The Meadowlark

October 2002

ASO is a Chapter of the National Audubon Society serving Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa

Butterflies and Butterfly Gardening at General Meeting

Bird Seed Orders Due Soon

Sally Hansen, Bird Seed Sale Chair, reminds our customers that the deadline for bird seed orders is October 12; sale dates are October 26 and 27. Order forms have been mailed to members and former customers.

As of this writing of the October program notice, squirrels are planting walnuts for consumption next spring. Our October guest speakers have next spring in mind also.

Loren and Babs Padelford, familiar to all of us, will present a slide program on butterflies and butterfly gardening at the October general meeting.

Babs and Loren have given numerous programs on butterflies and dragonflies in Nebraska and Iowa. For 17 years they have conducted and participated in the Waubonsie State Park, IA, and Indian Cave State Park, NE, butterfly counts. They are members of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and the Dragonfly Society of the Americas.

cludes Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska) editor for the NABA Fourth

of July Butterfly Count Report since 1992.

The Padelfords do not always have to travel away from home to carry out field studies. Their garden includes a number of plants attractive to butterflies, among them a Pawpaw tree that has attracted Zebra Swallowtails, which occasionally stray north of their normal range in southeast Nebraska.

You are invited to attend the meeting Thursday, October 10, 7:30 p.m, at the Hanscom Park Methodist Church, 4444 Frances (1 block south of 45th & Center).

Correction

Hawkwatch October 5, Sparrow Trip October 19

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Backyard Habitat and Bird Seed

I want to remind everyone of the October 26 and 27 bird seed sale dates. This is the major fundraiser for ASO, so I urge all of you to buy bird seed and volunteer for selling it or getting notices out. Thanks again to all who have helped out in the past.

While on the subject of bird feeding, I am providing a synopsis of an article that recently appeared in National Wildlife Magazine. The article deals with ten birds that help control garden insects and how to entice them to your property.

These birds are mostly insect eaters, but some also eat berries and seeds. Providing an attractive habitat for these birds will complement your bird feeding efforts, although it is mainly the late spring and summer months when insects are abundant and are pests.

The most important element in attracting birds is to provide an enticing habitat, not just a nest box. Birds choose a nest site based on the surrounding habitat. Along with native vegetation, offer a water source and a few different nesting sites. Brush piles, ledges, nest boxes, shrubs and various types of trees including dead tree limbs and trunks. Birds will not completely rid your yard of insects, nor would you want that. Some insects are important for a healthy garden, and birds do not discriminate between destructive and beneficial bugs. Birds can, however, help keep insects populations in your neighborhood at a stable, balanced level. The article lists ten birds species that can be valuable allies in your efforts to keep a healthy garden.

House Wren: Regular backyard visitors, wrens have diets that consist almost exclusively of insects and spiders. House Wrens range throughout most of the lower 48 states during parts of the year. Low-lying shrubs or brush piles in your yard serve as a source of cover, nesting material and food. Other insect eating wrens regularly visit back yard in other parts of the U.S.

Purple Martin: Aerial feeders that forage over land and water, Purple Martins eat a variety of winged insects. They typically nest with as many as 30 pairs in hotel-like boxes or hanging, hollow gourds. They also are attracted to ponds and wetland areas.

Red-eyed Vireo: These migrants forage in trees mainly on crawling insects, especially caterpillars, as well as other invertebrates and berries. Plant Virginia creeper, spicebush, elderberry, blackberry and dogwood to supplement their insect diet.

the ground, shrubs and trees. They tend to nest in evergreens, making nests out of grasses, weeds, roots and hair. Attract them with pines, spruce, arborvitae and yew.

Downy Woodpecker: These birds readily visit back yards throughout the U.S., with the exception of some areas in the southwest. Their diet consists mainly of insects, though they also feed on sap, berries and seeds. They prefer deciduous trees such as aspen and willow and may eat the berries of dogwood, mountain ash, serviceberry, Virginia creeper and poison ivy.

