Eastern Iowa

Birdwatch

The Iowa City Bird Club Newsletter

Volume 31 Number 3

                                                                                                                    December 2011

 

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Schedule

 

Field trips depart from the Dodge Street Hy-Vee in Iowa City unless otherwise noted. Meet in the southwest corner of the parking lot. Please contact the leader in advance if you plan to meet the group at the trip destination. Many of our trips are accessible to people with disabilities; for more information please contact the trip leader. Meetings, unless otherwise noted, are held at the Grant Wood AEA Southern Facility, 200 Holiday Road in Coralville, generally at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month.


December 18, Sunday. Iowa City Christmas Bird Count. To participate, contact Bob Dick at (319) 321-0706 or email at bobd555@earthlink.net by Tuesday, December 13. See page 3 for more information.
January 8, Sunday, 8-10 a.m. Bird Feeder Watch Social hosted by Jim and Karole Fuller, 6 Longview Knoll NE, north of Iowa City. Come for coffee and rolls and watch the winter birds visiting the feeders. See our web site for directions.
January 15, Sunday, 1 p.m. Owl Prowl We’ll spend the afternoon searching for roosting owls, such as Northern Saw-whet, Great Horned, and Barred Owls. Karen Disbrow, 430-0315.
January 19, Thursday, 7 p.m. Meeting at the Coralville Library. Karen Disbrow will show a DVD on Florida’s Corkscrew Swamp. Snow Date Thursday, January 26 – in case of bad weather, check our web site for rescheduling information.
January 22, Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Coralville WinterFest at Iowa River Landing. Activities include sleigh rides, skiing, ice sculptures, food, music, games, and more. ICBC will have a display and viewing area setup at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. Anyone interested in helping please call Karen Disbrow, 430-0315.

February 4, Saturday, 7 a.m. Amana Turkey Walk and Feast. Join us for a morning hike through the woods to search for Wild Turkeys, Saw-whet Owls, and other winter species, followed by breakfast at the Amanas at approximately 9:30 a.m. Parking may be limited at the hiking locations, so please contact Karen Disbrow at 430-0315 if you plan to attend.
February 17-19, Friday-Sunday. Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival in northern Minnesota. We will be driving up Thursday and returning Monday. Registration is $155 and is limited, so if you are interested in attending, please contact Karen Disbrow at 430-0315 ASAP. For more information visit http://sax-zimbog.com/.

February 23, Thursday, 7 p.m. Meeting. Nature photographer Ty Smedes will give a presentation on his new book, The Return of Iowa’s Bald Eagles. Signed copies will be available. Check our web site for the meeting location.
February 26, Sunday, 8 a.m. Quad Cities for gulls and other water birds on the Mississippi River. Chris Caster, 339-8343.

March 10, Saturday, 6:30 a.m. Burlington Area for ducks, geese, pelicans, and more with local guides Chuck Fuller and John Rutenbeck. This will be an all-day trip with a stop for lunch. Meet at the Fin & Feather parking lot on S. Riverside Drive. Karen Disbrow, 430-0315.
March 20, Tuesday, 7 p.m. Beginning Birder Course: Basics of Birding I at the Conservation Education Center at Kent Park. Call Brad Freidhof at 645-1011 to register. Free to club members. See page 8 for a complete course schedule.
March 22, Thursday, 7 p.m. Meeting. Sukie Brown will present “Wildlife of Tanzania” and share photographs from a 12-day trip to East Africa. Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas Coordinator Shane Patterson will also provide a BBA update with interesting trends and finds in local areas. Check our web site for the meeting location.
March 25, Sunday, 8 a.m. Cone Marsh in Louisa County for Sandhill Cranes, migrating ducks, geese, and other early spring arrivals. Meet at the Fin & Feather parking lot on S. Riverside Drive. BEGINNING BIRDER TRIP. Rick Hollis, 665-3141.
March 27, Tuesday, 7 p.m. Beginning Birder Course: Basics of Birding II at the Conservation Education Center at Kent Park. Call Brad Freidhof at 645-1011 to register.
March 31, Saturday, 8 a.m. Kent Park near Tiffin. We will explore the trails in Kent Park looking for migrating songbirds and resident woodland birds. Meet at the Conservation Education Center in Kent Park. BEGINNING BIRDER TRIP. Rick Hollis, 665-3141.

 

Other Dates of Note
December 14 – January 5, National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Period. Nearly fifty CBCs are held in Iowa every year, many of them here in Eastern Iowa. If you would like to participate in any of these, visit www.iowabirds.org/Events/CBC.aspx for dates and contact information.
January 6-8, Friday-Sunday. Quad Cities Bald Eagle Days. Eagle watching events are also being held this winter in Clinton, Dubuque, Muscatine, and Keokuk. For a list of events, visit www.mvr.usace.army.mil/missriver/Eagle%20Watching/Eagle%20Main.htm.
February 17-20, Great Backyard Bird Count, a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. See page 4 for more information.
May 18-20, Iowa Ornithologists’ Union Spring Meeting hosted by the Iowa City Bird Club.


