Even now we haven"t lost all. the existing portion of Pallikkaranai, however
meagre it is, could be redeemed and saved as a wetland. To make this, we can
always approach the Corporates who were partly responsible for the debacle.Take
the case of Adyar Poonga! so much of opposition for that.Now all of you go
birding there! So, all one needs to do is look ahead rather than being
pessimistic in ruing over past. MNS can very well lobby for this with its share
of seasoned Ornithologists. Even if we dont suceed, why we should be averse to
even try?

--- On Wed, 7/23/08, Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@...> wrote:

From: Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@...>
Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
To: Tamilbirds@...
Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 9:38 AM






Yes, Mr.Chandru is correct. Pallikaranai should be an IBA. It is a potential
place for water birds. In our last visit on Jan 2008, we spotted a huge amount
of pelicans, stilts, garganeys, shanks, sandpipers.
 
best,
deva.

--- On Tue, 22/7/08, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo. com> wrote:

From: Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo. com>
Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
Date: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 8:40 PM

Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai declared as an
IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.

--- On Fri, 7/18/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in> wrote:

From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in>
Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 9:54 AM

Pallikaranai is not an IBA. Vedanthangal may be a better idea. But we
need someone who knows the place and the people there well enough.
Also we should select sites where there is an overuse of resources and
hence some pressure on the IBA.
Santharam

--- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
<hkinneri@.. .> wrote:
>
> To start with, I believe we could seek the help of Corporates around
Pallikkaranai in Chennai. MNS could very well coordinate, even
enlisting help from like-minded NGOs, if it is felt we do not have
core volunteers. Slowly, this could be extended to places like
Vedanthangal, Karikkili etc---chandru
>
> --- On Wed, 7/16/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@. ..> wrote:
>
> From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@. ..>
> Subject: [Tamilbirds] IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 9:11 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I would like to have some suggestions on the following query received
> from the IBCN office.
> Santharam
>
> (IBCN) IBA conservation projects
> Monday, 14 July, 2008 12:54 PM
> From:"Prashant Mahajan" <forestman@rediffma i l.com>
> To:IBCN@googlegroup s. com
>
> Hello,
>
> As you may be aware that there is an increasing interest among
> business corporations in offsetting their carbon emissions voluntarily
> as a part of their environmental responsibility. The BirdLife has
> recently initiated a project in Philippines where communities living
> in and around IBAs are supported for conservation of IBAs. The support
> is available mainly for habitat restoration, use of alternative energy
> source and any other developmental need prioritized by the communities
> such as school building, drinking water, primary health centre etc.
> The project is aimed at long term conservation of IBAs with the active
> involvement of communities and sustained funding from business houses
> through the initiatives of BirdLife and its partners.
>
> We are planning to explore similar work in India , where IBAs
> threatened by unsustainable utilization of resources by the
> communities living in and around it could be conserved. It will be
> very useful for us to find the potential sites where such initiatives
> could be explored. For this purpose, please suggest an IBA in your
> area where we could explore similar projects. It is important to know
> what kind of local capacity (potential NGO partners, IBCN members) is
> available for implementation of such project. Also indicate if you or
> your organization is willing to be part of such projects.
>
> Thanking you and looking forward to hear from you.
>
> With regards,
>
> Prashant Mahajan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo! group at
http://in.promos. yahoo.com/ groups/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Kumaran
Spot on when you say anticipate and save.But lessons learnt? I don't
know.  i have been using every forum available to highlight the need
for saving the wetlands of kanyakuamri dist,at least those that have
been declared as IBAs.Day by day, like the termites working silently
and and out of sight, composite ecosystems are being eaten away-
disappearing! Advise a plenty, sounds nice on a discussion forum, but
practically... very little ( i should actually say  nothing) is being
done.

geetha



--- In Tamilbirds@..., "k_sathasivam" <k_sathasivam@...>
wrote:
>
> The apparent inevitability of the situation in Pallikaranai is tragic.
>
> The lesson here is to anticipate and protect other areas.
>
> Regards
> Kumaran
>
>
> --- In Tamilbirds@..., "vsram2003" <vsram2003@> wrote:
> >
> > Pallikaranai may not have really qualified as an IBA since the
> > criteria is very specific. It is only recently that we have started
> > seeing the spotbilled pelicans there. Besides, it may be a tough
> > challenge protecting the place at this stage when it has become an
> > island in the midst of vast developmental activities.
> > We  have a tendency to wake up late and react to what is happening
> > around us. Rather than crying over what has already taken place, we
> > should try to  anticipate threats and be more pro-active in our
> > conservation strategies.
> > Santharam
> >
> > --- In Tamilbirds@..., Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
> > <hkinneri@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai
> > declared as an IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.
> >
>

Dear all:
 
We got an immature Southern (Greater) Coucal from the KAU campus, Vellanikkara,
Thrissur on 2..Aug..08. The bird was being attacked by stray dogs, which was
rescued... after taking couple of pictures (photographs uploaded in KB photo
album, Thrissur Photos), it was released back.
 
Please note the black iris and shorter wings...
 
Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis), had two sub species, viz. C s sinensis and
C s parroti. Rasmuessen and Anderton (2005) has elevated them to two distinct
species the Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis), of northen India and  Southern
Coucal (Centropus parroti), of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. One of the key
difference b/n the two is the juvenile plumage, which is marked/streaked for the
Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis), and unmarked (as can be seen in the picture
uploaded) for the Southern Coucal.
 
Best
 
NAMEER




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Can I ask a simple question - who is the one who is responsible for
getting areas protected? Why do we always keep saying we only discuss
things but do not act?
If you have an area that needs protection you should initiate the
action. Get others involved, meet officials, mobilise public opinion
through media coverage or other means. We can all back your actions
and help with whatever we can but I think the person who feels
strongly about protecting a place must take the lead. Please get all
the facts about the place, inform others what is the importance,
status etc of the place and lobby for its protection.
How can we otherwise move forward? How can we sitting in far off
places do things that one who at the site cannot do?
We are willing to help out in whatever way we can - please tell us
what to do.
Santharam


--- In Tamilbirds@..., "brownfishowl" <scopsowl@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Kumaran
> Spot on when you say anticipate and save.But lessons learnt? I don't
> know.  i have been using every forum available to highlight the need
> for saving the wetlands of kanyakuamri dist,at least those that have
> been declared as IBAs.Day by day, like the termites working silently
> and and out of sight, composite ecosystems are being eaten away-
> disappearing! Advise a plenty, sounds nice on a discussion forum, but
> practically... very little ( i should actually say  nothing) is being
> done.
>
> geetha
>
>
>
> --- In Tamilbirds@..., "k_sathasivam" <k_sathasivam@>
> wrote:
> >
> > The apparent inevitability of the situation in Pallikaranai is tragic.
> >
> > The lesson here is to anticipate and protect other areas.
> >
> > Regards
> > Kumaran
> >
> >
> > --- In Tamilbirds@..., "vsram2003" <vsram2003@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Pallikaranai may not have really qualified as an IBA since the
> > > criteria is very specific. It is only recently that we have started
> > > seeing the spotbilled pelicans there. Besides, it may be a tough
> > > challenge protecting the place at this stage when it has become an
> > > island in the midst of vast developmental activities.
> > > We  have a tendency to wake up late and react to what is happening
> > > around us. Rather than crying over what has already taken place, we
> > > should try to  anticipate threats and be more pro-active in our
> > > conservation strategies.
> > > Santharam
> > >
> > > --- In Tamilbirds@..., Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
> > > <hkinneri@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai
> > > declared as an IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.
> > >
> >
>

I am  not being pessimistic, Chandru. I am also not averse to people
taking it up with officials and corporates. In fact we should try
conserve every bit of wilderness we can in our beloved city.
I did post a message sometime ago in Tamilbirds which said that
Pallikaranai was one of the three wetland sites in Tamilnadu that has
been chosen for protection by the MOEF. We should back it up and see
how we can get the best out of this.
But what I am trying to say is something totally different. We took up
the issue of Adyar Estuary after the damage was already done. We are
trying to save whatever is left of Pallikaranai after all the
destruction. If you had seen this place before all the development had
been initiated, you will know what we have already lost. I now fear
this is fate awaiting Nanmangalam. We should be more pro-active and
try to save wilderness areas before they are damaged or "developed".
Regarding Adyar Poonga, though I admire and appreciate all the efforts
initiated, I don't think what we now have is anything comparable with
what we could have had if the original ecosystem was protected.
We have to console ourselves with the fact that we now live in an age
where we need to learn to give and take - what is also called as
reconciliation ecology. We cannot win always. We should be willing to
sacrifice something and be happy with some kind of compromises.
Santharam


