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| Title | The Spoonbill, Vol. 30, No. 2, June 1981 |
| Alternative Title | The Spoonbill, Vol. XXX, No. 2, June 1981 |
| Contributor (Local) |
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| Publisher | Outdoor Nature Club |
| Date | June 1981 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | ID 2007-023, Box 11, Folder 10 |
| ArchivesSpace URI | /repositories/2/archival_objects/9866 |
| Original Collection | Outdoor Nature Club Records |
| Digital Collection | Outdoor Nature Club Newsletters |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/2007_023 |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections/ |
| Use and Reproduction | Rights Undetermined |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 1 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_2007_023_b011_f010_006_001.jpg |
| Transcript | Volume XXX, No. 2 June, 1981 COMING EVENTS Saturday June 20 Thursday June 25 Friday July 3 Saturday July 11 Sunday July 12 Henslow Sparrow banding with Dr. Arnold. Meet in the shell-paved lot on the corner at Telephone Road and Brisbane (across from Hobby Airport) at 7s00 a.m. Deadline for THE SPOONBILL announcements, articles, etc. Clearing House deadline for observations for June. Please send early. Henslow Sparrow banding with Dr. a.m. Arnold. Meet at 7:00 Family picnic at Dodge-Duryea bay house just outside La Porte. Information sheet will be mailed to all ONC members. DYNAMICS OF A SPRING MIGRATION by Tony Gallucci During the months of April and May I had the fortunate opportunity to be either birding or banding on the UTC for a total of 24 days. Because of the generosity of Mr. Andrew Johnson of Port Bolivar, some Ik of those days were spent on his family's property on Bolivar Peninsula. Banding and birding in the isolated patch of tall oaks and salt-cedar and oleander lined yards during the peaks of this spring migration offered a unique perspective on this phenomenon. Banding totals from that location and from Bolivar Flats during this same period are presented below. The banding totals include the combined data of Greg Lasley and myself. About eleven o'clock on 23 April, though the south winds died, the air cooled and then suddenly out of the northwest came The brisk wind that, unknown to me, had already caused widespread damage across the coastal area. Torrential rains were soon falling and falling with it were birds. Here was the classic fallout I had been waiting for. A second squall line hit the area about 2 o'clock. This was perfect timing according to Ben Feltner's timetable of migration. Ben says landfall in our area for migrants.will be highest at 2 p.m. because the bulk of the migrants depart the Yucatan at dusk and need 18 hours for their trans-gulf journey. In the woods proper there was no obvious "fallout" with this storm. However, about 40 minutes after the storm passed there suddenly were swarms of orioles, buntings, grosbeaks, and warblers coloring the trees and dewberry patch. My best guess is that these birds had already hit the previous storm at sea, and exhausted upon hitting the second, made their fallout near the beach. It took them the additional forty minutes to work the half- mile from the beach up to Johnson's. A most surprising aspect of this fallout was the fat contents of the birds coming in. Almost 80$ of them registered a four or five, indicating heavy fat content. A few individuals had lower fat contents. For the purpose of comparison this is an explanation of the scale of measuring fat content. The scale runs from zero to five, with zero meaning no fat. The content is measured in the furcular area, that spot above the breast where the breastbone or wishbone lies. When this area fairly bulges with fat the content is recorded as a five. Thus zero and one indicate a depleted fat store, two and three indi- |