From Our President
Karen Disbrow
I hope you are all keeping warm and enjoying the lights, laughter and camaraderie of the holiday season. Birds of the season have been showing up, most notably an irruption of Snowy Owls. These owls are finding that Iowa does not have lemmings (“How the heck do you hunt rabbits and field mice?”) This is a great opportunity to view these beautiful birds, remembering that many of them are in very poor condition and should not be disturbed.
Great news – the Ace Hardware Store on N. Dodge Street where I work is offering a 10% discount on regularly-priced birdseed and suet to bird club members. To receive the discount, you will need to show your membership card (available from me) or the back page of the newsletter with your mailing label to the store clerk at the beginning of the sale. I will post my weekly work schedule on our web site for the foreseeable future. Manager Mark Nelson has added additional shelf space to this area and is stocking many of the same items that Birds Eye View in Coralville carried. If there is something else that you would like the store to carry, let Mark know.
The club’s winter schedule is packed full of things to do for the next three months. We have kept all the favorites and added some new things. We are again offering the Beginning Birder Course, now with seven class sessions. Remember that members can attend any session for free. As always, let me know where you would like to go birding, and I’ll find a leader.
Shane Patterson is the new BBA coordinator for the next two years. Next year is the last year to gather data, so be thinking if you would like to lead a trip to an atlas block anywhere in this or surrounding counties. I am sure we still need data on owl nesting – Great Horned Owls start nesting in January about the time that the Owl Prowl takes place.
We received a very nice “thank you” letter from Terry Escher, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Education Coordinator, for our club’s efforts in the Turkey Vulture Festival in June. Mark Bowman, who is now a member of the Grinnell Audubon Club, donated a pair of binoculars to the Pelican Gala silent auction as a “thank you” to Rick Hollis, Jim Scheib, Bob Dick and the many other members of the club that gave so much of their time and knowledge when he started birding. Mark says the experience changed his life. This is quite a tribute to our members and our club for our efforts in teaching and sharing birding with new people.
I am looking forward with great anticipation to the new year. Good birding to all of you.


Christmas Bird Count
Sunday, December 18
This year’s Iowa City Christmas Bird Count will be held Sunday, December 18, unless extreme weather conditions require moving the count to a later date. Co-compilers are Bob Dick and Chris Edwards. If you wish to participate as a field observer or a feeder watcher, or if you have questions, please call Bob between 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. at (319) 321-0706 or email at bobd555@earthlink.net, by Tuesday, December 13. This year we are not having a pre-count planning meeting.
On count day, we will meet at noon for a mid-day compilation and lunch in Meeting Room B at the North Liberty Community Center, 520 W. Cherry St. in North Liberty. This is across the hall from last year’s location. Bring your own lunch. An optional dinner and updated compilation will be held at The Brown Bottle Café, 125 Zeller St., North Liberty. Our private room is available beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Please note that the count area is a 15-mile diameter circle with the center located at Highway 965 and County Road F-28 (Penn St.) in North Liberty. This includes all of North Liberty and Coralville, but not all of Iowa City. If you plan to participate as a feeder watcher and are not sure if you live in the count area, please contact Bob. Also, if you know others who may desire to participate as feeder watchers, please encourage them and have them call Bob.
Please visit the ICBC web site at www.icbirds.org for more information.


Great Backyard Bird Count
February 17-20
This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count will be held February 17-20. It is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada. According to the GBBC web site, “The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.”
Locally, the Iowa City area has been under-represented during past counts, and we would like to encourage more participation this year. Taking part is easy: count birds for at least 15 minutes, at as many places and on as many days during the four-day period as you like – just keep a separate list of counts for each day and location. You can count birds anywhere: in your yard, at a local park or wildlife refuge, or anywhere else. Then enter your results on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site, at www.birdsource.org/gbbc/. For a local checklist and reporting form, visit the ICBC web site.


Voluntary Conservation Donations
At the September 15, 2011 Iowa City Bird Club meeting, club members voted to establish a Voluntary Conservation Donation to be collected on our field trips. We are suggesting that every participant on our field trips donate $1.00. The monies collected will be donated to groups that work towards the improvement of the places that we bird. For some trips the funds will go to the groups directly connected with the trip location: the Johnson County Conservation Board for Kent Park; Friends of Hickory Hill Park for Hickory Hill Park; the Iowa DNR Wildlife Diversity Program for Hawkeye Wildlife Area and Cone Marsh; the Johnson County Heritage Trust for their properties; etc. Donations from other trips may go to Iowa Audubon. Field trip leaders will collect donations and forward them to Rick Hollis, who will pass them on to the appropriate agency. The Hickory Hill Park Warbler Walks and all Beginning Birder Trips will be excluded.
– Rick Hollis


Renewal Reminder
It’s time to send in your membership dues for 2012. Our annual membership dues remain $15 per household or $10 for students. Your mailing label shows the most recent year you have paid for. Please complete the membership renewal form on the inside back cover and send it with your check payable to “Eastern Iowa Birdwatch” to Bruce Gardner, 3055 Wapsi Ave. NE, Iowa City, IA 52240. If you have any questions about your membership status, please contact Bruce at 643-2575 or woodsidefarms@juno.com. Membership Spotlight on:


Linda Rudolph
Name? Linda Rudolph
What is your occupation? I am a clinical pharmacist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Tell us about your family. I am divorced, with three grown children. I have identical twin daughters, who graduated from Iowa State University with degrees in engineering. My youngest daughter is a psychologist. All three live in states that have a milder winter than Iowa.
Where did you grow up? My father was a career Air Force officer. We moved frequently. The most exotic place we lived was Morocco, and we were there for six years. I spent many summers in the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, where my family had a summer home.
When and where did your interest in birds develop? I think I have always been interested in birds. I can remember the White Storks in Morocco building huge impressive nests and I enjoyed watching them flying in to feed the nestlings. At our Adirondack family summer home you could frequently hear Common Loons calling across the lake. Fay Welch was a good family friend. He was an early conservationist and he served on the Board of Directors for the National Audubon Society. I worked for him during summers when I was in college.
Did you have any birding mentors? Linda Donelson and Diana Pesek were my early mentors. I like to think their joy of birding and sense of adventure rubbed off on me.
When did you join the Iowa City Bird Club? Do you remember the first bird club event you attended? I joined the ICBC shortly after I moved to Iowa City, probably in 2004. I don’t remember the first event I attended.
Do you have a favorite bird or family of birds? I like Eastern Bluebirds. This summer I participated in Jim Walters’ Johnson County Songbird Project and maintained a bluebird trail for the first time. It was a lot of fun and I would encourage anyone to give it a try. “My” trail fledged 13 Eastern Bluebirds, 4 Black-capped Chickadees, and 18 Tree Swallows.
What particular aspects of birding interest you the most? I have discovered that I have a passion for bird photography. I had gone on some Iowa Ornithologists’ Union-sponsored trips, and seen the photographs that John Donelson, Richard Lynch and Mark Brown took. I thought these pictures were amazing and it inspired me to try my hand at it. I consider myself to be a beginning photographer and I see slow and steady improvement. I’ve had my first photograph published in Iowa Bird Life, which I thought was awesome.
Do you keep a life list? I do have a life list and it is currently at 449. It doesn’t interest me as much as my bird photo box. This contains every bird species in the American Birding Association (ABA) Area that I have photographed, and I currently have photos of 196 species. I have a friend, Phil Swanson, who has photos of 707 ABA species.
What is the most recent bird you added to your life list? This Fall I saw my first Black-throated Blue Warbler at the Hawkeye Wildlife Area. It was a spectacular male and I managed to take one picture of him as he was flying off. So it was a life bird and a new photo box bird, and I found him myself.
What is the most memorable birding experience you have had this past year? Bill Scheible drove me to Ottumwa on my birthday. Within a minute of getting out of the car we saw a Mississippi Kite. I had never seen one before, so it was a wonderful new life bird seen on my birthday.
What is your favorite place to bird in Iowa and why? I like to go to the Hawkeye Wildlife Area. There are a variety of habitats, so you can see lots of different species, and there are nice places to walk.
Tell us about a favorite birding experience outside of Iowa. I had the opportunity to go with Ross Silcock to New Zealand in the Fall of 2009. We visited Kaikoura, which is a lovely town on the coast. The Pacific Ocean is in front of you and there are snow capped mountains behind so the scenery alone is fantastic. We took a pelagic trip and we saw an unbelievable mix of tube-noses, one of which was a white-morph Southern Giant Petrel.
If you could visit any place on earth where would it be? I would like to visit the Scottish Hebrides Islands. My grandmother immigrated from there.
Do you have any interests or hobbies besides birding? I like to read, go to the movies, walk, ride my bike, and I am working on the Rudolph family history and genealogy.
Do you have any favorite movies or TV shows? My favorite movie is The Last of the Mohicans, and my favorite TV show is the annual Tour De France bike race.
Have you read any good books lately? I’ve recently read The Big Twitch by Sean Dooley and The Eye of the Albatross by Carl Safina. I would recommend both of them.
What is your favorite restaurant? I like Monica’s or Devotay. Iowa Audubon Corner


The October 30th meeting of the Iowa Audubon Board centered on the budget and ways to raise additional funds. This year’s Pelican Gala had the lowest participation and the second-lowest funds netted to date. Many new ideas were suggested. The most complete was Doug Harr’s proposal for a Big Sit fundraiser. Participants sit or stand within a 17'-diameter circle for 12 hours and record all the bird species seen or heard. Participants raise money from people who are willing to pledge a particular amount per species. If all the chapters and associated club members participate, the team with the highest amount collected retains a certain proportion. October was suggested as a good time for this event. Many of the Audubon Chapters have Big Day competitions to raise funds in a similar manner. This proposal will be presented to each club at their next meeting and the thoughts of the birding groups on this type of event will be discussed at the next board meeting.

The Otter Creek Marsh viewing platform is almost finished, and a dedication event will be held next spring to celebrate the return of nesting Sandhill Cranes in Iowa. Approximately six Important Bird Areas have been updated to Global Status. There are 2511 IBAs in the world including 450 with Global Status. Jon Stravers found 26-28 nesting pairs of Cerulean Warblers this past season. The next Iowa Audubon Board meeting is March 18, 2012.
– Karen Disbrow


Tips for Leading a Field Trip
Rick Hollis
On a recent Central New Mexico Audubon Society field trip which I attended, someone shared a document titled “Tips for Leading a Field Trip”. I know our Field Trip Coordinator, Karen Disbrow, is sometimes frustrated that more club members are not willing to lead a field trip. Friends, it is not hard to lead a field trip. It’s not necessary for leaders to be expert birders or be able to identify every bird seen. I took the CNMAS document and rewrote it to fit our club’s trips. Read below to see how easy it is. Then please consider calling Karen and volunteering to lead or co-lead a trip.
Before the trip:
1. Work with Karen to plan the following information for the trip: date and time; site to be visited; target species; lunch plans, if the expected ending time is after lunch; approximate walking distance and terrain; your phone number and/or email; and any other special considerations that the trip might require.
2. It is nice to scout the area before the trip, but this is not necessary.
3. Be available to take calls or emails the night before the trip.
At the start of the trip:
1. Arrive at the meeting place early, rain or shine. If the weather is lousy and no one shows up, go home or enjoy the day birding on your own.
2. Greet everyone. Introduce yourself as the field trip leader and ask people to introduce themselves. Pay special attention to newcomers.
3. Take attendance for the newsletter and collect our new voluntary conservation donation (see page 4 for more information on this).
4. Explain where you will be going and how long the trip will last. Mention the terrain and walking conditions, potential hazards, or special considerations such as private land, gates, etc.
5. Encourage car-pooling and suggest sharing gasoline expenses. Ensure that all drivers know the approximate route you will be taking, and offer your cell phone number if you are carrying one.
6. Remind people to test radios before departing.
7. Remain at the meeting place a reasonable time for stragglers, but don’t delay the start time too long, penalizing those who arrived on time.
During the trip:
1. Try to avoid losing cars or people, and try to keep people together. The last people in line often miss birds if the group is too spread out.
2. Carry a field guide so that you can point out to beginners what field marks to look for.
3. Speak so that all can hear.
4. When a bird is spotted, try to make sure everyone who wants to see it, gets to.
5. Keep a checklist of bird species seen.
6. Depending on the duration of the trip, plan a stop for rest rooms and snacks.
After the trip:
1. Send a brief field trip report including the participants list, bird species list, and any highlights to the newsletter Editor, Chris Edwards, for publication.
2. Forward any voluntary conservation donations to Rick Hollis.
See – it is easy. You can do it!