--- In Tamilbirds@..., Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
<hkinneri@...> wrote:
>
> Even now we haven"t lost all. the existing portion of Pallikkaranai,
however meagre it is, could be redeemed and saved as a wetland. To
make this, we can always approach the Corporates who were partly
responsible for the debacle.Take the case of Adyar Poonga! so much of
opposition for that.Now all of you go birding there! So, all one needs
to do is look ahead rather than being pessimistic in ruing over past.
MNS can very well lobby for this with its share of seasoned
Ornithologists. Even if we dont suceed, why we should be averse to
even try?
>
> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@...> wrote:
>
> From: Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@...>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@...
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 9:38 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yes, Mr.Chandru is correct. Pallikaranai should be an IBA. It is a
potential place for water birds. In our last visit on Jan 2008, we
spotted a huge amount of pelicans, stilts, garganeys, shanks, sandpipers.
>
> best,
> deva.
>
> --- On Tue, 22/7/08, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo.
com> wrote:
>
> From: Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo. com>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 8:40 PM
>
> Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai
declared as an IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.
>
> --- On Fri, 7/18/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in> wrote:
>
> From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in>
> Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 9:54 AM
>
> Pallikaranai is not an IBA. Vedanthangal may be a better idea. But we
> need someone who knows the place and the people there well enough.
> Also we should select sites where there is an overuse of resources and
> hence some pressure on the IBA.
> Santharam
>
> --- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
> <hkinneri@ .> wrote:
> >
> > To start with, I believe we could seek the help of Corporates around
> Pallikkaranai in Chennai. MNS could very well coordinate, even
> enlisting help from like-minded NGOs, if it is felt we do not have
> core volunteers. Slowly, this could be extended to places like
> Vedanthangal, Karikkili etc---chandru
> >
> > --- On Wed, 7/16/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..> wrote:
> >
> > From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..>
> > Subject: [Tamilbirds] IBA conservation projects
> > To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> > Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 9:11 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I would like to have some suggestions on the following query received
> > from the IBCN office.
> > Santharam
> >
> > (IBCN) IBA conservation projects
> > Monday, 14 July, 2008 12:54 PM
> > From:"Prashant Mahajan" <forestman@rediffma i l.com>
> > To:IBCN@googlegroup s. com
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > As you may be aware that there is an increasing interest among
> > business corporations in offsetting their carbon emissions voluntarily
> > as a part of their environmental responsibility. The BirdLife has
> > recently initiated a project in Philippines where communities living
> > in and around IBAs are supported for conservation of IBAs. The support
> > is available mainly for habitat restoration, use of alternative energy
> > source and any other developmental need prioritized by the communities
> > such as school building, drinking water, primary health centre etc.
> > The project is aimed at long term conservation of IBAs with the active
> > involvement of communities and sustained funding from business houses
> > through the initiatives of BirdLife and its partners.
> >
> > We are planning to explore similar work in India , where IBAs
> > threatened by unsustainable utilization of resources by the
> > communities living in and around it could be conserved. It will be
> > very useful for us to find the potential sites where such initiatives
> > could be explored. For this purpose, please suggest an IBA in your
> > area where we could explore similar projects. It is important to know
> > what kind of local capacity (potential NGO partners, IBCN members) is
> > available for implementation of such project. Also indicate if you or
> > your organization is willing to be part of such projects.
> >
> > Thanking you and looking forward to hear from you.
> >
> > With regards,
> >
> > Prashant Mahajan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo!
group at http://in.promos. yahoo.com/ groups/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Dear Madam / Sir,Saturday, August 02, 2008

Dear Madam/ Sir,

Vanakkam! Greetings from CEE Tamil Nadu.

As you may know, CEE is a National Institute established as a Centre
for Excellence of Environmental Education and is supported by the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

As you may know, the Government of India proposes to bring into force
a new framework for managing and regulating activities in the coastal
and marine areas by superseding the said Coastal Regulation Zone,
Notification, 1991. The Central Government proposes to issue a
notification to be known as the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ)
Notification, 2008, for the information of the public likely to be
affected.

This new notification has already been put up on net, and people have
commented on it. However, the voices down the line (fishers in
particular) that forms 90% of the stakeholders, who will be largely
affected by this notification, and who do not have access to
technology, has not reached the MoEF.

The implications of the above notification on the coastal states are
very important and all stakeholder groups must be made aware of the
same. This could be brought about through a consultative approach on a
public domain. In this context, and under the guidelines and
directions of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF),
Government of India, Centre for Environment Education (CEE) is
facilitating Public Consultations across the coastal states and UTs.
The inputs from the consultation will be considered by MoEF.

We seek your support for us to host these consultations by your
personal participation in the consultation. Certainly, the presence
along with the voices of the other stakeholders and participants in
the consultative meeting would pave the way for democratic process of
'voices of the public' being considered by policy makers and at the
same time enable the intricacies of the local issues and concerns
relevant to your coastal and marine environment to be known by one and
all.

The Tentative Schedule of the Public Consultative Meetings for the
Tamil Nadu State of will be held as under:

       Date
      Location/ Venue
      Districts Covered

       7.8.2008

       Thursday
      Rotary Hall, Collectorate

       Nagarkovil

       Kanniyakumari
      Kanniyakumari

       8.8.2008

       Friday
      Thoothukudi

       Narseyidhi Kootam

       Thoothukudi

       Narseyidhi Kootam

       Roche Community Hall

       Chinnakovil
      Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram

       12.8.2008

       Tuesday
      Nagapattinam
      Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Thanjavur

       13.8.2008

       Wednesday

       Pondicherry

       Mathura Hall, Hotel Jayaram, 90 Kamaraj Salai, Puducherry - 605
011 Phone: (0413) 2214311-16 from 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.
      Pondicherry, Villupuram, Cuddalore

       19.8.2008

       Tuesday
      TNPCB Auditorium
       76, Mount Salai, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032
      Thiruvallur, Chennai,

       Kancheepuram

Given the time constraint and facilitation for compilation of the
comments, we request you to prepare before participating in the
meeting. The preparations may include:

We are also enclosing basic reading material for your reference and
preparation

   1.. copy of the CMZ Notification, 2008 (English version)
   2.. Local language version of CMZ Notification, 2008

You can also get information about the consultations organized in
other states, UTs and also download the relevant documents from
http://ceeindia.org/cee/cmz2008.html website.

We request you to communicate about the consultative meeting to your
networks and community. Our combined efforts will go a long way in
bringing about a culture of consultative approaches for sustainable
development and feedback for policy makers on critical issues in our
country. As a responsible citizen, let us come together to part of the
decision making process.

You may contact the undersigned for the exact date of the consultation
and for submission of your views:

Thank you,

With kind regards,

ramjee

                \\|%|//                | ~ ~ |              ^( @ @
)^--------o000o-\_/-o000o-----------------+Ramjee NagarajanOfficer
In-chargeCentre for Environment EducationTamil Nadu State OfficePlot
No 912; No 5 KK FlatsKalaivaanar StreetRamnagar North
ExtensionMadipakkam; Chennai Tamil Nadu 600 092Tele Fax:
+91-44-22583005Mobile: +91-9443194272E-mail:
n.ram...@...: www.ceeindia.org
+--------------------------------------------+               |__|__|
          ||  ||       ooO    Ooo

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Tamilbirds
group.

   File        : /CMZ+Notification.pdf
   Uploaded by : vsram2003 <vsram2003@...>
   Description : CMZ Notification.pdf

You can access this file at the URL:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tamilbirds/files/CMZ%2BNotification.pdf

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/in/groups/files

Regards,

vsram2003 <vsram2003@...>

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the Tamilbirds
group.

   File        : /Draft+CMZ+2008+Notcation+Tamil.pdf
   Uploaded by : vsram2003 <vsram2003@...>
   Description : Draft CMZ 2008 Notification Tamil.pdf

You can access this file at the URL:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tamilbirds/files/Draft%2BCMZ%2B2008%2BNotcation\
%2BTamil.pdf

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/in/groups/files

Regards,

vsram2003 <vsram2003@...>

Dear all,

               Perhaps everyone realises it - but may i say - the best
results of conservation is reaped when one have trusted informers who
infilterate into the early preparations of any mass development which
threaten habitats and lifeforms. The counter-attack based on this
information is also equally secretive by building up a case to bring
that area under stronger law, notifying it as NP, WLS or ESA as deem
required - which cannot be claimed for the said project when it
starts. It is far easier to do it when the development project itself
is in its early stages.

              Its almost like espionage and counter-espionage. These
never come into public light unlike mass protests - it would be a
legal war played between a small set of people; a war whose result
would have serious implications to both sides.

             I am aware of a handful of such cases in Kerala which were
pulled off successfully  - i am sure there must be similar ones in
Tamil Nadu.

It is perhaps in this direction Santharam sir is indicating.

