Audubon articles from May 2002

Audubon archives from May 2002

Editor's note.(Editorial)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... "FOR MANY PEOPLE THESE MELODIC, MOURNFUL CRIERS OF WIND AND OPEN places, the shore birds, are perhaps the most stirring of American birds," wrote Peter Matthiessen in his classic book Wildlife in America. "One prefers to think that the last...

Audubon view.(Brief Article)(Column)
May 1, 2002... DEAR AUDUBON MEMBER: MOST OF THE RECENT NEWS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT SEEMS TO FOCUS On fights to prevent bad things from happening, such as oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, national monuments, and coastal areas; weakening...

Shoring up shorebirds.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2002... THANKS TO AUDUBON FOR publishing Don Stap's "Living on the Edge" [March-April]. Shorebirds deserve greater conservation attention. Besides the significant work for shorebird conservation described in the article, numerous governmental and...

Tippi toes the line. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world.).(actress and animal rights activist Tippi Hedren)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Tippi Hedren was pecked and pummeled by a raging flock in Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1963 film, The Birds. Today, showing she bears no grudge against her winged assailants, the actress turned animal-rights activist is using her fame to help...

The people's watchdog. (Profile).(EPA ombudsman Robert Martin)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... ROBERT MARTIN IS PROBABLY THE MOST controversial government official you've never heard of. Still, in dozens of pollution-scarred communities around the country, from Colorado to Pennsylvania, citizens hail him as a godsend. However, to...

Birds like it hot. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world.).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Some animals take a pass on the low-lying fruit of the chili-pepper plant, but not the curve-billed thrasher. What's more, researchers have found, because the bird seems unaffected by capsaicin (the hot stuff in chili peppers), it has become an...

Fishy caviar. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world.).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... In January, Alfred Yazback, an importer to gourmet food stores, was convicted of dealing in smuggled beluga caviar and of passing off American paddlefish eggs as pricier Russian sevruga amid the celebratory frenzy leading up to the 2000...

Slippery slopes. (Mountain Habitat).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... AROUND THE NEWLY BUILT HOUSES THAT dot the lower slopes outside Aspen, Colorado the birdsong is different these days. Instead of the mews and titters of the spotted towhee--common to stands of Rocky Mountain shrub oak and chokecherry--residents...

Navigating a new plan. (River Restoration).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... SPRINGTIME ON THE MISSOURI. SNOW-melt and spring showers send water coursing through the river's braided channels, chutes, and sloughs, cueing the spawning of pallid sturgeon and creating sandbars where interior least terns and piping plovers...

Shoplifting nature. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world.).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Patrolling near the Canadian border of North Cascades National Park one day, district ranger Hugh Dougher saw a suspicious van parked along the road. When he approached the vehicle, its seven occupants fled into the woods. Later, when they were...

Blowin' in the wind. (Field notes: news on nature and the environment from around the world.).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The White Dog Cafe is serving up a breath of fresh air for its ecologically concerned customers: 100 percent wind-driven energy. By switching to wind power, the Philadelphia restaurant --it already supports local organic farms and regularly...

Full of bully? (Perspective).(George W. Bush on environment)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... EMERGING RECENTLY FROM HIS EAST Texas ranch, President George W. Bush told reporters about plowing through Edmund Morris's Theodore Rex, the best-selling, 772-page history of Teddy Roosevelt's White House years. Bush advisers say he is looking...

Jellies on a roll: jellyfish are "blooming" around the world, and for many marine ecosystems, that means trouble. (true nature).
May 1, 2002... A STINGRAY FLAPS ACROSS THE RIPPLED SAND BETWEEN two coral heads off the coast of Jamaica. I watch from a respectful distance, so entranced by the animal that I barely notice when something brushes my calf--a strand of turtle grass, I think,...

Into the swamp: in a lush sanctuary in South Carolina, filled with shiny dark alligators and brilliant green damselflies, a mother introduces her son to the joys of swamp life. (Family Travel).
May 1, 2002... Shortly after dawn on a steamy mid-June morning, biologist Jackie Litzgus; my son, Reid; and I made our way through an overgrown clearcut on the edge of the Francis Beidler Forest, in coastal South Carolina. The sun, a deep orange, shone weakly...

The art of deception: classic decoys were once so effective at luring shorebirds and waterfowl to hunters' guns that they ended up sparking conservation measures. Now these creations, no longer mere tools, are treasured collectors because they so vividly capture the essence living birds. (Americana).
May 1, 2002... TO THE EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS ALONG THE ATLANTIC Coast, the extraordinary abundance of America's waterfowl--at times the flocks were so huge that they would literally block out the sun--appeared limitless. In 1635 the anonymous author of A...

