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We had an exciting week with 52 campers, age 5 to 12, attending Audubon Nature Camp at Lake
Sanborn. This year we had five teams of campers:
- Dragonfly Warriors. Sr. Counselor, Laura Johnston; Jr. Counselor, Starr Wilson; Floater, Hunter
Agee; Campers: Jacob Carpenter, Seth Carter, Spencer Carter, Cabell Eades, Davies Eades, Kreg
Harrison, Jaelon Jenkins, Walker Krein, Diego Marek
- Tree Huggers. Sr. Counselor, Craig Harrold; Jr. Counselor, Sarah Lewis; Campers: Gaston Aime,
Landes Bauter, Donnie Beck, Sierra Carter, Callie Childress, Mesa Childress, Cameron Dickey,
Jensen Hammack, Jake Harris, Delaney Head, Kyle Quiqley, Harlan Rebek
- Awesome Possums. Sr. Counselor, Emily George; Jr. Counselor, Danci Johnston; Campers: Finn
Bergblower, Justin Gao, Eduardo Gonzales, Chrissa Gungoll, Emma Horinek, Carter Keith, Lucus
Marek, Kade Quigley, Xavier Rebek, Brian Tefft, Garrett Watkins
- Magical Mushrooms. Sr. Counselor, Nokosee Fields; Jr. Counselor, Sarah Prater; Campers: Sur
Aime, Cole Brownley, Sebastian Fierro, Nicholas Fierro, Victor Gonzales, Rainier Jeffrey, Allen
Meier, Shamik Raja, Isabelle Tower, Lilli Tower, Maria jose Gonzales
- Cross-eyed Crickets. Sr. Counselor, Paige Mackey; Jr. Counselor, Beth Schrammel; Floater, Aaron
Sharp; Campers: Abby Billman, Allie Billman, Mason Bratton, Katie Donaldson, Cooper Greene,
Kenley Harrison, Laura Horinek, Jaxon Rozell, Christian Wilson
I was blessed with a great team of counselors this year. My assistant directors, Kara Wilkerson and
Kelly Agee, helped enormously. Kelly, a seasoned counselor of the kitchen, made sure everyone was
hydrated and had lots of fuel with healthy snack trays. She also has a way with asking for donations.
Kara kept everyone on schedule, especially me! We three fixed owies, soothed hot and grumpy
campers, and answered as many questions as we could. Both Kara and Susan Walker took hundreds of
photos of the week. Susan burned 70 CDs, one for each camper and counselor. The photos are also
posted to the Gallery on the PCAS website.
Our volunteer Butterflies (floaters) included Carley Dickey (former camper, beautiful voice, and first to
get the job done), Shey Harrison (second year; awesome bi-colored eyes), Destiny Fulson (our very
amazing artist), Maddie Buller (activity queen), Aaron Sharp (eager to do whatever was asked), and
Hunter Agee (former camper and fearless nature lover). They did most of the grunt work and did a
terrific job. Thank you Butterflies!
Mascots were Mushroom our white German shepard, Gypsum, the ball python, and Jasper the leopard
gecko.
Each morning we started the day with a “Meet ‘n’ Greet” that included our camp creed: “Leave only
footprints and take only memories,” which we all wore proudly on our t-shirts. Campers also identified
the five yukky poisonous or venomous things at Sanborn: 1) poison ivy, 2) brown recluse spiders, 3)
black widow spiders, 4)copperhead snakes, and 5) rattlesnakes. This was also the time for learning the
day’s schedule. Then the Butterflies and Nokosee would lead us in nature-related camp songs and help
campers shake out their wiggles. After Dragonfly Warrior Seth Carter led the Fish Song, we’d break into
our teams and head for our stations.
Monday the Butterflies performed a skit about the rules of camp. We made a spider web of yarn to get
to know each other and then used the yarn to make bracelets. As in the past, our name tags were
made out of tree cookies (slices of tree limb with holes in them). Thanks, Britt for cutting those, and
Denise Rozell for stringing them!