           Infilterate plans, make counter plans, act early and dose
the spark even before it becomes a fire.

best rgds
Praveen

On 8/3/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@...> wrote:
> I am not being pessimistic, Chandru. I am also not averse to people
> taking it up with officials and corporates. In fact we should try
> conserve every bit of wilderness we can in our beloved city.
> I did post a message sometime ago in Tamilbirds which said that
> Pallikaranai was one of the three wetland sites in Tamilnadu that has
> been chosen for protection by the MOEF. We should back it up and see
> how we can get the best out of this.
> But what I am trying to say is something totally different. We took up
> the issue of Adyar Estuary after the damage was already done. We are
> trying to save whatever is left of Pallikaranai after all the
> destruction. If you had seen this place before all the development had
> been initiated, you will know what we have already lost. I now fear
> this is fate awaiting Nanmangalam. We should be more pro-active and
> try to save wilderness areas before they are damaged or "developed".
> Regarding Adyar Poonga, though I admire and appreciate all the efforts
> initiated, I don't think what we now have is anything comparable with
> what we could have had if the original ecosystem was protected.
> We have to console ourselves with the fact that we now live in an age
> where we need to learn to give and take - what is also called as
> reconciliation ecology. We cannot win always. We should be willing to
> sacrifice something and be happy with some kind of compromises.
> Santharam
>

--- On Fri, 1/8/08, Aarthi hotmail <aarthi_sridhar@...> wrote:
From: Aarthi hotmail <aarthi_sridhar@...>
Subject: Critique of the CMZ 2008
To: nathistory-india@...
Date: Friday, 1 August, 2008, 1:26 PM







Dear All,
 
Here is the link to the critique of the
Coastal Management Zone Notification, 2008 that Manju Menon, Sudarhsan
Rodriguez, Seema Shenoy and I put togeather some time ago. Its just an expansion
of our earlier critiques with more details.  
 
See http://www.cmp-atree.org/reports.htm 
 
It contains some annexures that you
might find useful. You can download the whole PDF from here but if you want a
hard copy, then do write to me for the same.
 
Best
Aarthi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aarthi
Sridhar
Senior Research Associate
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and
the Environment
No. 659, 5th A Main, Hebbal,
Bangalore 560024
Mobile:
9900113216 (please delete other numbers)
Direct line: 080 - 65356130
Tel:
(91) (80)  23533942, 23530069, 23638771
Fax: (91) (80)
23530070
E-mail: aarthi@... & aarthisridhar@...
website: http://www.cmp-atree.org
 
 


       Bollywood news, movie reviews, film trailers and more! Go to
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This web-page shows a picture of Spotbilled pelicans in flight at
Kovalam on the Mahabalipuram Road.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/04/stories/2008080458240200.htm
Santharam

Romancing the birds

K.V. Eldhose knows more about birds than people

Photo: H.Vibhu

Eye for birds Birder and guide K.V. Eldhose's attire (and he is
invariably seen in this) bespeaks his avocation

Like birds, with their yearly cycle of migration and return, K. V.
Eldhose follows his winged friends over rooks, swifts, jungles,
listening to them, recording every movement.

Very often, bound out from home, Eldhose chases birds, most of them,
on their way back home. It is a sort of romantic one-sided journey.
The relatively small Thattekad Bird Sanctuary is among the top 20
jungle getaways in the country. For a birder it is a rich, favourite
location. And Eldhose has an important role in turning this spot into
a birder's paradise.

A vocation

"There are many youngsters here today who have made bird spotting a
vocation. And there are many who have made this into a satisfying
pastime," says Eldhose who has been into birding for the past 25 years.

Some of the world's top ornithologists, birders, like Jon Hornbuckle,
reputed journals like the Oriental Birding Club, consider Eldhose as
the best tour leader for birders in South India. He guarantees
sightings of 16 endemics as well as 300 species in a 10-day sighting
tour. All those who join him on the tour are serious birders, not for
the casual tourist.

"The tour covers three States, different habitats and so there is
diversity in the species. There is a 14-day tour on offer in Goa but
most of what you see there are water birds."

During the season, which is usually from August-May, Eldhose is fully
`booked.' The two off-season months at home he spends in farming,
which is another love. He lives close to Thattekkad.

"I have tried out something different like hybrid coconut. Then there
is a little bit of rubber, a regular crop of bananas and pineapple
that keeps me busy. Occasionally, birders come here for a day or two.
I get time with my children, giving them lessons in birding."

Eldhose jumped into bird watching out of curiosity. While in school he
chanced upon a copy of Salim Ali's `Birds of Kerala.'

"Most of the birds that he had listed in the book were from my own
backyard and the surrounding forests. I soon began identifying them.
This then became a sort of routine. I dropped out of school. Day and
night I searched for the birds I had seen in the book. Every bird I
spotted I noted in a notebook. I could not afford to buy a pair of
binoculars then. Birds had become my life's passion."

The first group he took on a birding tour was a party of Zoology
teachers from different colleges. Eldhose took them around Thattekad
spotting, explaining about the birds he had become familiar with.
Thattekad was declared a bird sanctuary in 1983 and with it Eldhose's
stock rose. The Department of Forests and Wildlife also began to
entrust him with important field studies, like the one on the Sri
Lankan Frogmouth.

Spotting birds in the wild is tough, requiring a lot of patience,
perseverance and pluck. "There is a systematic method involved. I was
basically self-taught. But my acquaintance with foreigners who came
here helped me evolve a system. It is basically identifying birds by
their cries. Spotting becomes much easier this way."

Eldhose has a wonderful collection of photographs, slides, sound
recordings of birds, which he keeps adding.

Elusive Frogmouth

The world birding fraternity sat up and began to notice Eldhose's
efforts when he came up with evidence of the elusive Frogmouth, which
was sighted at Thattekad by Salim Ali way back in 1933.

"I was behind this bird for four years, ever since that night I first
heard its cry. It finds a fine camouflage in the evergreen forests
making spotting almost impossible. Once I sighted it I began to make
an exhaustive study that included physical identification, nesting
habits, and even a video recording that had the hatching of a young one."

This 13-minute video was screened at the Oriental Bird Club, London.
He is now training his eyes for the elusive Jerdon Baza, a rare
eagle-kind of bird, which has been spotted in places like Wayanad.

Eldhose's attire (and he is invariably seen in this) bespeaks his
avocation. Camouflage fatigues, green or dull grey T-shirt, a peak
cap, binoculars slung round his neck, he looks as though he might at
any moment rush for his camera and bolt into the forest following a
bird cry. Before he takes a birder or a group, Eldhose goes alone to
the area, lingers long, watching for a slight disturbance in a distant
tree, hoping it would develop into something interesting. "Birding is
a fulfilling pastime and a great job. It is a lot more than that. I
have always felt that it is intimately connected to the journey we
make to find a place for ourselves in this world. The beauty and
variety of birds are fascinating and, of course, humans have always
looked to the sky, always wanted to fly like birds."

Like any experienced birder, Eldhose has become attuned to details of
motion and sound. With every passing year, with every spotting, that
sense becomes more acute. And then readily the humdrum of everyday
concerns slips away, he flies with those birds.

K. PRADEEP

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/07/12/stories/2008071252030300.htm

Friends,

Nepal's 'restaurant' for vultures

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7470792.stm

As the early morning mist lifts on the farmlands at the edge of the jungle, Yam
Bahadur Nepali embarks on a job which many would find difficult but which, for
him, is a regular chore.

He wheels his tricycle cart to collect the carcass of an old and sick cow which
died during the night. It is to be fed to the vultures, under a unique
initiative to conserve the scavenging birds. It is called the "vulture
restaurant".

With some difficulty Yam Bahadur and his wife wheel the heavy beast past houses
and down across wet paddy fields to the vulture feeding area.

The "restaurant" is a big grassy area surrounded by tall, fragrant sal trees.
The peaceful scene is broken only by the cattle skeletons scattered around - and
the vultures nestled above.

'Kidney failure'

Nepali ornithologists have established it as a place where vultures can eat
healthily.

Two of the seven vulture species in the Indian subcontinent - slender-billed and
white-rumped - have declined catastrophically in number and are now endangered,
explained ornithologist Dhan Bahadur "DB" Chaudhary.



[Vultures] are ugly looking, but they are really helpful for us

Dhan Bahadur Chaudhary, Nepali ornithologist

"In 1997 in eastern parts of Nepal there were about 67 nests," he says. "And in
four or five years, in 2001, there was zero.

"So that rapidly they declined from India, Nepal and Pakistan. And over 12 years
they started declining - now more than 95% of the vultures' number has gone
down."

Scientists recently pinpointed the cause - the drug, diclofenac.

Farmers often give it to their cows as a painkiller. But if the cows die soon
afterwards, the drug is deadly for the vultures which feed on their flesh. Mr
Chaudhary says they rapidly die of kidney failure and gout.

As Hem Sagar Baral, executive director of Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN)
explains, Nepal and India have now banned diclofenac because it was harming the
vultures. It has been replaced by a safe drug called meloxicam.

"It is also anti-inflammatory but has been tested against vultures and other
birds of prey and general birds and does not cause damage to these birds," he
says.

'Massive creature'

As Yam Bahadur skins the carcass, we go into a spacious, brand-new observation
hide. With us are several of the villagers who serve as volunteers on the
project committee. We watch as the vultures wait.

After half an hour we are still waiting. A stray dog starts feeding on the
carcass but seems worried and keeps barking.


The 'restaurant' has no shortage of food suppliers

The birds gain confidence and 22 of them land, still just watching the dog.
Nearly all are the endangered White-rumped Vultures but there is also a massive
creature - the biggest, the Himalayan Griffon Vulture.

They look like a rather grotesque gathering of clergymen with their blackish
coats and white "collars".

