't
get any further with it until Doug James and Elizabeth were up there
recently and Doug noticed the exact same thing: if you are close
enough to see the grin patch, you can separate them by that widely
accepted field mark, but the size is so close that no real difference
is apparent.

Species accounts in the Birds of North America (BNA) series help
expand the mystery. To begin, these geese have a close genetic
relationship. That is, they are basically sisters. Snow Geese that
winter in Arkansas are mainly assignable to the subspecies called
Lesser Snow Goose. There is additional geographic variation in body
size and other characteristics related to growth conditions during the
prefledging period in the Arctic. For example, one study cited in BNA
demonstrated that early-hatched goslings had access to more food and
presumably better growth opportunities. So what happens on the ground
in the Arctic must influence the size of birds we see in Arkansas.

In terms of Ross's Goose, they are rarely found with the form called
Greater Snow Goose, but often with Lesser Snow Goose. DNA analysis
shows that Ross's is a sister species with Lesser Snow Goose. So the
sisters migrate into Arkansas and maybe that is who is at Lake Atalanta.

My conclusion in all of this is that apparent size similarity may be
reconciled as follows:
1. The Snow Goose at Lake Atalanta is the form Lesser Snow Goose
2. This Lesser Snow Goose may be even smaller than other Lessers
because of various ecological conditions in its prefleging growth
3. Male Snow s are modestly larger than females, so our Snow may be a female
4. Male Ross's are heavier than females in winter, so our Lake
Atalanta bird may be a male

By juggling all of this stuff, it is possible to logically squeeze
these two real live wild birds at Lake Atalanta into the same size
frame: a small female Lesser Snow Goose and a large male Ross's Goose.
Like we used to say in the Forest Service when confronted by the
unexplainable, That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Something special for birds: Night before Streamside Ordinance was passed by City Council, it was discussed during Ward 4 meeting

2011-03-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

Joe Neal points out points of interst for the March 26, 2011, Audubon outing

2011-03-04T22:15:00.000-06:00

The next Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip is on Saturday  
March 26, 2011. This is an outstanding opportunity to go birding in  
mature shortleaf pine habitat (and also mature hardwoods) in the  
Shores Lake area of Ozark National Forest and adjacent Fern community.  
It is also a unique opportunity to go with trip leader Bill Beall,  
veteran birder from Ft Smith who had studied birds in western Arkansas  
for six decades. We will be especially on the look-out for  
Brown-headed Nuthatches and other birds typical of pine forests. The  
Shores Lake area is one of the few spots in the Ozarks where these  
nuthatches still occur, but finding them is not assured. Expect a Pine  
Warbler deluge. Meet at 9 AM at the Shores Lake picnic area entrance  
on the west side of the lake. You can show up earlier if you wish! We  
may try to do some car pooling from Fayetteville if anyone is  
interested. Shores Lake is just north of Mulberry. For more  
information, contact me at 479-521-1858. If there is time we may also  
head down toward Frog Bayou WMA for a different kind of birding. More  
information and directions to the Shores Lake-Fern-Frog Bayou areas  
here: http://www.nwarkaudubon.org/id17.html
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal: Devil's Den vultures and Phoebes on March 1, 2011

2011-03-02T01:52:00.000-06:00

The early bird supposedly gets the worm, but maybe the lay around  
birder gets the close-up look at a vulture? I went down to Devils Den  
State Park this morning and got there for the blue sky, the brilliant  
sun. Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures were still lazing about in  
roost trees. One Turkey Vulture is perched in an oak just budding,  
fully wing-spread and soaking up rays. My point: early is not required  
for extraordinary.
 
Sitting on Lee Creek bridge, looking up toward a typical Ozark ridge,  
the bluff line has a shallow saddle shape. Is this real or illusion?  
Is it just the brilliant sun or the shapes of leafless trees. While I  
puzzle over this I notice a line of dark green cedars and above that,  
an intricate lace of leafless limbs. And above that, a blanket of blue  
sky with a thin feathering of clouds, a drifting kettle of 10 Black  
Vultures, spring peepers in the back ground, chorusing.
 
The day is so beautiful I forget to use my binoculars. In fact, I  
forget to stay awake. I forget everything and prop up against a big  
smooth rock alongside Lee Creek. When I wake I think a titmouse is  
pulling at gray hair sticking outside my cap. Am I dreaming or what?  
My hair as lichen; maybe the titmouse thinks it will work to line a  
nest. Or maybe I have finally lost my mind. Yes, the smooth cobbles  
alongside the creek are real and forgiving.
 
So I am back up and walking around looking at stuff. Best sightings of  
the day are White-breasted Nuthatches, walking the trees. They stop,  
look out, and survey the scene from gravity-defying upside down. They  
call and keep looking. They see what we cannot see unless we bend down  
and look from between our knees. I am considering such wild things in  
view of the various courses, the various back-and-forths, the various  
stops-and-starts, the various backing-ups, in my own life. And to  
think we always talk about them walking upside down!
 
It was a good phoebe day in the Den, too. In our neck of the Ozarks we  
do see phoebes at times during winter. Today there are at least a  
couple of pairs in the park. Doesn't matter to me what the calender  
says. A pair of phoebes makes a spring.
 
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Longspurs in the slush: A February report from Joe Neal

2011-02-19T08:54:00.001-06:00

We are past mid-February and Lapland Longspur season in northwest  
Arkansas is either over or nearly over. The historic storm of February  
9 (up to 24 inches of snow and as low as minus 18 on the 10th) may  
have kept them here longer than usual. Main roads were open after the  
10th. I managed to get out of my driveway in Fayetteville and over to  
the former prairie lands at Siloam Springs and Maysville on the 12th  
and the 13th.
 