Each camper decorated a collection box to hold all their treasures for the week. At the end of the week,
Team Counselors gave awards to each camper for their achievements during the week. An award was
also given for our Trash and Recycling Pick-up Contest. This was won by the Dragonfly Warriors for the
second year in a row!!
Throughout the morning we all stopped for a healthy snack . . . some days organic, a first for some
campers. At some point each morning campers had Free Exploration Time, which they used to cloud
watch, make and check their critter cafes and bug pit traps at their Hidey Holes (each team’s secret
hideout), work on their final-day skits, or just explore.
Some of the campers’ favorite things were their secret Hidey Holes, hiking, fishing, canoeing, holding
the snakes and geckos, and exploring nature, just to see what they could find and observe.
A huge THANK YOU! to every one of the following people who truly made the 2008 camp exceptional:
Elicia Ligon, PCAS, with the help from her fearless assistant Chey Johnston, showed a bearded dragon,
ball python, rat snake, ground snake, three baby turtles, an alligator snapping turtle, and an adult red-
ear slider . . .and, of course, 13-year-old Ben, the Ligon’s female tortoise. OSU Entomologist, Andrew
Puckett, was a big hit with his arthropods. The campers particularly liked to hold and observe the
millipedes. Patty Imboden, PCAS, led several plant walks, on one, even finding a turtle laying her eggs,
to the great excitement of the campers. Regular guests of Nature Day and Nature Camp, Rodger Ensign
and assistant Bev Miner from Pawnee’s Skedee Creek Preserve, brought us several exotic animals: a
lemur, a ferret, two green parrots, and a kinkajou.
Kim Hayes, PhD student, and Nikki Smith, Masters student with OSU Zoology brought skins and skulls
from the study collection and taught campers interesting facts about mammals. Tim O’Connell, PCAS,
introduced campers to birds and their songs and, with the help of Les Imboden and Susan Walker, also
of PCAS, took campers on a bird walk. Campers also completed a “Fill the Bill” exercise on this day in
which they matched bird bills with the food each was designed to eat. Sharla Lovern and Doug
Hamilton from OSU demonstrated vermicomposting . . . how to use worms to make compost juice.
“Oooey gooey was a worm . . .♫ ♪”
Richard & Marty Dermer provided all the materials for making kites, one of the campers’ favorite
activities. Too bad it was way to windy to fly a kite that day! With the help of Butterflies Shey and
Maddie, campers selected a photo and made a varnished plaque of their camp memories. Thanks again
to Jay Prater for cutting the cedar cookies. Also thank you to Hughes Lumber for donating the cut
lumber.
Amy Schepers, OSU Zoology Club, helped us explore life underwater. Each camper was able to seine,
and all kinds of water invertebrates were discovered and examined! Ruby Diamond set up in a quiet
corner and taught campers Nature Yoga. Andy George, Natural Resource ecology & Mgt. husband of
Awesome Possum Sr. Counselor, Emily, showed us venomous and nonvenomous snakes.
Drew Lane, Dane Balsman, Nathan Evans, and Jared & Codi Lorenson of OSU American Fisheries
Society put on a fishing clinic. Lots of worms flew through the air and several fish were proudly caught.
Sondra Williams from Lone Creek Mushrooms of Perkins gave a great talk on how cool and healthy
shitake mushrooms are. Each camper got to take home a mushroom log to grow themselves! This day
campers also explored Critter Habitat with Dwayne Elmore, assistant professor, Natural Resource
Ecology & Management, and also got to try his spotting scope.
Jennifer Tressler with Sustainable Stillwater came and taught us about recycling, reducing, and reusing
by leading a recycling relay and giving each camper a reusable shopping bag to personalize. Friday
Mother Nature graced us with calm waters, so campers got a chance to take to the water, thanks to
Les Imboden, Mark McKenzie, Tim Harris, Denise Rozell (proud Cross-eyed Crickets and Butterfly mom)
and Bert Eades (proud Dragonfly Warrior dad) who loaned and manned their canoes.
