Thank you for all the work you do and for the educational updates on COBirds. I very much appreciate being able to learn from these.
Jean Stevenson, Aurora CO
Birders,
Normally, Piping Plover broods hatch 26 days after incubation begins. One nest was due to hatch today, but is running a little behind schedule. One additional nest should hatch next Wednesday. It's a tough world out there. A brood that hatched three young two weeks ago is apparently down to one survivor, due, I think, to coyotes. There's no way any of our nests would hatch without predator-resistant cages here, and even with them, one wily coyote dug under the metal fence and depredated a fourth nest. And, merely hatching does not put an end to continual threats.
I am not an island working here. I have bosses and agencies I report to. I would never put up a closure without permission from every agency, section and landowner involved. I wanted a closure at Sweetwater, but, due to incredibly low visitation and the complicated ownership situation, had to live with the recommendation that a closure was probably unnecessary. This is not entirely unprecedented or unwarranted. Just last year we chose not to close one nest location at John Martin, due to the large amount of closures already in place there, and the low probability of disturbance to that nest. In that case, we had a successful nest outcome, and we made the right choice. We never needed a strategy at Sweetwater before this year, because Piping Plovers have never nested there in the past, they're only there this year because of a fluke rainstorm of 8 1/2 inches last July, and the reality that the lake will be entirely dry for the forseeable future with a couple more weeks of hot weather and evaporation.
I did not respond immediately to the first email I got regarding Piping Plovers at Sweetwater, because I spent last weekend backpacking and climbing with my son in the Weminuche Wilderness. This was my first two-day break since early April, and long overdue. I did not have a cell phone or service, and, being something of a Luddite, do not get or send emails by phone. When I got home Sunday evening, I wrote to Steve thanking him for the information, and, especially, not posting to cobirds or ebird. I got a pleasant reply: "I figured that making this knowledge public was not a good thing. . ." It was not until Monday that I found that the number of birds and location had been posted to ebird.
I have worked with endangered species for a long time. I know that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) applies equally on public or private land, posted or not. This act is powerful. One need not intentionally harass an endangered species in order to be liable for damage done. I know closure signs would have added protection to the birds, but they simply could not be put up immediately. For the benefit of the birding public, any appearance of Piping Plovers or Least Terns in June or July in Southeast Colorado should give pause. The correct response would probably be to depart the area as soon as possible, and contact the correct person or agency.
I hope this is a learning situation for a lot of people. I have no hard feelings. I know there are situations where posting an endangered species to a birding network is perfectly legitimate, as when clearly a migrant. In this case, it was not.
Respectfully,
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County CO
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Normally, Piping Plover broods hatch 26 days after incubation begins. One nest was due to hatch today, but is running a little behind schedule. One additional nest should hatch next Wednesday. It's a tough world out there. A brood that hatched three young two weeks ago is apparently down to one survivor, due, I think, to coyotes. There's no way any of our nests would hatch without predator-resistant cages here, and even with them, one wily coyote dug under the metal fence and depredated a fourth nest. And, merely hatching does not put an end to continual threats.
I am not an island working here. I have bosses and agencies I report to. I would never put up a closure without permission from every agency, section and landowner involved. I wanted a closure at Sweetwater, but, due to incredibly low visitation and the complicated ownership situation, had to live with the recommendation that a closure was probably unnecessary. This is not entirely unprecedented or unwarranted. Just last year we chose not to close one nest location at John Martin, due to the large amount of closures already in place there, and the low probability of disturbance to that nest. In that case, we had a successful nest outcome, and we made the right choice. We never needed a strategy at Sweetwater before this year, because Piping Plovers have never nested there in the past, they're only there this year because of a fluke rainstorm of 8 1/2 inches last July, and the reality that the lake will be entirely dry for the forseeable future with a couple more weeks of hot weather and evaporation.
I did not respond immediately to the first email I got regarding Piping Plovers at Sweetwater, because I spent last weekend backpacking and climbing with my son in the Weminuche Wilderness. This was my first two-day break since early April, and long overdue. I did not have a cell phone or service, and, being something of a Luddite, do not get or send emails by phone. When I got home Sunday evening, I wrote to Steve thanking him for the information, and, especially, not posting to cobirds or ebird. I got a pleasant reply: "I figured that making this knowledge public was not a good thing. . ." It was not until Monday that I found that the number of birds and location had been posted to ebird.
I have worked with endangered species for a long time. I know that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) applies equally on public or private land, posted or not. This act is powerful. One need not intentionally harass an endangered species in order to be liable for damage done. I know closure signs would have added protection to the birds, but they simply could not be put up immediately. For the benefit of the birding public, any appearance of Piping Plovers or Least Terns in June or July in Southeast Colorado should give pause. The correct response would probably be to depart the area as soon as possible, and contact the correct person or agency.
I hope this is a learning situation for a lot of people. I have no hard feelings. I know there are situations where posting an endangered species to a birding network is perfectly legitimate, as when clearly a migrant. In this case, it was not.
Respectfully,
Duane Nelson
Las Animas, Bent County CO
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
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To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/55A93B55.3050201%40centurytel.net.
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