Since open fields still had deep snow cover, longspurs and their  
?snowbird? brethren dined in the roadway slush on spilled poultry  
grain, on the road and the thin plowed grassy shoulder ? or,  
alternately, didn?t dine at all. It?s hard to imagine the mortality  
among snowbirds during the height and aftermath of this storm, BUT I  
imagine it would make the now infamous blackbird deaths at Beebe on  
New Year?s pale by comparison.
 
Chief flocks in the height of the storm include Dark-eyed Juncos,  
Lapland Longspurs, Horned Larks, American Tree Sparrows, Savannah  
Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, cardinals,  
meadowlarks, starlings.  I see one flock of 7 Harris?s Sparrows.  
Traffic is heavy along the roads so the birds are flushed constantly.  
Longspur and Horned Lark flocks (pure flocks and more often mixtures)  
land on the road, then scurry to the shoulder to feed. FLUSH! A loud  
WHOOSH! of wings. Now longspurs race over me in a low tight flocks,  
dipping as if to stop, circling, passing close so I cleanly hear the  
low hard buzz prrrrt or a sort of geeeb they say to one another in  
flight.
 
Tiny sparrow birds, they settle in sight of the roadway, on a field of  
white. Through the spotting scope I can see the long spur from which  
they derive their common name. Standing in the pure white, in a vast  
field of pure white: in their plumage rich chestnuts, blacks, summer  
tans and yellows -- their dark legs ? 25 birds, males and females, all  
in bold relief. It?s much like a huge, white canvas upon which has  
been painted the heart of the matter. While the traffic passes they  
preen and watch. Most of the drivers are in too big a hurry to get to  
work, to the chicken houses, to the cows, to the store, to haul the  
kids somewhere, to notice.
 
Unfortunately, they miss a basic reality of the world of which we are  
but part. Longspurs define the open country in a storm. It?s the  
laplands in Arkansas. It?s a fact, but it?s all but unknown.
Survival foraging on a roadside has its price. I?m watching a flock of  
10 Savannah Sparrows. They don?t flush as rapidly as the longspurs.  
One truck passes too close and up and off they go. As I watch, one  
Savannah seems to peel off, or so I think. Right in front of the feed  
truck it sails straight up in front of the windshield, then with  
folded wings, flops down to the yellow stripe. Flops again, and is  
still. Tiny, tiny creature of broad open fields: survived 24 inches of  
snow, 18 degrees below, survived all the winter that came before the  
big one, but not our traffic, not the world we are in such a big hurry  
to own. Poor perfect Savannah Sparrow. Pity for us, for not recognizing.
I
t?s now been 25 years or more that I was at Beaver Lake on a fall day  
when the lake was very low. I walked out on a long spit and there, in  
the middle of the lake, on the last rocky bit before water, there was  
a single Lapland Longspur. I was looking for eagles and found a  
creature of less than an ounce. From the extreme far north, no less.  
Trying to understand, I wiped my eyes and the lens and looked again.  
Yes, it was a longspur. Here it had come all these thousands of miles,  
from the place of native Arctic peoples, to?well the land where we  
Call the Hogs. Seemed a miracle. Still does. I?m definitely NOT  
against Calling the Hogs. Here I go, WHOOO PIG SOOEY!!! But it is the  
miraculous incongruity that spurs me on.
 
Where they breed across the vastness of Arctic tundras virtually  
worldwide, Lapland Longspurs are either the most common terrestrial  
bird or among the most common. And in their swirling masses they are  
about the most numerous bird wintering in North America. Enormous  
numbers, like the unimaginable and uncountable masses of Passenger  
Pigeons recorded by Audubon.
 
? the Inupiaq Eskimo name ?Kungnituk? may be a modification of  
?kungenook,? meaning black, with reference to the male?s black throat,  
face, and flanks. The Yu?pik name ?Natchakuparak? means ?hood-like  
marking on head.? Eskimo names vary considerably across range, with  
the following all being documented. Inupiaq: in Nunavut, ?Kungnuktah?  
on Bylot I., ?Nasaulik? on Belcher I., ?Kingnituk? or ?Kungnituk? on  
Southampton I., ?Kowlegak? or ?Kaoligak? on Baffin I. Greenland,  
?Narssarmiutaq? Yu?Pik: in Alaska, ?Tuk-cho-fluck?and both  
?Tik-i-chi-ling?-uk? and ?Natchakuparak? at Hooper Bay, ?Nessaúdliga?  
at Point Barrow, ?Potokialuk? at Anak-tuvuk, ?Pig-git-tig-wuk? at St.  
Michael, ?Chir?-loch? on Attu I., and ?Chí-loch? on Atka I. (From the  
Birds of North America species account for Lapland  Longspur by David  
J. Hussell and Robert Montgomerie [2002])
 
 
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Tell your congressman to protect birds and other wildlife programs

2011-02-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

Dear Aubrey,

Birds like the endangered Piping Plover need habitat and strong federal programs to survive. Don't let Congress roll back habitat programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund or cripple the EPA.

Radical attacks on birds, wildlife and habitat are taking place in the U.S. House of Representatives as they debate the Continuing Resolution (HR 1), a bill to extend government funding for the rest of the year. From the devastating cuts to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program we have fought for year after year, to plans that cripple the Environmental Protection Agency and its ability to protect our families, the proposed cuts in federal conservation programs are truly alarming.
Votes will be taking place over the next few days and possibly into the weekend on this irresponsible bill. But our message is simple: keep environmental programs strong, don’t cut them; oppose HR 1.
Devilish Details
Here are just a few of the critical conservation programs that are under attack in the House. All of them impact the conservation values we stand for.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is cut by 90 percent. This funding provides protection for lands and wildlife habitat in our National Wildlife Refuges, Parks, Forests and other public lands. Each day, 6,000 acres of open space are lost in the U.S. to habitat fragmentation and destruction. Once these lands are lost, they can never be recovered.
The North American Wetlands Conservation Fund is cut to zero. This program is fundamental to preserving wetlands throughout the country.
State Wildlife Grants are cut to zero. A zero budget will eliminate wildlife grant programs in your state.
The Environmental Protection Agency is facing a $3 billion dollar cut to its budget — the largest cut in 30 years. Such draconian cuts would jeopardize its ability to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect our families and the environment.