Introduction to Birding Course
March 20 – May 1, 2012 at Kent Park
The Iowa City Bird Club and the Johnson County Conservation Department are offering a 7-week Introduction to Birding Course at the Conservation Education Center in Kent Park. There will be seven Tuesday evening sessions along with six weekend field trips to area birding hot spots, plus two field trips for kids ages 7-12.
Tuesday evening sessions are $5 for adults and free for children accompanied by an adult. Iowa City Bird Club members receive free admission (a one-year membership is $15 per household or $10 for students). Participants may attend all seven sessions or pick one or more to attend. Classes can hold 30, and advanced registration is requested – please call Brad Freidhof at 645-1011 by noon of the Tuesday session. Handouts and refreshments will be provided. Come to class early and bird the loop path near the Conservation Education Center.
Weekend field trips are free. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Bring binoculars to all field trips; if you don’t have a pair let us know in advance and loaners can be arranged. If you have a spotting scope, you are welcome to bring it. Club members will have several scopes available on those field trips requiring one. All field trips will depart from the Dodge Street Hy-Vee in Iowa City unless otherwise noted – meet in the SW corner of the parking lot. For more information on field trips, call Karen Disbrow at 339-1017.
Tuesday, March 20, 7 p.m. BASICS OF BIRDING I by Rick Hollis. This will include field identification of birds, field guides, and equipment that every birdwatcher needs, or might someday need.
Sunday March 25, 8 a.m. Field Trip to CONE MARSH. Located about 25 miles SE of Iowa City, Cone Marsh is an excellent place to view migrating ducks, geese, and other water birds. Wear boots for walking in wet areas, and bring a spotting scope if you have one. Meet at the Fin & Feather parking lot.
Tuesday, March 27, 7 p.m. BASICS OF BIRDING II by Rick Hollis. Continuation of first session topics.
Saturday, March 31, 8 a.m. Field Trip to KENT PARK near Tiffin. We will explore the trails in Kent Park looking for migrating songbirds and resident woodland birds. Meet at the CEC in Kent Park.
Tuesday, April 3, 7 p.m. WHERE TO BIRD IN JOHNSON COUNTY by Rick Hollis. Well known, lesser known and secret places to watch birds and study nature in and around Johnson County.
Saturday, April 7, 8 a.m. Field Trip to HAWKEYE WILDLIFE AREA near North Liberty. We expect to see ducks, geese, American White Pelicans, and other early spring migrants. Wear boots for walking in wet areas.
Tuesday, April 10, 7 p.m. BACKYARD AND FEEDER BIRDS by James Scheib. This Session will cover the birds found in our area’s backyards during the year, and what types of feeders and food to use to attract them.
Sunday, April 15, 8 a.m. Field Trip to MACBRIDE NATURE-RECREATION AREA. Visit the Raptor Center, observe birds up close from the bird blind, and hike the nearby trails. Meet at the Macbride Raptor Center parking lot.
Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m. BIRDS OF HICKORY HILL PARK AND WATERWORKS PARK IN IOWA CITY by Jim Scheib. Learn the variety of birds that are found throughout the year at these nearby parks.
Tuesday, April 24, 7 p.m. Approaches to Learning Birdsong by Jerry White.
Friday, April 27, 6 p.m. NIGHT SOUNDS Field Trip. Local areas for American Woodcock, Wilson’s Snipe, frogs, owls, and anything else that calls at night.
Saturday, April 28, 8 a.m. - Noon. Field Trip for Kids age 7-12 with Rick Hollis. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Meet at the CEC in Kent Park.
Tuesday, May 1, 7 p.m. WARBLER IDENTIFICATION AND SHOREBIRD REVIEW by Karen Disbrow. Warblers are coming! Warblers are among our most colorful birds. Compare and contrast similar warblers.
Saturday, May 5, 8 a.m. - Noon. Field Trip for Kids age 7-12 with Rick Hollis. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Meet at the CEC in Kent Park.
Sunday, May 6, 8 a.m. Field Trip to HICKORY HILL PARK. This park is a great place to view warblers and other migrating songbirds.


