Peter Alden Wild Life

A hundred brave souls in 20 parties endured a morning snowstorm and afternoon frosty winds on the 50th Concord Christmas Bird Count.

Rosita Corey participated in her 50th straight count! Smaller birds and some hawks congregated at feeders, waterfowl huddled in open stretches of the Assabet, and snow attacked our binoculars.Sixty species were noted despite the weather. Dick Walton gave out 100 copies of his Birds of the Sudbury Valley at the area wide countdown at Winty and Andrea Harrington’s in Lincoln.

As the initiator of the count in 1960 (while attending CCHS), I was excited to have a “yard bird” (first time I’ve seen it in my yard) fly over the Assabet River behind my house; an adult Bald Eagle in momentary sunshine cruising just over the trees.

Presuming this would be the only sighting on the count, I was hoping for a “way to go” at the evening Conantum countdown hosted again by Henry Keutman and Ilene Gipson (who do the Walden Woods sector). It turned out with so many alert birders everywhere, various adult and immature Bald Eagles were seen all over town. They were seen by the Strawberry Hill, Lowell Road and Great Meadows parties. Bald Eagles nest as close as Lunenburg and commute in winter between the Quabbin and the Merrimack. Eagles (and Ravens) scavenge deer carcasses on icy ponds, some of which are forced on ice by coyotes.

Something is going on with a small slate-gray bird, with a stubby pink bill, distinct white belly and flashy white outer tail feathers. This winter Concord is being invaded by Dark-eyed Juncos. Large and small flocks visit feeders and roadsides. Over 1800 were noted, many more than usual. Some sensed a decrease in chickadees. The Ruffed Grouse was missed again for the fifth year in a row. Thank you to all the outdoor and indoor birders from David Sibley to the feeder watchers to the budding birders at the Sanborn Middle School.

Our results (with some notes on sites, sectors or observers):

Waterbirds and Raptors:
Double-crested Cormorant 1 (very rare inland in winter; seen by Taber Allison and Wayne Klockner on Sudbury River behind Emerson Hospital and on Concord River behind Hutchin’s Farm by Dan Wells party),Great Blue Heron 2, Canada Goose 306 (most on Assabet at Nashoba Brook mouth), Am. Black Duck 21, Mallard 167, Hooded Merganser 1 (Monument St.), Common Merganser 4 (Gary Clayton behind Damonmill), Bald Eagle 2 or 3, Sharp-shinned Hwk 1 (Walden Woods), Cooper’s Hawk 9 (Dinny McIntyre watched one capture and leisurely eat a junco at her nearby feeder), Red-tailed Hawk 25, Wild Turkey 34 (Barrett Farm and Conantum flocks found; and 3 are regularly begging donuts at the Acton Rte 62 Dunkin Donuts), Ring-billed Gull 8; Herring Gull 1 (Scott Edwards party), Great Black-backed Gull 2.

Pigeons to Woodpeckers:
Rock Pigeon 72, Mourning Dove 314, Eastern Screech-Owl 3 (Susan Clark in Conantum), (too windy for the bigger owls), Short-eared Owl 1 (rose out of the cat-tails behind David Sibley on the south side of the dyke at Great Meadows; very rare here and seen by Bryan Windmiller, Julia Yoshida and Claudio Topolcic), Belted Kingfisher 2 (Sudbury River), Red-bellied Woodpecker 43, Downy Woodpecker 174, Hairy Woodpecker 50, Northern Flicker 2 (Henry Moss party on Lowell Rd.), Pileated Woodpecker 1 (White Pond area by David Swain and Ellie Horwitz; probably a dozen in town, missed the rest).

Songbirds through Starlings:
Simon Perkins found all three of wintering “ground birds at Hanscom at sundown with 7 Snow Buntings, 6 Lapland Longspurs and a Horned Lark when visual sight rules came into effect. Blue jays are doing well with 447 counted, American Crow 192, Black-capped Chickadee 635, Tufted Titmouse 319, White-breasted Nuthatch 189, Red-breasted Nuthatch 2, Brown Creeper 9, Carolina Wren 31, Marsh Wren 2 (Great Meadows), Golden-crowned Kinglet 16 (including Nashawtuc Hill by John Stevens and Mary Horvath), Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 (Great Meadows at end of dyke), Eastern Bluebird 90, Hermit Thrush 2 (Strawberry Hill Road by Bob and Barrett Lawson; Barrett’s Bird Finding Guide to Costa Rica is just out; come to his show and signing at Drumlin Farm Thursday Jan. 14th at 7 pm), Northern Mockingbird 18 (may be declining), Cedar Waxwing 58, European Starling 378.