Now is the time let the House know you strongly oppose these attacks on environmental programs that benefit birds, wildlife and habitat, and public health. Please send an email today and urge your House member to oppose HR 1.

Sparrows and other birds appreciate bird seed on porch next door to World Peace Wetland Prairie on February 9, 2011

2011-02-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view.

Bluejay makes suet swing until it wraps string enough times to allow standing on limb to peck the treat

2011-02-09T13:36:00.000-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view.

Joe Neal report for Tuesday and early Wednesday from Fayetteville and north

2011-02-09T10:48:00.005-06:00

Please click on individual images to enlarge view of birds competing for seed and cat food on Aubrey James Shepherd's front porch on February 9, 2011. A few doves, a few bluejays, numerous blackbirds, half of which at least have been red-wing blackbirds, assorted sparrows whose species Aubrey can't sort out have been photographed only through a dirty window and screen, while chickadees and wrens have competed with larger birds to get time on one of Lauren Hawkins' pine cones with seeds and fat rendered from a piece of hog jowl outside an even cloudier window. The photos posted here were taken while I was actually standing outside the door. The larger and wilder birds won't come down to feed while I (Aubrey) am standing there.
Joe's report is below the photos.












Joe Neal said by email:
We have another 8 inches of fresh snow as of this morning in  
Fayetteville. We?re shut. Everything including the University of  
Arkansas is closed. All kinds of blackbirds have come to town and my  
yard, driving my indoor cat crazy as they crowd the feeder.
 
I am doubly glad I made another effort yesterday (when the roads were  
relatively clear) to get up into extreme NW Arkansas, roughly from  
Siloam Springs up through Gentry, Maysville, and back through  
Gravette. This basically involves highways 59, 12, 43, and 72.
 
There were flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos, American Tree Sparrows,  
White-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, meadowlarks, Horned Larks,  
Lapland Longspurs, Northern Cardinal, and Harris?s Sparrows (one flock  
of 7 at Maysville), more or less in that order of abundance, along the  
roads. Plus big flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds, European Starlings,  
Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a few others including Rusty Blackbird and  
Common Grackle (plus, I have heard reports for a few Yellow-headed  
Blackbirds).
 
This is poultry country and a lot of chicken feed gets spilled/drifted  
along the highways. Since everything else is covered with ice and  
snow, plowed roadsides and feedlots are crowded with hungry birds.  
There is also a LOT of car and truck traffic along these roads, so the  
birds are constantly flushed. It is a sign of hungry times that they  
flushed and come right back, flush and come right back.
 
At the Vaughn dairies I saw Great-tailed Grackles in one place ?  
walking around in the hay and manure under and alongside big dairy  
cows ? quite a scene really, an island of life in a vast snowfield.
 
Yesterday, under these conditions ? with shoulders iced-over or with  
big plowed drifts ? and feed trucks trying to keep the poultry houses  
supplied ? and everyone trying to get to the store before the storm we  
have today -- it wasn?t easy to obtain real flock sizes. I throw on  
the flashers, pull over as far as I can and rapidly count everything I  
can see.
 
The stress on hungry sparrows is apparent. I saw several Savannah  
Sparrows that were sluggish and barely moved or didn?t move at all. I  
photographed a lone Lincoln?s Sparrow at Maysville that ignored me.
 
In a few places with less or little traffic, or when I just got lucky  
and caught a break in the traffic, I felt like I was seeing and able  
to count entire flocks.  There were 58 tree sparrows in one flock  
along 43 between Cherokee City and Maysville and 42 and 20+ in fields  
along the road adjacent the state fish hatchery at Centerton. I had  
254 tree sparrows for the day and that did not include the many flocks  
I couldn?t safely stop for. If I could have stopped it would have been  
2X that. Horned Lark flocks were abundant along 72 E of Maysville.
 
The handistop store at Maysville is open again, with gas, snacks, deli  
sandwiches, and daily lunch specials. This is an asset for birders  
visiting this area and I encourage everyone to stop and spend to keep  
it open. Gas prices are always competitive and the sandwiches have  
been great.
 
 
-- 
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal's essay titled 'Pink Flamingo' on the AR-Bird list makes a good case for pretending to be a football fan and being safely at home when the Superbowl starts at 5:30 p.m.

2011-02-06T14:31:00.000-06:00

Just a little northwest of Gentry, in Benton County, midst the open
flatland that was once the Round Prairie, and still locally known as
Bloomfield, there stands a pink flamingo in the yard of a neat red
brick home in front of five chicken houses. For a week we?ve had ice,
snow, then more snow, and by now there must be 6-8 inches covering
just everything. This yard too is all white, except for a sturdy, lone
pink flamingo, with a few inches of snow on its back ? a White-backed
Flamingo, perhaps.

The temperature out here is 18 degrees and it?s not really stirring
much, planted as it is on its twin steel rods. The White-crowned
Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, Harris?s Sparrow and a couple of
Savannahs are making a lively scene at a feeder nearby. It?s not hard
to image how the flamingo is making it through. Plastic and steel,
after all, ignore weather and of course life itself, but what of
creatures like us, mere flesh and blood? And the feet and legs! How
can the Savannahs stand it? In my case, I?m in the Toyota, the heater
is blasting, duck hunter?s hat pulled down over everything but an
eyeball, which is tight on the spotting scope. Savannahs must be
tough, but pink flamingos they aren?t. But I?ve already gotten ahead
of myself.

