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Volume 29, Issue 10
June Program Features Mike Watkins and
"Least Terns and Piping
Plovers on the Kansas River"
The June 9, 2005 JAS program will feature
Mike Watkins, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Kansas City District. Mike is a regular pro-
gram speaker at Eagle Day, where he presents his
work on bald eagle nesting in Kansas. Mike is also an
acclaimed photographer and will present some of his
photographs in a program entitled "Least Terns and
Piping Plovers on the Kansas River." The program is
open to the public and will held at the Lawrence Senior
Center, 8th and Vermont Streets, in Lawrence, Kansas
at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the program, the Board of Direc-
tors will present the nominees for the elected officers of
the 2005-2006 Jayhawk Audubon Society program
year. Members will have an opportunity to vote on the
list of nominees at the June 9th JAS program.
President: Jennifer Delisle
Vice Pres: Dayna Carleton
Treasurer: Jennifer Delisle
Recording Secretary: Joyce Wolf
Corresponding Sec.: Susan Iverson
Nominees for five Board of Director positions will be
announced and included in the election at the June 9th
Program.
june2005
Butterflies for
Beginners Fieldtrip
Butterfly watching is an excellent
companion activity to birding, and provides a quite
different window into the natural world. If you’d like
to see some local butterflies, learn something of their
fascinating life histories, and get some guidance as to
the best field guides and binoculars to use (see related
article for some details), join us for the last JAS field-
trip of the season on Sunday, 12 June 2005. Because
butterflies prefer the heat of the day, we’ll begin at 10
a.m., so pack some water and a picnic lunch, along
with your closest focusing binoculars. A hat, sun-
screen, and footwear suitable for walking are recom-
mended. Where we go will depend on conditions, so
we’ll meet at the boardwalk entrance to the Baker
University Wetlands (located on the south side of
31st Street, halfway between Haskell Avenue and
Louisiana Street), and then carpool to a place or two
nearby. Some possible destinations include Prairie
Park, Mary’s Lake, the edge of the woods along the
south side of the Baker Wetlands, and Wells Over-
look. For more information, call Alexis Powell (785)
749-4461. -Alexis Powell
IN THIS ISSUE:
Books and Binos for Butterflying 2
Recycling News 3
2005 Birdathon Results 3
 2 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
Baker Wetlands
Fieldtrip Report
We were treated to beautiful weather and
abundant birds at the Baker University Wetlands on
our 15 May 2005 fieldtrip. The skies above the
marshes were filled with Tree, Northern Rough-
winged, Bank, Cliff, and Barn Swallows, along
with Chimney Swifts. All the while, Common
Yellowthroats chattered and sang in the marshes, at
times launching themselves into the sky and flutter-
ing back down into the tall grasses in the course of
their exuberant displays. Though we saw no real
rarities, we got good looks at many interesting spe-
cies, including Great Egret, Wilson’s Phalarope,
Blue-headed Vireo, Sedge Wren, Clay-colored
Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, and Baltimore Oriole.
Another highlight was watching and listen-
ing to several Barred Owls that approached our
group in response to my calls. I was especially
pleased to find Acadian Flycatcher and Bobolink
(~5 males), two species that I had not been lucky
enough to see at the wetlands before, and Short-
billed Dowitcher (flock of ~20), which was a new
species for the wetlands checklist. Altogether, we
saw or heard 71 bird species. Non-avian vertebrate
finds included Mosquitofish, Painted Turtle, Red-
eared Slider, Racer, Ribbon Snake, two Opossums
in a low branch of a tree, and singing Plains Leop-
ard, Chorus, and Northern Cricket frogs.
-Alexis Powell
Steven D’Amato
Books and Binos
for Butterflying
Have you tried butterflying in the past but
had difficulty finding a field guide or binoculars
that actually work well for that pursuit? The new-
est generation guides are extremely well designed
and are a vast improvement over older so-called
field guides. For our area, the best choice is But-
terflies Through Binoculars: the East by Jeffrey
Glassberg (Oxford 1999). If you are interested in
butterflies in the western half of our state and the
nation, there is a western version, also by Glass-
berg (Oxford 2001). The similar Kaufman Focus
Guide to Butterflies of North America by Jim
Brock and Kenn Kaufman (Houghton Mifflin
2003) is also excellent, but is a little trickier to
