Nancy Hausle-Johnson and John Wright have again combined their talents and created a beautiful table!  We are raffling this item off with all proceeds to benefit the Alaska Bird Observatory.

Table dimensions: 37.5"L x 21.5"W x 15.75"H. Value: $550.

This spectacular table features White-fronted Geese, a common spring migrant to the Fairbanks area.  Tickets are available at ABO’s Center for Education and Research.

The drawing will be December 17th, 2010 at ABO’s Center for Education and Research.  You do not need to be present to win.

Many thanks to Nancy Hausle-Johnson and John Wright for donating this beautiful and unique prize!

The Petroleum Reserve Crew (Biologist Peter Elstner and Intern Luke Eberhart-Phillips) had difficult terrain to negotiate, but were successful!

The ALMS crew on Kodiak Island completed their Uganik Island, Wide Bay and Dog Salmon River points. After a day of inhospitable weather – things cleared and they could work!

Go to the Research Updates link to find out what is happening on these and other projects.

Sign up for fall field trips at the Alaska Bird Observatory

Visit ABO’s bird banding station with your students this fall!  Observe songbirds up close while learning about scientific research and conservation. Your class will also learn about the natural and human history of Creamer’s Field, explore different habitats on the refuge, and visit the historic farmhouse.  The sign up period begins August 11 at 9 AM and ends at 12 PM on August 17.  The schedule will be available by 5 PM on August 17.  For more information or to register call ABO at 451-7159.  More information is also available here.

The Summer Arctic Warbler Newsletter is out! ABO Board of Directors Jeff Walters tells about his volunteer time with the National Park Service and the Alaska Region Inventory & Monitoring Program, carrying out bird surveys along the Noatak River in northwest Alaska. The Species Spotlight is the Arctic Tern (the little bird with the longest migration route); the Conservation Corner highlights what to do if you find a baby bird on the ground; and we tell you about ABO’s Alaska Bird Camp, Youth Mentoring Program,  and the upcoming Sandhill Crane Festival.

Baby birds are out and about and they aren’t very experienced fliers yet. Some of them may fly into windows. A simple, effective deterrent has been developed by the folks at the Bird Screen Company. These screens can be mounted a number of ways, all simple and quick. ABO now carries these screens – come by and see them! This link has photos of the screen on windows and of the different mounting mechanisms.

Standard Bird Screen has black top and bottom frames, black fiberglass screening (replaceable), is attached by screw hooks or suction cup brackets, and the bottom is attached to the window pane with suction cups. Hardware for mounting both ways is included with every Bird Screen. 24″ wide – $20/  30″ wide – $22.50/ 36″ wide – $25.

Why does this happen? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “One of the greatest hazards to birds is plate glass, with windows in homes and offices killing as many as one billion birds each year. Glass is invisible to birds, and if it reflects the images of trees, bushes, the sky or other natural habitat, a bird may fly directly into it.”

What can you do? There are several ways to warn the birds that your window is not a safe place to travel.  Remember that if you have bird feeders, you have an added responsibility in ensuring that your home is a safe habitat for birds! This link will download a fact sheet with a variey of possible solutions. This and other fact sheets can be found at the Bird FAQs link  under “Reports and Publications” to the right.  Additional information is available from the Acopian Center for Ornithology Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Audubon Society.

Call for Abstracts: Presentations by both professional and amateur ornithologists are welcome. Topics can relate to any aspect of Alaska birds, such as behavior, community ecology, conservation, education and outreach, evolution, contaminants, genetics, habitat, migration, physiology, population ecology, systematics, or others. Since the primary objective of the conference is to share new information, preliminary results are acceptable. Please focus on information that has not been previously presented. All submissions must be presented by one of the named authors on the abstract. The Alaska Bird Conference gives awards for the best student oral and poster presentations.  Abstract Deadline is 15 September 2010; see http://ak.audubon.org/events/1432 for guidelines and more meeting information.

ABO has field projects on the Tanana Flats, Yukon Flats, Creamer’s Refuge, Kodiak Island, Alaska Peninsula/Becharof, Arctic, and Innoko National Wildlife Refuges, the BLM’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and the BLM’s White Mountains. Check the Research Updates page to learn what our field biologists, interns, and volunteers are finding.

Rusty Blackbird – Yukon Flats

Nestling photo by Claire Giuliano for ABO

The Yukon Flats Rusty Blackbird crew has been busy! The ice was already out on the Shack Lake when they arrived on May 12. The birds have taken their cues from the early spring. A few nests were in progress when the crew started work on May 13. They have found 10 nests so far and the first chicks hatched on May 24. They have sighted a bird that they banded in 2009 as a nestling. Go here for updates on other projects.

Thank you to all who participated in the Farthest North Birdathon by doing a Birdathon or a Big Sit or by pledging to someone who was! A good time was had by all while raising money for Arctic Audubon Society and ABO.

This year’s Birdathon was sponsored by Beaver Sports and Yukon Title, RiverBoat Discovery, El Dorado Gold Mine, Stan Stevens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises, Patagonia, and Hot Licks Ice Cream donated prizes.

Joseph Green (aka Minto Trekkers) won the Birdathon Binoculars donated by Beaver Sports & saw an impressive 46 species. Anonymous Four  (Ken Russel, Laurel Devaney, & Mary Kay & Ron Teel won the coveted Golden Binoculars Award with 75 Species beating out the Guided Birdathon (Paulette Wille, Jack Rasmussen, Annette Buenau, Mike McCann, & Sue Guers by two species.

The Big Sit, new this year, attracted a number of folks who joined ABO and Arctic Audubon birders at Wedgewood Resort’s Wander Lake. Big Sit Participants counted 34 species (including a mallard hen with 9 ducklings) as well as beavers.

Join us in May of 2011 for the next Birdathon and Big Sit!

This information was compiled and the pages designed undergraduate student Nicole Torre (Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska, Fairbanks) and funded by the Alaska Space Grant Fellowship Program through the Institute of Arctic Biology. The project is part of a NASA funded collaborative project examining climate-induced habitat change at Creamer’s Refuge in Fairbanks, Alaska led by Lila Tauzer, an interdisciplinary graduate student at University of Alaska, Fairbanks.