Yesterday in the Burlington Free Press, Candace Page wrote an article about Fish and Wildlife officials announcing a plan to control Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls on Lake Champlain. After reading the article, and the 30 comments found online, I find myself perplexed by how often issues like this get forced into black & white solutions rather than a more thorough look at the complexity of wildlife management and it’s implications.  (Photo by Michael L. Baird)

Now, I’m not a wildlife biologist or a researcher. I am an educator, a naturalist, a recreationalist, a community member and a tax payer. So, pardon my brain dump, but I’m hoping this post will lead to further discussion on an issue which people feel strongly about.

1. Double-crested Cormorants are native to North America, but they only began nesting on Lake Champlain in 1981. I guess they are non-native to Lake Champlain when it comes to breeding. The terms native and non-native can be interpreted many ways unfortunately and that adds to confusion.
2. I immediately think about BREEDING colonial waterbirds on Lake Champlain that are impacted by the presence of cormorants breeding, like Great Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, and the Vermont endangered Common Tern.
3. Research, I look to the research. This summer’s Our Lake, Our Future research consortium had some interesting findings on cormorants. These findings include, the cormorant population is stabilizing rather than growing, with fewer nests being found in their primary colony on Four Brothers Island this summer. AND, cormorants seem to be showing a preference for the invasive alewife as a prey item. Digging a little deeper into the idea that cormorants are competition for those who enjoy fishing, “recent work has shown that measuring their impact is difficult and interpretations are disputed” according to Birds of North America Online under the Conservation and Management section for the Double-crested Cormorant.
4. Economics – as much as I disagree with the premise that cormorants should be controlled because it’s possible they may be impacting the Lake Champlain as a fishery, I can’t ignore that part of the Vermont/New York economy gets a boost from both recreational and sport fishing. People who enjoy fishing spend money on fishing licenses, gas for their boats, equipment, lodging, food, etc and that’s good for our communities. Their voice needs to be heard. However, I won’t ignore the science that is telling me that we don’t have proof that cormorants are a huge impact on our fish populations.
5. Mother Nature rules and we’ve messed with her. It’s impossible to have every thing the way it was in the past and meddling with her scene needs to be incredibly thoughtful, flexible and well, humble…’cuz we’ve certainly made some bad choices.

For me, it’s not about birds vs. fish or birds vs. birds. There really is no black and white with this, it’s really complex. So before either jumping on the “environmentalist” band wagon or the “sportfishing” band wagon or whatever other polarizing stereotype that can be used with this issue….really dig in…really look at the big picture…honestly look at all the pieces and all the players, and then bring all those ideas, thoughts and opinions together when trying to find a solution.

You’re probably sitting there reading this saying…what does she think? Where does she fall on this?

I am for some level of population control, because what I do see in the research is that cormorants are impacting other colonial nesting birds who either are endangered in Vermont, like the Common Tern, or have historically bred on Lake Champlain.  I am for supporting continued research on cormorants, including research about their feeding behaviors. AND, I’m for continued education and dialogue in order to better understand conservation and management issues.

So, have at it…what’s your brain dump on cormorants?

The 110th Christmas Bird Count starts tomorrow morning. Here’s where I was last year at dawn:

St. Albans Bay, Lake Champlain VT

Where are you birding for the Christmas Bird Count this year?

Click here for list of Vermont Christmas Bird Count circles.

I don’t know if you used that slang when you were a kid but I did.  Yeah, and I know I just tagged myself as 80’s but hey, what’s the big diff?  I’m gonna bring back that 80’s slang and tweak it Bird Diva style. I wanna invite you all to make a big diff as a birder.

The 2009 State of the Birds Report was recently released and I gotta say I was a little overwhelmed by some of the doom & gloom press it generated. I’m on Twitter now and have chosen to follow a number of conservation groups, some who were involved in putting together the report. I kept getting tweets telling me just about every habitat group of birds was experiencing a “serious decline”. Retweet that a couple of hundred times and that can get pretty defeatist, depressing.

My beef with all this is if you are gonna report the data that, granted, is shocking and sometimes dire ALWAYS back it up with success and action. With all the involved organizations announcing the report, the making the big diff part got lost amongst all the decline data. It is there though, on the State of the Birds website under What You Can Do and in the beautiful but unfortunately antiviral video. It is killing me that I can’t share that video through various social networks or embed it on my blog. *Heavy sigh*

I wasn’t the only one who noticed, Bird Chick blogged on it and my friends at Vermont Center for Ecostudies asked in a tweet if this is just another report to get lost in all the others.

Let’s focus on making the big diff though, taking action, finding out what you can do ‘cuz there’s a treasure chest of success stories behind all the doom and gloom hoopla. Here are some of my favorite ways to make a big diff for birds. Please share yours with me too!

1. Landscape your yard and manage your property for wildlife. Backyards, woodlot, hay field, waterways all can be managed with birds and other wildlife in mind. Often there is money available to property owners as incentives. Contact your state’s fish and game or natural resource department.
2. Donate your time to a bird organization. Take your love of watching birds and use your skills (at whatever level) to help gather information about birds. Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count, Bird Survey – but don’t forget to get in touch locally to find out what opportunities exist. Your local Audubon or bird club will be able to direct you.
3. Carry an extra pair of binoculars for those moments when someone asks, “What are you looking at?” Share the moment! Share what you know, admit what you don’t and use it as an opportunity to learn with someone else. Birds touch people of all ages from all walks of life, get them jazzed and they’ll be making a big diff too!