Arctic Cycle Turning Wheels Close to Home: A Blizzard of Snowy Owls Lands in Great Lakes Region

Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) from the Quebec Government website

While most of us in Southeast Michigan are still awaiting the arrival winter snow, another kind of "snow" has arrived in the meantime to hold us over -- snowy owls. This bird, which hails from the northernmost reaches of Canada, has been spotted all over the state, including at locations within an hour of Detroit. There is even one unconfirmed report of a sighting downtown.

This event is more than just the arrival of an interesting and beautiful bird of prey -- it is a great chance to understand the workings of nature and how cycles happening far away can affect us close to home.

The appearance of so many snowy owls usually indicates a severe food shortage in the regions of Canada where they are typically found. These daytime hunters, which are impressively sized birds with a wingspan of about five feet, rely on lemmings, voles, and other small mammals to survive in the Arctic. When competition for their food increases (either due to a lack of prey or an overabundance of fellow predators), the snowy owls are forced to go south to find food -- as far down as the Great Lakes and beyond. Here they will hunt for voles, mice, and other small mammals, competing with local birds of prey to survive.

"We haven't had a good Snowy Owl Winter in years," recalls Rick Simek, naturalist at the Environmental Interpretive Center. "I remember a winter a long time ago when I worked at the [Metro Beach] metropark; I think I remember Snowy Owls picking off and eating injured ducks."

(There are no reports yet of snowy owls picking off housepets.)

Scientists usually refer to these dramatic mass migrations as "irruptions". They will stay in the region hunting and resting until March, when they return to the Arctic to breed.

Although this season's blizzard of snowies has been bliss for birders, the long trip south takes a toll on the owls, who must spend an enormous amount of energy to get here. It is usually the youngest and most inexperienced birds that are driven south, and many do not survive. If you go looking for one, try not to disturb it -- every movement it makes wastes calories, and the owl needs every bit of energy it can get. Be respectful and observe them from a distance, or from a blind where they can't see you (like behind some bushes, or inside your car).

If you are interested in knowing where snowy owls have been spotted, or submitting a sighting of your own, check out the Snowy Owl Maps on eBird. While you're there, check out their article, too -- lots of great information about this season's irruption, as well as some commentary on the importance of citizen science.

Let's keep our your eyes to the skies this year! Cheers to 2012!

P.S. A special treat, courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

This week in the civil realm...public meetings in Southfield and Dearborn

SEA members are watching (and representing) at a few public meetings this week!

Today Sara Cole, a UM-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center employee, is attending the Southfield City Council meeting to testify about the community and educational impact of Environmental Interpretive Centers.

Meanwhile, a handful of SEA members have their eyes and ears open for tomorrow's public meeting on Dearborn's proposed Greenway expansion grant:

Tuesday Dec. 13th at 7:00 pm in Club Room 1 of the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, open to the public!

The city's applying for an MDOT grant to extend part of its Greenway (which runs from Andiamo through UM-Dearborn and HFCC and beyond). This is a good time to follow up on remarks made at last year's recreation master plan meeting. There are many interesting comments emerging from people reading the article too... perhaps we'll see you there?

Read more about it via Dearborn Patch:
http://dearborn.patch.com/articles/city-to-hold-public-meeting-on-greenway-trail-extension-effort

And the Dearborn Press and Guide:  http://bit.ly/PrssNGdDbrnGrnwyXpnd

Residents are especially encouraged to submit comments. If you can't attend, remember that you can submit your comments in writing (it's possibly even more effective if you can do both).

Good News for the Rouge: Removal of Concrete Channel being Considered

Your feedback is needed!

The Detroit District of the Army Corps of Engineers is currently considering undergoing a restoration of the channelized section of the Rouge River, and the public will have an opportunity to submit comments before November 7th. The removal of the concrete and replacement with a "soft-engineered" shoreline could lead to more riparian and aquatic habitat in that area of the river, may provide opportunities to increase the public's use of the river (imagine kayaking and, rowing off of Michigan Avenue), and would just plain look nicer than concrete!

You can find out more about good practices for governments and the connection between infrastructure, watersheds, and rivers here: http://nemo.udel.edu/manual/Chap2Web.pdf

If you are interested in submitting a comment to the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the restoration of the concrete channel, please see below for more details.