The day started with a Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society field trip
to Eagle Watch Nature Trail at Gentry. Well, actually it started with
me worrying about whether or not I could even get out of my drive,
much less successfully negotiate 40 miles to Gentry. When I went
outside to start the car the door was frozen shut. Long clear icicles
hung from everything. But the sun at 8 AM was up enough that the
predictions of a warmer day were believable, the car door came open,
and a male cardinal had mounted a frozen bush and begun to sing like
spring.

Yes, I made it to Gentry, and yes a grant total of seven others did as
well. We met Terry Stanfill and eventually at least 27 Bald Eagles,
including a soaring flock in a sky impossibly blue. Unfortunately, so
were my feet -- not flocking, but getting blue. I wasn?t alone in this
regard, so by acclamation around 11 we decided to hike back through
the snow to the cars. Bonus bird for the way back was an overflight by
10 Common Mergansers, led by a male with a brilliant green head. The
pinkish blush of their otherwise pure white undersides was illuminated
by a snowfield bathed in sunshine, snow crystals turned to sparkling
diamonds.

Most folks were headed home at this point, but Jacque Brown had driven
from Centerton, and I from Fayetteville, so we decided to get our
money?s worth and drive some more. This drive was on the old former
prairie roads in search of American Tree Sparrows, Lapland Longspurs,
and whatever was available. That?s when we found the pink flamingo.

We found tree sparrows in two spots, including one flock of at least
30 in possession of one of those unkempt fields with scattered native
grasses and a fence in bad repair. They were brightly singing at their
weed seed harvest, rusty caps in a field of white. In the industrious
manner typical of their kind, they were also collecting seeds
dislodged from plants by performing the miracle of walking on snow.

Later in the day we found another small flock of tree sparrows
expertly working seed-rich heads of June grass poking from the
snowfield. The sparrows hopped up 2-3 feet to the seedheads. Here they
perched sideways and went to work. All that vast sparrow bulk (less
than a half-ounce) caused the June grass to slowly bow. Back on the
snow, the sparrows held the seedhead securely their claws, well paid
for their efforts and satisfying their hunger, what must be a great
hunger in such days as these.

--
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Joe Neal invites everyone to February NWA Audubon events

2011-01-31T09:48:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that NWAAS will host a field trip to Eagle Watch Nature Trail starting at 9 AM, Saturday February 5.
In the evening Dr H David Chapman will present a "History and birdlife of Lake Fayetteville" starting at 7:30 at Nightbird Books on Dickson in Fayetteville.

And keep your calendar handy, because on Saturday February 19, Dr. David Krementz, a leading expert on woodcocks, will lead NWAAS's annual woodcock field trip to Lake Wedington, starting at 5:30 PM.
JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas

What kind of hawk is this?

2011-01-25T14:44:00.001-06:00

Joe Neal spots rough-legged hawk two weeks after Mike Martin photographss Buteo lagopus: Both sightings in the same part of Benton County

2011-01-25T09:59:00.001-06:00

Mike Martin photographed a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk near Springtown in Benton Co 3 Jan 2011. I just received the report and image. I saw a light morph Rough-legged Hawk at Centerton in Benton County on 19 January 2011. Centerton and Springtown are just a few miles apart. All of this is former prairie, still has a lot of open grassland habitat. Perhaps these two sightings are just chance, or perhaps Rough-legged Hawks have moved into NW Arkansas for the first time in many years. As far as I can tell, they are the first here since the mid-1990s.

Certainly the overall raptor situation here is quite interesting right now -- all kinds of hawks seem more numerous than usual -- we do typically have more raptors at mid-winter, but this may be an exception.

Joe Neal watching Anna's hummingbird in Ozark snow

2011-01-22T09:15:00.002-06:00

Anna's Hummingbird rare in Arkansas.
Here in northwest Arkansas, we’ve just had a few inches of snow and several nights of temperatures in the low teens. It was 13 last night. They’ve been out in Fayetteville plowing and sanding the streets. Suffering from mild cabin fever, I walked the mile from my house up to the UA campus. Campus was mostly empty except for flocks of robins and starlings working the last fruits, but on the way Wilson Park’s steep hillside hosted 200 boisterous children and used-to-be children sailing the steep hillside on recycling bin lids, plastic saucers, a door, linoleum strips, a bunch of junk I wasn’t even sure what it was, and even a few proper sleds. It was Norman Rockwell set in the Arkansas Ozarks, where native innovation reigns.

Home again (in the same day!) from my walk, me and the Toyota -- with 255,000 miles, including sun and ice and well-earned squeaks in wheels, springs, and doors that sound like birds -- negotiated mostly plowed and sometimes sanded roads out to Sara and Coy Bartlett’s place to see the remarkable thing, with feathers, – all 4.88 grams (and at that weight deemed “fat”) of Anna’s Hummingbird. It was there, as Sara had promised, and I sat in Toyota with my trusty scope on the window and collected images like I was out on the west coast. It is nothing, if not remarkable, to see a striking, healthy bird close up, no matter when, or where, but it far exceeds the merely remarkable when that bird is a few grams of hummingbird in the middle of winter in the Ozarks.

Like a Christmas card, the Bartlett place is all snowy, including pines and a magnolia snow-painted, grounds under feeders with dense flocks of every kind of snow bird your heart could desire. I saw enough seeds in feeders and spread on the icy ground to make me think the Bartlett’s will have to refinance the farm unless winter ends soon. And I haven’t even mentioned paying for electricity for the heat lamp that keeps the hummingbird feeder flowing and thawed water in a bird bath. Dining here at least: Dark-eyed Juncos (what old timers used to call “snow bird”), White-throated Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, American Goldfinches, House Finches, a few Brown-headed Cowbirds, a Downy Woodpecker, a Song Sparrow, a White-breasted Nuthatch. Periodically the birds make a BIG noisy flush, so I assume a Cooper’s Hawk is dining here, too, though I never saw it. AND, sailing over the ice and snow and birds on the ground, 4.88 grams of Anna’s Hummingbird, reddening up on throat and crown and maybe studying maps for its trip back West.