Cardinals to Sparrows:
Northern (Red) Cardinal 337, American Tree Sparrow 227, Savannah Sparrow 6 (Barrett Farm area), Fox Sparrow 3 (at feeders including Corey feeder), Lincoln’s Sparrow 2 (Dan Wells party on Monument St and another feeder report; very rare winterer but increasingly slightly), Song Sparrow 143, Swamp Sparrow 3 (1 at north edge of Warner’s Pond), White-throated Sparrow 473 (many more than usual), White-crowned Sparrow 2 (John Bordman’s feeder north of Monument Street “bridge” and Shadyside Lane by Simon Perkins and Dick Walton), Dark-eyed (formerly Slate-colored) Junco 1803, Red-winged Blackbird 2, Brown-headed Cowbird 1, House Finch 94 (sensing decrease), American Goldfinch 422 and House Sparrow 232.

My final summary report on the groupings of organisms and the people who found them during Walden Biodiversity Days in 2009 and 1998 is finished and can be downloaded here (5.7 MB).

These events wouldn’t have been possible without hundreds of experts and helpers of all sorts deserve our gratitude for their time in the field and lab and computer, and their incredible expertise.

This year, the fine gatherings organized by the Walden Woods Project at the Minute Man National Park, the lovely breakfast at the Brace’s, the luncheon tent at the Winter/Rasmussens, and the cookout under the massive tent at the Thoreau Institute were memorable. Kudos to Kathy Anderson and her staff at WWP and to Tom Jones for a great job on the video tribute to Ed Wilson on his 80th featuring Jane Goodall, Ed Begley, Jr. and Don Henley. And thanks to Richard Carey and Daniel Hastings at the Brooklyn Blogfather for the project website and photo gallery where we have published Walden Biodiversity Days’ findings.

Because of everyone’s efforts the cumulative results are likely the most complete list of summer biodiversity anywhere in the inland northeastern U.S.

Download the report http://peteraldenwildlife.com/media/WaldenBiodiversityResults.pdf (5.7 MB) or visit the project website http://www.waldenbiodiversity.com and photo gallery http://picasaweb.google.com/waldenbiodiversity for the complete reports and findings from Walden Biodiversity Days.

In the run-up to Thanksgiving this week Shannon Mullen of National Public Radio interviewed me and Martha Stewart about Oriental Bittersweet, one of the most aggressively destructive invasive plants in the North East US and a staple of holiday decorations. Not surprisingly we come to different conclusions about it’s place at the table.

My thanks go out to many people for helping make Walden Biodiversity Day II in July a success. Our report and checklists are complete and now combine data from the historic 1998 Biodiversity Day with this summer’s event. The total number of species seen in 1998 and 2009 now stands at 2,579. For more information follow these links:

• Report on Biodiversity Day II
• Combined 2009 & 1998 Species Lists
• Downloadable 1998 Species Lists
• Still Photography (opens in new window)
  
• Web Videos

Since Biodiversity Day in July I’ve been working on a combined species list for the 1998 and 2009 events, and beginning to assemble an online gallery of all the photos we’ve received. Here’s a preview:

Sometimes you’ve got to roll up your sleeves - or pants leg - to get the job done, as I was doing to identify leeches in the Concord woods during Walden Biodiversity Day, a 24-hour bio-blitz to inventory all species that can be seen with the naked eye in Concord, Carlisle and Lincoln Massachusetts.

The Worcester News-Telegram wrote an excellent article here - The crushing truth: Some ants smell funny - and there’s coverage in The Boston Globe here - A day for seeing all living things, great and small that will give you a taste of the day.

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make Walden Biodiversity Day a success!

Here’s a clip of my recent appearance on WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, once again trying to spread the word about the problem of invasive alien species.

When I say that, I know most people think of UFOs and little green men. Producer Ernie Sarro even leavened this story with some great stock footage of those kinds of aliens. But if we want our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to even have a chance to enjoy the natural world as we’ve known it, now is the time to act against this pervasive threat.

Please join me in spreading the word. Educate yourself about what to look for - write to me and I’ll recommend some books - and start in your own back yard as I did.

On July 3rd and 4th I’ll be leading the second Walden Biodiversity Day, a gathering of top naturalists and field biologists — many of whom participated in the first Biodiversity Day in 1998 — who will fan out to find, identify and photograph over a thousand species of mushrooms, plants and animals in a day.

Most notably, Edward O. Wilson will join us in the field and at both a luncheon and dinner in honor of his 80th birthday.

Walden Biodiversity Day is sponsored by The Walden Woods Project, a national non-profit organization founded by recording artist Don Henley with a mission to preserve the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau. For more information about the event visit WaldenBiodiversity.com.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal: a tiny blackbird has been tormenting pedestrians in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, guarding his nest in a behavior called “mobbing.” But has this bird gone bad or is he just getting back at the bankers for fine the economic mess they’ve gotten us in? I’ll let you decide: When Birds Go Bad

Here are some excerpts from “Nature Sense with Peter Alden” produced by Ernie Sarro. Invasive alien plants are a major threat to America’s native plants and trees. Look for my regular segment on The Expert Series which airs on many community access TV stations in Boston and beyond.