To Be a Birder

By Glen Wunderlich

Have you seen your first robin yet this year? I have. I had just taken a break from chainsaw aerobics and had removed my safety helmet with hearing protection. When I first heard the cheerful tunes, I thought it sounded much like a robin but I was having trouble wrapping my mind around the notion that spring was here already. After all, it was January 21 and not an earthworm in sight.

Intently looking and listening, I heard the sound again. Sure enough, it was a robin alright. That’s when I caught its image atop a naked deciduous tree, just as the forlorned visitor flew off.

A few days later, while observing one of my feed sites, tiny juncos, chickadees, and titmice were dwarfed by another ground-feeding visitor: a wood thrush. They winter in lowland tropical forests in Central America but obviously, this loner didn’t get the memo.

A common sight on the ground is yet another visitor from the far north: the tree sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow

Plump and long-tailed, American tree sparrows are busy visitors in winter backyards and weedy, snow-covered fields across southern Canada and the northern United States.  Sometimes they number in the hundreds in a particular plot of indigenous pigweed I’ve left for their nourishment. In fact, it’s the primary reason I’ve quit trying to rid the patch of the otherwise undesirable weed.

Hopping up at bent weeds or even beating their wings to dislodge seeds from grass heads, they scratch and peck the ground in small flocks, trading soft, musical twitters. Come snowmelt, these small rusty-capped and smooth-breasted sparrows with a black spot on their breasts begin their long migrations to breeding grounds in the tundra of the far North.

If you are fascinated by watching and studying birds, you may be interested in an online course at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y.  For the first time, lectures will be available online to anyone, anywhere.

Though species native to the Finger Lakes Region of New York will be discussed, course lectures are also packed with information about bird identification, migration, nesting, and other topics that are relevant to anyone hoping to improve their bird-watching skills.

The eight-week course is taking place March 23 through May 15. Visit birds.cornell.edu/sfo to learn about the course schedule, which will run concurrently with each Wednesday evening lecture available to online participants the following day. The online lectures will be hosted on the Cornell Lab’s Bird Academy website.

The course cost is $140 for online participants and is taught by Dr. Stephen Kress, Vice President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society. “I can think of no better way to greet the spring migrants than taking part in Spring Field Ornithology,” says Kress. “Whether people take the course in person or watch the lectures online, they’ll come away knowing much more about birds and appreciate them so much more. There’s great value in that at a time when so many species are in trouble. Plus, bird watching is just great fun.”

Wildlife

The Case for Firearms Suppressors

Most of Europe has liberal suppressor regulations. In France or Finland, one can simply walk into a gun store to get one. Suppressors are encouraged and are considered safe and quiet.

America is the opposite.  Michigan is proposing only a 30-decibel reduction in noise, but in so doing, some sub-sonic ammunition can still damage hearing.  So, why the limit?  More here…

Ammunition, Firearms

Sightmark Wolverine Red Dot Sights


(MANSFIELD, TEXAS) – Sightmark® is proud to announce the release of the Wolverine lineup of red dot sights, designed for quick-target acquisition and offered in both CSR and FSR models. The rugged new line of sights delivers unlimited eye relief and first-class battery life using just a single AA battery in a durable, shockproof design. The responsive Wolverine sights are housed in a single piece of 6061-T6 aluminum that is rubber-armored and protected by a scratch resistant, anti-reflective lens coating.
Fog proof and nitrogen purged, the Wolverine family of sights is designed to provide shooters the ability to take aim in a variety of conditions and temperatures ranging from -22 to 122 F. The Wolverine was built to adapt and is ready for anything. Both models sport an IP67 waterproof rating and are submersible to three feet. Wolverine red dot sights have an adjustable mount height and are compatible with Picatinny mounts.The Wolverine CSR Red Dot Sight is designed specifically for shotguns and short-barreled rifles. The CSR sports a 4 MOA red dot reticle with a 23mm objective lens and adjustable digital switch brightness controls. Compact and light, the CSR model weighs only 10.3 ounces, and along with the FSR, offers very low power consumption. The CSR also offers variable brightness and night vision modes, which enables the ability to co-witness with a night vision sight. Read more
Optics

Streamlight Launches Protac Rail Mount 1 and 2 Lights


EAGLEVILLE, PA -–Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting and weapon light/laser sighting devices, has expanded its ProTac® family with two new gun-mounted tactical lights, the ProTac® Rail Mount 1 and ProTac® Rail Mount 2.The new, low-profile models both feature rugged, integrated rail clamps that securely attach to rifles, carbines and sub-machine guns with a MIL-STD-1913 (Picatinny) rail. Both lights come with both remote pressure and standard push-button tail switches, and the Rail Mount 1 offers the added convenience of using either one lithium or one easy-to-source AA alkaline battery.

