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BUCK HILL BREEZE
News
Conservation Foundation Buck Hill Conservation Foundation presents…
Leaf Peepers Special Sunday, October 7 at 10:00 AM Hike with Mary Ruvane to the top of Metzger’s Farm for the most spectacular views around. We’ll meet in the pool parking lot and car pool to the trail head. All are welcome (adults and children) including your guests. Please leave pets at home. Hiking boots or sturdy shoes recommended. Any questions contact: mbruvane@gmail.com.
Bird Nesting Project Recognized On Wednesday, September 12, at the Buck Hill Golf Club, the Pennsylvania Game Commission presented the Buck Hill Falls Company with a certificate of recognition and a Working Together for Wildlife bluebird print for its’ highly successful bluebird nest box project. The Buck Hill Falls Company, along with Otter Creek Environmental Education Services, recognized an opportunity for the children of the Buck Hill Falls community, who attend the annual summer camp, Camp Club, to have the experience of playing a direct role in establishing a community-based nature project. The children’s part in the project was the construction of over twenty nest boxes from pre-cut kits provided by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. With the support of the Buck Hill Falls golf course staff, the nest boxes were installed (ten in 2010 with ten additional boxes erected in 2011) in pairs, on the community’s golf course. Two additional nest boxes, in place at the Camp Club building, have provided direct experience for the children in studying the ecology, particularly the nesting cycle of any bird species occupying the boxes. Critical to the success of the project has been the commitment of the Pocono Avian Research Center and the Buck Hill Falls Conservation Foundation in conducting weekly monitoring of the nest boxes over two nesting seasons, from April through August. Pocono Avian Research Center also produces an annual report for the project. In 2011, with the initial ten nest boxes in place, thirty eastern bluebirds and twentysix tree swallows were fledged. Many more swallows and bluebirds fledged from the twenty boxes on the golf course this year. The collaborative nature of this project, with all of the project partners working together to bring it to fruition, has been an essential element in its success in enhancing the community and its natural resources.
District Wildlife Conservation Officer Phillip White; Stuart Sopko, Camp Club; Golf Superintendent Tim Stem; Jack Mitchell, Camp Club; PA Game Commission Officer Bill Williams; John Jose, Otter Creek Environmental Education Services; Jackie Spiecher, Pocono Avian Research Center and Fred Ruben, Buck Hill Conservation Foundation
FALL 2012
Buck Hill Birder By Frank May I recently had a conversation with Ed Kendall, another birding enthusiast and nature photographer, about the book I mentioned in my last article, 100 Birds to See Before You Die by Chandler and Couzens. One of the birds featured was the Red Cockaded Woodpecker, number 43. Ed grew up in Texas and said the Red Cockaded used to be fairly common around Houston but have now mostly disappeared because of habitat destruction. The Red Cockaded Woodpecker requires a very specialized habitat, as it constructs its nest cavities in mature, healthy pine trees that have survived periodic fires that suppress the growth of the under story. The male may take up to two years to excavate a nest hole. It will also strip off some of the bark around the hole to encourage the flow of sap. The sap will trap insects and also discourage snakes from entering the cavity. The sticky pine sap irritates the skin of any would-be egg thief. Modern forest management has discouraged fires, especially in agricultural areas with growing residential populations such as Texas and Florida. This has resulted in a notable decline in the numbers of Red Cockaded Woodpeckers to the point where they are now considered endangered. We usually spend a couple of weeks in Florida, and by this time I have managed to check off most of the birds that are endemic to the state. So far the Red Cockaded has eluded me. Maybe this winter I’ll get lucky. The last bird listed in the 100 bird “bucket list” is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. This is somewhat of a non-starter as, until recently, the Ivory-billed had long been considered extinct. As related in The Grail Bird by author Tim Gallagher, the bird has been rediscovered and credible sightings by a number of people have been recorded. There was a great deal of fanfare when the Cornell Ornithological Laboratory and the Audubon Society made the news public. Since the book was published in 2005, I have seen very little new information. Initially, I was skeptical and thought that these most renowned organizations had “jumped the gun” without verifiable documentation - namely photographs. I have lately become of the opinion that the ornithological community is keeping mum about the status of the bird for its own protection. Any specific information about the location of a surviving population would send up a hoard of hopeful birders anxtious to add this most celebrated bird to their list. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is very reclusive and purposefully avoids people. This is probably learned behavior from centuries of avoiding hunters. This is also true, to a lesser extent, of the Pileated Woodpecker, but it seems to me that they are growing more tolerant of people as is evidenced by the frequency of sightings here in Buck Hill. The presence of a rare bird can be a financial boom for a local economy where motels, B&Bs, eateries and guides can take advantage of the influx of birding “listers.” This is true for several small towns in the lower peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin which host flocks of birders seeking the Kirklands Warbler in the spring. This rare and endangered little bird only nests in new growth Jack Pine forests that are recovering from fires. No periodic fires, no Kirklands Warblers. The bird is rarely seen in migration, flying mostly non-stop to its winter grounds in the Bahamas. Another one for my “Bucket List.” Here in Buck Hill we have had multiple reports of a solitary mature Bald Eagle around the golf club. This is becoming an annual event, no doubt fostered by the abundance of trout in the creek, courtesy of Jock Miller and his merry men.
This Eagle was spotted by Jim and Sally Sherratt from the bridge of Blue #9 —on the golf course. (Photo by Ed Kendall) He had a fine perch overlooking the creek, keeping an eye out for trout in Buck Hill Creek. He is not “catch and release”...he is “catch and eat.”