Excerpt:

The Corps of Engineers (COE), Detroit District, has completed the "Detailed Project Report and Environmental Assessment" report for the first phase of restoration of the Rouge concrete channel from Michigan Avenue downstream about 1.4 miles to the vicnity of Rotunda Drive. The COE is in the process of gathering public comments on the proposed Rouge River restoration project. I have attached the public notice. The full report including appendices is available from the COE website at:

http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/projectsandstudies/planningstudies/upper_rouge_river_section_1135/index.cfm?


You can also contact Ashley Binion of the COE at 313-226-2657 if you would like a CD of the document mailed to you.

Any comments on the report are due no later than November 7.

This project will restore the riparian and aquatic habitat within a large part of the concrete channel section of the Rouge River, will provide opportunities to increase public use of the river in that area, and is key to our vision for restoring all beneficial uses of the Rouge River. I hope you will join Wayne County in supporting this project. Please send any comments you may have to the address listed in the public notice letter.
Regards, Kelly

Kelly A. Cave, P.E.

Director, Water Quality Management Division
Wayne County Department of Public Services
400 Monroe, Suite 400
Detroit, MI 48226

We hope you consider submitting a letter of support for this restoration project!

Link to the Public Notice Letter: http://scr.bi/t87OXL

Science Café #1: The Coffee Connection to Birds and Biodiversity

Photos and notes from our first Science Café: "The Coffee Connection to Birds and Biodiversity":

Thanks to everyone who came out -- special thanks to everyone who helped set up/tear down, featured guest speaker Sara Yearout for sharing her senior research project and passion for sustainably sourced foods, Julie Craves (head of Avian Research at Rouge River Bird Observatory and shade-grown coffee authority) for sharing her expertise, Sara Cole for sharing the photos, Birds and Beans for their wonderful "Chestnut-Sided Warbler" blend of coffee, and the SEA members who helped make this event happen! Though the books didn't arrive in time for the event, great things happened nonetheless.

In case you missed it, here are some "tasty tidbits" from the discussion:

• "triple crown" (fair trade, organic, bird-friendly) coffee is the golden standard at this time.

• Look out for the fine print on certified coffee! Some certifications, like those awarded by the Rainforest Alliance, may actually certify only a certain percentage of the coffee to be shade-grown (30% for example) in the fine print.
• Some growers and suppliers cannot afford to get certified, but may still label their coffees as "bird-friendly".
• Caribou Coffee is working to get all of their coffee Rainforest Alliance Certified by 2012, while Starbucks has internal standards for suppliers that tend more toward fair treatment of the farmers, but may not necessarily be bird-friendly at this time

• You can find out about some of the impacts through this blog by our resident celebrity (she was interviewed on PRI's The World not too long ago) Rouge River Bird Observatory researcher and UM-Dearborn alum Julie Craves: http://www.coffeehabitat.com

• For some insight on how coffee (and chocolate) tie in with climate change, this rainforest alliance webpage is a fair source: http://my.rainforest-alliance.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6361.0&dlv_id=10981
• Even if you're not a coffee drinker, are there places where you can educate coffee consumers about their connection to coffee, or help them make more sustainable purchases? Local cafes, the workplace or at home might be good places to start.
• Since coffee is exported into Michigan, it's worth recognizing that it does have a substantial ecological footprint.

Birds and Beans: http://www.birdsandbeans.com/
Sara's Co-Op, Ypsilanti Food Coop: http://www.ypsifoodcoop.org/
Equal Exchange Coop (Chocolates and other things): http://www.equalexchange.coop/

A pleasant coincidence I forgot to mention: the event was hosted at the Environmental Interpretive Center, a building was designed to look like a bird in flight from above!

Here's to drinking sustainably -- cheers!

Footage and Photos from 10/10

The Cool Cities Dearborn Sierra Club brought together several groups to host events on 10/10 as initiated under 350.org.

Dearborn's Community Television Channel also got footage of some of our activities and interviewed us:

http://dearbornvideo.org/videos/271/dearborn-journal-#243

I'm finally uploading pictures from 10/10!  It was a great event with upwards of ~45 people joining us to enjoy the outdoors for the Global Work Party Climate Action Day to walk, learn about the area, put bottled water to the test against tap (LWVDDH report no significant difference in preferences, but tap is 1,000 times cheaper!), paint pumpkins and gourds, and meet other community members.