Food, cash, and supplies were donated by Food Pyramid, both Walmarts, Atwoods, Joseppi’s, Eskimo
Joe’s Hastings, Hideaway, Cherokee Strip, Alice Fowler, Stillwater Mill, Kevin Wilson, Black Cat Oil, Sims
Auto Wash, and Dupree’s. Special thanks to all these businesses.
The city provided a safe and manicured trail and grounds. Thank you also to the Isaac Walton League
for the use of their lodge. Thanks also to Cheryl Baker and Stacy Watkins for providing a black widow
and egg sack that hatched at camp! Thanks, too, to Les Imboden for the critters he brought to
observe. Very special thanks to my family and staff for being such a wonderful, fun team and
supporting me teaching children the wonders of nature!
Next year PCAS is set to provide two one-week Nature Camps. We will need more members to help
sponsor these 100+ campers. Camp is all about getting our youth outside and in tune with nature
away from the TV and video games. They are our future. Studies show that children who spend time in
nature are less likely to be involved in criminal behavior. For many it is their first time to explore, fish, or
to even be in a boat. My family and I are proud to be a part of this and have a blast watching them!
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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
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When an upcoming field trip to Cross Timbers Experimental Range was announced at the March general
Payne County Audubon Society (PCAS) meeting, several members wanted to know what was meant by
Cross Timbers. Cross Timbers is a natural area called an ecotone. The earth is divided into large natural
areas each containing a characteristic community of plants and animals. Examples include the
deciduous forest, prairie, and desert. The overlapping area between two or more of these large natural
areas is called an ecotone. In the Cross Timbers ecotone, hardwood forests of the east merge with the
prairies of the west creating a mosaic of upland forests and open areas. Cross Timbers occur in
Oklahoma, southeast Kansas, western Arkansas, and Central Texas. Descriptions and maps of Cross
Timbers can be found at www.uark.edu/misc/xtimber/introduction.html.
Cross Timbers once involved large expanses of thick growth of trees and underbrush that formed an
almost impenetrable barrier for early explorers. Washington Irving described it in 1835 as “like
struggling through forests of cast iron” (Irving, A Tour of the Prairies, p. 21). The ongoing destruction
and fragmentation of the area resulted in the formation of a Cross Timbers Consortium to promote
research, education, and conservation of these ancient systems. A memorandum of understanding
unites universities in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas with industries, conservation
organizations, and governmental agencies for this purpose.
Relatively undisturbed tracts of trees in Cross Timbers still exist. Many upland forests are located on
steep terrains that are unsuitable for farming and development. In addition, the short stout trees,
mostly post oak and blackjack oaks, are not suitable for lumber production. Thus, even though these
trees are not very tall, many are 200 to 400 years old.
Oklahoma State University is an essential part of the consortium. The OSU Cross Timbers Experimental
Range comprises 1,820 acres and is the site of many research studies. While on a recent PCAS field trip
to observe birds in the Cross Timbers, Chris Stansberry, manager of the OSU Range Research Station
informed us that the research station focuses on natural resources and ecological management with an
emphasis on prescribed fires. Chris stated that the station also serves as a natural resource
demonstration and educational facility. He encourages groups to tour the facilities. The headquarters is
on Coyle Road, just south of 44th Street. Interested groups can contact Chris Stansberry, 405-612-
6203 or frsu@okstate.edu. Further information on the range can be obtained at
http://frsu.okstate.edu/osu-researchrange and click on “OSURR Cross Timbers Research Range.”
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NWF NAMES GLOVER PROPERTY "CERTIFIED WILDLIFE HABITAT"
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On April 22, Edwin Glover, of 1111West Knapp Avenue, Stillwater, was awarded a certificate of
achievement which designated his yard an official National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife
Habitat™. With this award, Glover joins a prestigious group of NWF members across the country who
have been recognized for protecting and nurturing wildlife in their own yards, schools, and community
spaces.
In order to become certified a property must provide the four basic elements that all wildlife need:
Food, water, cover, and places to raise young; and must employ sustainable gardening practices. In
addition to providing for wildlife, certified habitats conserve our natural resources by reducing or
eliminating the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation water, which ultimately protects the air,
soil, and water throughout our communities.