Audubon's Wilson Spring wetland nature area on Jan. 19, 2011: 185 photos from a 2-mile walk with Mike Mhlodnow

2011-01-20T11:18:00.000-06:00

Wilson Spring nature area: Tagging along with one of Northwest Arkansas' most dedicated and talented birders.

Please click on image to ENLARGE and use link above to view more photos of Mike and the scenes along the way.

Joe Neal shares report of NW Arkansas winter-stray hummingbird

2011-01-18T23:33:00.000-06:00

I asked Sara Bartlett to share something about her Anna's Hummingbird, including her husband Coy. She sent me this essay with a note that the hummer is still present today. If you have comments for Sara, please write back to her at: caresupport@hughes.net

"Coy is sitting in a darkened room staring out the front window. It’s 7 a.m., time for a farmer to get out to the barn and feed horses and make sure the day starts out right. But coffee cup in hand, he’s waiting.

Our morning routine has been the same since November. It’s now January 18th. “He’s here!” Coy has been sitting quietly for several minutes, it’s late this morning to see our Anna’s hummingbird and every day that we watch, we expect and hope that he will have flown away to start his migration path to join other Anna’s hummingbirds.

How do we have an Anna’s hummingbird feeding at our Fayetteville, Arkansas farm in winter? This bird should be on the west coast, and no hummer should be feeding here in our cold winter weather. We have fed the Ruby- throated hummingbird on our farm for many years, always expecting the birds by April 10 and feeding them through the last straggler around October 10. This year we were traveling in late October and didn’t take two remaining feeders down. There was no hurry and no thought that a stray and off track foreigner would stop in and stay.

I was working in the garden on November 11th. It was late afternoon and I looked up to see a hummingbird feeding on a tiny feeder that still hung above a garden outside our back door. It was thin so I took it for a straggling Ruby-throat needing to find feed. I watched him, worried that he was drinking in old nectar that could make him sick! I ran inside and mixed and boiled 1 cup of nectar, cooling it down immediately by sitting the glass mixing cup in ice water. In 15 minutes I had new, fresh and cooled nectar in that feeder for him. He continued to come in to feed every 10 minutes or so until dusk. That evening I took down that feeder and one that we had on the front porch, cleaned them thoroughly and replaced them with fresh nectar. He was at the back feeder again at dawn November 12th.

I’m newly semi-retired and a little obsessive, so I took notes. We still thought we had a Ruby-throated hummer who needed help getting South. My notes for November 25: “I installed a heat lamp on the hummer’s feeder, it was 32 degrees at 3 p.m. At first he came in to feed for a few seconds then left, feeding every 13-15 minutes. He’s not feeding often enough for this cold, but has gone from a slim bird to a rounded belly so he is gaining weight. At 4:19 bird fed and sat on the perch getting used to the light and heat…”

I had sent an e-mail to Dr. Doug James, ornithologist at the university. He answered on December 2nd and said he would send Joe Neal out to look at the hummer to determine exactly what we had. When Joe came out to photograph our visitor on December 6th, he knew it was NOT a Ruby-throat. We looked at the bird books and it didn’t look like a Rufous hummingbird, the most common hummer seen in Arkansas in the winter. So Joe sent his digital pictures to Bob Sargent, Hummer/Bird Study Group, near Birmingham, Alabama. Joe called later that evening saying, “You’ve got the whopper of all birds there, that is an Anna’s hummingbird, only one of a few sightings in Arkansas – and never in the Ozarks!”

Oh my! That was the beginning of a very interesting winter on the Bartlett farm. Bob and Martha Sargent drove all the way from Alabama on December 10th to trap and band the bird. What a wealth of information Bob has been. It was Bob who reassured me that the Anna’s is different than other hummingbird species and they can withstand cold temperatures down to 0 degrees. And our bird is fat! When banded and weighed, Bob said he should weigh over 3 grams. Our Anna’s weighed 4.88 grams - obviously with daily feeding he has enough fat to survive through our cold winter nights. We have had many guests who have come out to our farm to watch and photograph this beautiful little bird. We even have chairs now placed out in the front yard for our bird watching guests to sit in while they wait for him to feed.

Bob Sargent tells me that if we leave a hummingbird feeder out next Fall it is likely that this same little hummer will make our farm his winter home. As a juvenile male born last Spring in the Northwest (perhaps born in British Columbia or Washington), he got his first migration pattern mixed up and he is likely to think every winter that this is where he belongs. We’ll have to think about this.

With all the interest and excitement from having this rare bird winter with us on our farm, we both are now more interested in bird watching. My Christmas present was a new pair of strong binoculars. Coy is buying more bird seed at the grain store so that we never run out. He is enjoying learning about the woodpeckers, wrens, and waxwings. It’s probable that we’ll leave a hummingbird feeder up again next Fall…

Sara Bartlett
5612 Wheeler Road, Fayetteville, Arkansas (479) 521-3125

January 13, 2010, report from Joe Neal in the field

2011-01-13T15:24:00.000-06:00

9 degrees at 9:00 in Siloam Springs. But sunny. But northwest wind – light. I’ve run across a small mixed species sparrow flock on the sunny, south-facing, out of the north wind side of 5 huge chicken houses. There are Savannah Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows, a few meadowlarks and Starlings, 1 Harris’s Sparrow, plus one American Tree Sparrow, all red-capped, bright and sprightly on our coldest day of the year so far. Like Field Sparrows today, tree sparrows seemed sprinkled among the other flocks, with 1-2 associated with at least 3 flocks dominated by White-crowned Sparrows.

