Birders enjoy peak season

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports on the early spring and warm weather we've had and the impact it's had on birding:

Warm weather and recent rains have combined to green-up the woods ahead of schedule this year, making it a little more difficult for birders to spot migrating species.

While many colorful species have been seen, the peak invasion is expected in the next week or two, depending on the weather.

International Migratory Bird Day has been set for May 13 to draw attention to the plight of migratory birds that make incredible journeys between their breeding grounds in North America and wintering grounds in Mexico, Central and South America.

Many of these bird species are declining in numbers due to the loss of habitat.

The largest remaining unspoiled forest left on the Earth, the North American boreal forest — a transition between mixed decidious-conifer forests to the south and the spruce-fir dominated forests of Canada — stretches across some 3,500 miles from Alaska to the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly half of all North American bird species nest in the boreal forest ecosystem. Threats to the forest include forestry, mining and agriculture.

More information on the boreal forest can be found at www.borealbirds.org.

The birds that are the greatest long-distance migrants in the world — shorebirds —, mainly sandpipers and plovers, refuel at stopover sites like mud flats, marsh edges, flooded fields and the shores of lakes and lagoons during their long flight. Some travel 8,000 miles or more from South America to the Canada and the High Arctic.

Wildfire endangers Kirtland's warbler habitat

The Lansing State Journal reports on the 6,000 acre forest fire that swept through the Huron-Manistee National Forest yesterday and the impact to the Kirtland warbler:

A 6,000-acre wildfire in the Huron-Manistee National Forests may have harmed critical habitat for the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that raises its young in the jack pines of Northern Michigan.

A damage-assessment team ventured into charred areas Tuesday as crews moved closer to bringing the massive fire under control. It was 95 percent contained by midafternoon, said Huron-Manistee spokesman Ken Arbogast.

No injuries were reported. The cause remained unknown. This fire broke out Sunday on private property near Hughes Lake in Oscoda County, he said.

Oscoda County is the focal point of the federal government's effort to save the Kirtland's warbler. Jack pines have been planted on thousands of acres as a home for the warbler, which divides its time between Michigan and the Bahamas.

"We're the epicenter for their population," Arbogast said. "Fortunately, they haven't returned yet this year. We haven't lost any of the species, but we've lost some of the habitat."

Only about 300 of the yellow-breasted birds existed when placed on the endangered species list in 1973. A census last year turned up 1,397 pairs in the Lower Peninsula and 18 in the Upper Peninsula.

The warblers should return late this month. The annual count is scheduled for early June.