More information about creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat can be found at www.nwf.org/habitat.
Congratulations Ed!
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by Joyce Konigmacher
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Darn! I’m having writer’s block about what I’ve seen and am seeing in my backyard, so I shall tell you
about Sunday, May 11, a day Susan Walker and I spent birding east of Stillwater and in the Tulsa area.
We started from Susan’s house and did not stop until we got to the north side of Keystone Dam. Here
we drove up to the Tulsa Audubon’s eagle watching platform and observed Franklin’s and ring-billed
gulls, white pelicans, great blue herons, and great egrets, over or in the Arkansas River.
When we turned to observe the marsh behind us, we were pleased to see many male and female red-
winged blackbirds calling the place their own. We were admiring the eastern bluebirds on the other
side of the marsh when my eye caught a Baltimore oriole that flew high into a silver maple. We watched
it for awhile and then, of necessity, drove to the restrooms at the nearby parking lot.
Wow! Here we saw a group of six orioles: Two male orchard orioles and one male Baltimore with their
yellowish mates. They all perched in a riverside tree and then flew to the center of the river and back
as a group. Then they flew together from tree to tree as though checking the trees for future nest sites.
One of the male orchard orioles perched on a low branch in the open and sang and sang.
Mockingbirds were going crazy imitating these love songs and that of two gray catbirds who were
checking out a smallish tree near the restrooms.
We continued down the road because Susan wanted to show me the nesting bald eagles. Here is the
best photo she could get of the three goofy eaglets and the one adult who sat in a nearby tree
keeping an eye on things.
Next we went to River Park where we saw cliff and bank swallows. Susan took a photo of a scissor-
tailed flycatcher posing on the entry sign, and also got one photo of a lark sparrow who obligingly sat
atop a fence post.
After River Park, we drove to Panera’s on 15th (Cherry) Street and had lunch, and then we checked out
what was happening at nearby Swan Lake. Turned out not much was happening. The turtles, as usual,
were stacked on the island, but the only birds on the lake were several shovelers and a pair of
trumpeter swans.
On the way home we stopped on east SH51 west of Sand Springs and admired the great egret
rookery. Susan wants to hike back to it next spring and get some pix of the egret chicks and their
parents. They are in a large tree behind a pecan grove.
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IMBODEN GIVES BIRD TALK AT COVENTRY COMMUNITY SCHOOL
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by Les Imboden
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It is interesting how much traffic the club website pulls in, and from such unexpected sources. Recently
a teacher from Covenant Community School in Stillwater wanted someone to talk with her science
students about birds. She researched Audubon, found our website and e-mailed Crystal Cork with her
request.
I took the job and met with a group of 30 elementary school kids on April 28.
I took my laptop with me and used it to show the kids a collection of Jim Ownby's bird pictures. Jim's
photos are great, of course, and the kids loved them.
They talked about birding as a hobby, then I spent half an hour trying to answer an endless list of bird
questions for the kids.
Finally, I asked the kids what their ultimate, most excellent bird would look like. One of the kids
answered that it would have all the colors in the rainbow. Then I popped up a painted bunting on my
laptop, and told the kids that they could find that bird right here in Stillwater.
Who knows how many of those kids were out looking for that remarkable little bird that week?
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SOME OF THIS QUARTER'S BIRD HIKES
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Cross Timbers Bird Hike
By Jerry Wilhm
Tim O’Connell conducted one of his usual interesting and informative field trips to Cross Timbers on 15
March 2008. The cold and windy day restricted participation to four other than Tim: Marla Steele, Andy
George, Bob Freeman, and Jerry Wilhm. Tim provided information on the descriptions, habitat, and
songs of birds as well as an introduction to the Cross Timbers area, an area where hardwood forests
merge with the Great Plains. We hiked across a burned, prairie area and through an ancient woodland
(see description of Cross Timbers under “Notes from the President”).