Big fields all have a thin crust of ice and snow. The chicken houses are steaming. Trucks have been driving in and out servicing the chicken houses. There’s short grass, bare ground, spilled chicken feed. That’s where the birds are. Except for Bald Eagles perched up on stout limbs of leafless oaks, and except for 25 Ring-billed Gulls standing on an iced-up pond. Even the harriers are sheltering out of the wind. Of 4 today, two were perched low and protected, on the sunny, south-facing sides of dense thickets.

From Siloam I’m headed for Maysville. In the distance, a big plume from the SWEPCO plant rises from the stack, forms a hammer-headed cloud, drifts south. It’s all the way up to 12 degrees at 1:30 according to folks at the Maysville handi-stop. The old Beatie Prairie here is mostly wide open, so no one will be surprised this trip is mostly in car, heater blowing, window down ONLY when I use the scope. Bald Eagles overhead, adults and immatures, and Bald Eagles everywhere I drive.

The biggest flocks are Savannah Sparrows (100-150 in one flock, plus many smaller flocks) and White-crowned Sparrows (50+ in one flock, plus many other flocks). The two flocks of American Pipits are on the sunny sides of chicken houses or in a dairy feedlot, also protected from the wind. During the day I find 2-3 flocks of Horned Larks, with Lapland Longspurs. The first lark flock also includes a bunch of Savannah Sparrows and at least 8 longspurs. Later, I find another flock, actually a cloud of longspurs, spiraling a harvested bean field, then settling into short, snow-free grass and a big driveway, adjacent chicken houses. I get one count of 85 of them on the ground.

The spot with 8 longspurs is part of the Chastain Cattle Company operation. A friendly, curious Mr Chastain himself drives up, very busy hauling big round bales of hay to his cows. I’ve met him before; we talked eagles then. This time we brave the cold and wind, set up my tripod, and get the spotting scope on Lapland Longspurs, Horned Larks, and Savannah Sparrows enjoying the sunny side of one of his barns. We have good looks; the birds are too busy trying to survive to overly worry about us. But here comes a nosy kestrel, swooping low, driven by hunger like all these birds. The little birds are off with longspur rattles, savannah seeps, and the see-lits, see-lits of larks.

They’ll be back. For wild creatures of the old prairies, there are few alternatives on a deep winter day like this one.

Curator of Bird Records addresses issue of central Arkansas' New Year's Eve 'blackbird rain'

2011-01-03T10:35:00.002-06:00

Joe Neal writes:
I’ve been getting calls and email soliciting opinion about blackbirds falling dead from the sky at Beebe on New Year’s Eve—the so-called blackbird rain. I had one email from San Francisco and then a call from Portland (my daughter). This has been kind of upsetting to me because I thought everyone would be interested – or at least I would get some choice hate mail -- concerning my ARBIRD-L post about how ground up Northern Cardinals could cure middle age male paunch syndrome. But, no, it’s all about blackbird rain.

It’s all about blackbird rain even though we had a big twister up here on the same evening that killed three people at Cincinnati in Washington County. Branches bare of leaves are now re-vegetated with chicken-house tin, the tinning of the trees. In past years, Bald Eagles have maintained a winter roost in that area – I assume the twister didn’t do anything good for them, either. But today it’s all blackbird rain.

I was in Ozark Natural Foods and ran into some old friends. Here I am standing in front of an imposing case of 17 species of 100% organic granola, trying to decide which is most likely to restore my youthful vigor without also requiring me to take out a second mortgage on my house. They didn’t wonder if I had already violated any New Year’s resolutions. They wanted to discuss blackbird rain.

Questions directed at me may be because I hold the Very August position of Curator of Bird Records for Arkansas Audubon Society. Surely the person who presides over such an ornithological empire should know blackbird rain. I know just about the same amount as those who put forth the theory about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That is, I know squat. But I do have opinions and I can’t see any reason why I need to have them grounded in fact. Lack of fact doesn’t seem to stop any of the radio politician millionaires who otherwise rule our airwaves, so why should it stop me?

In the space where I live, eerie blackbird rain meets all necessary weirdness criteria. It’s “out there,” in the unknowing sky, an unearthly event, a snug fit in my x-files. There is no readily available explanation unless, as one person suggested, space aliens are testing their new death ray. You can just imagine the aliens scouting planet earth who saw all the New Year’s celebration rockets going off. Then several thousand Red-winged Blackbirds – strangely altered earthlings -- converged on the mother ship. Time to try out the new toy, the death ray.

And then there’s this: The affected creatures may only look like blackbirds. What if they are body doubles of space aliens themselves, ejected by accident – or by design – from the mother ship? I suppose the cause could be as simple as blackbirds accidentally flying into the mother ship, but what would that change? And what the heck were they doing out there anyway, on New Year’s Eve?

In my official role as Curator, I contacted the US Office for Flying Saucer Investigations (FSI). “No comment,” said the FSI spokesperson, dismissively. But then an eerie voice came on the line. “We are on the case!” But which case I wondered? The granola case? The tinning of trees? The blackbirds, whoever they were or are? So many questions, so few facts. 2011 is off to a great start.

Joe Neal

Joe Neal philosophizes on the delicate balance of nature

2011-01-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

I receive regular mailings from private organizations and government agencies with lists of rare birds, rare mammals, rare butterflies, rare snails, etc. They are long, fine print columns with common names, Latin binomials, places where the few remaining creatures are still found. These lists contain hundreds and sometimes thousands of names of wild creatures who did nothing to deserve their fate.

Since we are at the start of a new year, let me share an example: the prized redbirds in your yard. As rare and endangered, it could appear on a future list as

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis); small local population remains in West Fork, Washington County, Arkansas.