Bird Notes
Rick Hollis
White-throated Sparrows: Stripe Colors and Chromosomes
One new item in the ornithology literature has absolutely fascinated me. I would like to share it with you, but doing so will require providing some background information that you may or may not know. We all know that White-throated Sparrows come in two different color morphs. Some birds have white facial stripes, alternating with black stripes; these are called white-stripes (WS). Other birds have tan facial stripes, alternating with brown stripes; these are called tan-stripes (TS). Part of the reason why multiple forms persist in the same population is that the sparrows prefer to mate with a bird of the other plumage type, and almost all pairings are between one WS and one TS.
I did not know that along with these morphological differences between WS and TS, comes significant behavioral differences. WS males sing more often and are more aggressive in general than their TS brothers. WS males more frequently violate their neighbors’ territories, are not devoted spouses, and spend little or no time providing for their children. Furthermore, WS males mess around with their neighbors’ mates more often and have higher blood levels of testosterone. WS females also have higher testosterone levels than TS females. This results in WS females being very interested in sex. They solicit copulations from males two times more often than TS females.
Scientists have known for some time that the WS/TS polymorphism is perfectly associated with a polymorphism on the second chromosome. A large section of this chromosome containing an estimated 1000 genes is inverted in some sparrows. One version looks something like ABCDEFGHI, while the other looks like ABCFEDGHI. Scientists call one of these chromosomal forms ZAL2 and the other ZAL2m. In nature about two-thirds of the White-throated Sparrows tested were ZAL2/ZAL2m, that is they had one Chromosome 2 without the inversion and the other Chromosome 2 with the inversion. Excepting the ZW sex chromosome pair, birds have two copies of each chromosome. So scientists found that two-thirds of White-throated Sparrows are ZAL2/ZAL2m, which are the WS birds, and one-third are ZAL2/ZAL2, which are the TS birds. If you have been paying attention, you may wonder about ZAL2m/ZAL2m birds; these are described as “vanishingly rare”. Few have ever been seen – 1 in 600 birds in one study. I have not found a description of ZAL2m/ZAL2m.
A study published in 2002 noted the following: Of 45 chicks with WS male and TS female parents, 4% of chicks were due to extra-pair fertilization, and 4% were due to brood parasitism. Of 45 chicks with TS male and WS female parents, 32% of chicks were due to extra-pair fertilization, and 0% were due to brood parasitism. (In extra-pair fertilization, a male other than the female’s mate is the father. In brood parasitism, another females lays an egg in the pair’s nest.)
As if this isn’t interesting enough, read on. Normally, when chromosomes pair during meiosis (the process in which normal cells with two pair of chromosomes are reduced into sperm and egg cells which only have one of each pair), the paired chromosomes become closely aligned and actually exchange pieces of DNA. In the case of the ZAL2/ZAL2m region, no exchange occurs.
So we have a combination of two paired chromosomes that are different, albeit only an inversion, the absence of crossing over in the inversion, and the near absence of ZAL2m/ZAL2m. This strongly suggests sex chromosomes. In birds, males are Z/Z and females are Z/W. In birds Z and W are different, there is no crossing over, and W/W does not occur. In addition, due to the lack of crossing over and perhaps other factors, the ZAL2 and ZAL2m regions are quite different. This contrasts with the rest of Chromosome 2. In other species the nonrecombining chromosome, the Y chromosome in mammals and Drosophila, and the W chromosome in butterflies and birds, shows extensive genomic decay over time.
Davis, Jamie K., Louis B. Mittel, Josh J. Lowman, Pamela J. Thomas, Donna L. Maney, Christa L. Martin, Nisc Comparative Sequencing Program, and James W. Thomas. Haplotype-Based Genomic Sequencing of a Chromosomal Polymorphism in the White-Throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Journal of Heredity 2011: 102(4): 380–390.
Joron, M and A Whibley. Stripes, sex and sparrows: what processes underlie heteromorphic chromosome evolution?. Heredity 2011: 106: 531–532.
Huynh, Lynn Y, Donna L Maney, James W Thomas. Contrasting population genetic patterns within the white-throated sparrow genome (Zonotrichia albicollis).
BMC Genetics 2010: 11: 96.
Tuttle, Elaina M. Alternative reproductive strategies in the white-throated sparrow: behavioral and genetic evidence. Behavioral Ecology 2003: 14: 3: 425–432.
Hummingbird Tongues
Hummingbird tongues have long fascinated scientists and bird watchers alike. How do they get the nectar up into their mouth? Previous hypotheses have suggested that liquids rise up by capillary action. A recent study has suggested that this is far from the truth.
The tongue consists for the most part of two open grooves. In the distal 6 mm of the tongue, the open edge is fringed. The grooves are each supported by a rod and are connected at mid tongue. The arrangement throughout most of the tongue’s length is that the supporting rods are on top and close together, and the open part of the groove faces up. In the last mm, the rods shift to the outside bottom of the tongue and the groove faces down. It is more complicated, but without drawing it (some of you have seen my drawings) this is the best I can do.
New evidence suggests that hummingbirds dynamically change the shape of their tongues, trapping fluid. The lamella fringes are unfurled as the tip enters the fluid. Then as the tip passes through the air-nectar interface, on its way back into the bill, the fringes are re-furled. This is thought to trap the nectar in the bill, preventing nectar from dripping out as the tongue is brought into the bill.
Here are four ultra slow motion videos of hummingbirds drinking (keep paging until you find them):
http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2011/04/28/1016944108.DCSupplemental/pnas.1016944108_SI.pdf#SM1
For those of you keeping score at home, a Ruby-throated-Hummingbird’s tongue is approximately 25 mm long x 0.7 mm wide and varies from 0.5 mm tall at mid-section to 0.2 mm at the tip. Hummingbird tongues go in and out of their bills around 17 times per second. A different paper suggests that a hummingbird meal is around 70 ml.
Rico-Guevara1 Alejandro and Rubega Margaret A. The hummingbird tongue is a fluid trap, not a capillary tube. PNAS, 108: 9356–9360. 2011.
Sapsucker Wells, and Thoughts About Sapsuckers and Hummingbirds in Iowa
One recent study looked at the orientation of sapsucker wells. This study was conducted in Emporia, Kansas, so the species was the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. In Emporia, sapsuckers drill exclusively in pines, so the author looked at pines and found that 38% had sapsucker wells. It was determined that 60% of the wells were oriented to the side of the tree that received the most sunlight and was thought to have the highest sap flow. It is suggested that the wells were orientated to benefit from this higher sap flow. I wonder what trees sapsuckers use in Iowa; I have seen them in pines as well as many deciduous trees.
Hummingbirds, among many other avian and non-avian species, feed at sapsucker wells, at least in the West. If this behavior occurs in Iowa it probably only occurs during the brief migratory periods when hummingbirds and sapsuckers overlap. The Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas suggests this might occur in NE Iowa. Has anyone observed this in Iowa?
Long. Ashley M. Orientation of Sap Wells Excavated by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 123(1): 164-167. 2011.