Despite the weather conditions, we either saw or heard the calls of 44 species of birds: American Crow,
American Kestrel, American Robin, American Wigeon, Bluejay, Brown-headed Cowbird, Canada Goose,
Canvasback, Carolina Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Double-crested Cormorant, Eastern Meadowlark,
Eastern Phoebe, Field Sparrow, Gadwall, Great Blue Heron, Green-winged Teal, Harris Sparrow, House
Sparrow, Killdeer, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, Northern Flicker, Northern Mockingbird,
Northern Shoveler, Pied-billed Grebe, Redhead, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Rock Dove, Ruby-crowned
Kinglet, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-necked Duck, Red-winged blackbird, Savannah Sparrow, Sharp-shinned
Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Tufted Titmouth, Turkey Vulture, Vesper Sparrow, Western Grebe, White-
throated Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
An interesting part of the trip was observing a single Western Grebe on Lake Carl Blackwell. Tim stated
that this bird is considerably out of its western range and has spent the winter at the lake. We were
impressed with the size of this grebe (25” according to Stokes Field Guide to Birds). A startling
comparison was possible when Tim pointed out a Pied-billed Grebe (12”) nearby.
OBGA Bird Hike
By Susan Walker
A good group turned out this morning for a bird hike led by Tim O’Connell through the Oklahoma
Botanical Gardens and Arboretum: Kent Andersson & Jen Grindstaff, Jessica O’Connell, Dena Hartzell,
Les Imboden, Noah Jurkiewicz, Dustin Taylor, Cassondra Walker, and Susan Walker. It was in the 40s
and a bit nippy and overcast, not the best weather for spotting species. Nonetheless, as soon as he
was out of the car, Tim’s fine ear picked up a dozen species. Next we walked north along the
windbreak pine line hoping to hear and spot some crossbills—to no avail. We then followed the west
side of meandering Cow Creek and picked up 43 species, including a barred owl.
Ghost Hollow Bird Hike
By Susan Walker
On April 12, Les & Patty Imboden, their dog Cashew, and I (Susan Walker) met hike leader Elaine
Stebler at 9 AM at the gas station in Ripley for a bit of birding.
I managed to get in 2 hours of birding west along the river to the Stillwater Creek Bridge before we
returned to the car and Elaine dropped me back at the gas station so that I could scoot home, shower,
and attend a bridal shower at noon.
Elaine and the Imboden’s then birded a couple of puddles and east along the Cimarron to Ghost
Hollow. They spotted some interesting additional species including five in the Hirundinidae family.
All told, we identified 32 species: Greater Yellowlegs, Blue-winged Teal, American Coot, Redhead,
American Crow, Great Blue Heron, Northern Mockingbird, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-
winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Purple Martin, Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse,
Turkey Vulture, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), Carolina Wren, Bewick's Wren,
Lincoln's Sparrow, House Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Towhee, Swainson's Hawk, Red-tailed
Hawk, Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Phoebe, Great Egret, Scissortail Flycatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Blue
Jay.
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GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT SETS NEW RECORDS
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From: www.birdsource.org/gbbc/08Highlights
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Bird watchers flocked to annual winter survey
NEW YORK, NY & ITHACA, NY, MARCH 2008—Bird watchers outdid themselves during the 2008 Great
Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon
Society, with sponsorship by Wild Birds Unlimited. Participants submitted more than 85,700 checklists
during the four-day event, February 15-18, surpassing last year’s all-time record by several thousand.
Participants also identified a record 635 species and sent in thousands of stunning bird images from
around the continent.
Birders who had heard about the massive seed production failure in trees across northern Canada
were expecting a huge influx of northern finches coming south to look for food. “As predicted, there
were record numbers of GBBC reports for Pine Grosbeak,” says Rob Fergus, Senior Scientist with the
National Audubon Society. It was also a banner year for Common Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks,
reported in their highest numbers in several years.
In this year’s GBBC, Yellow-billed Magpie numbers hit a new low. Magpies, crows, and jays are
especially susceptible to the West Nile virus. For the past few years the population of Yellow-billed
Magpies has declined to a new low of 6.6 birds per report, as compared to 23.7 per report in 2004
before West Nile Virus arrived in the area. Nationwide, American Crow and Blue Jay numbers appear to
have stabilized somewhat, but bear continued monitoring as the populations of these birds continue to
adapt to the presence of this new disease.