The new lights use a high power C4® LED to deliver blinding white light and a TIR optic that provides a concentrated beam with optimum peripheral illumination. Offering high, low and strobe settings, both lights feature a TEN-TAP® programmable switch that allows user selection of one of three different programs: high/strobe (factory default); high only; or low/high. Read more

Optics

New Legislation Introduced to Ban Fish Farms in the Great Lakes

New legislation has been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives by Rep. Jon Bumstead (R-Newago) to ban commercial net-pen fish farms in the Great Lakes, which poses disease, escapement and effluent risks to Great Lakes fisheries. House Bill 5255 would ban commercial cage culture operations from Michigan-controlled waters of the Great Lakes

Call your representatives on the House Natural Resources and Agriculture committees and tell them to protect Great Lakes fisheries!

“This is just common sense,” said Bumstead. “The Great Lakes support a $7 billion sport fishery. Why would the state authorize an unnecessary risk to the Great Lakes economy? This legislation will ensure that it doesn’t.”

This legislation comes in the midst of competing legislation to specifically authorize commercial net-pen fish farms – also called cage culture – in the Great Lakes following two proposals for siting in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

“Commercial cage culture poses serious risks to wild fisheries,” said Dr. Bryan Burroughs, executive director of the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited. “These risks include escapement and breeding with wild fish, making them less genetically fit to survive in the wild, passing disease from immune domestic fish to wild fish which are not immune to the diseases, and, especially, the effluent deposited by concentrated populations of domestic fish into lakes.” Read more

Fishing

HSUS Grades Politicians

For those of you who’d like to know how your local politicians are rated by the largest anti-hunting organization in the world, check out the report cards here: http://bit.ly/1QAHb1M.

Another video worth watching covers the HSUS position on hunting with the understanding that anyone who receives high scores with the HSUS lobbyists is certainly no friend of the North American Conservation Model.

Give this one a look and see if you don’t get the notion that HSUS, like some politicians, is definitely flying under a false flag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk5rjSJYeKg

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

BLACKHAWK! Releases a New Knoxx SpecOps Shotgun Stock

GW: No indication of what firearms this is compatible with…
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas — The all-new BLACKHAWK! Knoxx SpecOps Gen III Stock with Recoil Suppression Technology effectively reduces felt recoil by up to 80 percent, taking the original SpecOps Stock to an even higher level of effectiveness, performance and reliability.

Using dual recoil-compensation systems, this rugged new synthetic stock improves shooter confidence, reduces muzzle flip, decreases cheek-slap and virtually eliminates harsh recoil. With improved ergonomics and six convenient adjustment positions, any-sized shooter can use the SpecOps Stock Gen III comfortably in any application and with any load. Even high-powered 3-inch loads are reduced by approximately 50 percent. Read more

Firearms

Winchester Introduces New M-22 Rimfire Ammo


EAST ALTON, Ill. – Winchester Ammunition delivered one of the most significant innovations to hit the rimfire world in 2013 with the introduction of the 17 Winchester Super Magnum, but where new rimfire loads are concerned, the company is far from over. In 2016, Winchester Ammunition continues to invest in its rimfire product line with the development of a new M-22 Subsonic .22 LR round.The M-22 is designed specifically to function in semi-automatic firearms, while remaining subsonic from both pistol and rifle length barrels. The new M-22 Subsonic features a 45-grain black-plated lead round nose bullet that has the equivalent energy of full velocity 36-grain rimfire products. In addition, the M-22 Subsonic utilizes non-corrosive priming and clean burning powder for reduced muzzle flash.

The M-22 Subsonic was also created with suppressed firearms in mind, but performs just as well in unsuppressed rifles and handguns. During Winchester testing, M-22 Subsonic rounds measured 129 dB from an unsuppressed rifle. That is significantly quieter than a full velocity .22 LR fired from a suppressed rifle, which typically measures around 138 db. With the addition of a suppressor, M-22 Subsonic achieves a remarkably quiet 116 db. Read more

Ammunition

Johnny Stewart Grim Speaker GS2 Caller Wins Outdoor Life Editor’s Choice Award

During the recent Outdoor Life field test of new predator callers, the new Johnny Stewart Grim Speaker GS2 caller received the Editor’s Choice award for its excellent performance and price.

Testers were impressed with the call’s performance, as well as the reach of the 110 decibel speaker at ranges over 300 yards. “The backlit LED remote unit was easy to operate with gloved fingers and the remote nests in the back of the caller by means of a magnet”, said one of the testers. “A huge plus is the ability to download hundreds of additional sounds through the USB port.” Read more

Hunting

Idaho Wolf Management A Success

— Virgil Moore, Director, Idaho Fish and Game

When Idaho Fish and Game took over wolf management in 2011, the wolf population had grown unchecked for more than a decade after reaching federal recovery levels of 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves eleven years earlier. This was due to repeated lawsuits that stalled delisting and delayed transfer of wolves to state management.

As a result, wolf conflicts with livestock and elk populations were rampant in most parts of Idaho north of the Snake River and livestock producers and hunters grew increasingly frustrated.

After five years of state management of wolves in Idaho, we’re seeing positive results:

  • In 2010, the year before wolves were delisted, there were 109 confirmed wolf depredations on livestock in Idaho. Now livestock depredations by wolves are down by almost 50 percent (59 in 2015).
  • The most recent livestock attack by wolves occurred last October. We haven’t had a depredation-free stretch last this long since 2004. Read more
Wildlife
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