Book Review
Rick Hollis
Stalking the Ghost Bird: The Elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana. Michael K. Steinberg. Louisiana State University Press, 2008. 173 pages. Hardcover, $24.95. Available at the Iowa City Public Library.
The author of this book is a geographer. Although he is interested in birds, he is neither a birdwatcher nor an ornithologist. Although one might expect an unbalanced review, this book is far from balanced. The author has met only one or two reports of relatively recent Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana that he did not believe. He discusses the Cornell Ivory-bills in Arkansas and is convinced that all the nay-sayers have been refuted. He interviewed numerous people, mostly Louisiana outdoorsmen, who have been seeing Ivory-bills since the 1940s, and has found only one or two of these that he did not believe.
He had a magical camera malfunction while trying to photograph a tree where there may have been evidence of bark-flaking by Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, which to him helps explain why, despite all the sightings, that there have been only one or two half-credible, indisputable Ivory-bill photographs. Yet one of the reasons he disbelieves one of the sightings is that the observer forgot his camera the day he saw an Ivory-bill.
He thinks that local hunters and fishermen are more apt to see Ivory-bills than ornithologists or birders. He believes that Ivory-bills still exist (I would dearly love to believe this) and that they have probably changed their habits significantly since the Tanner study. He discusses various places where they might still be found.
Barbara Tuchman once described a reference work as confused and uneven, but probably worth reading. I sort of feel that way about this book. I had hoped for a more balanced book, with both sides of the controversy presented, but instead the author believes everyone and everything. He may also believe the moon is made of green cheese. This is a disappointing book

Field Trip and Meeting Reports
July 30, Iowa City Butterfly Count. Our 13th annual butterfly count was held on Saturday, July 30, after being rained out on the scheduled date of July 23. Our count was part of the North American Butterfly Association’s Fourth of July Butterfly Count program. We started at 9 a.m. and followed our typical itinerary of visiting Kent Park, Hawkeye Wildlife Area, Macbride Nature-Recreation Area, and Lake Macbride State Park.
We had a hot, sunny day and found many butterflies. In 9.75 hours we found a record 43 species and 2615 individuals. The previous record for species was 39 seen in 2007, and the record for individuals is 2711 seen in 2008. The thirteen-year average is 33 species and 1026 individuals.
We found one new species for the count, a fast-flying Southern Dogface at Kent Park, and recorded new high counts for 13 species (listed in italics below). Southern immigrants were much in evidence, including an American Snout which perched on my antenna when we stopped at Subway for lunch! The majority of the total individuals were sulphurs seen in a single large alfalfa field on my way home – after scanning the field with binoculars for fifteen minutes and realizing there was no way I could ever count all those butterflies, I conservatively estimated 1600 Clouded Sulphurs and 400 Orange Sulphurs, but I suspect there were a lot more than that.
Participants: Chris Edwards (leader), Therese Guedon, Peter Hansen, Ken Hunt, Tom Jantscher, Mary Noble.
Butterflies (43 species, 2615 individuals): Black Swallowtail 1, Giant Swallowtail 6, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 36, Checkered White 2, Cabbage White 46, Clouded Sulphur 1677, Orange Sulphur 426, Southern Dogface 1 (new species for count), Cloudless Sulphur 13, Little Yellow 14, American Copper 1, Bronze Copper 2, Gray Hairstreak 1, Eastern Tailed-Blue 28, Summer Azure 18, American Snout 3, Variegated Fritillary 10, Great Spangled Fritillary 9, Meadow Fritillary 15, Pearl Crescent 10, Question Mark 6, Eastern Comma 9, Gray Comma 4, American Lady 2, Painted Lady 1, Red Admiral 25, Common Buckeye 27, Red-spotted Purple 7, Viceroy 21, Hackberry Emperor 17, Northern Pearly-eye 1, Common Wood-Nymph 13, Monarch 41, Silver-spotted Skipper 26, Common Checkered-Skipper 2, Common Sootywing 11, Least Skipper 29, Fiery Skipper 27, Peck’s Skipper 14, Tawny-edged Skipper 7, Sachem 3, Black Dash 1, Dun Skipper 2.
– Chris Edwards

