May May May May May Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac: The Raven
May May May May May Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac: The Raven
May May May May May Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac Almanac: The Raven
The mission of Juneau Audubon Society is to conserve the natural ecosystems of Southeast
Alaska, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit and enjoyment of
current and future generations.
On Saturday, May 10, take a bird walk on the Mendenhall Wetlands with Bob
Armstrong, author of numerous bird and nature guides for Alaska and an
o Wolf pups accomplished photographer. For details, see our bird walk schedule on page 4.
are born
May/early On Thursday, May 15, attend a program at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor
June Center Theater from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Gwen Baluss of the U.S. Forest Service
will give a presentation about banding neotropical migrants in Alaska and
Mexico. There will be a concurrent hour-long program for children in another
room at the visitor center beginning at 6:30 p.m. with Kristen Romanoff from
May 10 is International Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Further information is available from
Migratory Bird Day Gwen or from Michelle Kissling with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
T
he Juneau Audubon Society board met on April 15, 2003. We have several projects that are in progress, including a
donation of some fabulous mountain goat photographs to be hung in the visitor’s center and near the cruise ship
information kiosk, and updates on the golf course issues (courtesy of Matt Kirchhoff and Sue Schrader). We also
discussed our use of chapter funds for our Raven newsletter and one of our major fundraisers, the Berners Bay cruises. If
you were not on the April cruise, please consider taking the May 3, 2003 cruise! (Ed. note: the morning cruise is already
sold out, but space may still be available on the afternoon sailing.)
The board decided to continue supporting the bi-monthly contribution to the Southeast Wild column in the Juneau Empire.
Please let us know if you would like to contribute an article, or know someone who has a birding or natural history story to
share.
We are hoping to promote a Bird-a-thon to raise interest in fall migrations in the Juneau area. Fall is a time of sometimes
unreasonable weather, but also a time of interesting birding in our area. Let’s start a new tradition of bird walks and
awareness as our daylight length shortens and our migrants pass through town with the last of the cruise ship passengers.
We are always on the lookout for interested volunteers to support our committees and board. Please contact any member
of the board with suggestions or offers of time.
Y our berry-picking hands. Homemade jams and jellies are the highlight of
Your Hands
weekend. And they are a major fund-raiser for our chapter. As you are picking
berries this summer, please consider picking a bucket or two to donate to this cause.
You can contact Mary Lou King at [email protected] to contribute. Many hands
will help insure this holiday tradition continues.
This article is based on an interview with one of the many experienced birders in Juneau Audubon Society. If you’d like to be
interviewed about one of your favorite birds, please contact Marge Hermans at [email protected]
A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was one of the first birds I saw that got me
interested in birds in general.
I was in junior high or high school and was walking through the woods on the
farm where we lived in southern Minnesota. I knew what Ruby-crowned
Kinglets were, and I saw them in the bushes right next to me. Normally you
can’t see the red crown, but this bird was flashing its crown of red feathers. It
was really close—only a few feet away—and I could see it without binoculars.
It was really spectacular.
Bob Armstrong
Also, one of the first bird songs I learned was the Ruby-crowned Kinglet’s,
and that got me going with birding by ear. It’s a really strong song for such a
small bird, and we hear it a lot around Juneau in the spring. It usually starts
with a few chittering notes, then shifts to something like “Pretty-pretty-pretty-
pretty me!” It’s very ringing, easily heard, and we assume the birds are singing
to establish their territories.
Except for hummingbirds, kinglets are about the smallest birds in this area. They’re only about 4 inches long from the tip
of the bill to the tip of the tail—smaller than most warblers. Kinglets flick their wings a lot (a good tip-off for
identification), and they hover as they look for small insects, or insect eggs on the undersides of leaf surfaces. They’re
pretty much little grayish, olive-green birds, but they have white wing bars, so they look pretty different from any warblers
you’d see around Juneau. Also below the bottom wing bar they have a big band of black on the wing. That’s a good field
mark to distinguish a kinglet from a warbler.
Golden-crowned Kinglets are generally found in spruce trees, often really high up, and they tend to move in flocks. Their
bellies look pretty white, and the birds have a broad white stripe over the eye. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are typically found
in deciduous brush and trees, and they often forage fairly low to the ground. They are a little more light olive green color,
and they have no white stripe but a white eye ring.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets breed in Southeast’s spruce forests, and one interesting thing is that their average clutch size is the
highest of any songbird. They often have 7 eggs, and sometimes up to 12. They’re pretty secretive. I’ve never personally
seen a nest, and was just reading in an article that their nests can be up to 90 feet high in a spruce or hemlock.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets are one of the first passerine migrants to show up in Juneau. We usually see them in late March.
When the migrants move out in fall, you’ll see Ruby-crowned Kinglets moving south even into November. Occasionally
one is seen on the Christmas Bird Count, but that’s pretty rare.
You can also enjoy kinglets because they’re such a common bird. You’ll see them almost anywhere you go in the U.S. You
realize a lot of these birds nest pretty much in the north, then you see them in the southern U.S. in the winter. Seeing a
familiar bird like that links the two areas together.
