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Volume 33, Issue 4 DECEMBER, 2008

HOLIDAY SALE DECEMBER 15th

SEED, BOOKS, FEEDERS
Saturday, December 6
10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lawrence Senior Center 745 Vermont
Combine picking up your seed, books, feeders and
stocking stuffers with watching the Lawrence Christmas
Parade at 11:00 and perusing the Lawrence Art Guild
Holiday Art Fair for a wonderful outing only possible in
Lawrence. We’ll have bird song, snacks for humans, and
our feeder and book experts to answer your questions.
DON’T FORGET that the next seed sale is 2 months
away on Jan. 31st, so you do need to stock up now to
keep your birds plump and sassy this winter. December 1
is the deadline for pre-orders, but there will be plenty of
seed for walk-in purchase and you can check the order
form on the website for seed varieties and pricing.
Contact Linda Lips if you have questions or to order by
Dec. 1: (785)842-2300 or ditchlily@sprynet.com.
All Programs of the Jayhawk Audubon Society
are free and open to the public
LITTLE BROWN BIRDS:
Getting Ready for
the Christmas Count
Dr. Cal Cink, Baker U. Professor and Chair of Biology,
studies the winter biology of sparrows at Baker Wetlands
and the ecology and behavior of Whip-poor-wills, Chuck-
wills-widows and Kentucky Warblers in the summer Bald-
win Woods. He will share this deep knowledge of ‘LBB’s’
with us on Monday, 12/15, just in time for many CBC’s.
Since 1976 Prof. Cink has taught ecology, zoology,
animal behavior and ornithology at BU. His breadth of
expertise extends to the study of snakes and salamanders at
the Wetlands as well. He and his wife Jo love to travel and
spend at least a part of every summer sitting on ‘their’ rock
in Acadia National Park in Maine listening to the waves,
the eiders and the lobster boats going by. Join us on the
15th to brush up on those teaser birds in the brush pile.
BYO Dinner with Cal Cink: 5:30 pm. Carlos O’Kelly’s.
707 W. 23rd St.
Program: 7:30 pm. Trinity Lutheran Fellowship Hall.
1245 New Hampshire. Parking lot east of the
Church. Refreshments served.

JOIN A CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT!

Oskaloosa-Beautiful Perry Lake CBC: Sunday, December 14th. Contact Bunnie Watkins
at 785-597-5144 (days); 785-749-3581 (eve) or at Bunnie.A.Watkins@usace.army.mil
Lawrence CBC: Saturday, December 20th. Contact Galen Pittman at 843-8573 (work), 842-
7105 (eve), or preferably via e-mail: gpittman@ku.edu.
Baldwin CBC: Sunday Dec 14th & Linn Co. CBC: Sat. Dec 27th. Contact Roger Boyd at
rboyd@bakeru.edu or 785-594-3172.
For information on other Kansas counts visit: http://ksbirds.org/2008CBC.htm. the KS Ornithological
Howstuffworks.com
Society website. Whatever your level of birding experience, you’ll enjoy the CBC!
 2 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
Newsletter Expenses Nearly
20% of JAS Budget
Can you help us reduce this cost? The JAS Board of
Directors wants to pare expenses so we better use available
funds to support education and awareness programs such
as the Wetland Learners Program or the Eagles Day event.
In so doing, we are asking all of our members to consider
receiving the newsletter via the website posting. Printing
and mailing fewer newsletters would also be a big step in
the green direction of reducing paper, ink & fuel use.
If you are willing to be taken off the postal mailing list,
please contact Chuck and Ruth Herman either by mail
(20761 Loring Road, Linwood, KS 66052) or by e-mail
(hermansnuthouse@earthlink.net). The most recent news-
letter is usually on the website by the 10th of each month
and can be viewed in its entirety (Kid’s Page and all!) at
www.jayhawkaudubon.org. If you are contacting the
Hermans via e-mail, please be sure to note “JAS newslet-
ter” somewhere in your subject heading so we will be sure
to recognize your request through our filters!
- Chuck Herman
He’s awfully cute, but the JAS
newsletter needs to pass him by.
Thanks for helping to use our
funds wisely & lower our impact!!
Red Cedar Christmas Tree Event
Something to do after the JAS Seed Sale!!!
Saturday, December 6,
Native trees available for cutting 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Shawnee Mission Park, Shawnee, Kansas
(Access through The Theatre in the Park entrance at
7710 Renner Road)
Kansas City WildLands, in partnership with Johnson
County Park and Recreation District, is again offering the
public an opportunity to remove invasive red cedars and
take them home to decorate for the holidays! When you
take home a tree, you’ll not only make your house smell
great but you’ll be helping restore these wild places to their
original health . Minimum $10.00 donation suggested.
Bring a hand saw, rope and gloves. (precut trees will be
available.) Check www.kcwildlands.org for more details
and a map or call Linda at (816) 561-1061 x116.
Worthy of Your Attention
The Eagles Day website has been updated
with fresh information for this year’s event:
http://www.kawvalleyeaglesday.com/index.php
for all the details including presenters. Full
details will also be in the January newsletter.
Last year’s record attendance will be tough to
beat but the Eagles Day Committee has made big
plans including a visit
from ECO ELVIS!!
There’s a link on
the website.
December 5th is the
next Eagles Day Com-
mittee meeting. 7 pm.
The Shaw’s. 842-0475
1635 Mississippi.
The real need for help
will be in January when
many tasks need to be Bald Eagle.
Sonoran Desert
completed. Please volunteer. Museum.
The KANSAS! Magazine Winter 2008 issue
boasts an article on eagles in Kansas with
some incredible photos and useful information
on Eagles Day type events in the state. Mike
Watkins, who presents at Kaw Valley Eagles
Day, is quoted. Mike is a Wildlife Biologist with
the Army Corps of Engineers who has extensive
experience studying and banding eagles.
eBird Workshop: January 10, 2009
8 am to noon at Washburn Rural Middle School,
5620 S.W. 61st St., Topeka. Learn about this
online bird tracking system from Brian Sullivan
himself, the coordinator of eBird from the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This workshop is
for anyone interested in birding: science
students, casual observers, novice bird watchers
and, of course, dedicated birders.
To participate or just learn more, please e-mail
ebirdwkshp2009@sbcglobal.net or call Debra
McKee at 785-232-4128.
 KID’S PAGE JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY 3