August 21, Hawkeye Wildlife Area. There was a good turnout of thirteen birders for this shorebird trip, and the shorebirds turned out for us as well, with 14 shorebird species seen. The day was warm and sunny with little wind and few clouds. Temperatures were in the 80s and humidity was low – perfect shorebirding weather except for the heat shimmer we had to contend with at times.
The dry summer created low water levels along Greencastle Avenue, which was the shorebird hotspot of the day with the greatest variety of species. Red-necked Phalaropes and Stilt Sandpipers there were some of the shorebird highlights of the day. A Sora was kicked up as we walked along the edge of the vegetation trying to get a closer look at some of the distant peeps.
At Round Pond, we found approximately 70 Great Egrets in the trees lining the north shore of the area, but very few shorebirds.
Sand Point had some shorebirds, including a couple of very distant American Avocets, a close adult Western Sandpiper, and several close Baird’s Sandpipers. The 2000+ American White Pelicans off Sand Point were fun to watch too, especially when we viewed them kettling against a clear blue sky. A Northern Harrier spotted on the walk back to the cars was a surprise bird this early in the fall season.
Participants: Chris Edwards, Jonni Ellsworth, Judy Ellyson, Cecile Gouard, Lois Hughes, Ken Hunt, Merle Ihne, Jason McCurdy, Diana Pesek (leader), Gerry Peterson, Ben Rowold, Ben Shattuck, Sharon Somers.
Birds (50 species): Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Sora, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Red-necked Phalarope, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern, Black Tern, Forster’s Tern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Kingbird, American Crow, Horned Lark, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, American Goldfinch.
– Diana Pesek
September 10, Cone Marsh. The day was warm and sunny. Five of us met at Hy-Vee and headed to Cone Marsh. The first place I picked for viewing had the sun in our eyes, so we moved to a better spot. At the next spot, on the east side near the caboose, the shorebirds were a little far away for observing well. We saw some ducks and geese, yellowlegs, pelicans, and herons. We also saw a couple of shorebirds that we were able to identify as phalaropes by their shape and movement on the water, but we were too far away to tell if they were Wilson’s or Red-Necked. Just before leaving, we took a second look at some distant herons, which turned out to be five Sandhill Cranes.
On the way to our next birding location I noticed a small spot moving across the road. I slowed down, thinking it was a caterpillar. It turned out to be a silver dollar-sized Blanding’s Turtle, an Iowa threatened species. They are known to occur at Cone Marsh, but this confirms that they have bred recently. The south side of the marsh had a lot of mud and very good shorebird habitat. Karen found an American Golden-Plover. There were several sandpipers, of which we could identify yellowlegs, Pectoral, and Least for certain.
We drove to the dike next. While passing through a grassy field, we saw a bird flying against the sun twice. From the size and shape it could possibly have been a rail. We went past a patch of jewelweed that Karen said was full of hummingbirds when in bloom. It was mostly past blooming, but we did find one hummer. On the dike we saw a few more ducks and a Northern Harrier. We saw a distant heron which we thought might be a night-heron, but which turned out to be, after long examination, a Great Blue Heron. We took the long route back to Iowa City. We passed the sod farm where we saw more American Golden-Plovers, and stopped at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area (Sand Lake).
Participants: Karen Disbrow, Ken Hunt (leader), Li-Hsien Liu, Ramona McGurk, Sharon Somers.
Birds (40 Species): Canada Goose, Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Norther Shoveler, American White Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Golden-Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Peewee, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, House Wren, American Robin, Gray Catbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Cardinal, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.
– Ken Hunt
September 15, Meeting. Mark Madsen, President of the Johnson County Heritage Trust, presented “The Johnson County Heritage Trust: Preserving and Restoring Natural Habitats in Eastern Iowa”.
During the business portion of the meeting, Rick Hollis brought to the attention of the group that his friends in Maryland start each birding trip by passing a cigar box to collect $1 for conservation. Each location that the group visits has a need for additional funds to maintain these conservation areas. Rick thought that this was a neat idea, so he offered a motion that a voluntary collection of monies be made at the beginning of each field trip, to be given to the appropriate group to help make the places we bird better. Examples would be Friends of Hickory Hill Park for trips to Hickory Hill Park; the Iowa DNR Wildlife Diversity Program for Hawkeye Wildlife Area; Johnson County Conservation for Kent Park; etc. Exceptions would be made for daily Warbler Walks at Hickory Hill Park. Rick volunteered to keep track of these funds.
This motion was seconded and passed by those in attendance. I think this is an excellent opportunity to give funds for conservation to some of our favorite places. I will provide manila envelopes for each field trip that offers this opportunity. It should be stressed that this is a voluntary donation, and as always our field trips are free and open to everyone who would like to join us.
Attendees: Karen Disbrow, Vic and Nola Edwards, Jonni Ellsworth, Linda Fisher, Bruce Gardner, Rick Hollis, Dave Kyllingstad, Khristen Lawton, Tom and Carol Rosenberger, Linda Rudolph, Bill Scheible, Blossom Shaw.
– Karen Disbrow
September 25, Pelican Festival at Hawkeye Wildlife Area. The first Pelican Festival to be held at the Coralville Reservoir was a great success, as approximately 500 people attending during the 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. time period were able to view up to one thousand pelicans. It was a great opportunity to spread the word about the comeback that this species has made in the Midwest over the past thirty years. It was not that many years ago that this bird was never seen on the Coralville Reservoir. Now pelicans are routinely seen in Eastern Iowa during spring and fall migration. Small numbers of immature pelicans often spend the summer months at Hawkeye Wildlife Area, and thousands congregate there during late summer and early fall. In recent years pelicans have nested on Mississippi River islands north of Clinton, which is the first known nesting site of this species in Iowa.
The Iowa City Bird Club co-sponsored this event with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iowa DNR, Cedar Rapids Audubon Society, and Iowa Audubon. Seventeen groups were represented at information or merchandise booths, including Cedar Rapids Audubon Society, Eastern Iowa Beekeepers Association, Iowa Audubon, Iowa City Astronomy Club, Iowa City Bird Club, Iowa DNR Wildlife Diversity Program, Iowa Native Plant Society, Iowa Ornithologists’ Union, Johnson County Conservation Department, Johnson County Heritage Trust, Johnson County Songbird Project, Macbride Raptor Project, Minnesota Audubon, Prairie States Mushroom Club, Swisher Fire Department, University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (Coralville Dam). Funny Face Designs provided face painting, and Boy Scout Troop 218 provided food. I hope I have not forgotten anyone.
Marvelous programs were given by Doug Harr on American White Pelicans; Pat Schlarbaum on Ospreys and Falcons; the Macbride Raptor Project on Owls; and Ron Windingstad on Chimney Swifts.
Special thanks to the ICBC members who brought scopes and worked to make sure that everyone had a good look at these spectacular birds. I am already making plans for next year’s Pelican Festival.
– Karen Disbrow
October 1, Hawk Watch at Stainbrook Preserve. It was a pleasant day to be outdoors, with clear skies, temperatures in the 50s, and a mild NE wind. But the conditions did not produce a good hawk flight. Due to the home football schedule, the count was scheduled later than usual this year, and for the first time in many years we did not see any Broad-winged Hawks or Ospreys. Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, and Red-tailed Hawks were seen in higher than normal numbers. We spotted a single Northern Harrier and a single American Kestrel, but both were very distant. Perhaps the best bird was a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk which soared and circled right over our vantage point.
Participants: Chris Edwards (co-leader), Judy Ellyson, Tony Franken, Therese Guedon, Rick Hollis (co-leader), Ken Hunt, Lauren and Doina Johnson, Li-Hsien Lin, Yu-Diann Lu, Jason McCurdy, Tom and Carol Rosenberger, Bill Scheible, Steve Schomberg, Don Swartzendruber.
Raptors (7 species): Turkey Vulture 55, Bald Eagle 14, Northern Harrier 1, Sharp-shinned Hawk 4, Cooper’s Hawk 2, accipiter sp. 3, Red-tailed Hawk 11, buteo sp. 3, American Kestrel 1.
Other Birds: (26 species): Canada Goose, American Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch.
– Chris Edwards
October 20, Meeting. Justin Sipla, UI Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, presented “The Inner Ears of Birds and Dinosaurs: What the Balance Organs Tell Us About the Evolution of Flight”. The meeting was well-attended, with 27 members and guests in attendance.
– Karen Disbrow