In 2008, participants reported only 1,060 Northern Bobwhite on 218 checklists (4.64 birds per report),
down from 1,012 birds on only 130 checklists (7.78 birds per report) in 2004. Over the past five years,
Eastern Meadowlark reports from the GBBC are down from an average 8.6 birds per report to 7.5 per
report. Reports of Northern Pintail and Greater Scaup went up over the same time frame. The longer we
do the GBBC, the better our chances of spotting significant long-term changes in the numbers of these
birds.
The GBBC charts the explosive geographic expansion of Eurasian Collared-Doves. The species has
spread aggressively since introduced in Florida in 1980. For the first time, GBBC records of this bird
came from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Oregon.
This year, the GBBC recorded sightings of at least 21 species not on the official North American bird
lists—but they may be added if they continue to flourish in the wild. These include Peach-faced
Lovebirds, with 174 individuals reported from 7 communities in the Greater Phoenix area, and the 275
Black-hooded Parakeets reported in a dozen locations in Florida. In 2001, the GBBC received its first
report of a single Purple Swamphen, a Eurasian relative of the coot now found in Florida. As an
indication of how these birds may be colonizing marshes in that area, this year the GBBC received a
record high of eight checklists listing a total of 54 of these birds. The GBBC can help us keep track of
these birds so we can spot and avoid potential conflicts between our native species and these new
additions to our bird communities. In coming years, we hope to do a better job of tracking these and
other exotics, including the nearly unstudied population of Red-vented Bulbuls in Houston, Texas.
Some species showed up in Great Backyard Bird Count reports for the very first time, including Masked
Ducks in Texas, Arctic Loon in California, Scarlet Ibis in Florida, Northern Jacana in Arizona, Black-tailed
Gull in Rhode Island, Ivory Gull in South Dakota, Great Skua on the ocean off North Carolina, Yellow-
naped Parrot in Florida, Olive-sided Flycatcher in California, Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Louisiana, and
Akohekohe and Chestnut Munia in Hawaii. Each of these sightings represents a thrill for the observer,
as well as a valuable bit of information on the movements of these birds.
“Each year, awareness of the GBBC seems to spread,” says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science
Director Janis Dickinson. “Committed individuals, nature centers, parks, and schools adopted the GBBC
as their own in an unprecedented way this year. They held bird walks, ID workshops, and many other
events tied to the count.” Preschoolers built feeders out of milk jugs. An artist painted a mural of urban
Hollywood birds. One participant commented, “Participating in the bird count has given my children a
little taste of what it is like to be a scientist."
Top 10 most-reported birds in the 2008 GBBC
1) Northern Cardinal
2) Mourning Dove
3) Dark-eyed Junco
4) Downy Woodpecker
5) American Goldfinch
6) Blue Jay
7) House Finch
8) Tufted Titmouse
9) Black-capped Chickadee
10) American Crow
Top 10 most-numerous species in 2008
1) Snow Goose
2) Canada Goose
3) European Starling
4) American Robin
5) Common Grackle
6) American Crow
7) American Goldfinch
8) Dark Eyed Junco
9) Red Winged Blackbird
10) Mourning Dove
Top 10 most-numerous species in Oklahoma, 2008
1) American Goldfinch
2) Red-winged Blackbird
3) European Starling
4) American Robin
5) Dark-eyed Junco
6) Canada Goose
7) House Sparrow
8) Northern Cardinal
9) Ring-billed Gull
10) Pine siskin
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PRESENTATIONS & AWARDS TO PCAS SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
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On Thursday evening April 3, PCAS presented the three 2008 scholarship recipients with their awards
and heard reports from the two recipients who won the 2007 awards last year.
Ed Glover Scholarship Award 2008
Netherlander Paul van Els won the Ed Glover Scholarship Award, which will assist him in conducting
research on “Use of eastern red cedar in the wintering habitat of bird life in Cross Timbers.”