Yellow Warbler: These birds eat a diet of about 60% caterpillars. They also eat moths, mosquitoes, beetles and some berries. They nest in small trees and shrubs and often prefer willow. Plant berry-producing plants native to this area to attract them.

Eastern Bluebird: Their numbers are increasing due to nest box projects along bluebird trails. They occupy semi-open areas east of the Rockies, eating a variety of insects, other invertebrates and berries. Plant elderberry, hackberry, dogwood, and holly to add to their diet.

Eastern Phoebe: Members of the flycatcher family, phoebes often live on buildings and bridges. They eat many insect species, other invertebrates and berries. Provide a nesting platform and plant native hackberry, serviceberry, and poison ivy to supplement their diet.

Baltimore Oriole: Colorful migrants that readily visit back yards, they eat insects, fruit and nectar. Plant blackberry, serviceberry and cherry for food, as well as elm, sycamore, tupelo and other shade trees as nesting spots.

Common Nighthawk: This bird is found over most of the continent and eats a variety of flying insects. They nest on level surfaces such as the ground or flat rooftops in suburbs and cities. They can be attracted to industrial and corporate rooftops.

October Events

2 Board Meeting

3 Nature Study - Hawks

5 Hawkwatch Trip

7 ConservLegisl Meeting

10 General Meeting

17 Nature study - Sparrows

19 Field Trip - Sparrows

26-27 Bird Seed Sale

October 17 & 19 - Sparrows of the Americas

James Rising in A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada wrote that the New World sparrows are "found in the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa. However, they show their greatest diversity in the New World, where the group almost certainly evolved."

The almost 30 Song Sparrow subspecies of the U.S. and Canada are variable, ranging from the larger maxima of Alaska to smaller and paler saltonis of Sonoran Desert, and melodia of the east to slender-billed samuelis and pusillula of San Francisco area salt marshes.

Animals living in deserts and salt marshes face problems of getting drinking water, conserving it, and unloading excess salts. Mammals evolved kidneys with loops of Henle that reduce water loss during excretion and concentrate unneeded sodium ions to void them. Reptiles and nonpasserine birds have salt glands that expel extra ions to maintain homeostasis.

Please join Elliott Bedows to learn about sparrows. ASO's First Vice-President, he has taught study groups and scout troops and led field trips and bird counts. His program uses power point, incorporates research of James Rising, and emphasizes identification of birds that are often misidentified, focusing on beak and tail differences.

Loren (Bub) Blake

sponsored by Audubon Nature Activities and Fontenelle Birding Club. The indoor study is 7pm Thursday, October 17 at Bellevue University Student Center. For a map, look in the Qwest Dex Yellow Pages, page 28 of the green section. Refreshments will be provided by the Birding Club. The outdoor trip will meet Saturday, October 19, at Neale Woods. For complete information, see item, page 1 of this newsletter.

New Family Program Offered

at Audubon Spring Creek Prairie

second session will include an extended nature hike and opportunities for family members to create a family journal.

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Conservation/Legislative Action

By Ione Werthman

DSEIS - Missouri River - I thought that over the years I had heard of (and recognized) most of the acronyms used in the environmental and political world, but this week I received a new one in the mail, the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Missouri River Modified Mitigation Project. And I thought all of the Missouri River problems were in the hands of politicians!

Not so. Yet! This draft SEIS is designed to identify and evaluate potential environmental impacts associated with the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 and 1999, which called for the development of 166,750 acres of aquatic and terrestrial habitat for fish and wildlife along the 735 miles of the Missouri between Sioux City and St. Louis to restore losses that occurred and will continue to occur due to the bank stabilization and navigation project of the River.

The Army Corps of Engineers is the lead agency in the preparation of this SEIS, in consultation with the USFWS, EPA, Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources, Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks, Missouri Dept. of Conservation and Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.