If you are of a Christian mind, you operate on the assumption that god put redbirds on the earth for good cause – even if we can’t always discern the reason – and that we still have redbirds because Noah saw fit to bring them two-by-two into his ark, prior to the great flood. On the other hand, if you are more of a scientific turn of mind with or without religion, you might assume that as creatures on the earth evolved, one of them, our prized redbird, took on very bright colors to attract mates and a very strong bill so that it could crack open hard seeds.

I couldn’t care less myself how anyone chooses to believe the origins of redbirds. What does matter is that they are here and we enjoy them in our yard. Grandma in her wheelchair gets a LOT of pleasure out of seeing her redbirds at the feeder. And unless you are too busy to pay attention, there is no song in the world lovelier than that of a redbird in spring and summer. It defines what it means to live in Arkansas.

Is it even remotely possible that our redbirds could become rare? The same question could have been asked about the now extinct Passenger Pigeon, when in 1800 they existed in the United States of America in the multiple billions. Now there are none. They survived Noah’s flood but they did not survive rapacious, stupid, blind persecution by another species with the collective miasma they have a “right” to use and destroy anything.

So, rare redbirds? Someone, somewhere, may discover ground up redbirds cure male pattern baldness, remove wrinkles in middle-aged women; redbirds well ground up and mixed with mushrooms bring back from the dead, Lazarus-like, cherished relatives; turn gray hair black? You don’t think our nation would be filled, coast to coast, with a heu and cry about the “right” to kill all cardinals for the sake of effortlessly erasing that big male paunch, restoring lost youth?

I hope you are laughing now, because that’s the best way to greet this dawn of this new year. Laughing, and also thinking. Happy New Year.

Barred owl goes to work at 5 p.m. on December 29, 2010, at World Peace Wetland Prairie

2010-12-30T09:24:00.000-06:00

Please click on link to ENLARGE view of barred owl hunting from hackberry limb over World Peace Wetland Prairie at 5 p.m. December 29, 2010.

Buckeye butterfly on Liatris on September 19, 2010, at World Peace Wetland Prairie

2010-12-25T18:49:00.000-06:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view.

Immature male cardinal eating ambrosia seeds on September 16, 2010

2010-12-25T11:23:00.002-06:00

Please click on individiual images to ENLARGE.
September and October are feasting months for locally fledged birds as well as the hoards of migrating birds that find Ambrosia trifida a special native treat in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The importance of allowing native plants to go to seed and remain standing as "feeders with legs" cannot be overemphasized.

Official local Christmas bird count results from Joe Neal

2010-12-23T20:45:00.000-06:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE text for easy reading

Joe Neal recounts news from annual Christmas bird count

2010-12-20T12:20:00.002-06:00

It’s fun to walk around in the cold dark. We started Fayetteville’s CBC day, December 19, for owls. I had 18 layers, including 3 coats, and the 4 of us, all suited up, looked 2X our size and could have been penguins. We got the expected owls, then heard a sharp call in the dark that sounded like someone had stepped on a cat's tail. Was that a Long-eared Owl??? I stayed warm, but by mid-morning, with sun, I felt like I was wearing, or maybe cooking in, a crock pot. But, hey, it's the second half of December and who is complaining???

And:
--Despite some last minute scrambling to get parties into our traditional sectors;
--Despite some unexpected stress & illness;
--Despite remarkably mild, warm, sunny, calm weather that makes it a joy to be outdoors, BUT can really put the proverbial chill on a CBC;
--Despite missing species we expect or least sometimes "get": bobwhite, cormorant, Horned Lark, etc;
--Despite needing to arrange things so someone else plays with the kids while mom goes birding--

We still crossed the magic 100 species threshhold; 102 it looks like this morning. Possibly a few Count Weeks birds more to come. This is a Great Result for our count. Thanks to Doug James and Elizabeth Adam for allowing us to use their home again for the tally.

Big stars of the day: Anna's Hummingbird still coming to the feeder at the home of Sara and Coy Bartlett; a very yellow Palm Warbler that Mike Mlodinow has been seeing since November; a female Red-breasted Merganser tallied by Joanie Patterson's group; a Grasshopper Sparrow seen by Andrew Scaboo and Brandon Schmidt and amazingly photographed by Andy; a fine, black-necked, unmistakable Eared Grebe tallied at Lake Fayetteville, and 3 Greater White-fronted Geese, happily for us, mixed with Canadas.

More big stars: all of you public-spirited folks who gave a long day to record and formally document the many earth treasures in our neck of the Ozarks. Thanks for the generosity, wit, intelligence, skill.

So we had a great day with relatively balmy weather, providing no support for the oft-stated hypothesis "good weather equals bad birds" or "bad weather equals good birds." If my math is correct, next year we celebrate the 50th local count, which dates to 1961. We should maybe consider a big party, since 102 (+?) species will be hard to beat.

Jim Bemis speaks at Telecom Board meeting on December 16, 2010

2010-12-18T22:00:00.002-06:00

GOVERNMENT CHANNEL SCHEDULE published Friday, December 17, 2010, the day following Telecom Board meeting, does not include Telecom Board meeting video to be run during week of 12/17/2010 through 12/12/2010. Bemis' comments, therefore, will not be shown on Cox Cable or AT&T U-verse until long after the Fayetteville City Council meeting at which the CAT contract will be voted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010.
Please click on individual pages to ENLARGE for easy reading.

Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society

Hobbes State Park Natural Area on Beaver Lake great place for bird-watchers and conservation enthusiasts Jan. 21, 2012

Mitchell Prewitt of Jonesboro, Arkansas, has a really big year seeing wild birds

A Big Year in Arkansas

Jonesboro teen racks up 311 species.