Van Els, from Uden, the Netherlands, earned a B.S at Wageningen University and an M.S. in Spanish-
American language from University Nijmegen the Netherlands. Van Els is working at OSU toward an M.S.
in Natural Resources Ecology, under Dr Rod Will. Van Els’ plans to work with an international
conservation organization after graduation.
Helen Miller Scholarship Award 2008
Brett Cooper won the Helen Miller Scholarship Award. He will use it to aid in research on: “Sand plum
relationships with avian abundance in southern great plains.”
Cooper, from OKC, holds a B.S from NE State University, Tahlequah. Cooper is a candidate for an M.S. at
OSU in Natural Resources Ecology with Dr. Dwayne Elmore. Cooper’s future plans are to work for the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service, preferably in Oklahoma.
PCAS Stipend
Mai Onoue from Japan, a freshman seeking a B.S. at OSU, was awarded a special PCAS stipend of $250
to help her study “The influence of ornamental plantings on the spatial distribution of house sparrows
on the OSU campus.”
After the awards presentations, last year’s recipients gave their research reports.
Erin Berghammer, from Madison, WI—the 2007 Helen Miller recipient—reported on her research titled:
“Effects of enclosure design on the behavior and physiology of captive grizzly bears.” Her research
subjects were two grizzly bears at the OKC Zoo. Berghammer, who is working on an M.S. at OSU under
Dr. Tracy Carter, hopes to combine an M.S. international program in public health with service in the
Peace Corps.
Ben Bainbridge, from Kennesawe, GA, is working toward an M.S. in Zoology under the direction of Dr.
Kristin Baum. Bainbridge reported on his research titled, “Red cockaded woodpecker tree cavity damage
by Hurricane Rita: An evaluation of contributing effects.” Bainbridge plans to work for an environmental
organization in Sun Valley, ID.
Attending the evening program were April Bagwill, Ben Bainbridge, Kristen Baum, Ben Beas, Vince
Cavalieri, Brett Cooper, Leslie & Duane Elmore, Paul van Els, Edwin Glover, Les & Patty Imboden, Jen
Grindstaff, Helen Jordan, Karen Melcher, Freddy Miller, Helen Miller, Dan Moore, Jessica O’Connell, Tim O’
Connell, Sjoerd Radstack, Niki Skeleton, Lu Skillern, Susan Walker, and Jerry Wilhm.
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Big Bend, TX, with a Backpack
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By Les Imboden
Is this true with you? Any bird that has “common” in its name is always uncommon to me. Like the
Common Black-Hawks my son and I and five others saw while on a Sierra Club backpacking trip I led in
Texas’ Big Bend over Spring Break.
We thought it was sooo special, getting to see them circling overhead a couple of times. Then, as we
hiked out they posed on a rock ridge not 100 feet from us. It was about then someone looked back and
saw this large nest in the cottonwoods at the spring we had just left. Oh! So, that’s why they kept
hanging around.
That little copse of mixed trees was a magnet for birds, some of which we are still debating. The Black-
Hawk was first ID’d as a Zone-tailed. The resident woodpeckers were first Ladder-backed, then maybe
Flickers, then Gilas (yeah, right), then female Red-bellied. We did finally get it right, but it took a while.
They were Golden-fronted. Yep, we’re a bunch of wizards, we are.
Happily, there were plenty we didn’t have to strain over. My personal favorite is the Pyrrhuloxia. I’ve
seen them there several times, but had never seen them in the company of Northern Cardinals. This
trip there were about equal numbers of both at the remote springs. It makes it hard to know which one
you are listening to. Sibley doesn’t mention them cross-breeding, but they would have to. Could you tell
a hybrid from a Pyrrhuloxia?
You just can’t mention the Chihuahuan Desert without throwing in some of the usual suspects. We
expected to see Road Runners and Eurasian Collared and Mourning Doves, and we did. Always Black
Vultures, sort of mixed in up there with the ever-present TVs. And the Black-throated Sparrows that I
have only seen in this location. And one seriously misplaced Meadow Lark. It is just strange to see one
of those perched on an ocotillo.
And then there was the Lesser Goldfinch. You know the one in the book that has a totally black back?