Then, suddenly, they close in on the cow's corpse. It is like a rugby scrum of
vultures, all wanting to gorge on the carcass, fighting with each other, the
strongest in front, the weaker behind.

One vulture attacks another which has a long strand of raw meat dangling from
its mouth, already half-swallowed.

The scavenging birds jump clumsily around, their wings outstretched. I tell Mr
Chaudhary I think they are truly ugly animals.

"Yes, they are ugly looking, but they are really helpful for us," he says. "See
- within half an hour they finished eating all that dead animal. Only the
skeleton is left. It is really helpful to clean the nature."

Nepalis even nickname these birds "kuchikar", meaning a broom.

The villagers on the project's committee are engrossed by the spectacle. One is
a woman farmer, Tila Devi Bhusal.

'Preserve them'

"Traditionally we see the vulture as a very bad bird," she says. "If it passes
your house, then the house has to be purified. They can bring danger.

"But that belief is disappearing. People realise that vultures eat rotten things
and we must preserve them."

The vulture restaurant has many volunteers but only two full-time employees.

One is Yam Bahadur who looks after the cows when they are living, not only when
they die.


The birds bide their time before pouncing

The project buys elderly or sick cows from farmers, looks after them humanely
and treats them, if necessary, with the safe drug, meloxicam.

The cows, considered sacred by Hindus, die a natural death.

The other employee is Ishwari Chaudhary, the educational officer. He is
spreading the vulture conservation message among villagers and in veterinary
shops.

"We tell them about the new medicine, meloxicam, and how we can save the birds
by using it," he says.

The banned drug diclofenac is still being rounded up all over Nepal. Meloxicam
is more expensive, but it is injected in much smaller doses which partly
compensates.

The numbers of endangered vultures are rising again.

Mr Chaudhary says that before the project was opened, he used to see a maximum
of 72 vultures around one carcass.

"Once we established the vulture restaurant, in five or six months we found
double that number - the maximum number I have recorded is about 156, all at the
same time on the same carcass."

BCN, with support from others like Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds, now wants to open more "vulture restaurants" - and scientists in India
too are now showing interest in the idea.



Regards

Naveein




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

           There has been inland sightings of White-bellied Sea Eagle
from Periyar Tiger Reserve.

           I am aware of a monsoon sighting of Osprey from Kerala -
which we thought could have been overwintering. With the information
from Mumbai area about regular monsoon sightings which is believed to
be early arrivals - all these might also could have been the case.

best rgds
Praveen

On 8/5/08, rajesh ramnarayan <rramnarayan@...> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> I had birded at Mulli, in the foothills of Otty near the Kerala-Tn boarder,
about 200 KM from sea. I had seen one White Bellied Sea eagle there in the banks
of river Upper Bhavani. My friend who birded nearby also a spotted WBS.
>
> Regards
> rajesh Ramnarayan
> Coimbatore
>
> --- On Mon, 4/8/08, Sachin Shurpali <avifauna2008@...> wrote:
>
> From: Sachin Shurpali <avifauna2008@...>
> Subject: [bngbirds] White Bellied Sea Eagle in Bhadra Reservoir
> To: bngbirds@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, 4 August, 2008, 5:36 PM
>
>
> Early July I visited the Bhadra Tiger Reserve. The following were some
> interesting sightings/observations from the area
>
> 1. White Bellied Sea Eagle
> - Can it be expected in such a habitat ? Bhadra is unconnected to
> the sea on the west coast as well and is also very far from the coast.
> There was just 1 bird though.
>
> 2. Osprey
> [ http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=55678 ]
> Is it an early arrival or over-wintering ? I am surprised to see this
> at this time of the year. ( An Osprey sighting was also reported from
> the Dandeli area )
>
> 3.Changeable Hawk Eagle -
> [ http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=55922 ]
> We saw one CHE consuming a snake. A Black Drongo was trying to chase
> this bird away from its perching place. The CHE did not move an inch.
> the Drongo finally gave up. We were observing the action and the eagle
> was quite aware of our presence. It just did not seem to be disturbed.
> We continued our journey and returned to the same place after about
> one and half hours. To our surprise we found the bird at exactly the
> same place.
> I wondered if the bird was mildly sedated due to the snake
> consumption. Or was it recovering from venomous (a mild one) snake
> bite ? I doubt if the bird is immune to the venom ?
>
> Please throw some light on these.
>
> Thanks a lot
> Sachin

Thanks a lot Shantaram for the reply and making clear certain views. This is
what I too was talking of, probably a little vague.We always react when it is
too late but then,how many of us(including me!) could give up our routine and
pitch for a fight individually?Thats where organisations like MNS /NWLEA/BNHS
need to step in and rope prominent persons in public life to present a forceful
front.But sadly all these NGOs dont have a common approach or consensus.Take
Sethu Samudram of recent origin. Even mighty institutions like
MSSRF/BNHS/CEE/WWF never came together to have a common plan of action or study
on the disastrous project.Even the fisherfolk whose livelihood is at stake were
misled or silenced.Why not all the right thinking persons join to form a
formidable front to fight such issues? I wish that such an initiative is thought
of .--chandru

--- On Sun, 8/3/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@...> wrote:

From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@...>
Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects - Pallikaranai
To: Tamilbirds@...
Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008, 12:15 PM






I am not being pessimistic, Chandru. I am also not averse to people
taking it up with officials and corporates. In fact we should try
conserve every bit of wilderness we can in our beloved city.
I did post a message sometime ago in Tamilbirds which said that
Pallikaranai was one of the three wetland sites in Tamilnadu that has
been chosen for protection by the MOEF. We should back it up and see
how we can get the best out of this.
But what I am trying to say is something totally different. We took up
the issue of Adyar Estuary after the damage was already done. We are
trying to save whatever is left of Pallikaranai after all the
destruction. If you had seen this place before all the development had
been initiated, you will know what we have already lost. I now fear
this is fate awaiting Nanmangalam. We should be more pro-active and
try to save wilderness areas before they are damaged or "developed".
Regarding Adyar Poonga, though I admire and appreciate all the efforts
initiated, I don't think what we now have is anything comparable with
what we could have had if the original ecosystem was protected.
We have to console ourselves with the fact that we now live in an age
where we need to learn to give and take - what is also called as
reconciliation ecology. We cannot win always. We should be willing to
sacrifice something and be happy with some kind of compromises.
Santharam

--- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
<hkinneri@.. .> wrote:
>
> Even now we haven"t lost all. the existing portion of Pallikkaranai,
however meagre it is, could be redeemed and saved as a wetland. To
make this, we can always approach the Corporates who were partly
responsible for the debacle.Take the case of Adyar Poonga! so much of
opposition for that.Now all of you go birding there! So, all one needs
to do is look ahead rather than being pessimistic in ruing over past.
MNS can very well lobby for this with its share of seasoned
Ornithologists. Even if we dont suceed, why we should be averse to
even try?
>
> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@ ...> wrote:
>
> From: Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@ ...>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 9:38 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yes, Mr.Chandru is correct. Pallikaranai should be an IBA. It is a
potential place for water birds. In our last visit on Jan 2008, we
spotted a huge amount of pelicans, stilts, garganeys, shanks, sandpipers.
>
> best,
> deva.
>
> --- On Tue, 22/7/08, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo.
com> wrote:
>
> From: Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo. com>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 8:40 PM
>
> Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai
declared as an IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.
>
> --- On Fri, 7/18/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in> wrote:
>
> From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in>
> Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 9:54 AM
>
> Pallikaranai is not an IBA. Vedanthangal may be a better idea. But we
> need someone who knows the place and the people there well enough.
> Also we should select sites where there is an overuse of resources and
> hence some pressure on the IBA.
> Santharam
>
> --- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
> <hkinneri@ .> wrote:
> >
> > To start with, I believe we could seek the help of Corporates around
> Pallikkaranai in Chennai. MNS could very well coordinate, even
> enlisting help from like-minded NGOs, if it is felt we do not have
> core volunteers. Slowly, this could be extended to places like
> Vedanthangal, Karikkili etc---chandru
> >
> > --- On Wed, 7/16/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..> wrote:
> >
> > From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..>
> > Subject: [Tamilbirds] IBA conservation projects
> > To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> > Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 9:11 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I would like to have some suggestions on the following query received
> > from the IBCN office.
> > Santharam
> >
> > (IBCN) IBA conservation projects
> > Monday, 14 July, 2008 12:54 PM
> > From:"Prashant Mahajan" <forestman@rediffma i l.com>
> > To:IBCN@googlegroup s. com
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > As you may be aware that there is an increasing interest among
> > business corporations in offsetting their carbon emissions voluntarily
> > as a part of their environmental responsibility. The BirdLife has
> > recently initiated a project in Philippines where communities living
> > in and around IBAs are supported for conservation of IBAs. The support
> > is available mainly for habitat restoration, use of alternative energy
> > source and any other developmental need prioritized by the communities
> > such as school building, drinking water, primary health centre etc.
> > The project is aimed at long term conservation of IBAs with the active
> > involvement of communities and sustained funding from business houses
> > through the initiatives of BirdLife and its partners.
> >
> > We are planning to explore similar work in India , where IBAs
> > threatened by unsustainable utilization of resources by the
> > communities living in and around it could be conserved. It will be
> > very useful for us to find the potential sites where such initiatives
> > could be explored. For this purpose, please suggest an IBA in your
> > area where we could explore similar projects. It is important to know
> > what kind of local capacity (potential NGO partners, IBCN members) is
> > available for implementation of such project. Also indicate if you or
> > your organization is willing to be part of such projects.
> >
> > Thanking you and looking forward to hear from you.
> >
> > With regards,
> >
> > Prashant Mahajan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo!
group at http://in.promos. yahoo.com/ groups/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>


















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

Following appeared in New Indian Express Chennai of August 4, 2008.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IET20080803155005&Title=Southern+New\
s+-+Tamil+Nadu&rLink=0

Green carpet welcome for migratory birds
Monday August 4 2008 02:11 IST
V Krithiga | ENS



     Trees have been planted outside every
     home in Thiruppadaimarudur village


Green carpet welcome for migratory birds

TIRUNELVELI: Thiruppadaimarudur has an ongoing love affair, one that keeps
touching new heights. This tiny hamlet, about 30 km off Tirunelveli,
receives thousands of migratory birds from Asian and East European countries
and villagers go out of their way to make them feel welcome.