Tools

Comments (2) RSS

Joe Neal and friends visit White Rock

December 20, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville AR city council draws comment on several important local issues on a 3-hour, 37-minute video

Christmas Bird Count in Northwest Arkansas 2011

THE NEAL REPORT CHRISTMAS DAY 2011 and from Dec. 22, 2011

Park Board approves accepting money in lieu of land that will result in destruction of all habitat on Hollywood Prairie despite plea to preserve bit of wetland

Joe Neal's presentation with slide show based on his new book, 'In the Province of Birds: A Memoir from Western Arkansas,' draws full house at Night Bird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville on December 9, 2011

Joe Neal previews 'In the Province of Birds at 7 p.m. December 9, 2011, at Nightbird Books on Dickson Street in Fayetteville AR

Bald Eagles' restoration occurred only because of wise federal scientists and politicians who listened to them

Joe Neal's invitation to a slide show on birds and the release of IN THE PROVINCE of BIRD, a memoir from western Arkansas by Neal, with a few words from Louise Mann

Windy Maysville on November 19, 2011, exciting to Joe Neal and Audubon Arkansans

Did you feel the earthquake in Fayetteville at 10:50 or shortly thereafter Saturday, October 5, 2011?

Christmas bird count set for December 18, 2011

Whooping Cranes need your HELP now

Help Save Whooping Cranes

Help Save Whooping Cranes

Speak Up for the Florida Panther

Defend Alaska's Polar Bears

Protect Wildlife from Fracking

News

A kettle of Franklin's gulls and bald eagles: The Halloween 2011 report from Joe Neal with Don Nelms aboard

Migrating birds often disappointed with land they fly to when it no longer meets winter-habitat criteria they ancestors enjoyed

Vultures, condors, buzzards and whatever require DNA studies for clarification of family associations

Joe Neal on the paradox of disturbed and permanently flooded land providing bird-watching opportunity

Joe Neal report from September 24, 2011

Joe Neal welcomes 'our own Dirty Hairy, defender of the Ozark undergound'

Lake Fayetteville visit an interesting outing for birders on September 20, 2011

Joe Neal report on swainson[s hawk in the Chesney Prairie and Stump Prairie area

Joe Neal describes assests of Lake Atalanta area as September 11 field trip site

Greg Howe has resigned to take a job in a wonderful place to the northwest. His final meeting of Fayetteville's Tree and Landscape Committee, now known as the Urban Forestry Board

Traditional landscapes suck Energy, Water and Money, says Neil Diboll at The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

« Welcome to The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

The Future of Gardening by Neil Diboll

University of Vermont ExtensionDepartment of Plant and Soil Science

Next week's shortakes on public-access television previewed on You Tube: See link below

Welcoming Grass: Joe Neal on August 11, 2011

Joe Neal: What Upland Sandpipers Say

Mayor Lioneld Jordan of Fayetteville cites wet-prairie protection by Pinnacle Foods Inc. of Fayetteville as an example of protecting Beaver Lake water-quality in the most natural way possible

Joe Neal lauds beauty of summer yellow on Northwest Arkansas prairies

Two five-minute nature videos recorded on 28 July 2011 to be run on Fayetteville Public Television from Monday, August 1, 2011, through Friday, August 5, 2011

The bee with the golden leg

Joe Neal reports from Ninestone Land Trust along the Piney Creek and invites all to a bird walk at Chesney Prairie at 8 a.m. July 10, 2011

Three important events of interest this week

Video of slide show to run June 27-July 1, 2011, on Fayetteville Public Television

Chesney Prairie northeast of Siloam Springs site of weekend nature walk

Shortakes recorded Monday, June 13, 2011, to run June 20-24, 2011, on Public Access Television at 218 on Cox Cable and U-verse 99 on AT&T as well as simulcast on the Your Media Web site

Joe Neal: Curmudgeons of sound unite

Joe Neal and Joe Woolbright at Chesney Prairie admire new growth of liatris and the bob-white calls of quail

Joe Neal report on Sunday, June 5, 2011, field trip

Aubrey's shortake on Old Main lawn road plan

War Eagle Days: Click on the kayak photo to open full view, please

Leave it to Joe Neal to turn the sounds of periodical cicadas into poetry

Karen Rollet-Crocker to present program on landscaping with native plants at 5:30 p.m. today at her home on Mount Sequoyah

Invitation to attend Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie and share your information on environmental and natural-resource conservation

Joe Neal report

Video running this week (11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday on Fayetteville public-access television

Bitterns at Woolsey Wet Prairie day after controlled burn: Another report from Joe Neal

Video recorded after 2010 Super bowl includes photos of birds feeding in February 2010 snow

2010 snow video shows Junco, Eastern towhee (orange-sided sparrow), fox sparrow, black-capped chickadee, other birds at edge of WPWP

A visitor so rare: Joe Neal's report from March 10, 2011

Honking Canada geese enjoy wet prairie on March 9, 2011, in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Birdside Baptist and other books by Joe Neal available from publisher and from sources of both new- and used-book sellers online.

Joe Neal writes about native, wild white geese

Something special for birds: Night before Streamside Ordinance was passed by City Council, it was discussed during Ward 4 meeting

Joe Neal points out points of interst for the March 26, 2011, Audubon outing

Joe Neal: Devil's Den vultures and Phoebes on March 1, 2011

Longspurs in the slush: A February report from Joe Neal

Tell your congressman to protect birds and other wildlife programs

Sparrows and other birds appreciate bird seed on porch next door to World Peace Wetland Prairie on February 9, 2011

Bluejay makes suet swing until it wraps string enough times to allow standing on limb to peck the treat

Joe Neal report for Tuesday and early Wednesday from Fayetteville and north

Joe Neal's essay titled 'Pink Flamingo' on the AR-Bird list makes a good case for pretending to be a football fan and being safely at home when the Superbowl starts at 5:30 p.m.

Joe Neal invites everyone to February NWA Audubon events

What kind of hawk is this?

University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science