Open house/public hearings are scheduled in October to provide information about the Mitigation Project, the Draft SEIS and its findings, and provide an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and agencies to offer testimony.

An open house and hearing is scheduled for October 17 at Arbor Park Elementary School, 1717 Adams Street, in Blair, with open house between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and the formal public hearing at 7:00 p.m.Copies of the Draft SEIS are available to view at libraries in Blair, Council Bluffs, Plattsmouth and the W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha. Written comments on the Draft SEIS should be mailed no later than November 4, 2002, to Mr. Kelly Ryan, CENWK-PM-CJ, US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, 601 E 12th St., Kansas City, MO 64106-2896.

Hats Off - Hats off to Council Bluffs for considering a more natural Missouri River front across from Omaha's convention centers and business campuses. They are studying the feasibility of restoring an old section of the river channel north of the I-480 bridge to create a flow-through chute similar to the restored Missouri channel at Boyer Chute NWR near Ft. Calhoun.

The restored backwaters are intended to provide some of the habitat that the river once had in abundance, including slow water where young fish can thrive. This project is another in the Back to the River effort launched by former Senator Bob Kerrey.

Clean Water Act - 30 Years - On October 18 America will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Thirty years ago our government promised us clean and safe rivers, lakes and coastal waters for our kids and our communities. We all know we are still far from achieving that goal. In fact, almost one out of every two waterways analyzed to date is polluted.

In January 2001 the Supreme Court created a legal loophole that removes protection for certain "isolated, nonnavigable waters," leaving as much as a third of the nation's wetlands vulnerable to both physical destruction and discharges of pollutants. To Nebraskans, that means our prairie potholes. And our Heron Haven.

These shallow ponds scattered across the Great Plains provide breeding grounds for ducks and way stations for migratory birds. They're among the wide variety of bogs, pools, and inland basins, some water-filled for only part of the year, that play a critical role in maintaining wildlife, recharging underground aquifers, and filtering sediment and pollutants away from groundwater.

In February of this year, the Bush Administration announced a rule change to the Clean Water Act that makes it easier for companies to dispose of various kinds of industrial waste into our waters. Congress is now considering two companion proposals that would reverse those decisions and end the confusion by amending the Clean Water Act to delete reference to "navigable" waters and making it clear the law is intended to protect all U.S. waters and wetlands.

The first, the Clean Water Protection Act, would prohibit industrial waste from being dumped into streams, lakes, rivers, coastal areas and wetlands.

The second, the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, would reinstate federal protection for isolated wetlands that help with flood control and filter pollutants from the water, making it safe for wildlife and people. Even those wetlands that appear isolated on the surface are part of a complex web of groundwater supply and wildlife habitat. It makes no sense to separate them from the overall effort to protect American waters from pollution and degradation.

Continued on page 5

Wetlands Forum Held at Heron Haven

State Senator Matt Connealy; John Hansen, President of the Nebraska Farmers Union; Gerald Jasmer, USDA Wildlife biologist; and Ione Werthman, wetland conservationist; served as panelists for a Wetlands Forum held at Heron Haven September 14. Bechara Embaid was moderator.

The form served as an opportunity to hear differing perspectives on the value of wetlands in Nebraska.

Senator Connealy, representing Burt, Thurston, Cuming, and Stanton Counties in the Nebraska Unicameral, pointed out that farmers own the majority of wetlands in Nebraska and are far more inclined to protect them than are large corporate factory farming interests.

is based on watershed protection rather than county boundaries.

Jasper reported that the USDA has offices in every Nebraska county and works with farmers, ranchers, NRD's and urban dwellers (backyard wildlife programs). The USDA programs have the objective of helping people internalize responsibility for stewarding their land and offering them tools for doing so. Under the USDA programs, farmers and ranchers who destroy wetlands for crops or forage are not eligible for USDA funds. A challenge he identified is the intentional and progressive channelizing of rivers and streams, which destroys aquatic habitat and lowers the water table on adjacent lands. On an encouraging note, he reported that the Wetland Reserve Program, which helps farmers restore degraded wetlands, has resulted in the reclamation of 30,000 acres of wetlands as of 2002 and will have an expanded budget of $3 million in the coming year.

efforts of school children, citizens of Omaha, ASO members, the Papio-Missouri NRD, and grants from many foundations, the sanctuary has now become home and resting place to 104 species of birds and countless other wildlife.