There are about 300 families in the hamlet and all have planted saplings in
front of their houses to provide shelter to the birds. Over 75 species of
birds come calling each year and they have been visiting the village for
breeding for the last 10 years.

A majority of the birds arrive by December end and fly away by June or July.

Some of the special bird varieties seen here are the painted stork, darter,
black ibis, white ibis, purple heron, grey heron, cattle egret, spot billed
pelican, spot billed duck and pheasant tailed jagna.

Murugaiah, a farmer, says, “Every year the number of birds visiting our
village increases. Saplings have been planted in front of all the houses to
accommodate them.”

Thiruppadaimarudur Panchayat president S Gomu says, “These birds are like
family members. Fearing that crackers would disturb the birds, we have
prohibited bursting of crackers in our village.”

Bird watcher Narambu says, “If a baby bird falls from a tree, they inform me
immediately. You don’t get so much cooperation from any other village.”

The villagers want to build upon their initiative. They have sent a proposal
to the district administration for construction of an artificial tank. A
villager said, “Birds have to go to a nearby tank to catch fish. A tank in
the village would help.”

Forest Ranger, Social Forestry, P Loganadhan said, “For the last eight
years, we have planted trees in over 12 hectares (over 8,000 trees).
Recently, the villagers asked us for saplings and we obliged.”

regards
isvaran




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- On Wed, 6/8/08, joe homan <joehoman2003@...> wrote:
From: joe homan <joehoman2003@...>
Subject: Re:Fw: Ramsar book and further action to protect wetlands
To: vsram2003@...
Date: Wednesday, 6 August, 2008, 7:27 AM

Please let me have details of the Ramsar book, price and where to buy.  Palani
Hills Bird Watchers Society(PHBWS),  hopes to have the Kamaraj Dam, a 300 acre
lake and the drinking water for Dindigul, declared as a protected area.  Small
islands in the lake, with scrub acacai trees found forty Little Cormorants and a
number of White Ibis nesting there in 2006. There were also purple moonhens and
one pair of Pheasant-tailed Jacanas.  It was the last time we saw
them here. Sadly the trees wer cut for firewood in November  of that year.
This week, forty-one Open-Billed Storks spent one day on the last tree on one of
the islands...and then left again.
 
To restore the trees on the islands, we hope to be allowed to lease the islands
firewood and so let the trees grow undisturbed.  With that as a starting point,
we may then have a stronger case.   In any case the birds will have their
nesting undisturbed.  Five species of
kingfishers are found here and this week Pandhi, a remarkable young birder added
three new findings to include the white rumped Munia, Peregrine Falcoln and
small minivets, normally only founf in the hill country. In 2005, four RSPB
birders identified 198 bird species in two days.  They are coming on their
third trip in February 2009.
 
Close by at Perumparai, on a superb nine acre birding site, in the Lower Palani
Hills,  we have now set up Perumparai Environmental Centre for running
"Awareness," programmes for secondary school and college students.  It is an
outstanding area for birdlife. Last week saw our first sighting there, of the
 Malabar Trogon, Small Yellow necked Woodpecker, Pied Flycatcher Shrike,
Large Cuckoo0 Shrike, Pompadour Green Pigeon. The project offers dormitory
accomodation and will shortly have cottage accomodation for serious birders and
students.   Joe Homan



        Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger.  Click here


       Get an email ID as yourname@... or yourname@.... Click
here http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tuning in to a new language on the fly: Effects of context and
seasonality on songbird brain

Research conducted at Rutgers University has shown that exposure to a
changed acoustic and social environment can rewire the way the brain
processes sounds. Beginning in the cochlea of the inner ear, nerve
cells of the auditory system parse incoming sounds into their
different components. Study of the responses of individual brain cells
has shown that they respond best to a particular frequency (pitch) of
sound, less well to nearby frequencies, and poorly to distant sound
frequencies. The range of effective frequencies can be measured as the
"tuning width." Cells with similar tuning are found together,
producing an orderly map of all the possible frequencies spread out
across the auditory part of the brain.

In a new study, published August 6 in the online, open-access journal
PLoS ONE, these tuning properties were used to study the way
experience can change the brain in two species of songbirds. Songbirds
provide the best-developed animal system for studying vocal learning
because juvenile birds learn to sing by hearing and imitating adults,
much as human infants do. The songbird brain contains an area similar
to the mammalian auditory cortex (the NCM) that is specialized to
discriminate and remember the songs of other birds of the same species.

In this study, adult zebra finches (which normally live in a
single-species colony) were moved to a canary colony, and adult
canaries were moved to a zebra finch colony. These birds experienced a
novel environment because canaries and zebra finches produce learned
species-typical vocalizations that differ in their acoustic
components. Other birds of each species remained in their home colony
and still others were placed in individual isolation.

After nine days of altered experience, the tuning width was assessed
in the brains of these animals and was found to be significantly
different from birds that remained at home. In birds of both species
that experienced life in a foreign colony, the tuning became narrower
(i.e. more selective). In canaries, which can learn new song elements
in adulthood, these effects were also influenced by season, and may
reflect the role of vocal imitation in the seasonal breeding behavior
of this species. Isolation had the opposite effect: the tuning became
wider (i.e. less selective).

In other words, when a bird is exposed to a new acoustic and social
environment, basic auditory properties in its brain change to become
more finely tuned. In human terms, a possible analogy for this
experiment is when a person travels to a foreign country where an
unfamiliar language is spoken. The individual has to pay close
attention and gradually begins to make out the words in the speech
stream (and perhaps to recognize a few from the phrase book). This
process of "tuning in" to the new sound and social environment may
involve increased sensitivity to fine acoustic details and may produce
measurable tuning changes such as those observed at the neural level
in these songbirds.

In contrast, the songbirds' tuning coarsened in the impoverished,
monotonous environment provided by being housed in isolation.

The researchers suggest that these songbird results provide a useful
experimental model of sensory plasticity accessibility, which is
worthy of further study. Consistent with observations in other sensory
systems, the tuning map in the brain is not rigid, but adjusts
dynamically to current experience.

###

Contact:

Professor Thomas A. Terleph
Sacred Heart University
Email: terlepht@...

David Vicario, PhD
Rutgers University
Email: vicario@...

Citation: Terleph TA, Lu K, Vicario DS (2008) Response Properties of
the Auditory Telencephalon in Songbirds Change with Recent Experience
and Season. PLoS ONE 3(8): e2854. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002854

PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF
YOUR REPORT (URL live from Aug 6):
http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002854.

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW: http://www.plos.org/press/pone-03-08-terleph.pdf

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/plos-tit080408.php

Dear All,

Let's forget the past and think about what we can do now. I feel that it is not
too late to save Nanmangalam. I understand that apart from MNS, there are other
NGOs also interested in conserving this patch of wilderness. It would be a good
idea to collate a detailed biodiversity report (data for this is already
available, I guess) on this area - with species lists, importance of this
habitat, current disturbances and threats and recommendations (which are
practical) for long term consevation. Equipped with this report, we have to
pressurise the policy makers towards action. As Praveen has rightly pointed out,
people with the right contacts among forest department officials and politicians
would be extremely helpful in this context.

The immediate necessity is to fence off the area so as to minimise the
disturbances caused by trespassers. This is not a great idea as  far as
protected areas are concerned, I know. I don't know how the local people will
react to this; probably the local NGOs could suggest a better alternative.

And as we all know, being declared as an IBA is in no way a guarantee for
consevation. You may be able to use it as an additional tool for the fight
towards the cause.