October 29, Waterworks Prairie Park. There was a large group for our outing to Waterworks Park where we searched for sparrows and winter arrivals. Unfortunately the sparrows were pretty skittish and it was hard for us all to get good looks. We did have great looks at small groups of goldfinches in the brush and migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees. The open water held a few birds like Great Blue Heron, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, and Killdeer. The few sparrows we were able to see included: Field, Song, Lincoln (1), Swamp, White-throated, White-crowned (1), and an unexpected group of Eurasian Tree Sparrows. We also heard some flyover bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and an American Pipit. Overall, we could have had better looks at the sparrows, but we had a good time chatting and walking the trail.
Participants: Adam Burke, Jerry Denning, Therese Guedon, Rick Hollis, Ken Hunt, Jason McCurdy, Ramona McGurk, Tom and Carol Rosenberger, Sharon Somers.
Birds (38 species): Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, European Starling, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
– Jason Paulios

November 13, Cedar Lake and Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area. In birding, as in many other pursuits, timing is everything. Unfortunately on this day our timing was poor. During the preceding two weeks, there had been numerous reports of scoters, grebes, loons, and other water birds from eastern Iowa waters. But weather conditions had pushed them on southward, and on this day we found very few of our target birds.
The day started out promising enough, with sunny skies and pleasant conditions. After leaving Iowa City, our first stop was Cedar Lake in Cedar Rapids, where we met up with several Linn County birders. There were very few birds on the main lake other than Mallards and Canada Geese. A dozen Double-crested Cormorants were spotted in trees near the river, and a female Hooded Merganser was spotted across the lake. We drove to the south end, and on the small south lake we saw several more male and female Hooded Mergansers and a flock of Ruddy Ducks.
We then continued to Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area north of Palo. On the way, several sharp-eyed birders spotted a late Turkey Vulture soaring overhead. By the time we arrived at Pleasant Creek, a strong south wind was blowing, and it got worse as the day progressed. Scoping the lake from the shelter, we found several coots, one Pied-billed Grebe, two Common Loons, and one Lesser Scaup, which was the only duck we found on the lake. While driving towards the beach, we stopped to study an interesting dark-morph juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. We drove through the campground loop searching for a Northern Shrike, to no avail. Seeking to get out of the wind, we hiked a short loop nature trail north of the road. The woods were very quiet, but we managed to hear a Pileated Woodpecker and spot a Gray Comma butterfly. On the way back to our vehicles, a Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen carrying a Black-capped Chickadee, a two-for-one sighting.
On the way back to Iowa City, several of us stopped at Sandy Beach on the Coralville Reservoir. Windy conditions prevailed there as well, and distant Ring-billed Gulls were the only birds seen on the water.
Participants: Diane Bradbury, Jerry Denning, Karen Disbrow, Linda Donelson, Chris Edwards (leader), Ken Hunt, Jason McCurdy, Gerry Peterson, Ben Rowold, Bill Scheible, Sharon Somers, Gerry Teig.
Birds (31 species): Canada Goose, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Robin, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.
– Chris Edwards
November 17, Meeting. Linda Rudolph and Bill Scheible presented a program on their winter 2011 trip to Japan, entitled “Birding in Japan: Cranes and Eagles, Monkeys and Volcanoes”, featuring photographs taken by Linda.
There were many birding highlights. The group saw three of the world’s fifteen crane species: Hooded, White-naped, and Red-crowned. The other main focus was a pelagic trip to the pack ice to see Steller’s Sea Eagles. This is the heaviest eagle in the world and it is quite spectacular. The trip also included a visit to see Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the largest owl in the world.
A non-birding highlight was a stop at Nagano to see the Japanese Macaques. Commonly called “snow monkeys”, these are the northernmost non-human primates.
Japan is a volcanic nation on the Pacific “rim of fire”. It lived up to its name, as the group saw an active volcano as they flew into Kagashima. Then a second volcano erupted right in the park they were to visit to see woodland birds and waterfowl. The ash fouling everything from the air to the water and devastating the crops made them glad to return home to Iowa.
Attendees: Barry Buschelman, Jerry Denning, Karen Disbrow, John and Linda Donelson, Chris and Anne Edwards, Nola Edwards, John Erickson, Bruce Gardner, Therese Guedon, Ken Hunt, Pat Kieffer, Jane Knoedel, Dave Kyllingstad, Khristen Lawton, Duane and Jill Miller, Gerald Peterson, Tom and Carol Rosenberger, Ben Rowold, Linda Rudolph, Bob and Linda Scarth, Jim and Sharon Scheib, Bill Scheible, Dick and Marcia Shaffer, Sharon Somers.
– Linda Rudolph


IOWA CITY BIRD CLUB MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM
Please send this form with your annual membership dues to Bruce Gardner, 3055 Wapsi Ave. NE, Iowa City, IA, 52240. Annual dues are $15 per household or $10 for students. Make checks payable to “Eastern Iowa Birdwatch”. Members receive a 10% discount on bird seed at Birds Eye View, 410 First Ave. in Coralville’s Riverview Square.
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Iowa City Bird Club
For general bird club information, or to lead or suggest a field trip, contact our president and field trip coordinator, Karen Disbrow at (319) 339-1017 or k_disbrow@yahoo.com.
Annual membership dues are $15 per household or $10 for students, payable by January 1st for the coming year. Check your mailing label for the year you have paid through. Make checks payable to Eastern Iowa Birdwatch and mail to Bruce Gardner, 3055 Wapsi Ave. NE, Iowa City, IA 52240. You may contact Bruce at (319) 643-2575 or woodsidefarms@juno.com.
Our club web site is located at www.icbirds.org and is maintained by Jim Scheib. You may contact Jim at (319) 337-5206 or jim@tenlongview.net.
Eastern Iowa Birdwatch is published three times per year, in April, September, and December. Members are encouraged to send submissions and comments to the editor, Chris Edwards, 4490 Daniels Cir. NE, Solon, IA 52333. You may contact Chris at (319) 430-4732 or credwards@aol.com.


Eastern Iowa Birdwatch
Chris Edwards, Editor
4490 Daniels Cir. NE
Solon, IA 52333