SILLY PARROT RIDDLES TO SHARE OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Riddle: What do you get if you cross a parrot with a shark?

Answer: A bird that will talk your ear off.

Riddle: What do you get if you cross a parrot with a centipede?

Answer: A great walkie-talkie.

Word Scramble
1. Unscramble these four words and you’ll find
four ways to save gasoline energy by leaving
the car at home.

2. Unscramble the circled letters to make two

words naming a great source of renewable
Word scramble
energy! from
www.energyque
st.ca.gov/games

See below for answers. ☺

Silly parrot riddles from Cathy Gilstrap Kid Power

www.gcfl.net. (Good Clean Funnies List)

Ride (your bike or scooter), Walk, Hop, Skip.
Answers to Word Scramble:
 4 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY KID’S PAGE

It’s not too late to get in on PROJECT FEEDERWATCH!!

An adult can help you can sign up at www.feederwatch.org or call toll-free at (800) 843-2473.

This costs $15. If that is too much money, the website has a free Homeschooler’s Guide to Project
FeederWatch that has all kinds of fun ideas for learning about birds by studying them at your feeders.

Try this experiment: HOW MUCH BIRD SEED ARE THEY EATING ANYWAY??
1. First of all decide how often you will measure how much the birds are eating:
-Every day for a week or two ….?
-or maybe one or two days per week over a month….?
-or some other regular schedule that works for you.
2. Measure the seed in a big measuring cup before you put it in the feeder. Write the amount in ounces on a
page in your nature journal. You may figure out a different way of measuring the amount of seed.
That would be GREAT! Just measure it the same way every time. That is VERY IMPORTANT!
3. That evening or the next morning measure the seed left in the feeder. Write that amount down too.
4. It’s probably a good idea to record the temperature and the weather too. You may want to record how many
birds you saw visiting the feeder and what kind they were. The library has field guides to help you put names
to the birds. Record anything else that seems interesting to you.
5. After you measure the seed left in the feeder, subtract that amount from the starting amount for the day.
For example: You filled the feeder with 10 ounces of seed and there were 3 ounces left at the end of the
day. 10 ounces minus 3 ounces = 7 oz. eaten by the birds. (ounces can be written oz. for short)
6. When you are all done with your measurements, add up each day’s results into a grand total. If you measured
seed on 6 different days, you should have 6 numbers to add up. For example: 7 + 10 + 9 + 11 + 9 + 8 = ?
7. Divide your grand total by the number of days you took measurements.
For example: Your grand total = 54 oz. eaten. 54 oz. divided by 6 days = 9 oz. each day.
A number you figure out this way is called an average. It means the birds ate about this much each day.

Are you surprised how much the birds are eating? Here are some more questions to ask:

Could you tell what kind of seeds the birds liked best?
Did the birds eat more seeds on warm, sunny days or cloudy days or stormy days? Or maybe
the weather didn’t make a difference.
What else might the birds be eating besides the seed in your feeders?
Can you figure out how to measure how much seed the birds are spilling on the ground?
J. Dawson. National Wildlife Federation

If a month has 31 days, how much bird seed do you need on hand to keep your feeders filled?
(Hint: you’ll have to do some multiplication!)
There is a saying in the English language: “She
eats like a bird.” It means that a person doesn’t eat
much. Now that you have studied how much birds eat,
do you think the person who made up this saying knew
much about the eating habits of birds??