W alks last about two hours. Bring binoculars and/or spotting scope, bird guide, rubber boots, and dress for
weather. Please watch local media or our web site at http://www.juneau-audubon-society.org for possible
schedule changes.
Saturday Berners Bay cruises Saturday Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge
May 3 Depart Auke Bay Boat Harbor May 24 Meet at parking lot at end of Radcliffe Rd.
8:30 & 1:30 Members will be on board as interpreters. 8 a.m. Leader: Steve Zimmerman
Sunday Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge Saturday Sandy Beach, Douglas
May 4 Meet at parking lot at end of Radcliffe Rd May 31 Meet at parking lot by picnic shelter
8 a.m. Leader: Deborah Rudis 8 a.m. Leader: Paul Suchanek
Even if the comment date has passed, you can still send your comments to the Division of Governmental Coordination. The
State review period on 404 permits usually ends after the COE comment period closes (as a general rule you can add four days to
the comment period). It is important that your concerns reference the Coastal Zone Management program (Section 307 (c)(3) of
the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972) and the State Coastal management program (Alaska Statute Title 46). You may also
comment on the State’s Water Quality Certification (Section 401 of the Clean Water Act). Consistency guidelines for the Alaska
Coastal Management Program (ACMP) on natural resources and habitats can be found in 6 AAC 80.040 to 6 AAC 80.120 and
Water Quality standards can be found in 18 AAC 70. Please contact the Division of Governmental Coordination or the
Department of Environmental Conservation for more information about applicable laws and project comment deadlines.
For additional information on regulations and guidelines for fill and dredge activity in marine waters and wetlands see the
following: Section 10 of Rivers and Harbors Act 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) - Placement of structures in waters of the United States;
Section 404 and 404 (b) of the Clean Water Act (40 CFR 230) - Discharge of fill or dredged material into the waters of the United
States; Section 103 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1413) - Transport of dredge material for
the purpose of dumping in marine waters. If you need help on commenting or technical assistance, you can call Chris Kent at
463-3494.
Point Lions — Point Lions River 1, (Reference Number 4- Purpose: To construct a 9-hole golf course. Additional
2003-0145) Applicant: Native Village of Port Lions. Location: information: On April 5, 2002, the Alaska District Corps of
Port Lions on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Proposal: The applicant Engineers published a Public Notice, CEPOA-CO Number 4-
proposes to discharge 6,300 cubic feet of fill into 1.03 acres of 1996-0320, Chilkat River 18, for the placement of fill within an
wetlands. Purpose: To create a building pad for a 13,250 foot approximate 5.5 acre emergent wetland area for the
Cultural Center and parking lot. Mitigation: None. construction of this project. The application was withdrawn by
Comments due: April 18, 2003. the applicant pending a final design. The current proposal has
been modified to include mechanized land clearing within an
Haines — Chilkat River 18, (Reference Number 4-1996- additional approximate 3.97 acres of emergent wetland area for
0320) Applicant: Stanley Jones. Location: Haines. Proposal: on-site borrow material extraction. Mitigation: As a result of
The applicant proposes the placement of approximately 23,085 pre-application coordination, and based on the fact that a
cubic yards of clean fill material within an approximate 7.34 portion of the proposed project would occur below the High
acre emergent wetland area to create: Tide Line, the applicant has incorporated the following
• Access Road: 750' x 30' (22,500 sq. ft.) management practices to reduce impacts to the aquatic
• Parking Area: 125' x 250' (30,000 sq. ft.) environment: The proposed borrow areas will be a minimum of
• Maintenance Pad: 80' x 100' (8,000 sq. ft.) 5' from the anadromous tributaries of the Chilkat River in order
• Club House Pad: 70' x 70' (4,900 sq. ft.) to retain the naturally vegetated buffers to the streams. In
• Construction Road including 15 bridge abutments: 7,000' x addition a narrow 2-3' wide channel will be excavated from
15' (105,000 sq. ft.) within each buffer zone, to no lower than the ordinary water
• Driving Range Access Road: 450' x 8' (3,600 sq. ft.) level of the stream at low tide, to prevent fish from being
trapped within the excavated areas at low tidal elevations.
• Driving Range Pad: 135' x 20' (2,700 sq. ft.)
Comments due: April 7, 2003
• Equipment Pad at Driving Range: 30' x 40' (1,200 sq. ft.)
• Greens: (see detail drawings): (133,480 sq. ft.) Juneau — Montana Creek 24, (Reference Number 0-2002-
• Tees: twenty seven @ 20' x 20' (10,800 sq. ft.) 0326) Applicant: Ambre Willis. Location: 4944 Wren Drive,
TOTAL WETLAND FILL AREA: 319,815 square feet (7.34 on Lot 1, Block F McGinnis 5B Subdivision. Proposal: The
acres) applicant proposes to discharge fill into .188 acres of Class A
wetlands and pond to create an upland area to construct a
If you prefer to just support Juneau Audubon Society, fill out the form above and send with $10 to: Juneau Audubon Society, P.O.
Box 021725, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn.: membership. NOTE: if you wish to join National Audubon Society, please send your
check with the membership application to Boulder, CO.