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Index of Subjects Hi David, and all, One of the major problems that I have with comparisons that involve cats, road collisions, window collisions, and habitat destruction, is that it seems to be assumed that the same species of birds are evenly distributed across areas of remote woodlands, marshes, city parks, McMansion suburbia, apple orchards, and seashores. That's really not giving much credit to certain types of forest providing very specific habitat for birds that favour remote woodlands, "old forest" hardwood stands, Black Spruce wetlands, and so on. Let's take, for example, Corbett-Dalhousie Lake's hardwood stand in Annapolis -- a truly wonderful area where you won't hear the sound of a vehicle for hours, or barely a plane flying over throughout a whole day. I posted a bird list for it last week -- that Scott Leslie and a couple of other experienced birders (and research people) also counted in that forest: Blackburnian warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Magnolia Warbler Yellow-rumped warbler Black and White Warbler Red-eyed vireo Blue-headed vireo Ovenbird Yellow-bellied sapsucker Winter wren Northern waterthrush Northern parula Spotted sandpiper (at the shore) Eastern wood pewee Northern goshawk I'm expect you could have at least 2 or 3 off of that list in your Wolfville backyards, but really -- Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warblers, Black-throated Blue, or Black-throated Green Warblers? Somehow that strikes me as unlikely. I'm guessing that you might see more Bluejays, Cardinals, Robins, Starlings, Song Sparrows and others that I would think of as being more "urban" or "suburban" birds that have become very tolerant of human noise and activity. Now, if we all devoted a lot more serious effort to "road ecology" -- similar to that done by Dr. Fred Schueler (a long-time member of this list) or Kari Gunson -- co-authors of the recently published "Wildlife on Roads: A Handbook," we might be able to speak with some authority on which species of birds are being killed by auto collisions, or collisions with windows, and that might even take care of the "cat theory" as well. The birds mostly likely to fall victim to those deaths are, I would imagine, the more suburban and urban dwellers, and not those that reside in isolated forests. In my many visits to Corbett-Dalhousie Lake, I have barely seen a moving vehicle. There are no glass windows. There are no cats. I have found no road-killed birds. However, there is plenty of clearcutting and partial cutting, and variable harvesting, and all the "other" cutting that we're being told is done as alternatives to clearcutting -- most of which remove more than 70 percent of the trees -- and sometimes as much as 80 to 100 percent. I suspect that fledglings being hit by cars are the least of a bird's problems out there. If I sound a little jaded on the car collision and cat theories that are so often trotted out by certain individuals at Min. of Environment and Min. of Lands and Forestry as being the "real culprits" for bird death, I apologize. I guess I've just seen too much of what's going on out here in "real bird country" and not so much of what's going on in "city and suburban bird country", or along roadways through farming country. I think we all need to get with it and begin approaching this topic seriously -- realizing that many of our most threatened species are not going to be saved by putting up bird feeders and bird houses to replace the more remote and varied habitat which they require in order to survive. bev wigney Round Hill On 6/17/19, David Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > Hi John and all, > > Just to be the Devil's Advocate, one should bear in mind that, > while or shortly after birds are learning to fly a great many suffer > collisions with motor vehicles. As an order of magnitude guess I suspect > about 100 times as many die on highways as in logging operations. After > all, logging involves about 1% of woodland annually year round and if > the critical nesting period spans two months then the area involved is > (1/6)% or one part in 600. > > Should one be required to walk ahead of motor vehicles during this > period, blowing a horn during daytime and swinging a lantern at night ? > > Dave W, Kentville > > On 6/17/2019 3:10 PM, John and Nhung wrote: >> The forest ecosystems of Nova Scotia owe you big-time, Bev. You get the >> credit for starting this particular train rolling. If this leads to a >> moratorium (or better still, a ban) on logging during nesting seasons, >> well ... I think we should all do what we can to maintain the momentum >> which has been started in that direction. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] >> On Behalf Of Bev Wigney >> Sent: June 17, 2019 12:30 PM >> To: naturens >> Subject: [NatureNS] Good interview about nesting migratory birds on >> Information Morning today >> >> All, >> >> As many of you know, I've been quite involved for some time >> (understatement) in trying to get LAF to acknowledge and pay serious >> attention to ecology and conservation issues at Corbett-Dalhousie Lake >> Forest here in Annapolis County. You will probably have read that >> after the discovery of Chimney Swift activity at the forest, and >> probable nesting in the huge Yellow Birch of that forest that have >> numerous hollows and cavities -- and then other migratory species on >> territory -- and the confirmation of at least one nest in the centre >> of the forest -- a hold was finally called on operations late Friday >> afternoon. (Sigh of relief -- for a little while, at least). >> >> Anyhow, if you've been following the news, you'll have heard that >> certain individuals in the forestry industry have been stating that >> logging crews are trained to watch for and avoid bird nests during >> harvest operations, but there was an admission that sometimes nests >> are probably destroyed - Information Morning interview last week. >> >> An interview was made on Friday -- with Scott Leslie -- who spent most >> of last week out at Corbett Lake searching for Swift nesting trees and >> other migratory bird nests. He must have been interviewed earlier on >> Friday before the Minister's public announcement about the hold on >> operations. I think many of you would find the interview with Scott >> of interest. This link should take you directly to the podcast. >> https://tunein.com/podcasts/Morning-Shows/Information-Morning-Nova-Scotia-p1781 >> >> bev wigney >> Round Hill >