Jenni Dunn of the Dearborn/Dearborn heights League of Women Voters at the blind tap vs. bottled water taste test table. Find out more about their actions and findings at their blog post on the 10/10 tap water taste test! 

Attendees gather for opening remarks on environmentally conscientious recreation, sustainability, and climate action from Ian Tran and Shannon Morrow before touring the Environmental Interpretive Center rain gardens, natural areas, and Rouge River Henry Ford Estate.

Pumpkin!  Apple from Apple Charlie's!  Cider and donuts also came from Apple Charlies, and we had attendees use compostable cups as planters for wild mountain mint (Pycnathemum pilosum) seeds collected by SEA--it was a leave-no trace event so all other items were composted or taken back for recycling/reuse.  The Fordson High School Environmental Club came forth in strong numbers and hosted the pumpkin painting table.

350.org participants gathered in all kinds of shapes, we made an Evergreen 1Sky, and the Sierra Club have signs up.

Several local parents hiked with their children, literally!

Dearborn Sustainability Round Table II

The next Sustainability Round Table is Wed. August 25th 6:00-8:00 pm at the University of Michigan-Dearborn's Environmental Interpretive Center, hosted by the Sierra Club Cool Cities Dearborn Group.

The immediate objectives of this meeting are:

1. Envision the benefits from current sustainability initiatives for individuals
2. Envision the benefits from current initiatives in sustainability for the community as a whole

Longstanding objectives of these round table meetings are to:

1. Increase sustainability awareness
2. Organize interest in sustainability
3. Foster informed coalition building and network development in the city
4. Cultivate a more vibrant and sustainable community in the Metro Detroit area

Once again:

Come when you can and go when you must.


Feel free to bring informational materials about your organization, its programs and initiatives, as well as a dish to share (it's also a potluck for sustainability).
We hope attendees will have a clear understanding of the local groups
currently at work, as well as the regional initiatives which may
influence events happening within the Dearborn area.

The first round table was focused on organizing interest and
perspectives in sustainability--essentially to establish principles of
sustainability through broad community input.  Attendees, interested individuals, and organizations shared their individual initiatives and interests.

Please RSVP to Mary Ann Baier (313) 561-7351 email maturtle (at) gmail (dot) com


Meeting Preview:

The meeting will start with an interpretive walk of the natural area
and mushroom farm led by members of the Student Environmental
Association at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, introductions from
the Sierra Club Cool Cities Group and David Norwood, the
Sustainability Coordinator of the City of Dearborn will be a featured
guest speaker.  Round robin introductions of individuals and
organizations will be followed by a break out discussion on how
everyone's initiatives enrich individuals and the community as a
whole.

We intend to document the findings from this discussion, and
there is potential for them to be integrated into future proposals and
plans for the city or University.


Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you there!
Ian D. Tran
President, The Student Environmental Association at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn

Native Seeds project in brief, and a challenge to the community

I'd argue that most plants are an ultimate example of sustainability (but maybe not in this post). Instead, I think it's time that we officially start answering ongoing questions:

What is the Native Seeds Project?
Also, why might it matter to you and I?
How can planting some seeds make a difference in the world around us?

It's one of our ways to illustrate different aspects of sustainability in a tangible product: native plant seeds plus the packaging and an educational insert.

Flannel Day--Maple Syruping

How exciting! It was great to see so many other SEA members at the event (and wearing flannel too!), there were a few unexpected turns too.

Our slated "Flannel Day" (for having a lumberjack-like breakfast) was the first day for UM-Dearborn to start tapping the maple trees (not to boil sap, make syrup, or pancakes--ah well).

However, we had the opportunity to lead or shadow a maple syruping seasonal walk. What's that? Imagine an episode of David Attenborough, the Jeff Corwin Experience, David Suzuki's Nature of Things,or Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunter devoted to sugar maples in Michigan--LIVE! Mixed in with some DIY maple tree tapping.

Our group little D shaped marks on the trunk of our tree which is indicative of a certain woodpecker known as the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker too...

Anyhow, keep an eye out for the UM-Dearborn syrup bottles.