Mrs. Werthman concluded her presentation with the challenge for Nebraskans to restore more of our lost wetlands and consider the endless economic opportunities they would have with ecotourism because of our efforts. It is a known fact that one-third of all bird species in the U.S. depend directly on wetlands for one or more of their life requirements, and that nearly half of the federally threatened and endangered fish, amphibians, insect and plant species are wetland dependent. She reiterated that Heron Haven is living proof that "If the habitat is there, the wildlife will come."

The wetlands forum, the first of several to be held at Heron Haven this coming year, was supported by the Nebraska Alliance for Conservation and Environmental Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. Bechara Embaid, as facilitator, attended a workshop of the EPA earlier this year.

Conservation/Legisl. Action,

Continued from page 4

members viewed on September 9 and 10. We found the report very alarming as to how our democracy and environmental laws are compromised by provisions in the NAFTA treaty. More later on this subject.

the Midlands, fueled by a new energy bill pending in Congress that would mandate or recommend the use of renewable sources of energy.

A Kimball, NE, wind farm will be fully operational by October 1 with towers generating 10.5 megawatts of electricity, enough for nearly 4,000 homes and businesses.

Terry, Bereuter and Osborne urging them to support these two proposals are in order. (See addresses, page 7) As the Clean Water Act turns 30 this year, let us recommit ourselves to its goal of clean and safe water for everyone.

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"When A Crop Becomes King"

Jerry Toll submitted the following article, "When a Crop Becomes King," by Michael Pollan, author of the widely acclaimed Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. The text of the article follows.

Here in southern New England the corn is waist high and growing so avidly you can almost hear the creak of stalk and leaf as the plants stretch toward the sun. . .These days the nation's nearly 80 million-acre field of corn rolls across the countryside like a second great lawn, but this wholesome, all-American image obscures a decidedly more dubious reality.

Like the tulip, the apple and the potato, zea mays (the botanical name for both sweet and feed corn) has evolved with humans over the past 10,000 years or so in the great dance of species we call domestication. The plant gratifies human needs, in exchange for which humans expand the plant's habitat, moving its genes all over the world and remaking the land (clearing trees, plowing the ground, protecting it from its enemies). . .

Corn, by making itself tasty and nutritious, got itself noticed by Christopher Columbus, who helped expand its range from the New World to Europe and beyond. Today corn is the world's most widely planted cereal crop.

But nowhere have humans done quite as much to advance the interests of this plant as in North America, where zea mays has insinuated itself into our landscape, our food system—and our federal budget.

One need look no further than the $190 billion farm bill President Bush signed last month to wonder whose interests are really being served here. Under the 10-year program, taxpay

ers will pay farmers $4 billion a year to grow ever more corn, this despite the fact that we struggle to get rid of the surplus the plant already produces.

The average bushel of corn (56 pounds) sells for about $2 today: it costs farmers more than $3 to grow it. But rather than design a program that would encourage farmers to plant less corn—which would have the benefit of lifting the price farmers receive for it—Congress has decided instead to subsidize corn by the bushel, thereby insuring that zea mays' dominion over its 125,000-square mile American habitat will go unchallenged.

At first blush this subsidy might look like a handout for farmers, but really it's a form of welfare for the plant itself and for all those economic interests that profit from its overproduction: the processors, factory farms, and the soft drink and snack makers that rely on cheap corn. For zea mays has triumphed by making itself indispensable not to farmers (whom it is swiftly and surely bankrupting) but to the Archer Daniels Midlands, Tysons and Coca Colas of the world.