Regards

Sashikumar



----- Original Message ----
From: Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@...>
To: Tamilbirds@...
Sent: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 7:20:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects - Pallikaranai


Thanks a lot Shantaram for the reply and making clear certain views. This is
what I too was talking of, probably a little vague.We always react when it is
too late but then,how many of us(including me!) could give up our routine and
pitch for a fight individually? Thats where organisations like MNS /NWLEA/BNHS
need to step in and rope prominent persons in public life to present a forceful
front.But sadly all these NGOs dont have a common approach or consensus.Take
Sethu Samudram of recent origin. Even mighty institutions like MSSRF/BNHS/CEE/
WWF never came together to have a common plan of action or study on the
disastrous project.Even the fisherfolk whose livelihood is at stake were misled
or silenced.Why not all the right thinking persons join to form a formidable
front to fight such issues? I wish that such an initiative is thought of
.--chandru

--- On Sun, 8/3/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in> wrote:

From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in>
Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects - Pallikaranai
To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008, 12:15 PM

I am not being pessimistic, Chandru. I am also not averse to people
taking it up with officials and corporates. In fact we should try
conserve every bit of wilderness we can in our beloved city.
I did post a message sometime ago in Tamilbirds which said that
Pallikaranai was one of the three wetland sites in Tamilnadu that has
been chosen for protection by the MOEF. We should back it up and see
how we can get the best out of this.
But what I am trying to say is something totally different. We took up
the issue of Adyar Estuary after the damage was already done. We are
trying to save whatever is left of Pallikaranai after all the
destruction. If you had seen this place before all the development had
been initiated, you will know what we have already lost. I now fear
this is fate awaiting Nanmangalam. We should be more pro-active and
try to save wilderness areas before they are damaged or "developed".
Regarding Adyar Poonga, though I admire and appreciate all the efforts
initiated, I don't think what we now have is anything comparable with
what we could have had if the original ecosystem was protected.
We have to console ourselves with the fact that we now live in an age
where we need to learn to give and take - what is also called as
reconciliation ecology. We cannot win always. We should be willing to
sacrifice something and be happy with some kind of compromises.
Santharam

--- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
<hkinneri@.. .> wrote:
>
> Even now we haven"t lost all. the existing portion of Pallikkaranai,
however meagre it is, could be redeemed and saved as a wetland. To
make this, we can always approach the Corporates who were partly
responsible for the debacle.Take the case of Adyar Poonga! so much of
opposition for that.Now all of you go birding there! So, all one needs
to do is look ahead rather than being pessimistic in ruing over past.
MNS can very well lobby for this with its share of seasoned
Ornithologists. Even if we dont suceed, why we should be averse to
even try?
>
> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@ ...> wrote:
>
> From: Deva prakash <jpdevaprakash@ ...>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 9:38 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yes, Mr.Chandru is correct. Pallikaranai should be an IBA. It is a
potential place for water birds. In our last visit on Jan 2008, we
spotted a huge amount of pelicans, stilts, garganeys, shanks, sandpipers.
>
> best,
> deva.
>
> --- On Tue, 22/7/08, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo.
com> wrote:
>
> From: Subramaniam Chandrasekaran <hkinneri@yahoo. com>
> Subject: Re: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 8:40 PM
>
> Probably, the irony is that we have failed to get Pallikkaranai
declared as an IBA .Even now it is not late.We can act towards it.
>
> --- On Fri, 7/18/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in> wrote:
>
> From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@yahoo. co.in>
> Subject: [Tamilbirds] Re: IBA conservation projects
> To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 9:54 AM
>
> Pallikaranai is not an IBA. Vedanthangal may be a better idea. But we
> need someone who knows the place and the people there well enough.
> Also we should select sites where there is an overuse of resources and
> hence some pressure on the IBA.
> Santharam
>
> --- In Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, Subramaniam Chandrasekaran
> <hkinneri@ .> wrote:
> >
> > To start with, I believe we could seek the help of Corporates around
> Pallikkaranai in Chennai. MNS could very well coordinate, even
> enlisting help from like-minded NGOs, if it is felt we do not have
> core volunteers. Slowly, this could be extended to places like
> Vedanthangal, Karikkili etc---chandru
> >
> > --- On Wed, 7/16/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..> wrote:
> >
> > From: vsram2003 <vsram2003@ ..>
> > Subject: [Tamilbirds] IBA conservation projects
> > To: Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in
> > Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 9:11 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I would like to have some suggestions on the following query received
> > from the IBCN office.
> > Santharam
> >
> > (IBCN) IBA conservation projects
> > Monday, 14 July, 2008 12:54 PM
> > From:"Prashant Mahajan" <forestman@rediffma i l.com>
> > To:IBCN@googlegroup s. com
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > As you may be aware that there is an increasing interest among
> > business corporations in offsetting their carbon emissions voluntarily
> > as a part of their environmental responsibility. The BirdLife has
> > recently initiated a project in Philippines where communities living
> > in and around IBAs are supported for conservation of IBAs. The support
> > is available mainly for habitat restoration, use of alternative energy
> > source and any other developmental need prioritized by the communities
> > such as school building, drinking water, primary health centre etc.
> > The project is aimed at long term conservation of IBAs with the active
> > involvement of communities and sustained funding from business houses
> > through the initiatives of BirdLife and its partners.
> >
> > We are planning to explore similar work in India , where IBAs
> > threatened by unsustainable utilization of resources by the
> > communities living in and around it could be conserved. It will be
> > very useful for us to find the potential sites where such initiatives
> > could be explored. For this purpose, please suggest an IBA in your
> > area where we could explore similar projects. It is important to know
> > what kind of local capacity (potential NGO partners, IBCN members) is
> > available for implementation of such project. Also indicate if you or
> > your organization is willing to be part of such projects.
> >
> > Thanking you and looking forward to hear from you.
> >
> > With regards,
> >
> > Prashant Mahajan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo!
group at http://in.promos. yahoo.com/ groups/
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In orientalbirding@yahoogroups.com, "George Sangster"
<g.sangster@...> wrote:

Hi Christian,

The Large-billed Crow revision may have been based on this paper:

Martens, J, Böhner, J & Hammerschmidt, K 2000. Calls of the Jungle Crow
(Corvus macrorhynchos s.l.) as a taxonomic character. J. Ornithol. 141:
275-284.

ABSTRACT
A discriminant analysis of the call structure completely separates three
Corvus taxa (levaillantii and japonensis of the 'macrorhynchos group',
splendens) inhabiting the southern slopes of the Himalayas (Nepal,
Kashmir).
The acoustic differences are considered taxonomically relevant,
indicating
species boundaries. Therefore the Jungle Crows of lower and upper Nepal
(contact zone at around 2,000 m) are assigned to two biospecies (C.
japonensis and C. levaillantii), as is consistent with morphological,
ecological and parasitological data. It appears possible to
extrapolate the
findings regarding call structure to the systematics of other
'macrorhynchos'
populations as distant as the Russian Far East, and those regarding
mallophagan parasites to large areas of SE Asia; regarding the vocal
characteristics, however, further clarification is needed.

George Sangster

----- Original Message -----
From: "christian artuso" <chartuso@...>
To: <orientalbirding@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 7:59 PM
Subject: [OB] more splits



It was interesting to read recently that the Forty-ninth Supplement to
the
American Check-list of North American Birds (The Auk 125(3):758-768,
2008)
split Anas poecilorhyncha (Indian Spot-billed Duck) from A. zonorhyncha
(Eastern Spot-billed Duck) on the basis of sympatric breeding in Hong
Kong
(Leader, P. J. 2006. Sympatric breeding of two Spot-billed Duck Anas
poecilorhyncha taxa in southern China. Bulletin of the British
Ornithologists' Club 126:248-252). Have other authorities split these
taxa?

Recently I have read several mentions of significant upheaval in
"Large-billed Crow". I wonder if anyone could clarify the evidence for
the
following splits or proposed splits (i hope i have got them right); which
authorities accept which at species status; and any information regarding
distribution?
Corvus macrorhynchos        Large-billed Crow
   >Corvus (m.) levaillantii              Eastern Jungle Crow
   >Corvus (m.) culminatus            Indian Jungle Crow
   >Corvus (m.) japonensis             Eastern Large-billed Crow

christian artuso (finding hard to keep up over here in the
Americas)http://artuso.sky.prohosting.com

Nordmann's or Spotted Greenshank is an endangered species that may be
found in Tamilnadu (eg. Pt Calimere). Here are some details about the
species. I hope this will help in looking for the field identification
marks that help in distinguishing the species.

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid\
=3020&m=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Greenshank
http://nordmannsgreenshank.blogspot.com/
http://shorebirds.exblog.jp/9272037/

There are some excellent photographs in the third and fourth links
given above.

Santharam

--- On Thu, 7/8/08, Asad Rahmani <rahmani.asad@...> wrote:
From: Asad Rahmani <rahmani.asad@...>
Subject: Re: Fw: Re:Fw: Ramsar book and further action to protect wetlands
To: vsram2003@...
Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 6:20 PM

Dear Santharam
We have given 500 copies to Oxford University Press, so soon the book should be
available in the bookstores. Or, people can order directly from BNHS. BNHS
members get 25% discount.
 
I will be out in Ladakh for 15 days from tomorrow where I may not have access to
email, so order directly from BNHS.
 