Water world. (Photo Essay).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Photographer Henry Horenstein wants us to know marine creatures as we would know a spouse, a lover, or a child. In his new book, Aquatics; he seeks intimacy with the wild. "If you're really close to someone," he explains, "you see things on...

Raising the dead. (Cloning).(recovering extinct species)
May 1, 2002... THE SMALL ANIMAL IS WRINKLED AND GRAY, its forelegs curled against its chest in an unintentionally protective position and a long, open incision running the length of its stomach. Stored in a clear jar of alcohol, it hardly looks like the stuff...

Knocking on wood: the northern flicker, so often pushed around by more aggressive birds, could use a little help. (backyard).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... THE TALL, STOUT STUB OF A DEAD TREMBLING ASPEN lingered for several years in sight of our home in Maine. Each spring a couple of northern flickers would excavate a nesting hole in the remains, giving us hope that a pair of those handsome...

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: naturally spectacular) (Special Advertising Section).
May 1, 2002... ST. VINCENT The island of St. Vincent, locally called "the mainland", is only 18 miles long and 11 miles wide. Dominating the island is the Soufriere volcano. A trail leads up the volcano through plantations, rainforest and finally to the...

Build it and they will come: northern flicker. (backyard).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... TOOLS Tape measure; carpenter's square; pencil; power or hand saw; power hand drill with attachments (2 1/2" keyhole saw, 3/8"-diameter drill bit, 3/2" bit [to predrill holes], Phillips-head screwdriver bit); claw hammer; miter box, for...

Texas birding and much more. (Special Advertising Section).
May 1, 2002... From the iridescent greens and lavenders of the tiny hummingbird to the glowing pink of the seemingly prehistoric roseate spoonbill, birds of every hue fill the skies of Texas. Hundreds of bird species find the climate and range of terrain in...

Win a South Texas New Year's birding adventure for 2! (Special Advertising Section).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... What better way to ring in the New Year than with a visit to South Texas where mild weather and a host of special birds combine for a memorable holiday getaway. This 10-day 9-night prize package for 2 includes: "New Year in South...

State of the States.(Alaska signs Urban Treaty for Bird Conservation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... On May 18, to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day, George Wuerch, the mayor of Anchorage, will sign an Urban Treaty for Bird Conservation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The event will officially launch a partnership that...

Salt of the Earth. (Vanguard of the Volunteers).(Salton Sea)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... LIKE MANY AMERICANS, PHIL PRYDE HAS A problem with high sodium. But unlike most people, modifying his diet and getting more exercise won't be much help. Pryde's concern is with southern California's increasingly saline Salton Sea. The sea...

Chapter news.(Audubon Blue Mountain chapter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The hundreds of large turbines along windy Van Sycle Ridge that provide clean energy for as many as 60,000 northwestern homes now do so without significantly threatening Canada geese, larks, and other migrating birds, thanks to the Audubon Blue...

Public policy.(Senate Farm Bill add-on to exterminate migratory birds at will was successfully opposed by Audubon)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A stealth Senate Farm Bill add-on, successfully opposed by Audubon this spring, would have put the lives of red-winged blackbirds, cormorants, geese, and songbirds into the hands of an agency that views them primarily as pests. Sponsored by...

Arizona advocate. (Q&A).(Audubon Arizona vice-president and founding director Sam Kathryn Campana)(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 1, 2002... SAM KATHRYN CAMPANA BRINGS A GOLDEN RESUME TO HER APPOINTMENT as vice-president and founding director of Audubon Arizona's new state office. Previously, during her tenure as the mayor of Scottsdale (1994-96), Campana co-created the Arizona...

Tributes.(former Audubon chairman of the board Edward H. Harte will be honored with 2002 Harvey Weil Sportsman/Conservationist Award)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Edward H. Harte, a former chairman of the board of Audubon, will be honored in Sinton, Texas, on April 27, with the prestigious 2002 Harvey Weil Sportsman/Conservationist Award. The award is presented by the Harvey Weil Sportsman/Conservation...

Audubon directory: your quick guide to the resources of the Audubon society.(Brief Article)(Directory)
May 1, 2002... HOME OFFICE 700 Broadway New York, NY 10003 (212) 979-3000 www.audubon.org (including Audubon and the national development, education, science, and travel departments) CONSERVATION CAMPAIGNS AND PUBLIC POLICY DIVISION...

One picture.(Harold Feinstein's photograph of poppy buds)
May 1, 2002... HAROLD FEINSTEIN'S STRIKING PHOTOGRAPH OF POPPY BUDS NEVER SAW A DARKROOM. The hairy stems were plucked from a neighbor's garden, posed in his studio, and shot with an ancient wooden-bodied 8x10 view camera equipped with a digital back. The...