use quickly in the field since it includes all the
butterflies of the United States and Canada in one
handy volume, and doesn’t have as much room to
devote to each species.
When it comes to binoculars for butterfly-
ing, the recently released Pentax 6.5×21 Papilio
model (cost under $140) is so superior to any
other choice that nothing else is worth consider-
ing, not even models costing $1400 or more. This
unique binocular allows the user to close-focus
down to 18 inches and look at objects completely
comfortably in stereo vision, allowing for a visual
experience no monocular, loupe or hand lens can
provide, yet it can just as easily focus on more
distant objects, as traditional binoculars do. I’d
go so far as to say that every serious naturalist
should own a Papilio for the fact that it provides a
stunning window into a whole world of delightful
small creatures, flowers, and other objects that
every such person will want to explore. The 6.5×
Papilio is extremely well designed and assembled,
has very clear and contrasty optics, and is com-
fortable to use while wearing eyeglasses.
-Alexis Powell
 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY
Recycling Rates Decline in U.S.
While the story of the shortage of PET bottles
has been covered extensively in the trade press, the gen-
eral public and most policymakers seem to be unaware
of the problem. Consumers see the chasing arrows and
the word "recyclable" on the bottom of the plastic bot-
tles they buy, and they assume that many -- if not most -
- of these bottles are recycled. In reality, only 780 mil-
lion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled in 2002 out
of more than 4,000 million pounds sold: or 1 out of
every 5 bottles.
As much as 75% of the PET bottles recycled in
the US is done in the 10 states that have deposit-return
laws (better known as "bottle bills").
The story for aluminum cans is equally bleak:
Recycling rates for these beverage cans has
tumbled to its lowest level in 25 years. Between 1972,
when the Aluminum Association began collecting data,
and 2003, over 1 trillion cans were wasted. An esti-
mated 17.5 million tons of cans with a current market
value of $21 billion lie buried in American garbage
dumps and landfills.
The only programs to consistently achieve recy-
cling rates of 70-85 percent are nickel deposit systems.
Michigan, the only state with a dime deposit, reaches
95percent.
A trillion wasted aluminum cans ...
laid end-to-end would stretch to the moon and back 158
times;
equals the annual production capacity of 50-60 alumi-
num smelters;
are worth $21 billion at a scrap price of $0.60/pound.
When replaced with new cans made from virgin ma-
terials ...
used 77 million tons of bauxite ore, strip mined from
about 14,000 acres;
consumed the equivalent of 560 million barrels of crude
oil -- enough to supply 34 million American homes with
energy for a year;
produced about 72 million tons of greenhouse gases;
generated 1.5 million toms of SOx and NOx emissions
-- contributors to acid rain and smog.
— From the fall newsletter published by
the Container Recycling Institute
3
BIRDATHON RESULTS
Birdathon teams Ron and Joyce Wolf,
Alexis Powell and Richard Bean, and two individ-
ual efforts by Susan Iversen and Bunnie Watkins
made the species total of the ’05 Birdathon a re-
sounding success.
Though the teams stayed within the
Douglas County environs, the solo participants
ventured to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge/
Cheyenne Bottoms in Kansas and Alameda
County in California. You will notice
shore/wetland birds added by Susan Iversen while
at the Wings n’ Wetlands weekend in central
Kansas. Bunnie Watkins volunteered to use her
talents while in San Leandro, California. Bunnie
spotted birds of the woodlands in a foothills envi-
ronment at Garin Woods and sea/shorebirds on a
trail in San Leandro Marina.
We can all be duly proud that we were
able to put the chapter species list total over the
200 species mark for the first time in several
years.
It seemed that Alexis and I had to work
for most every one of our tallies, which reflect a
prepared circuit agenda and target species list
prepared on Saturday before a big day on Sunday.
With the success of the Birdathon in mind,
it still seems strange that no Belted Kingfishers or
Cedar Waxwings were sighted. But what can we
expect when searching for wild wings?
My deep appreciation to all Birdathon par-
ticipants of ’05.
——-Birdathon Coordinator,
Richard Bean
A species list from the ’05 Birdathon fol-
lows on the next two pages
 4 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY

2005 Birdathon Species List

[Species followed by an asterisk were
Ferruginous Hawk Barn Owl
seen in California.]
American Kestrel Eastern Screech Owl
Common Loon Peregrine Falcon Great-horned Owl
Pied-billed Grebe Ring-necked Pheasant Burrowing Owl
Eared Grebe Wild Turkey Barred Owl
Western Grebe* California Quail* Common Nighthawk
American White Pelican Northern Bobwhite Chuck-will’s-widow
Brown Pelican* Virginia Rail Whip-poor-will
Double-crested Cormorant Sora Chimney Swift
Pelagic Cormorant* American Coot Ruby-throated Hummingbird
American Bittern Snowy Plover Anna’s Hummingbird*
Great Blue Heron Semipalmated Plover Allen’s Hummingbird
Great Egret Piping Plover Red-headed Woodpecker
Snowy Egret Killdeer Red-bellied Woodpecker
Little Blue Heron Black-necked Stilt Nuttall’s Woodpecker*
Cattle Egret American Avocet Downy Woodpecker
Green Heron Greater Yellowlegs Hairy Woodpecker
Black-crowned Night-Heron Lesser Yellowlegs Northern Flicker
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Solitary Sandpiper Pileated Woodpecker
White-faced Ibis Willet Eastern Wood-Pewee
Turkey Vulture Spotted Sandpiper Least Flycatcher
Canada Goose Upland Sandpiper Black Phoebe*
Wood Duck Long-billed Curlew Eastern Phoebe
Gadwall Marbled Godwit Great Crested Flycatcher
American Wigeon Ruddy Turnstone Western Kingbird
Mallard Sanderling Eastern Kingbird
Blue-winged Teal Semipalmated Sandpiper Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Cinnamon Teal* Least Sandpiper Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Shoveler White-rumped Sandpiper White-eyed Vireo
Northern Pintail Baird’s Sandpiper Bell's Vireo
Redhead Pectoral Sandpiper Yellow-throated Vireo
Ring-necked Duck* Short-billed Dowitcher* Warbling Vireo
Greater Scaup* Long-billed Dowitcher Red-eyed Vireo
Lesser Scaup Wilson’s Snipe Steller’s Jay*
Surf Scoter* Wilson’s Phalarope Blue Jay
Bufflehead Franklin’s Gull Western Scrub-Jay*
Ruddy Duck Bonaparte’s Gull American Crow
Osprey Ring-billed Gull Horned Lark
White-tailed Kite* California Gull* Purple Martin
Bald Eagle Western Gull* Tree Swallow
Northern Harrier Caspian Tern Bank Swallow
Sharp-shinned Hawk Common Tern
Cooper’s Hawk Forster's Tern Continued on next page
Red-tailed Hawk Black Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
 JAYHAWK AUDUBON SOCIETY 5

Northern Rough-winged Swal- JAS officers & Board Members

low President Jennifer Delisle
Scarlet Tanager Vice President Pamela Chaffee
Cliff Swallow Spotted Towhee* Recording Joyce Wolf
Barn Swallow Eastern Towhee Secretary
Black-capped Chickadee California Towhee* Corresponding Susan Iversen
Tufted Titmouse American Tree Sparrow Secretary
Bushtit* Chipping Sparrow Treasurer Jennifer Delisle
White-breasted Nuthatch Clay-colored Sparrow
Member Chapter Chuck & Ruth Herman
Carolina Wren Change Report
Field Sparrow Membership Dayna Carleton
House Wren Lark Sparrow
Sedge Wren Promotion
Savannah Sparrow Newsletter Julie Maxwell
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Grasshopper Sparrow Editor
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Le Conte’s Sparrow Newsletter Susan Iversen
Eastern Bluebird Song Sparrow* Distribution
Western Bluebird* Lincoln’s Sparrow Conservation Susan Iversen
Gray-cheeked Thrush Swamp Sparrow Program Pamela Chaffee
Swainson’s Thrush White-throated Sparrow Education Rex Powell
Wood Thrush Harris’s Sparrow
Field Trip Alexis Powell
American Robin Publicity Harley Winfrey
White-crowned Sparrow Electronic Karyn Baker-Riney
Wrentit* Dark-eyed Junco*
Gray Catbird Communications
Northern Cardinal Bird Seed Linda Lips
Northern Mockingbird Rose-breasted Grosbeak Sale
Brown Thrasher Blue Grosbeak Birdathon Richard Bean
European Starling Indigo Bunting Coordinator
Tennessee Warbler Dickcissel Christmas Galen Pittman
Orange-crowned Warbler Bobolink Bird Count
Northern Parula Red-winged Blackbird Migratory Phil Wedge
Yellow Warbler Eastern Meadowlark
Bird Count
Yellow-rumped Warbler Eagles Day Ed & Cynthia Shaw
Western Meadowlark Hospitality Vacant
Blackpoll Warbler Yellow-headed Blackbird
Black-and-white Warbler Historian Ron Wolf
Brewer’s Blackbird* Books and Joyce & Ron Wolf
Prothonotary Warbler Common Grackle Feeders
Ovenbird Great-tailed Grackle Board Member
Louisiana Waterthrush Brown-headed Cowbird Board Member Dayna Carlton
Kentucky Warbler Orchard Oriole Board Member Bunnie Watkins
Common Yellowthroat Baltimore Oriole Board Member Harley Winfrey
Summer Tanager Purple Finch* Board Member Sarah Winfrey
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch*
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow The mission of the Jayhawk
Audubon Society is to encourage
207 species total enjoyment of, to promote
understanding of, and to advocate
conservation of the natural world.
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P.O. Box 3741 U.S. Postage
PAID
Lawrence, KS 66046 Lawrence, KS
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___$15 Student; ___$20 Introductory for NEW members; ____$15 Senior Citizen.
(Make check payable to National Audubon Society.)

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expires annually in July.

National Audubon Society members receive four issues per year of the Audubon magazine and are also
members of the Jayhawk Chapter. All members also receive 10 issues of this newsletter per year and are
entitled to discounts on books and feeders that are sold to raise funds to support education and conservation
projects. Please send this completed form and check to Membership Chairs at the following address:
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