Asad Rahmani
****

 
On 8/6/08, Santharam V <vsram2003@...> wrote:






--- On Wed, 6/8/08, joe homan <joehoman2003@...> wrote:


From: joe homan <joehoman2003@...>

Subject: Re:Fw: Ramsar book and further action to protect wetlands
To: vsram2003@...
Date: Wednesday, 6 August, 2008, 7:27 AM








Please let me have details of the Ramsar book, price and where to buy.  Palani
Hills Bird Watchers Society(PHBWS),  hopes to have the Kamaraj Dam, a 300 acre
lake and the drinking water for Dindigul, declared as a protected area.  Small
islands in the lake, with scrub acacai trees found forty Little Cormorants and a
number of White Ibis nesting there in 2006. There were also purple moonhens and
one pair of Pheasant-tailed Jacanas.  It was the last time we saw
them here. Sadly the trees wer cut for firewood in November  of that year.
This week, forty-one Open-Billed Storks spent one day on the last tree on one of
the islands...and then left again.

 
To restore the trees on the islands, we hope to be allowed to lease the islands
firewood and so let the trees grow undisturbed.  With that as a starting point,
we may then have a stronger case.   In any case the birds will have their
nesting undisturbed.  Five species of

kingfishers are found here and this week Pandhi, a remarkable young birder added
three new findings to include the white rumped Munia, Peregrine Falcoln and
small minivets, normally only founf in the hill country. In 2005, four RSPB
birders identified 198 bird species in two days.  They are coming on their
third trip in February 2009.

 
Close by at Perumparai, on a superb nine acre birding site, in the Lower Palani
Hills,  we have now set up Perumparai Environmental Centre for running
"Awareness," programmes for secondary school and college students.  It is an
outstanding area for birdlife. Last week saw our first sighting there, of the
 Malabar Trogon, Small Yellow necked Woodpecker, Pied Flycatcher Shrike,
Large Cuckoo0 Shrike, Pompadour Green Pigeon. The project offers dormitory
accomodation and will shortly have cottage accomodation for serious birders and
students.   Joe Homan



Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Click here



Get an email ID as yourname@... or yourname@.... Click here.





       Connect with friends all over the world. Get Yahoo! India Messenger at
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Great-horned Indian owl rescued

P.Opilli and K.Manikandan

CHENNAI: A Great-Horned Indian owl, which was found on Thursday
evening in Tambaram was rescued by the police personnel and handed
over to the Wildlife authorities.

Residents of Kurinji Nagar in West Tambaram spotted the owl lying in a
bush. It sustained injuries after being reportedly attacked by a pack
of crows. The residents called up personnel at Tambaram police station
and also informed staff at the Tambaram Forest Office.

A couple of personnel from the police station, including a woman sub
inspector, came to the spot.

Wildlife officials, who brought the Great Horned Indian Owl from the
Tambaram police station, said the bird was in a healthy condition.

A rare bird to be sighted in the city's suburbs this species of Owls
are primarily nocturnal. Wildlife authorities said in the last four
years there were no records of rescue of this owl species.

Available records showed that a pair of nesting Great Horned Indian
owls was found in an abandoned quarry near the Nanmangalam Reserved
Forest near Gowrivakkam on the Velachery – Tambaram Road. Naturalists
had also reported the breeding of a pair in the same area. Wildlife
authorities said the rescued bird was in a healthy condition.
Jungle cat rescued

The wildlife authorities a few days ago also rescued a jungle cat from
the State Crime Records Bureau office in Raja Annamalaipuram. The
animal had internal injuries. Following care for a couple of days, it
showed signs of recovery.

Both the Great-Horned Indian owl and the Jungle cat were released into
an enclosure in the Children's Park, Guindy, the Wildlife authorities
said.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080859000200.htm

It was an overcast morning in August and the traffic was heavy on the
road bridge over the Velachery MRTS station. At the small patch of
waterbody and reed spotted marshes below were birds going about there
business unmindful of the buzz of activity around them. A pair of
pheasant-tailed jacanas swimming, and a couple more flying in were
seen when Venkat stopped to have look at the birds. They were five
birds in all but were not in the breeding plumage (when they will have
the characteristic sickle shaped tail). Coots, Little Grebes, Indian
Moorhens, Purple moorhens, Cormorants were the other birds in the
jheel. But the bird of the day was the normally shy and rather rare
Cinnamon Bittern who landed in plain view in front of us. We could
even see the markings on the neck. It also obliged us by flying
towards and over us leaving us admiring the beautiful sight of this
bird. And also wondering how long this little haven in the midst of
the city will last?

KV Sudhakar

On August 3rd, 30 of us assembled at the OTA campus. After a brief
introduction, we set off on a leisurely pace along the chosen path. We
were efficiently guided by our escort from the OTA. This walk also had
an eminent guest birder, Mr. Sashikumar from Kannur, Kerala. Members,
within a short while, had more than a dozen birds on their lists. We
crossed Adyar River, which was fairly covered with water hyacinths.

Some insect enthusiasts spotted damselflies, butterflies and
dragonflies. Bhanu and Ramakrishna sir made sure that the members were
also exposed to plants and flowers too. We learnt a few interesting
aspects of the flora seen. Except for a lone mongoose and a few
squirrels, no animals were seen. Some of us spotted a water snake.

Some of the birds spotted were: ashy prinia, hoopoe, kingfishers -
white-breasted, small blue and pied, bulbuls, pied bushchat, grey
partridge, red winged bushlark, coucal, swifts, purple-rumped sunbird,
magpie robin, pied crested cuckoo. Waterbirds -- moorhen, little
cormorant, pond heron, egrets were also seen.

Not to be outdone, our guide, Captain Mahajan, regaled us with his
sighting of a snow leopard while posted at J&K. We ended the trail
with a wonderful breakfast at the Officers mess. Much thanks to
Gayatri, Vijayakumar and the rest for a memorable trip.

Arvind Venkatraman

FROM MNS Google Groups

Aravind Venkataraman    Aug 10, 7:48 pm
From: "Aravind Venkataraman" <aravind...@...>
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:18:49 +0530
Local: Sun, Aug 10 2008 7:48 pm

Subject: Birds of madras outlook traveller- august issue

Hi all.
I was told that the August issue of Outlook Treveller carries an
article on "The birds of Madras". On searching the web found the
article online.
Check it out
http://www.outlooktraveller.com/issuecontent.aspx?id=1376&type=34&fla...
regards
Aravind

Birdfair finds Spoon-billed champion

05-08-2008

WildSounds, the leading international wildlife book and sound guide
supplier, has become the latest Species Champion to support the
BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme, it was announced today by
Martin Davies and Tim Appleton MBE, co-organisers of The British
Birdwatching Fair.

Furthering their long term commitment to environmental causes,
WildSounds has now stepped forward to `champion' Spoon-billed
Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus.

"We are privileged to become a BirdLife Species Champion and help
bring attention to the plight of Spoon-billed Sandpiper", said Duncan
Macdonald, Managing Director of WildSounds.

Populations of this wader have crashed over the last decade, and
recent surveys of its breeding grounds in the remote Russian province
of Chukotka by RBCU (BirdLife in Russia) suggest that the situation is
now absolutely critical. Dr Evgeny Syroechkovsky of RBCU and Dr
Christoph Zöckler of ArcCona Consulting will be attending the Birdfair
Opening Ceremony on August 15 to present their latest findings.

Macdonald continued, "Conservation is our social responsibility and we
fully support BirdLife International in helping the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper back from the edge of extinction."

"WildSounds is becoming a Species Champion in the nick of time for
Spoon-billed Sandpiper", said Jim Lawrence, the BirdLife Preventing
Extinctions Programme Development Manager. "If we are to save this
species, people and governments throughout the bird's range should
follow WildSounds' lead and take action now."

The British Birdwatching Fair, better known as Birdfair, is helping
raise funds to prevent extinctions again through this year's event,
which takes place from Friday August 15 to Sunday August 17 at Rutland
Water. Birdfair is the first Global Programme Sponsor of the BirdLife
Preventing Extinctions Programme and has committed its entire profits
from 2007, 2008 and 2009 to the cause. Birdfair are aiming to beat the
record amount of £226,000 ($500,000) they raised in 2007 and expect
more than 20,000 people to contribute by visiting the fair over the
three days.

"We are privileged to become a BirdLife Species Champion and help
bring attention to the plight of Spoon-billed Sandpiper" —Duncan
Macdonald, WildSounds

BirdLife International launched the Preventing Extinctions Programme
at the 2007 Birdfair in an attempt to save all 190 of the world's
Critically Endangered birds from extinction. With more than 100
International Partners, BirdLife is ideally placed to work across
borders and beyond politics in undertaking what has been described as
"the biggest and most wide-ranging bird conservation programme the
world has ever seen".

To do this, BirdLife International are appointing individuals and
organisations best placed to carry out the recovery of threatened
species as official Species Guardians at the same time as recruiting
companies, institutions and individuals as Species Champions to
provide the funds necessary to pay for this urgent work.