Experimental idea from Project FeederWatch. Explained, examples added and further
questions by JAS.
www.fun-with-pictures.com
 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY 5

A Supremely Bad Idea: But this small criticism is

made up for by the author’s
Three Mad Birders reverence for a usually under-
appreciated ecosystem (and its
and Their Quest to See It All birds), the prairie. After bird-
By Luke Dempsey ing across tropical islands,
deserts, forests, and shore-
Reviewed by Jake Vail lines, Dempsey’s tale ends in
Colorado’s sublime Pawnee
I was swinging from a rope up in a black walnut tree a couple
National Grasslands, “perhaps
weeks ago, helping a friend hang some Barred Owl nesting
the most heavenly place we’d
boxes. It was a chilly, gray day, but we amateurs were having Elegant Trogon
Sky Jacobs visited in all our trips.”
a great time. During a break in the action I thought about the
hidden passions we all possess, and the joy that’s shared when
More than three hundred different species of birds
those passions get a chance to come out. “Amateur,” after all,
have been noted there, he says, sounding like he may
grows from the Latin love. “Who needs a degree in Wildlife
not believe it. But Dempsey’s joy in discovering the
Biology?” I called down from my perch, laughing.
unknown shines through. “To my mind,” says the
In “A Supremely Bad Idea,” (Bloomsbury USA, 7/08) we amateur birder, “the effort begins with a simple act
share the joy a trio of amateur birders experience as they leave of looking.”
New York City for a series of forays across the country. Author
Luke Dempsey is a British editor more familiar with the Big
Apple and computers than the fruited Plains and curlews, a
young man who had given little thought to the natural world JAS officers & Board Members
President: Chuck Herman: 913-301-3921
until he was introduced to a little warbler, a Common Yellow- hermansnuthouse@earthlink.net
throat. Peering for the first time through the binoculars his Vice President: Richard Bean
friends had just given him, he tried to focus on the flitting bird. Recording Sec’y: Julie Trowbridge
“Suddenly, there it was. ‘Oh my! Wow! Are you kidding me? Corresponding: Sec’y: Pam Chaffee
Wow!’…Love swelled in my pancreas; and I madly wanted to Treasurer: Jennifer Delisle
see more.” Member Chapter
Change Report: Chuck & Ruth Herman
And with that we’re off. You may enjoy vacations relaxing Membership
on the beach or hiking through the woods, but Dempsey and his Promotion: Dayna Carleton
friends Don and Donna Graffiti (noms de plume surely) spend Newsletter: Susan Iversen: 785-843-1142
their vacations at birding hot spots from Arizona to the Pacific siversen@sunflower.com
Northwest to Florida. In addition to avian adventures, told with Conservation: Sara Katich
great excitement and humor, this means tales of hotels and rental Programs: Joyce Wolf
cars of varying quality, meteorological challenges, bad food, and Education: VOLUNTEER NEEDED
strange encounters with “the natives.” Field Trips: Steve Roels
Publicity: Dayna Carleton
Between the trio’s sightings of Elegant Electronic Communications: Karyn Baker-Riney
Trogons and Magnificent Frigatebirds, Bird Seed Sale: Linda Lips
kites and caracaras (“the red-faced greater Birdathon: Richard Bean
mullet bird”), the author also reflects on the Christmas Count: Galen Pittman
Migratory Count: VOLUNTEER NEEDED
declining state of the American land and its
Eagles Day: Ed & Cynthia Shaw
birds. The contrast between Dempsey’s Hospitality: Esther Smith
jocular manner and these sad statistics adds Historian: Ron Wolf
gravity to the stories, and though I welcome Books & Feeders: Ron & Joyce Wolf
the joyful tone of the book, I wish more had Board Member: Dena Friesen
been included. Especially since they’re Board Member: Lisa Grossman
given the sympathetic attention they Board Member: Mark King
deserve: “These are not just statistics; they Board Member: Jake Vail
are actual animals and their actual decline, Board Member: Alice Weis
Crested Caracara.
Sonoran Desert Museum bird by single bird.”
Jayhawk Audubon Society Nonprofit Organization
P.O. Box 3741 U.S. Postage
PAID
Lawrence, KS 66046 Lawrence, KS
Return Service Requested Permit No. 201
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Application for New Membership in both: National Audubon Society and Jayhawk Chapter
___$15 Student; ___$20 Introductory for NEW members; ____$15 Senior Citizen.
(Make check payable to National Audubon Society.)

Application for Chapter-only Membership (Jayhawk Audubon Society). No Audubon magazine.

___$7.50 Chapter-only (Make check payable to Jayhawk Audubon Society.) Those with National Audubon
memberships are encouraged to support the chapter by voluntarily paying these dues. Chapter membership
expires annually in July.

National Audubon Society members receive four issues per year of the Audubon magazine and are also
members of the Jayhawk Chapter. All members also receive 10 issues of this newsletter per year and are
entitled to discounts on books and feeders that are sold to raise funds to support education and conservation
projects. Please send this completed form and check to Membership Chairs at the following address:
Ruth & Chuck Herman; 20761 Loring Road, Linwood, KS 66052; e-mail contact:
hermansnuthouse@earthlink.net . {National Members Renewing: please use the billing form received
from National and send it with payment to National Audubon Society in Boulder,
CO}.

Name __________________________; Address ____________________________;

City ___________________________; State ______; ZIP Code (9) digit _________;

Telephone (with Area Code) ___________________

Colorado Division of Wildlife