Our entire food supply has undergone a process of "cornification" in recent years, without our ever noticing it. That's because. . .in the United States most of the corn we consume is invisible, having been heavily processed or passed through food animals before it reaches us. Most of the animals we eat (chickens, pigs and cows) today subsist on a diet of corn, regardless of whether it is good for them.

Why feed fish corn? Because it's the cheapest thing you can feed any animal, thanks to federal subsidies.

But even with more than half of the 10 billion bushels of corn produced annually being fed to animals, there is plenty left over. So companies like A.D.M. Cargill and ConAgra have figured ingenious new ways to dispose of it, turning it into everything from ethanol to Vitamin C and biodegradable plastics.

By far the best strategy for keeping zea mays in business has been the development of high-fructose corn syrup, which has all but pushed sugar aside. Since the 1980's most soft drink manufacturers have switched from sugar to corn sweeteners, as have most snack makers. Nearly 10 percent of the calories Americans consume now come from corn sweeteners; the figure is 20 % for many children. Add to that all the corn-based animal protein (corn-fed beef, chicken and pork) and the corn qua corn (chips, muffins, sweet corn) and you have a plant that has become one of nature's greatest success stories, by turning us (along with several other equally unwitting species) into an expanding race of corn eaters.

The problem in corn's case is that we're sacrificing the health of both our bodies and the environment by growing and eating so much of it. Though we're only beginning to understand what our cornified food system is doing to our health, there's a cause for concern.

Continued on page 7

Continued from page 6

Audubon Society

Addresses to Remember

President George W. Bush

The White House,1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington D.C. 20500-0001

Comments: 202-456-1111; fax: 202-456-2993

Senator Ben Nelson

U.S. Senate, Washington DC 20510; 202-224-6551;

fax 202-228-0012; Lincoln: 402-437-5246

Omaha address: 7602 Pacific St, #205, 68114

Senator Chuck Hagel

U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-2705

Phone: (202) 224-4224; Fax: (202) 224-5213

Omaha phone: (402) 758-8981

Representative Lee Terry

U.S. House of Representatives,Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-4155 ; Fax: (202) 226-5452

Omaha phone: (402) 397-9944

Representative Douglas Bereuter

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-4806; fax (202) 225-5686

Lincoln phone: (402) 438-1598

Governor Michael Johanns

Capitol Bldg, Box 94848 Lincoln, NE 68509

Phone: (402) 471-2244; Fax: 471-6031

Mayor Mike Fahey

Omaha/Douglas Civic Center

1819 Farnam St, Omaha NE 68183

marketing budgets. Thousands of new sweetened snack foods hit the market, and the amount of fructose in our diets soared.

This would be bad enough for the American waistline, but there's also preliminary research suggesting that high-fructose corn syrup is metabolized differently than other sugars, making it potentially more harmful. A recent study at the University of Minnesota found that a diet high in fructose (as compared to glucose) elevates triglyceride levels in men shortly after eating, a phenomenon that has been linked to an increased risk of obesity and heart disease. . .

We know a lot more about what 80 million acres of corn is doing to the health of our environment: serious and lasting damage. Modern corn hybrids are the greediest of plants, demanding more nitrogen fertilizer than any other crop. Corn requires more pesticide than any other food crop. Runoff from these chemicals finds its way into the groundwater and, in the Midwestern corn belt, into the Mississippi River, which carries it to the Gulf of Mexico where it has already killed off marine life in a 12,000 square mile area.

To produce the chemicals we apply to our cornfields takes vast amounts of oil and natural gas. (Nitrogen fertilizer is made from natural gas, pesticides from oil). America's corn crop might look like a sustainable, solar-powered system for producing food, but it is actually a huge, inefficient, polluting machine that guzzles fossil fuel, a half gallon of it for every bushel.

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Audubon Society of Omaha, 11809 Old Maple Road, Omaha 68164