Many generous donors have already joined the growing community of
BirdLife Species Champions but more are urgently needed, so Birdfair
is drawing attention to the search by highlighting a `Super Six'
Critically Endangered Species in 2008 - Azores Bullfinch, Araripe
Manakin, Tuamotu Kingfisher, Sociable Lapwing, Dwarf Olive Ibis and
Spoon-billed Sandpiper. BirdLife International has plans in place to
save them all and the work is ready to begin as soon as `Species
Champions' can be found to fund the essential conservation required.
There was good news for the first of the `Birdfair Super Six' when
Birdwatch magazine announced it would `champion' Azores Bullfinch
Pyrrhula murina back in January. Their funds are already helping
urgent conservation work taking place in the Azores through BirdLife's
Portuguese Partner SPEA.

Now, another species is to benefit and hopefully, some good news for
the other Birdfair Super Six Species can also be announced at Birdfair.

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/08/spoon_billed_champion.html

Farmers using falcons to scare away foraging birds

By SHANNON DININNY – 2 days ago

BURBANK, Wash. (AP) — Farmer Jim Lott needs to get rid of the
starlings and sparrows feasting on the ripe fruit in his blueberry
patch, and a grinning scarecrow wearing grandpa's old overalls just
doesn't cut it anymore.

He's one of 17 farmers nationwide who have signed up for a new program
that allows the use of predator birds to control pesky birds that
damage or forage on crops.

"We never expected a whole lot of people to get them, but it did make
sense to allow the use of raptors to control problem flocks of birds,
agricultural pests, because in many ways, that's probably more
environmentally sound than other methods people might use," said
George Allen, Fish and Wildlife's branch chief of permits and
regulations in Arlington, Va.

"I expect the kinds of uses will expand in the future, but it's still
early in the game," he said.

Birds and other wildlife cause an estimated $944 million in damage in
a single year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Wildlife Damages program report in 2007.

In many places, farmers and wildlife managers have gotten creative in
handling the problem. Pyrotechnics and lasers have been used to scare
crows away from crops or seabirds and pigeons from airports. In North
Dakota, where blackbirds cost sunflower growers an estimated $15
million annually, federal wildlife officials filled cages with
captured blackbirds to lure their relatives to be trapped or killed.

Not all methods are lethal, but in 2004, the most recent year data was
available, the Agriculture Department killed more than 2.7 million
nuisance animals. The majority were starlings, nonnative birds
introduced to North America from Europe, that destroy crops and
contaminate livestock feed.

Northwest fruit and berry growers have tried countless ways to get rid
of starlings: reflective ribbons, squawking bird recordings and
booming propane cannons, firing at all hours and aggravating neighbors.

Enter the new regulations, which allow indigenous birds, largely
protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, to be used for
bird abatement in agriculture. In the past, only non-indigenous birds
could be employed, raising a number of problems.

Nonnative birds weren't always attracted to the species the farmers
were hoping to eradicate, and they have a tendency to just fly away,
Allen said.

"We don't want to be introducing a nonnative species," he said. "If
you lose a peregrine or prairie falcon that is native to North
America, it's not as big an issue as losing something that's not native."

Lott is using aplomado falcons — most often found in South America,
according to the Peregrine Fund — at his blueberry farm in southeast
Washington.

They rarely catch the nonnative starlings, instead just being intended
to scare them away, he said.

"In my mind, we're not really pushing any environmental laws or rules.
It's just a natural thing, very natural, to the farm. We're not
shooting guns," he said.

State wildlife officials in Washington work with about 60 growers in
areas where starlings are considered a major problem. In four
counties, they've begun trapping the birds, but starlings are highly
prolific, nesting up to twice a year.

Roger Woodruff, Washington state director of the Agriculture
Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is concerned
that using falcons to scare starlings away may just make them someone
else's problem.

"You might move them from one blueberry patch to another. You might
even move them out of the area," he said. "But falcons are a scare
tactic, and we always want to use an integrated approach. We want to
have a whole tool bag full of methods — any and all methods that are
effective and safe — and I view falconry as one method that could have
some use."
On the Net:

     * Fish & Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/
     * USDA: http://tinyurl.com/yom3uo


http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5irXubl0NdArZhrzttH-BKJYGVStQD92ETTGO0

Hi all,

             With so many multi-national corporates - headquatered in India
as well as abroad - operating from Bangalore and Hyderabad, could we work
towards finding a "species champion" for Jerdon's Courser ? A couple of my
attempts where I could potentially influence did not materialise since that
particular industry was going slow and brand-image building in India was not
a prime focus - perhaps its not the case with several others.

             If any attempts are already ongoing - then I wish you all the
luck and am wholeheartedly willing to help in anyway I can.

best rgds
Praveen


On 8/12/08, vsram2003 <vsram2003@...> wrote:
>
>   Birdfair finds Spoon-billed champion
>
> 05-08-2008
>
> WildSounds, the leading international wildlife book and sound guide
> supplier, has become the latest Species Champion to support the
> BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme, it was announced today by
> Martin Davies and Tim Appleton MBE, co-organisers of The British
> Birdwatching Fair.
>
> Furthering their long term commitment to environmental causes,
> WildSounds has now stepped forward to `champion' Spoon-billed
> Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus.
>
> "We are privileged to become a BirdLife Species Champion and help
> bring attention to the plight of Spoon-billed Sandpiper", said Duncan
> Macdonald, Managing Director of WildSounds.
>
> Populations of this wader have crashed over the last decade, and
> recent surveys of its breeding grounds in the remote Russian province
> of Chukotka by RBCU (BirdLife in Russia) suggest that the situation is
> now absolutely critical. Dr Evgeny Syroechkovsky of RBCU and Dr
> Christoph Zöckler of ArcCona Consulting will be attending the Birdfair
> Opening Ceremony on August 15 to present their latest findings.
>
> Macdonald continued, "Conservation is our social responsibility and we
> fully support BirdLife International in helping the Spoon-billed
> Sandpiper back from the edge of extinction."
>
> "WildSounds is becoming a Species Champion in the nick of time for
> Spoon-billed Sandpiper", said Jim Lawrence, the BirdLife Preventing
> Extinctions Programme Development Manager. "If we are to save this
> species, people and governments throughout the bird's range should
> follow WildSounds' lead and take action now."
>
> The British Birdwatching Fair, better known as Birdfair, is helping
> raise funds to prevent extinctions again through this year's event,
> which takes place from Friday August 15 to Sunday August 17 at Rutland
> Water. Birdfair is the first Global Programme Sponsor of the BirdLife
> Preventing Extinctions Programme and has committed its entire profits
> from 2007, 2008 and 2009 to the cause. Birdfair are aiming to beat the
> record amount of £226,000 ($500,000) they raised in 2007 and expect
> more than 20,000 people to contribute by visiting the fair over the
> three days.
>
> "We are privileged to become a BirdLife Species Champion and help
> bring attention to the plight of Spoon-billed Sandpiper" —Duncan
> Macdonald, WildSounds
>
> BirdLife International launched the Preventing Extinctions Programme
> at the 2007 Birdfair in an attempt to save all 190 of the world's
> Critically Endangered birds from extinction. With more than 100
> International Partners, BirdLife is ideally placed to work across
> borders and beyond politics in undertaking what has been described as
> "the biggest and most wide-ranging bird conservation programme the
> world has ever seen".
>
> To do this, BirdLife International are appointing individuals and
> organisations best placed to carry out the recovery of threatened
> species as official Species Guardians at the same time as recruiting
> companies, institutions and individuals as Species Champions to
> provide the funds necessary to pay for this urgent work.
>
> Many generous donors have already joined the growing community of
> BirdLife Species Champions but more are urgently needed, so Birdfair
> is drawing attention to the search by highlighting a `Super Six'
> Critically Endangered Species in 2008 - Azores Bullfinch, Araripe
> Manakin, Tuamotu Kingfisher, Sociable Lapwing, Dwarf Olive Ibis and
> Spoon-billed Sandpiper. BirdLife International has plans in place to
> save them all and the work is ready to begin as soon as `Species
> Champions' can be found to fund the essential conservation required.
> There was good news for the first of the `Birdfair Super Six' when
> Birdwatch magazine announced it would `champion' Azores Bullfinch
> Pyrrhula murina back in January. Their funds are already helping
> urgent conservation work taking place in the Azores through BirdLife's
> Portuguese Partner SPEA.
>
> Now, another species is to benefit and hopefully, some good news for
> the other Birdfair Super Six Species can also be announced at Birdfair.
>
> http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/08/spoon_billed_champion.html
>
>
>


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Dear all:

After a long break, I have finally managed to catch-up with my pending trip
reports. I have uploaded the following trips on www.wildventures.com:

    1. Anamalais May & July 2008
    2. BR Hills July 2008
    3. Goa May / June 2008
    4. Nagarhole May 2008
    5. Bandipur & BR Hills May 2008

Please select the trip by clicking on the appropriate thumbnail on the
homepage. Thanks for looking and, as usual, would appreciate any feedback on
the reports / images.

Cheers,

--r
_____________________
www.wildventures.com
frogmouth.zenfolio.com


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