The tsunami from Japan’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake was dramatic, and the human impact horrifying.The ensuing tidal waves have even impacted coastal nesting birds across the Pacific. For example, when the waves hit the islands of Midway Atoll NWR.

The tsunami was reported to be about 1.4 meters high and flooded some parts of the NWR. Early estimates include the loss of perhaps 1,000 adult and subadult Laysan Albatrosses and many more thousands of chicks. (Inland nests were not affected.)

For fascinating photos and witness accounts:
http://www.fws.gov/midway/tsunami.html
http://peteatmidway.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/sets/72157626265154692/with/5527952752/

I have a favorite refuge in the lower-48. It’s Santa AnaNWR in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I was there yesterday, with about two dozen bird educators from around the country who are engaged in the FlyingWILD program. (More on that later.) We didn’t have a lot of time for our ”how to run a field trip for families” practice, but the thing that impressed me is that they ALL wanted to return to the refuge on their own at a later date. Give ’em just enough to have them asking for more… that’s what I say!

There was a fine article on the subject of the visionary ”Dakotas Grassland Conservation Area” in last Sunday’s ”Times Picayune” (New Orleans). Good stuff:
http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/01/support_must_increase_to_save.html

I was particularly delighted that Bob Marshall wrote about ”sportsmen and other bird lovers,” and that the photo in the article from the Prarie Pothole Region shows a birder with binoculars.

Hey, its not just hunters… and its not just ducks.

Earlier today I noticed that the comment period on the ambitious ”Dakota Grassland Conservation Area” was extended to 14 January. For details and procedure, see:
http://www.fws.gov/audubon/dakotagrassland.html

Perhaps there are some folks who did not comment previously but would like to do so!.

I just finished participating in the Ottawa NWR Christmas Bird Count (in Ohio). It was cold – in the 20s – but there were enough people to divide up the zones covered by the 15-mile diameter circle that’s traditional in these CBCs. We had some good birds within the NWR (including a Northern Shrike), and my group covered productive farming areas to the S. and W. of the refuge. There were lots of raptors, including Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, American Kestrels, and Cooper’s Hawks. One group found a Snowy Owl (spotted by a young birder, Tyler). Many of us took detours out of our sectors to see the owl. Our sector group also had nice flocks of Tundra Swans.

Some lessons: 1) good cooperative effort among many participants with different skill levels, 2) the Friends hosted a great lunch at the Visitor Center where we exchanged sightings, 3) surrounding protected habitat (e.g., the state-managed areas of Metzger Marsh, magee Marsh, Turtle Creek, Toussaint Creek) illustrates how we need to secure the integrity of the NWRs with ”buffers” of important habitat to look ”beyond the boundaries” for the birds and other wildlife.

Just a note on holiday shopping… some gift ideas from our friends, Kenn and Kim Kaufman. Their conservation-oriented ideas include the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation – Duck – Stamp and the Jr. Duck Stamp:
http://birdingwithkennandkim.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-time-for-some-holiday-cheer.html