Well, it makes up half the illustrations in the book, but it is not that common. We saw ones like that and
knew it instantly. But, it was the first time I had seen one in real life. It’s sort of like seeing orange
House Finches. Sure it happens, but you don’t see them all that often.
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Birthday Gift.
In honor of Jerry Wilhm’s birthday (we’re not saying which one), his son Jerry Jr. and wife, Cathy, in
Michigan donated $100 to PCAS to support a full and a partial scholarship for a summer Nature Camper.
Understand that son Jerry and his wife donate to PCAS each year. Thank you, Jerry and Cathy!
Erica Miller in Eagle Banding Video.
See a news video broadcast Fri., April 25 in which Freddy Miller’s daughter Erica is shown helping band
eaglets in NJ: http://abclocal. go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local &id=6104733. Here’s a sneak
preview of Erica Miller (right) with an eaglet.
Nashville Warbler.
Nashville Warbler kamikazied on my windows in late April. A tiny, beautiful bird. Gave it and a window-
killed goldfinch to Elaine Stebler for the OSU teaching collections.
Apology.
It was brought to my attention that in the PCAS History I neglected to give Kate Hellgren due credit for
her stellar years with the PCAS. My apology. Kate’s tenure covered a period when I was doing more
bicycling than birding and was not an active member of PCAS. I have updated the PCAS History on the
“About Us” page of the website.
Life in the Wilds.
We’ve got a pair of summer tanagers that just won’t quit. The male lights repeatedly on an upper story
window and pecks at its reflection. Then there’s the baby crow who hoarsely croaks, “naggghh” all day
and the baby and adult red-tailed hawks that screech high pitched “skeeeee, skeeeee” messages to
each other. Not to mention the nesting eastern phoebe under the carport that distributes her chicks’
fecal sacs across the entry deck and her own doo-doo on my car whilst perched on the antenna. Life in
the wilds can be, well, wild!
McGee-Brown Donation.
In May, Doctor Mary Jo McGee-Brown of Athens, GA, donated $300 to the PCAS. President Jerry Wilhm
and the rest of the PCAS Board and membership extend our thank-you to Dr McGee-Brown for this
generous donation, which will help us to continue our nature education programs and educate and
inform the community and our members through our web site and the publication of this newsletter.
Donations say one cares about birds and nature. Remember also: All donations are tax deductible.
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It was in the mid 40’s and windy at 7 AM, May 3rd, when Jeff and I got to the Imboden’s for the PCAS
Bird & Breakfast. The chilly temp and wind made the air uncomfortably cold for eating outside, even
though Patty had a chimenea roaring, so after braving it for a bit of backyard birding, we moved the
operation inside. Freddy Miller and Elaine Stebler arrived and that’s where it stood six PCAS-ers for the
2008 B&B.
To complicate matters, Les had had an operation to reattach his bicep muscle at the elbow only the
previous Thursday, so was handicapped a bit. Nonetheless we had some good breakfast goodies and
birded the property, turning up the following species: field, chipping, Lincoln’s, Lark, and Harris’
sparrows; barn swallow, red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks; eastern bluebird, blue jay, great blue
heron, mockingbird, eastern phoebe, pine siskin, red-winged blackbird, Carolina wren, turkey vulture,
brown-headed cowbird, American crow, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, bluegray gnatcatcher,
great-crested flycatcher, eastern kingbird, scissor-tailed flycatcher, American goldfinch, Canada goose,
ruby-throated hummer, bobwhite quail, and tufted titmouse. Les is pretty sure we heard a white-eyed
vireo, too.
Jeff had to leave at 10:30 to get ready for graduation, and Les had to rest and elevate his arm, so
Elaine and I went alone to the pond north of Imboden’s where Les and I had seen solitary and
semipalmated sandpipers. There were several killdeer there to use for size comparison and we
identified three Baird’s sandpipers and a single sandpiper that could have been a solitary or a
semipalmated.
While we could have used a little more OK heat, the morning was great fun and good birding on this
wonderful property.
Thank you Les and Pat!
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