Re: [CT Birds] On This Day (10/7)
E.J. your right in your assumption. The records Dennis is working from are more than just the official CT State list maintained by the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut or the published reports of the ARCC. The official list of species accepted as having occurred in CT is based upon acceptable documentation being created and presented to ARCC (formerly CRRC). Many reported occurrences of species in CT are never documented beyond word of mouth. Many historical records were supported by specimens but even here the record is unacceptable if the specimen has no supporting evidence or vague, questionable provenance. There have been a number of species reported by Dennis that do not show up in the official state list. That is not a bad thing and in fact I find it a very good thing. Some of the reported occurrences will simply be wrong and others will simply have lacked convincing evidence. I find all of them interesting and once again laud Dennis for doing this for us.
Dave Provencher
Naturally New Englandhttp://naturallynewengland.blogspot.com/
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Hi Folks
I was wondering when someone was going to bring this up.
My policy is that I just report records without (much) judgement,
that is for the rare records committee.
As often as not a non-accepted record is likely accurate but does not
contain enough information to satisfy the committee.
By presenting those records on this list it makes people aware of the
possibilities they should pay attention to. In this way a prepared
mind might find these species and have them properly documented.
In addition, to amuse myself, and hope to educate people, I add some
old records that are not important today but have a historical
context, such as Passenger Pigeons, escaped Flamingos and the rarity
of Mockingbirds and Mourning Doves.
Dennis Varza
On Oct 7, 2009, at 11:01 AM, David F Provencher wrote:
E.J. your right in your assumption. The records Dennis is working
from are more than just the official CT State list maintained by
the Avian Records Committee of Connecticut or the published reports
of the ARCC. The official list of species accepted as having
occurred in CT is based upon acceptable documentation being created
and presented to ARCC (formerly CRRC). Many reported occurrences of
species in CT are never documented beyond word of mouth. Many
historical records were supported by specimens but even here the
record is unacceptable if the specimen has no supporting evidence
or vague, questionable provenance. There have been a number of
species reported by Dennis that do not show up in the official
state list. That is not a bad thing and in fact I find it a very
good thing. Some of the reported occurrences will simply be wrong
and others will simply have lacked convincing evidence. I find all
of them interesting and once again laud Dennis for doing this for us.
Dave Provencher
Naturally New Englandhttp://naturallynewengland.blogspot.com/
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic message contains
information which may be legally confidential and or privileged and
does not in any case represent a firm ENERGY COMMODITY bid or offer
relating thereto which binds the sender without an additional
express written confirmation to that effect. The information is
intended solely for the individual or entity named above and access
by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the
contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful. If
you have received this electronic transmission in error, please
reply immediately to the sender that you have received the message
in error, and delete it. Thank you.
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association
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Since a lot of people called their legislators on this issue and have been asking for an update, I wanted to let folks know that the funds for the Long Island Sound License Plate have been fully preserved, both the $600,000 plus balance currently in the account, and any funds collected in the future. Thank you to Attorney General Blumenthal for leading the charge on this, to the Connecticut Fund for the Environment for providing the legal argument, to you for contacting your legislators (which really does make a difference) and to the legislature for restoring these funds.
Unfortunately, the funds for the Wildlife Conservation License Plate and other conservation-related plates, as well as the migratory bird stamp funds have not yet been restored. We are working on that right now so stay tuned for further updates and alerts. It's not over yet!
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Patrick
PS Regarding Chris Lovell's post. Dogwoods of all kinds are a favorite of birds, but especially the flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) because of their fatty fruit that coincides with migration timing. Pagoda dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia) are also nice and their fruit can persist into migration time. Some of my other favorite fall-fruiting trees also include magnolias, star magnolia (Magnolia stellata), Virginia (swamp or sweetbay) magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) and Cucumber Tree (Magnolia acuminate) in particular. All can be spectacular migrant magnets. Star Magnolias aren't native to the US, Cucumber Trees are native to as close as western NY and whether or not virginiana is native to CT is a matter of debate, but they are native to Long Island, so very close. Star Magnolias have a long history in cultivation and I have not heard of reports of them being invasive at all. The specimens at the bent are always hopping with birds this time of year.
Patrick M. Comins
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Connecticut
pcomins@audubon.org
http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-CT
Audubon Center at Bent of the River
185 East Flat Hill Road
Southbury, CT 06488
Phone: (203)264-5098 x305
or 203-267-6732 x305
Fax: (203)264-6332
Fantastic! I hope it goes through for the wildlife conservation plates,
along with the bird stamp funds. I just got my wildlife plate in August and
then I heard about this and was pretty upset.
Thanks for the update.
Pam
Colchester, CT
-----Original Message-----
From: ctbirds-bounces@lists.ctbirding.org
[mailto:ctbirds-bounces@lists.ctbirding.org] On Behalf Of COMINS, Patrick
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 1:59 PM
To: Posting Bird List
Cc: BRESLIN, Sandy
Subject: [CT Birds] Long Island Sound License Plate Funds Fully Restored &
Dogwood Trees Response
Since a lot of people called their legislators on this issue and have been
asking for an update, I wanted to let folks know that the funds for the Long
Island Sound License Plate have been fully preserved, both the $600,000 plus
balance currently in the account, and any funds collected in the future.
Thank you to Attorney General Blumenthal for leading the charge on this, to
the Connecticut Fund for the Environment for providing the legal argument,
to you for contacting your legislators (which really does make a difference)
and to the legislature for restoring these funds.
Unfortunately, the funds for the Wildlife Conservation License Plate and
other conservation-related plates, as well as the migratory bird stamp funds
have not yet been restored. We are working on that right now so stay tuned
for further updates and alerts. It's not over yet!
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Patrick
PS Regarding Chris Lovell's post. Dogwoods of all kinds are a favorite of
birds, but especially the flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) because of
their fatty fruit that coincides with migration timing. Pagoda dogwoods
(Cornus alternifolia) are also nice and their fruit can persist into
migration time. Some of my other favorite fall-fruiting trees also include
magnolias, star magnolia (Magnolia stellata), Virginia (swamp or sweetbay)
magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) and Cucumber Tree (Magnolia acuminate) in
particular. All can be spectacular migrant magnets. Star Magnolias aren't
native to the US, Cucumber Trees are native to as close as western NY and
whether or not virginiana is native to CT is a matter of debate, but they
are native to Long Island, so very close. Star Magnolias have a long
history in cultivation and I have not heard of reports of them being
invasive at all. The specimens at the bent are always hopping with birds
this time of year.
Patrick M. Comins
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Connecticut
pcomins@audubon.org
http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-CT
Audubon Center at Bent of the River
185 East Flat Hill Road
Southbury, CT 06488
Phone: (203)264-5098 x305
or 203-267-6732 x305
Fax: (203)264-6332
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA)
for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit
http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org